Of Seders and Oranges

Our Seder was last weekend, an annual event on our church's calendar. I had never been to a Seder before going to our church's a few years ago and I still wonder how different a real one is (though, finding the quintessential Seder would be about as easy as finding the typical Christmas, no doubt--everyone does it a little differently).

But I'm always so impressed by the structure of the Seder, particularly the Haggadah (which for those of you who have never been to a Seder is the text which is read at and which organizes the evening--there are hundreds of different ones, with different stresses and themes). The Haggadah we used this year was compiled by our director of religious education and included all the usual, I assume, readings and songs--from the Four Questions about how and why Passover is celebrated, to the opening of the door for Elijah, the drinking of water from Miriam's cup, the dots of wine for the 10 plagues, the eating of parsley and bitter herbs and boiled eggs and matzahs in haroset (depending on your background, an apple/honey/walnut or apricot/almond/citrus mixture), the hiding and go seeking of the afikoman, and the singing of Daiyenu and Let My People Go. And, of course, the oranges, in honor of gay and lesbian rights, from when one of the earliest ordained woman rabbis was shouted down with, "A woman belongs in the pulpit like an orange belongs on the Seder plate!" The focus was specifically peace, freedom, and justice, in keeping with the UU principles. But it was short (only about 40 minutes beginning to end) and easy for newbies to understand.

Here is a ritual--a dinner, or two (some families have Seders the first two nights of Passover--can you imagine doing Christmas twice? Oh, the preparations!)--designed primarily to educate the young in their faith--to school them in the meanings of their traditions and in their history. I can't think of a Christian holiday that has education as its central focus. In fact, I have trouble imagining a Christian holiday that is still, well, Christian. Imagine if most families celebrated Christmas, or Easter, based on its religious meaning? I can't even fathom how we would connect Easter Bunnies to the crucifixion (yes, yes, I know about the appropriation of pagan symbols) or Christmas presents to the nativity (because it's all gotten beyond a few gifts to the baby Jesus). But the way we celebrate these holidays today has nothing to do with passing along a religious tradition, faith, or dogma. Don't get me wrong, I love the way our family celebrates--it's very much about passing along a family tradition, and, at least in our house, conveniently not about Christianity at all.

Even looking at secular holidays--4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day--the meaning of those is forgotten or lost amid their modern-day trappings (picnics and sales, primarily). We don't really talk about the Revolutionary War or Armistice Day anymore. And when we do focus on the history and meaning of a holiday--Thanksgiving--we get it all wrong with Pilgrims and Indians.

And so, I like sitting down at a meal with friends and being reminded of the history of a tradition, even if it's not one of my traditions and it's not specifically my cultural history. There are lessons in it for everyone.

And so I'm making this tradition one of ours, complete with oranges.

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Ivy's Noodle "Coogle"

12 oz medium width noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large package cream cheese (8 oz)
2 cups hot milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted in milk
3/4 cup or more Frosted Flake or other cereal, crushed

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place noodles in 9 x 13 pan. Beat together all remaining ingredients. Pour over noodles. Cover "coogle" with topping. Bake for 1 hour. May be served hot, warm, or cold.

Lowfat substitutions will work (but if you change everything it will taste different)