David at Alex and Bernice's Seder
Title
David at Alex and Bernice's Seder
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"When I was about eight years old, my mother sent me to the Workmen’s Circle Shule to get a Jewish education."
Date
2013-03-26
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
DAVID_AT_ALEX_AND_BERNICE'S_SEDER
Text
DAVID AT ALEX AND BERNICE’S SEDER
When I was about eight years old, my mother sent me to the Workmen’s Circle Shule to get a Jewish education. We learn the “aleph-bais,” how to read, write, and speak Yiddish, and we learned about the Jewish holidays and the history of the Jewish people.
However, when I was nine, my mother decided to send me to a traditional Hebrew School or Talmud Torah. The closest was a block away, connected to the Orthodox Congregation Beth David Agudath Achim, known to everyone as the Hungarian Shul. She felt I should learn how to “daven,” learn Torah, and have a Bar Mitzvah.
In the Shule, there were about an equal number of boys and girls. In Hebrew School, they were all boys, and one of them was Alex Roth. Alex was almost a year younger than me, and a term behind me. He was rightfully a student at the Hungarian Shul’s Hebrew School, since his parents were Hungarian. Eventually, we were both Bar Mitzvah’d, both left Hebrew School, and we both graduated from JHS 52, and went on to Stuyvesant. Again, I felt that Alex was more rightfully a student there, since he had more of an interest in science and math. Toward the end of high school, we became closer as Reading Out Loud took shape. I credit our friend Bob Epstein for reaching out to me and bringing me into an already established circle. Today, Alex and I enjoy that rare and special designation: childhood friends.
Alex became an electrical engineer, married Bernice, they had kids, they left New York for Florida, and finally Sudbury, Massachusetts. I became whatever it is I became, married, had kids, left New York for Washington DC, divorced, moved to Boston, met Fran, we had David, and moved to Brookline Massachusetts, which made Alex and me practically neighbors.
Alex and Bernice joined a Reform Temple in Sudbury. Fran and I joined the Newton Center Minyan. Alex’s kids went to the Sudbury public schools. David went to the Solomon Schechter Day School. At Passover, Alex conducted his Seder using an abbreviated version of the Hagaddah. I conducted our Seder using a more traditional version, after someone questioned the abbreviated version I had picked up when I taught Sunday School at a Reform Temple in New York.
When David was around eight or nine, Alex invited us to his Seder. We were delighted. Less work for Fran, and the opportunity to share Pesach with an old friend and his family. David, with his Schechter education, was a pro around Seders, knowing a lot more then the Four Questions. Alex was breezing through the story of the Exodus, David had asked the Four Questions, and there were additional questions that David might have asked. As Alex was skipping through the Hagaddah, David got up, excused himself, and went to the bathroom.
After several minutes, and David not having returned, I got up and knocked on the bathroom door. David opened the door and let me in. I asked him what was the matter. At first he said nothing. Then he admitted that he was getting more and more unhappy with the way Alex was conducting the Seder. He was leaving out a lot of important stuff. We weren’t talking about what it meant. I tried to explain we were Alex’s guests and that was the way he wanted to lead the Seder. We had no right to question him. When we invite him to our Seder, we will run it the way we want. That is all very nice, but David did not want to have anything to do with this evening’s Seder. He intended to stay where he was until it was over. We looked at each other. I shook my head. David thought about it for a while, and then we both left the bathroom and returned to the Seder table, saying nothing more about it.
3-26-13
When I was about eight years old, my mother sent me to the Workmen’s Circle Shule to get a Jewish education. We learn the “aleph-bais,” how to read, write, and speak Yiddish, and we learned about the Jewish holidays and the history of the Jewish people.
However, when I was nine, my mother decided to send me to a traditional Hebrew School or Talmud Torah. The closest was a block away, connected to the Orthodox Congregation Beth David Agudath Achim, known to everyone as the Hungarian Shul. She felt I should learn how to “daven,” learn Torah, and have a Bar Mitzvah.
In the Shule, there were about an equal number of boys and girls. In Hebrew School, they were all boys, and one of them was Alex Roth. Alex was almost a year younger than me, and a term behind me. He was rightfully a student at the Hungarian Shul’s Hebrew School, since his parents were Hungarian. Eventually, we were both Bar Mitzvah’d, both left Hebrew School, and we both graduated from JHS 52, and went on to Stuyvesant. Again, I felt that Alex was more rightfully a student there, since he had more of an interest in science and math. Toward the end of high school, we became closer as Reading Out Loud took shape. I credit our friend Bob Epstein for reaching out to me and bringing me into an already established circle. Today, Alex and I enjoy that rare and special designation: childhood friends.
Alex became an electrical engineer, married Bernice, they had kids, they left New York for Florida, and finally Sudbury, Massachusetts. I became whatever it is I became, married, had kids, left New York for Washington DC, divorced, moved to Boston, met Fran, we had David, and moved to Brookline Massachusetts, which made Alex and me practically neighbors.
Alex and Bernice joined a Reform Temple in Sudbury. Fran and I joined the Newton Center Minyan. Alex’s kids went to the Sudbury public schools. David went to the Solomon Schechter Day School. At Passover, Alex conducted his Seder using an abbreviated version of the Hagaddah. I conducted our Seder using a more traditional version, after someone questioned the abbreviated version I had picked up when I taught Sunday School at a Reform Temple in New York.
When David was around eight or nine, Alex invited us to his Seder. We were delighted. Less work for Fran, and the opportunity to share Pesach with an old friend and his family. David, with his Schechter education, was a pro around Seders, knowing a lot more then the Four Questions. Alex was breezing through the story of the Exodus, David had asked the Four Questions, and there were additional questions that David might have asked. As Alex was skipping through the Hagaddah, David got up, excused himself, and went to the bathroom.
After several minutes, and David not having returned, I got up and knocked on the bathroom door. David opened the door and let me in. I asked him what was the matter. At first he said nothing. Then he admitted that he was getting more and more unhappy with the way Alex was conducting the Seder. He was leaving out a lot of important stuff. We weren’t talking about what it meant. I tried to explain we were Alex’s guests and that was the way he wanted to lead the Seder. We had no right to question him. When we invite him to our Seder, we will run it the way we want. That is all very nice, but David did not want to have anything to do with this evening’s Seder. He intended to stay where he was until it was over. We looked at each other. I shook my head. David thought about it for a while, and then we both left the bathroom and returned to the Seder table, saying nothing more about it.
3-26-13
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “David at Alex and Bernice's Seder,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 26, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/201.