Reader: Lisa Lovett
Respondent: Kathy Simmons
Recorder: Kellie Keener
March 22, 2001

"Preparations for Seder"

by Michael Glaser

Unsettling America, p 176

Biographical Info: Professor of literature and creative writing at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Could not find a biography on him.

Objectives: Literary objective 2b- Settings (return to homeland and relates to stage 5 (rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity)

Cultural objective 1b (national migration)

Definitions: Seder (Sa’ der) – the feast of Passover

Schmaltz is Yiddish for rendered or melted fat

Matzoh balls – a dumpling made of matzo (unleavened, no yeast) meal, ususally in chicken broth or soup

Haggadah: In the book The Passover Seder by Ruth Gruber Fredman – it is a book of stories, biblical passages, songs, hymns of praise, benedictions, and instructions for the use of the ceremonial items. It was developed during the years following the destruction of the Temple, building on and adapting features of the Temple practice to new circumstances. Usually, each person present at Seder has a copy.

Presentation: In the Haggadah it mentions the obligation to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. This reminds me of the repetition in the Bible of the command to remember the exodus by observing the Passover feast. The first time it is commanded is at Exodus 12:17. It is mentioned several more times throughout the first books of the Bible. Also, the speaker has a sense of obligation to perform this ritual of his ancestors. You can see this in the third stanza last three lines.

In the first stanza we see that both the father and grandmother of the speaker were already in the New World years ago. We can’t determine what generation is speaking.

This story could be viewed as Stage 5 – Reassertion of ethnic identity (by a whole nation of people).

Again, in the book, The Passover Seder, in the introduction, it states: "The ritual of Passover, past and present, has provided a formal, relatively concise forum for the expression of the ideas and experiences of Jewish society, a time and place for reflection, questioning, and reaffirmation." I find these three elements in this poem. Reflection – Stanza 1 and 2 when he is thinking of father and grandmother and again in last stanza, remembering forty years in the desert and the promised land. Questioning – In the third stanza when asking "What am I doing?" Reaffirmation – In the third stanza, "I will not forsake tradition" and in stanza four, confirming that there is a Promised Land of freedom, which was God’s manifestation of his purpose, a purpose that required a special relationship between a chosen people and Himself. The speaker is reminded of his part in that special arrangement when he participates in Seder. It is a reminder of identity as in stage 5.

There is emphasis on the contrast between the "technologically" advanced chickens of the New World and Grandmother’s free-range chickens of the Old World. Her lean chickens presented a challenge to get the fat off but they didn’t pose such a health hazard to the consumer as the chickens with plenty of fat to offer but tainted with carcinogens. Not sure what to think about this!

There is an overall sense of determination in this poem. If Grandma could prepare the Seder over her hot, wood-burning stove and skinny chickens, I certainly can do it with my modern kitchen and fat chickens. In stanza 3 the words, "I am making" and "my knife plunges" and "I will not forsake" also emphasize a sense of determination.

This whole Seder ritual is like visiting the homeland. It connects the participants to the ancestors and even to the original homeland, the Promised Land of the Jews.

It is interesting that the speaker here likens the matzoh balls to the Promised Land, both succulant and dangerous. The matzoh balls taste good but are full of carcinogens. The Promised Land offers milk and honey but is also full of challenges to survival.

Well, I could have gone on and on about this poem, but of course there are time constraints and I wanted to leave some stones unturned for you to investigate.

Question: What’s the deal here about skinny chickens and the fat chickens?

Dr. White: Promised Land and matzoh ball correlation is very sharp.

Sylvia: Skinny and fat chickens punctuate the difference between the Old World and the New World. Things were lean. Never forget.

Lisa: Something has been lost.

Yvonne: A loss of something pure.

Cleo: Self warning. It would be easy to forget the traditions, but if anyone stops, then they will lose their separateness/specialness.

Rachel: Reminds her of the "Coca Cola Coco Frio" poem. The coco frio and Old World chickens are good for you; free.

Kathy: Contrast between the old and the new. Seder tells the story to the children. You could just buy cans of chicken broth, but then you wouldn’t have to suffer. And you must suffer.

Vicki: Chickens compared to the people in the Exodus. Fat = dangerous.

Rachel: Bible reference: "Give us more." In Exodus, the Israelites complain. They ask for more. They want more manna, more meat.

Lisa: They forget the hard days of slavery.

Kathy: The day after Passover, they pig out.

Dr. White: Like Ramadan, the Muslim fast, when they don’t eat during the day.

Rachel: Not every day. They eat light in the evenings, but at the end of the month, they eat a lot.

Kathy: Seder has a script. Even children have a part to say. Everybody participates.

Rachel: The firstborn are very important. Passover saved the firstborn.

Kathy: Only the male firstborn.

Dr. White: The grandmother is in Boston. He wouldn’t mention that if he were still in Boston. The Jews are a wandering people.

Dr. White: Christmas dinner, family traditions. Seder is a national tradition.