Matzo Balls and Memories

Last night was the first night of Passover. I attended a small Seder (6 people) in a fairly large home. When my daughter and I were talking about the Seders I used to host for 20 people in our apartment, I was asked by one of the guests how I managed in such a small space. It never seemed difficult, I recalled. I borrowed 6 foot tables to add on to my dining room table, moved some furniture out of the way, and seated people from one end of the apartment to the other. Once seated, only 2 or 3 people closest to the kitchen actually had room to get up – so they helped me serve and clear. It was just like the Seders I remembered at my grandmother’s small apartment in the Bronx.

In addition to finding the space, I also found the time, usually starting weeks ahead, to cook a traditional meal, including chicken soup with matzo balls. My grandmother’s recipe, adding club soda, made them light and fluffy. I was working and raising two children on my own then, but I never stopped to think it couldn’t be done. We told the story of our journey to freedom, ate, laughed, and to this day remember the love we shared.

My mother made Seders from 1971-2006. (Since there are two each year, we sometimes made them in the same year.) Every year she took pictures of family and friends, which I recently had scanned and saved on memory sticks to share with my brothers. The pictures include ex-spouses, former roommates, friends who died too young, and family members who died at ripe old ages. Fortunately, my mother labeled every picture with names and dates, because it won’t be long before no one will remember the distant cousins or be able to tell one baby from another.

My daughter made the chicken soup and matzo balls and charoset (a mixture of nuts, apples and wine to remind us of the mortar used by the slaves in Egypt) for last night’s meal. She kept asking my advice and I had to remind her it had been over 25 years since I had made a Seder. She and her sister are the fourth generation in my family to make chicken soup - and memories we can cherish.