Passover is definitely my favorite Jewish holiday. What’s not to like? Matzah, gefilte fish, chorosis – a mixture of apples, walnuts, almonds, and wine – and chocolate covered macaroons.

And then there’s the seder itself. Every family has its own approach. The more orthodox seders last many hours. The children sit bored and hungry, while they wait for the adults to finish reading from the Hagadah so that dinner can begin. Certainly, there are a few bright spots in the long service: the four questions, the search for the matzah, the wine glass for Elijah.

While our reform Jewish seders are a bit shorter, I can still remember the hunger I felt as my grandfather led what felt like an endless seder in our Riverside Drive dining room. That was back when my parents were still married, back when we got together every year with my grandparents, my maternal aunt, uncle and cousins.

For a family of Upper West Side and Westchester Jews, Passover’s message of "Let my people go," was all that we needed to draw a progressive and humanistic message from the holiday. Often, the seder took on a political dimension – it was the 1960’s and 70’s afterall. Political discussion added a spirited element to any family get-together.

After my parents split up, some years we did the seder with my father and his wife, some years we did it with my mother. I would often find myself the leader of the seder, as I have a reputation in my immediate family as the most Jewish of us.

Leading the seder is a job I absolutely cherish at it affords me the opportunity to channel my inner rabbi. And it’s a chance to teach my children, the offspring of an inter-faith marriage, an important piece of their Jewish history. I also get to exercise my directorial instincts, figuring out who reads what, and which parts of the ceremony end up on the cutting room floor.

Tonight the seder is at my father’s apartment in Brooklyn Heights, with it’s spectacular view of  New York Harbor and lower Manhattan. My cousin on my mother’s side and her family will be there, too. My sister is in Palm Beach sedering with her mother-in-law and my mother, My stepmother, no doubt, will cook a delicious and imaginative meal. 

In the next few hours, I will pull together this year’s readings. I will probably use my favorite Hagadah, it’s actually a children’s book called "The Four Questions" with text by Lynn Sharon Schwartz and paintings by Orin Sherman. Toward the end she writes:

"At the Passover Seder, we remember that terrible and then wonderful time and in the remembering, the terror and the wonder happen to us. We were once slaves, now we enjoy freedom. Together we wish that by next year’s Seder, all people living in slavery any place in the world, will pass over to freedom."

We will all take turns reading from this book and a more traditional Hagadah. And we will sing. It is a night different from all other nights. And that’s the point.