Paul W. Smith: My Seder Story

Paul W. Smith
| The Detroit News

“I love a moaning Monday”

Passover starts tonight at sunset.

As a proud half-Lebanese boy from Monroe, you might be surprised to learn that I actually have a Seder story to share.

It may not surprise you that I grew up Catholic knowing very little about the meaning of the holiday.

Within Judaism, the Passover symbolizes the freedom of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt and underlines God’s faithfulness, as detailed in the biblical story of the Torah. The term “Passover” comes from the Exodus account. As History.com explains, the term Passover comes from the Israelites marking the doors of their homes with lamb’s blood. This saved their firstborn son from one of the ten plagues and allowed the angel of death to pass through their home.

My closest involvement with all things Seder was eating matzo ball soup at the now long-gone Carnegie Deli in New York City.

Then, on my radio program on WABC, I invited Rabbi Mandelbaum to wish him a happy Passover and explain the meaning of this very important holiday.

This prompted the rabbi to invite me to his family’s Seder that evening. It was a great experience!

I was captivated by the children’s involvement and the incredible symbolism of all aspects of this special dinner, and wondered why my own religion didn’t have anything like it. I told my new friend that it moved me to maybe even consider a conversion.

He said, “Paul, you’re busy, have you thought of anything else you’d like to do?” I told him that I always thought about going to law school. He said, ‘Repent…go to law school…repent…go to law school. I think you should go to law school.”

I felt rejected by an entire religion.

Paul W. Smith hosts “Focus” on WJR-AM (760) Monday through Friday from noon to 2 p.m.

Related Posts