Young Israel of Tampa : The Bay Area's Center for Torah Judaism

Pesach Diary
by Larry Gordon
Published: Friday, April 13, 2007

The long holiday layoff began early, almost four days before Pesach, with a quick pre-Yom Tov jaunt down to Tampa, Florida, and a long Shabbos weekend with old friends who have run Chabad of Tampa for the last three decades. From there we shifted over to St. Petersburg to spend the chag at the Bayfront Hilton with the folks at Eden Pesach Tours, run with spirit and lots of heart by Nachum and Zahava Goldwasser.

Getting away from home for Pesach means lots of things. Mostly it means inserting yourself into a new environment, seeing old friends and at the same time meeting some new ones. You find out about different people from different parts of the country and the world. And if you do this enough times over the years, then you get to indulge in one of the favorite pastimes of people who go away for Pesach—discussing the pros and cons of the various programs.

Along with traveling to Israel for Sukkos, going away to friends, family, or a hotel for Pesach has to be one of the most anticipated events in observant Jewish life during any given year. This moving around probably represents two of the greatest voluntary uprootings and upheavals in our ritual-oriented annual schedules.

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