Last night was Passover.

I am not a religious man, but I have to say that Passover is my favorite religious holiday. Like many holidays, it is a time when family gathers together for a meal. Different than many holidays, Passover is a living, changing holiday. Passover is about the journey of the Jewish people both today and thousands of years ago. Unlike some holidays that are locked into events that occured long ago, Passover examines the continuing quest of the Jewish people for a better life.

The basic idea behind Passover is for the youth to be told the story of the deliverance of the Jewish people out of Egypt and into Israel. Quite a good tale, if all the movies about it are any sign.

The story has been told over and over the centuries as the Jews have been through good and bad times, to remind them that in the end, their current struggles will subside and things will get better. Even while in the concentration camps in World War II, the Jews celebrated Passover, looking toward the future. As new history is made, so changes the story of Passover and the path to peace that lies ahead.

This year I was proud as my eldest daughter, Zoe, read the four questions in the Haggadah (the script for Passover). It doesn't seem that long ago that I was reading the same questions from the strange book with the pages backward.

Here Zoe & Mira negoitate the price for the Afikoman with my father-in-law, Steve. We need to work on this since they gave into his first offer. They could have gotten much more out of him.