Baruch atah Adonai Elochenu!

Tonight I went to my first Passover Seder. It was at my friend Alona's house with 3 other Jewish families (I was the only one who didn't speak Hebrew : ). I do not know what "Baruch atah Adonai Elochenu" but by the end of the night I had it memorized. I am guessing it means something like "Praise God" in Hebrew. I should probably look it up. There were lots of rituals- like dipping herbs in salt water. Also, Alona's mom is Ashkenazi & her dad is Sephardic. So some of the dishes were different in the different tradition. There is this spread that goes on the matzah (cracker) and it is really good. It's called charoset- it reminded me of a sweet peanut butter. It's supposed to recall the mortar with which the Israelites used to lay bricks when they were slaves in Egypt (every thing we ate had some sort of symbolism like this). I did not feel sac religion at all for attending this meal- it was an awesome learning experience and I know the old testament just a little better now!