Family Gatherings: Seder Tables

37 pp. Welcome to our Seder tables. In Jewish practice each major holiday has commemoration in the synagogue, but for many it is the surrounding activities in the home that resonate the most. The Passover Seder -- the ritualized retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt -- is the Jewish ritual practice engaged in by more Jews than any other. A centerpiece of the manual for the Seder celebration, the Haggadah (Hebrew: "what is said"), are the four questions, traditionally asked by the youngest present. Richard Margolis' work, Family Gatherings, reveals the emotional answers to those questions. As Passover only comes once a year, documenting these authentic place settings requires persistence, adding only a few each year at most. In some ways this mimics our long Jewish history, built up slowly, layer upon layer, year after year. For many families, it has become a tradition to welcome a stranger to the Passover table, often one unfamiliar with the holiday and customs. Richard's extraordinary work welcomes each of us, Jewish or not, with an undeniable evocative power -- these are not empty tables, these are tables awaiting their guests laden with tradition and possibility. As viewers, we are encouraged to imagine joining the family at the table, but we know that the faces and the stories are already there. Snapshots are said to capture a moment. Richard's photographs do more -- they create memories for future generations.