Oy, vey.

Passover certainly isn't "Jewish Easter." It's way more like "Jewish Christmas."

I understand that I - heathen, gentile, goya - don't know the first thing about what it means to be Jewish, and any attempt to try will end up coming off as racist or promoting of stereotypes. I get that it's complicated, what with the whole "my people killing off your people en mass, some two generations back;" that sort of thing, in general, is linked to angst and hard feelings...so, in advance, I'm very sorry. (To be clear, I'm Irish, not German, and my people haven't effectively killed anything, ever, except our own livers...but I digress.)

But I have wondered what it would be like - being Jewish.

Mostly, my curiosity comes from a hunger for belonging - I like the idea of a being part of a large, albeit annoying family, spanning the globe, connected by a common heritage (...a heritage of genocide and persecution). I live on the outskirts of Vancouver's Jewish district so I know where to buy my food kosher, and I already have lots of angst and self-deprecating good humor, without any of the benefits - being part of an ancient culture extending back thousands of years, and part of a community willing to support me and give me things, solely because of my birthright. I like the idea of synagogue, and I'd even be willing to study Hebrew, were it to earn me a large Bat Mitzvah.

I'm also in favour of a culture of talking - about things, questioning things, debating, compromising, and not necessarily even having to believe in God. It's a far cry from what is means to be a Pentecostal Christian, which is a religious experience I'll not soon forget. Jews allow dancing at their weddings, too. Plus, they get to grapple with being God's chosen people, and I've always wondered what it would be like, being Chosen.

The Irish weren't chosen for anything...except by the Vikings, who chose us for raping, and pillaging. And the English, who chose us for raping, and pillaging. Ours is not a happy heritage - and there weren't no manna falling from the sky during the potato famine, either.

I tend to regard religion in the same way that others regard illicit drugs...recreationally benign, but prone to spiralling out of control and into life-consuming addiction. I'm also in favour of Karl Marx's "opiate of the masses" decree, though it's often misquoted - in the time of Marx, opium was one of the few effective painkillers, which Marx had himself used to ease suffering. Marx referred to religion as a painkiller for the poor - but, like codeine tablets, one should be careful, lest they end up in a back-alley, shooting heroin into their eyeballs. (That end part's my interpretation, not Marx's...I have a feeling Marx was much less judgemental.)

But sometimes, life gets lonely, and on such nights, when I'm out walking my puppies, and it's cold and wet and windy and I'm feeling terribly small and alone, the homes of my neighbours look especially lovely - crowded with well-dressed family members, gathered from far and wide to come home, to eat, to talk. I'll remember - Passover started tonight, at sunset, and its a time to be with family...if you're Jewish. It feels warm and wholesome, and though I know I don't belong and never will, I wish for a moment I could come inside.

Have a holly-jolly Passover, friends.