theatrical

Guests at one of Heidi Kahn\’s Passover potlucks stepped into a desert oasis. That year, her Irvine tract home was transformed with a Bedouin makeover achieved by suspending a tent inside. Another year, guests, who always contribute to the feast, were also asked to bring household goods and were put to work assembling care packages for Jews trying to flee the former Soviet Union.

Typically, the amphibian plague, one of many inflicted on ancient Egypt in the biblical story of Exodus, gets a star turn at Kahn\’s seder. Plastic frogs croak unexpectedly at arriving guests, who can fold origami frogs while waiting for latecomers. Some guests even don frog masks.

\”When you\’ve sat through a lifetime of tedious seders and create your own tedious seders, and then go to Heidi\’s place and play, no seder will ever compare,\” said friend and past guest, Gail Shendelman, of Irvine. \”I\’m spoiled for life.\”