KEESEVILLE -- Passover Seder in a tent on the Kuwait/Iraq border was not the most relaxed affair.

"We're all wearing our weapons; there are ordnance going off all around us," Beth Brumfield recalled.

But it was so meaningful.

"Jews in the desert, hostile country ..." the now-retired Naval officer jotted in her journal on April 18, 2006. "Telling of the Passover story. I thought of the other Seders and missed those I love."

PORTABLE JUDAISM

Seder is the meal celebrated the first and often second night of the Jewish festival of Passover (in Hebrew, Pesach), which marks the exodus of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

That year, Brumfield experienced a deluxe Seder put on by the Air Force, complete with crystal goblets, then the rougher version in the combat zone with disposable Seder plates and Styrofoam cups.

Laughing, she said, "we had Passover MREs (Meals Ready to Eat)."

There was a time when Brumfield adhered strictly to the rules of Passover, which say all chametz, or leavened foods, must be removed from the home throughout the celebration.

"If you're really traditional, you can get really carried away," she said. "Clean your car, clean out your pockets ..."

She kept a set of dishes and pots and pans specifically for Passover use.

Brumfield lived in Manhattan then, where abiding by Jewish laws is easier than it is many other places.

It was more challenging during her military service in countries such as Japan, Italy, Spain and Kuwait.

But the Keeseville woman has always considered Judaism very portable.

"It's more in your heart than in the laws."