Olive

The olive tree does not weep and does not laugh. The olive tree

Is the hillside’s modest lady. Shadow

Covers her one leg, and she will not take her leaves off in front of the storm.

Standing, she is seated, and seated, standing.

She lives as a friendly sister of eternity, neighbor of time

That helps her stock her luminous oil and

Forget the invaders’ names, except the Romans, who

Coexisted with her, and borrowed some of her branches

To weave wreaths. They did not treat her as a prisoner of war

But as a venerable grandmother, before whose calm dignity

Swords shatter. In her reticent silver-green

Color hesitates to say what it thinks, and to look at what is behind

The portrait, for the olive tree, is neither green nor silver.

The olive tree is the color of peace, if peace needed

A color. No one says to the olive tree: How beautiful you are!

But: How noble and how splendid! And she,

She who teaches soldiers to lay down their rifles

And re-educates them in tenderness and humility: Go home

And light your lamps with my oil! But

These soldiers, these modern soldiers

Besiege her with bulldozers and uproot her from her lineage

Of earth. They vanquished our grandmother who foundered,

Her branches on the ground, her roots in the sky.

She did not weep or cry out. But one of her grandsons

Who witnessed the execution threw a stone

At a soldier, and he was martyred with her. After the victorious soldiers

Had gone on their way, we buried him there, in that deep

Pit – the grandmother’s cradle. And that is why we were

Sure that he would become, in a little while, an olive

Tree – a thorny olive tree – and green!

translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Hacker

On a plate or napkin, place:

• One Zeroah: Roasted lamb shankbone or chicken wing or beet (symbol of Passover sacrifice)
• One Beitzah: Roasted, hard-boiled egg (symbol of ancient Temple sacrifice and of spring)
• Three Covered Matzot (symbol of Israel, Levite and Cohen tribes & the bread of affliction)
• Karpas: Parsley for saltwater-dipping (symbol of slavery's tears)
• Maror: Horseradish (symbol of slavery's bitterness)
• Chazeret: Romaine lettuce (2nd symbol of slavery's bitterness)
• Charoset: Made of apple, pear, cup of chopped walnuts, half cup sweet red wine, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg (symbol of mortar for bricks the slaves made)
• One Orange (modern symbol of marginalized people) and/or
• One Red Potato (modern symbol of the Ethiopian Exodus)
• Optional symbols of your choice or optional contributions from guests

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And for the table:

• Cup of sweet red wine for Elijah and for Miriam
• Bowl of saltwater for dipping and freshwater for washing
• Place setting for guests, ready for: gefilte fish, matzoh ball chicken soup, salad, braised beef brisket or roasted chicken or poached salmon, asparagus or green beans, tzimmes or kugel, sweet red wine and other beverages, and desserts
• Simple decoration e.g. floral arrangement
• Extra matzoh, maror, charoset, wine etc