Karpas כרפס
Green Leafy Resources for Your Seder Table
Sara Shapiro-Plevan sara@rimonimconsulting.org www.rimonimconsulting.org
Every year you grow. Begin your seder with a reminder that we are all growing. Begin your seder with a reminder that in this season, the world is beginning again, renewing, and starting fresh.
What is Karpas כרפס?
Karpas is a springtime or leafy vegetable that is dipped during the early stages of the Passover seder. It comes 3rd in the order of the seder, after Kiddush (Kadesh) and Urchatz (the first washing of hands).
What are the requirements for karpas?
Any vegetable that can have the blessing האדמה פרי בורא /borei pri haadamah/fruit of the earth. This means any vegetable that grows from the ground (as distinguished from things that grown on vines or in trees).
Where does it come from?
From the Greek word karpos, meaning fresh raw vegetable. Karpas also comes from similar words for the color green in a number of different ancient languages. For example, karpas was the denotation for the color green in Farsi, and was the name for the color green according to Rashi (old French).
Karpos was one of the original courses in the Greek symposium that many consider to be an influence on the shape and format of the seder. Even today, in Italy, there is a tradition of starting a meal with pizimonio, a raw vegetable antipasti course.
How else is it connected to the seder? Karpas is mentioned in the Four Questions as well, in question number 3. That in all other nights we do not dip vegetables even once, on this night, we dip twice? She-b'khol ha-leylot 'eyn 'anu matbilin 'afilu pa`am 'achat, ha-laylah ha-zeh, shtey fe`amim?
שבכל הלילות אין אנו מטבילין אפילו פעם אחת? הלילה הזה שתי פעמים
This first dipping is karpas, and the other is dipping maror in charoset.
So what are some different traditions, old and new, for karpas?
Parsley: typical in many N. American families. Also used in families of Southern European, N. African and Middle Eastern decent.
Other herbs (cilantro, basil): families of Southern European, N. African and Middle Eastern decent.
Celery: Families of Mediterranean descent
Potato & Turnip: families of Central, Northern and Eastern European descent
Other options: radishes, carrots, cucumbers, rutabagas or beets. Some use scallions and onion. In fact, you can use anything with tender young leaves.
Why so many variations?
Where fresh greens were available, fresh greens were used. This was typically in the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where the climate was warmer around the time of Pesach. In northern, colder climates, root vegetables were used, and sometimes, their leaves too. The Babylonian Talmud teaches us that we can use any vegetable other than what would be used for maror, and doesn’t specify ANY kind of vegetable.
And what about the dipping?
Many use saltwater for dipping. This is thought to represent the tears that the Israelites cried when they were enslaved in Egypt. However, many other liquids can be used to represent that bitterness, including lemon juice and balsamic or red wine vinegar.
What’s the dipping for?
Precisely. It is meant to arouse the curiosity of the children, so they’ll ask questions. It’s also to provide an opportunity to note the location of Pesach in the springtime and as a spring celebration, as well as to note the connection with the tears of the Israelites as slaves. As we see in the 3rd of the 4 Questions, we don’t usually do this, so it inspires a question!
Are there other stories about the dipping? Some explain the dipping of the karpas to symbolize Joseph’s tunic being dipped into blood by his brothers. Karpas found at the beginning of the seder, just like Joseph's tunic dipped in blood was the first step to the descent of the Israelites into Egypt. Also, water plays a prominent role in the birth of Moses and the story of the exodus from Egypt. You can invite your guests, after the dipping of the karpas, to tell stories connected to Pesach that involve water!
Into what can you dip?
Any kind of spread or dip. Salad dressing, guacamole, mayonnaise based dips, Turkish salad, ground carrot salad or other pureed dips. Be creative! Some Sephardim even use hummus!
So how might you spice up your karpas at your seder?
Really go crazy.
Use strawberries or bananas (yes, both have the blessing borei pri haadamah)! Dip in melted chocolate chips, chocolate spread or chocolate sauce. Think of it as karpas fondue. Or, if you’d like to think of the adult version, check out this recipe for a Karpas Cocktail! http://haggadot.com/clip/karpas-cocktail
Questions for discussion while you’re eating:
Did you try something new at your seder this year? Share your ideas and new traditions with us! Would you like to add more to your seder? Try out some new tricks?
Visit this collaboration about the seder, get some ideas and share yours as well.
The Rosh Hashanah Seder finds its earliest written source in a peculiar menu whose symbolic significance is not revealed...and your dinner menu can include many of these items that can draw on our earliest history and connect us to our hopes and dreams for our present and our future.
"For a good omen on Rosh HaShanah one should make it a habit to eat squash [like pumpkin], legumes [like string beans], kartei (leeks), spinach and dates.”
Talmud BT Keritot 6a
Tunisian Jews often “publish” a French and Arabic menu called the “Honey Page” for it lists all the special foods to be eaten and to be used to symbolize New Year’s wishes and of course it is headed by the word “Devash – honey.” Then the list often continues with figs, dates, pomegranates, apples, and the head of a ram or a fish. Jews from other lands add carrots and beets, but obviously any food will do as long as you have a creatively corny sense of humor and a willingness to share your greatest fears and hopes.
Many families add a conversation following each of these meditations. Prompts are shared below.
Apples and Honey
Y’hi ratzon milfanech, shetichadesh aleinu shana tova u’metukah.
May it be God’s will we will be renewed for a sweet new year.
With this blessing, we also recite the blessing over apples:
Baruch Ata, Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, borei pri haetz.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has created the fruit of the tree.
What is new about you, for you, with you in this new year? We ask that God will “renew” us. How might you imagine being renewed in this coming year? How might you help this to happen? This is the most commonly known symbol and food for Rosh HaShanah. Why do you think it has become so popular? What might you substitute in its place if you were to reinvent the ritual?
Challah
For dipping challah (into honey) we might use this Hassidic wish:
May God create yeast in your soul, causing you to ferment, and mature, to rise, elevate, to your highest possibilities, to reach your highest self.
How have you matured or “fermented” this year? What is something that you have accomplished that you can celebrate with us? What are your hopes for “fermentation” for this coming year? What is something you hope to accomplish?
A Head
Traditionally the head of a lamb or a carp is the occasion for a blessing (though vegetarians might perhaps substitute a head of cabbage or a head of lettuce):
Y’hi ratzon sheh- ni-hi-yeh l’Rosh v’lo l’zanav
May it be God’s will that we will be a head and not a tail.
What does this mean? How might you interpret the blessing? Would you rather be a head or a tail? Why? How might this food be connected to the Jewish calendar?
Spinach or beets
In Hebrew, spinach or beets are traditionally called seleck, which can also mean “to remove decisively.” They elicit this New Year’s wish:
Y’hi ratzon sheh- yis-talku soneinu.
May it be God’s will that our enemies be removed from our presence.
When this was written, who do you think it could have referred to? What are different ways we can understand “enemies”? Who might it refer to today? Tell a story from our Jewish past that illustrates how our enemies were “removed decisively.”
Pomegranate
Pomegranates, filled with numerous sweet seeds, traditionally recall the 613 commandments or mitzvot found in the Torah. The blessing is:
Y’hi ratzon sheh-ni-hi-yeh malei mitzvot ka-rimon
May it be God’s will that our lives may be as full of mitzvot as the pomegranate is filled with seeds.
What is a mitzvah that you hope to fulfill this year? Here, seeds symbolize mitzvot. What else might they symbolize? What does the performance of a mitzvah do for you, the one who performs the mitzvah? How does it feel? What inspires us to do mitzvot?
Carrots and Squash
These root vegetables or nightshades, which are called respectively, Gezer (decree) or Kara (tear up or read) are used for:
Yehi ratzon milfanecha she-yikara roa gezar dinneinu, v’yikaru lfaneacha zakiyoteinu
May it be God’s will that the evil decrees aginst us be torn up and our good merits be read out before You.
To yourself: If you could choose one thing that would be wiped from your memory this year, what would it be? To yourself: What is something that you wished you’d done differently this year? If you could do it all over again, would you do it the same, or different? What is a “good merit” about you that perhaps no one knows about?
The Power of the Pun: Inventing Your Own Seder Rosh HaShanah
Let us suggest some contemporary “green grocer” wishes punning in English on the shape, name or color of these fruits and vegetables:
Dates: May it be God’s will that all my single friends have many dates this year.
Tomatoes or Hot Peppers: May it be God’s will that this be a juicy/red-hot New Year.
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg (CLAL 1977) suggested:
Peaches – May we have a “peachy” year! Brussels or other sprouts– May our good fortune “sprout”!
-
includes some excerpts from Noam Zion, The Rosh HaShanah Seder
Remember the days of old:consider the years of many generations (Deut. 32:7)
Every year, hundreds of giant sea turtles swim hundreds of miles from their homes near Brazil to a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean in order to find their mates. For years, scientists tried to understand how the turtles could find their way every time, from so far away. It was a tiny island, and even airplanes sometimes had trouble finding it.
What do you think it was??
Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, when the dinosaurs lived, that little island was closer to Brazil, and it used to be a short swim from where the turtles lived. It is in their memory to know where to go, even though they themselves don't remember, they have a memory together of the way that it used to be, and they heard stories from their turtle parents about that special place.
Each year, they go there together to remind themselves of the trip that their ancestors used to take.
Tonight, we are just like those turtles.
Karpas כרפס
Green Leafy Resources for Your Seder Table
Sara Shapiro-Plevan sara@rimonimconsulting.org www.rimonimconsulting.org
Every year you grow. Begin your seder with a reminder that we are all growing. Begin your seder with a reminder that in this season, the world is beginning again, renewing, and starting fresh.
What is Karpas כרפס?
Karpas is a springtime or leafy vegetable that is dipped during the early stages of the Passover seder. It comes 3rd in the order of the seder, after Kiddush (Kadesh) and Urchatz (the first washing of hands).
What are the requirements for karpas?
Any vegetable that can have the blessing האדמה פרי בורא /borei pri haadamah/fruit of the earth. This means any vegetable that grows from the ground (as distinguished from things that grown on vines or in trees).
Where does it come from?
From the Greek word karpos, meaning fresh raw vegetable. Karpas also comes from similar words for the color green in a number of different ancient languages. For example, karpas was the denotation for the color green in Farsi, and was the name for the color green according to Rashi (old French).
Karpos was one of the original courses in the Greek symposium that many consider to be an influence on the shape and format of the seder. Even today, in Italy, there is a tradition of starting a meal with pizimonio, a raw vegetable antipasti course.
How else is it connected to the seder? Karpas is mentioned in the Four Questions as well, in question number 3. That in all other nights we do not dip vegetables even once, on this night, we dip twice? She-b'khol ha-leylot 'eyn 'anu matbilin 'afilu pa`am 'achat, ha-laylah ha-zeh, shtey fe`amim?
שבכל הלילות אין אנו מטבילין אפילו פעם אחת? הלילה הזה שתי פעמים
This first dipping is karpas, and the other is dipping maror in charoset.
So what are some different traditions, old and new, for karpas?
Parsley: typical in many N. American families. Also used in families of Southern European, N. African and Middle Eastern decent.
Other herbs (cilantro, basil): families of Southern European, N. African and Middle Eastern decent.
Celery: Families of Mediterranean descent
Potato & Turnip: families of Central, Northern and Eastern European descent
Other options: radishes, carrots, cucumbers, rutabagas or beets. Some use scallions and onion. In fact, you can use anything with tender young leaves.
Why so many variations?
Where fresh greens were available, fresh greens were used. This was typically in the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, where the climate was warmer around the time of Pesach. In northern, colder climates, root vegetables were used, and sometimes, their leaves too. The Babylonian Talmud teaches us that we can use any vegetable other than what would be used for maror, and doesn’t specify ANY kind of vegetable.
And what about the dipping?
Many use saltwater for dipping. This is thought to represent the tears that the Israelites cried when they were enslaved in Egypt. However, many other liquids can be used to represent that bitterness, including lemon juice and balsamic or red wine vinegar.
What’s the dipping for?
Precisely. It is meant to arouse the curiosity of the children, so they’ll ask questions. It’s also to provide an opportunity to note the location of Pesach in the springtime and as a spring celebration, as well as to note the connection with the tears of the Israelites as slaves. As we see in the 3rd of the 4 Questions, we don’t usually do this, so it inspires a question!
Are there other stories about the dipping? Some explain the dipping of the karpas to symbolize Joseph’s tunic being dipped into blood by his brothers. Karpas found at the beginning of the seder, just like Joseph's tunic dipped in blood was the first step to the descent of the Israelites into Egypt. Also, water plays a prominent role in the birth of Moses and the story of the exodus from Egypt. You can invite your guests, after the dipping of the karpas, to tell stories connected to Pesach that involve water!
Into what can you dip?
Any kind of spread or dip. Salad dressing, guacamole, mayonnaise based dips, Turkish salad, ground carrot salad or other pureed dips. Be creative! Some Sephardim even use hummus!
So how might you spice up your karpas at your seder?
Really go crazy.
Use strawberries or bananas (yes, both have the blessing borei pri haadamah)! Dip in melted chocolate chips, chocolate spread or chocolate sauce. Think of it as karpas fondue. Or, if you’d like to think of the adult version, check out this recipe for a Karpas Cocktail! http://haggadot.com/clip/karpas-cocktail
Questions for discussion while you’re eating:
Did you try something new at your seder this year? Share your ideas and new traditions with us! Would you like to add more to your seder? Try out some new tricks?
Visit this collaboration about the seder, get some ideas and share yours as well.
The Rosh Hashanah Seder finds its earliest written source in a peculiar menu whose symbolic significance is not revealed...and your dinner menu can include many of these items that can draw on our earliest history and connect us to our hopes and dreams for our present and our future.
"For a good omen on Rosh HaShanah one should make it a habit to eat squash [like pumpkin], legumes [like string beans], kartei (leeks), spinach and dates.”
Talmud BT Keritot 6a
Tunisian Jews often “publish” a French and Arabic menu called the “Honey Page” for it lists all the special foods to be eaten and to be used to symbolize New Year’s wishes and of course it is headed by the word “Devash – honey.” Then the list often continues with figs, dates, pomegranates, apples, and the head of a ram or a fish. Jews from other lands add carrots and beets, but obviously any food will do as long as you have a creatively corny sense of humor and a willingness to share your greatest fears and hopes.
Many families add a conversation following each of these meditations. Prompts are shared below.
Apples and Honey
Y’hi ratzon milfanech, shetichadesh aleinu shana tova u’metukah.
May it be God’s will we will be renewed for a sweet new year.
With this blessing, we also recite the blessing over apples:
Baruch Ata, Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, borei pri haetz.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has created the fruit of the tree.
What is new about you, for you, with you in this new year? We ask that God will “renew” us. How might you imagine being renewed in this coming year? How might you help this to happen? This is the most commonly known symbol and food for Rosh HaShanah. Why do you think it has become so popular? What might you substitute in its place if you were to reinvent the ritual?
Challah
For dipping challah (into honey) we might use this Hassidic wish:
May God create yeast in your soul, causing you to ferment, and mature, to rise, elevate, to your highest possibilities, to reach your highest self.
How have you matured or “fermented” this year? What is something that you have accomplished that you can celebrate with us? What are your hopes for “fermentation” for this coming year? What is something you hope to accomplish?
A Head
Traditionally the head of a lamb or a carp is the occasion for a blessing (though vegetarians might perhaps substitute a head of cabbage or a head of lettuce):
Y’hi ratzon sheh- ni-hi-yeh l’Rosh v’lo l’zanav
May it be God’s will that we will be a head and not a tail.
What does this mean? How might you interpret the blessing? Would you rather be a head or a tail? Why? How might this food be connected to the Jewish calendar?
Spinach or beets
In Hebrew, spinach or beets are traditionally called seleck, which can also mean “to remove decisively.” They elicit this New Year’s wish:
Y’hi ratzon sheh- yis-talku soneinu.
May it be God’s will that our enemies be removed from our presence.
When this was written, who do you think it could have referred to? What are different ways we can understand “enemies”? Who might it refer to today? Tell a story from our Jewish past that illustrates how our enemies were “removed decisively.”
Pomegranate
Pomegranates, filled with numerous sweet seeds, traditionally recall the 613 commandments or mitzvot found in the Torah. The blessing is:
Y’hi ratzon sheh-ni-hi-yeh malei mitzvot ka-rimon
May it be God’s will that our lives may be as full of mitzvot as the pomegranate is filled with seeds.
What is a mitzvah that you hope to fulfill this year? Here, seeds symbolize mitzvot. What else might they symbolize? What does the performance of a mitzvah do for you, the one who performs the mitzvah? How does it feel? What inspires us to do mitzvot?
Carrots and Squash
These root vegetables or nightshades, which are called respectively, Gezer (decree) or Kara (tear up or read) are used for:
Yehi ratzon milfanecha she-yikara roa gezar dinneinu, v’yikaru lfaneacha zakiyoteinu
May it be God’s will that the evil decrees aginst us be torn up and our good merits be read out before You.
To yourself: If you could choose one thing that would be wiped from your memory this year, what would it be? To yourself: What is something that you wished you’d done differently this year? If you could do it all over again, would you do it the same, or different? What is a “good merit” about you that perhaps no one knows about?
The Power of the Pun: Inventing Your Own Seder Rosh HaShanah
Let us suggest some contemporary “green grocer” wishes punning in English on the shape, name or color of these fruits and vegetables:
Dates: May it be God’s will that all my single friends have many dates this year.
Tomatoes or Hot Peppers: May it be God’s will that this be a juicy/red-hot New Year.
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg (CLAL 1977) suggested:
Peaches – May we have a “peachy” year! Brussels or other sprouts– May our good fortune “sprout”!
-
includes some excerpts from Noam Zion, The Rosh HaShanah Seder
Remember the days of old:consider the years of many generations (Deut. 32:7)
Every year, hundreds of giant sea turtles swim hundreds of miles from their homes near Brazil to a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean in order to find their mates. For years, scientists tried to understand how the turtles could find their way every time, from so far away. It was a tiny island, and even airplanes sometimes had trouble finding it.
What do you think it was??
Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, when the dinosaurs lived, that little island was closer to Brazil, and it used to be a short swim from where the turtles lived. It is in their memory to know where to go, even though they themselves don't remember, they have a memory together of the way that it used to be, and they heard stories from their turtle parents about that special place.
Each year, they go there together to remind themselves of the trip that their ancestors used to take.
Tonight, we are just like those turtles.
