Charoset is a smooth mixture of various chopped fruits including apples, and nuts, as well as wine and spices. It represents the mixture of clay and straw from which we made the mortar during our bondage. It also calls to mind the women of Israel who bore their children in secret beneath the apple trees of Egypt, and, like the apple tree that first produces fruit and then sprouts leaves to protect the fruit, our heroic mothers first bore children without any assurance of security or safety. This beautiful and militant devotion sweetened the misery of slavery, even as we dip our bitter herbs in Charoset. The pattern of our celebration is the mixture of the bitter and the sweet, sadness and joy, of tales of shame that end in praise.
We begin our Seder and join our efforts with those everywhere who celebrate the Passover searching for its meaning in their lives; as an expression of our liberation so far... There are many possible modes for understanding the events retold in the Pesach Haggadah.
Of these, three are braided together so that, if we concentrate exclusively on any one of them, we diminish the special qualities of the entire story.
By participating in the symbolic actions built into the order of the Seder, we can share in:
the experience of the rebirth of the natural world around us, the national liberation of our people, the spiritual redemption of each individual human being.
We begin this evening: some of us feeling shackled by the bonds of winter, some of our people—and other peoples of the world—persecuted, many of us confined by our own personal limitations.
Tonight we hope to set in motion: processes of growth that encourage within each of us the
renewal of each person’s unique vision, and efforts to work for the freedom of our scattered—and all, oppressed—
people, as we see about us the flowering of a new year.
Indeed, we begin our Seder here.
However, our goals are neither our renewal, our freedom, nor our flowering.
Pesach is but the pointer to the acceptance of our commitments to complete these tasks—in a harvesting of the fruits of our labors yet to come.
Even before the Exodus from Egypt our ancestors probably celebrated the mystery of life and the creation of the world each spring. Now again, we remind ourselves of the greens of the earth and the salt of the sea from which all life emerged, and on which all life depends.
But we do not simply celebrate spring’s renewal nor love’s warmth. Pesach celebrates our becoming free. Through the wondrous rebirth of life we can feel the precarious beginnings of the struggle for freedom. The sea’s salt not only reminds us of life’s start, but also of the brine of tears shed by our people and by all people striving to be free.
The Seder Plate
Think of the Seder Plate as a “combination plate” dinner that formed the meal in ancient days. The foods were not merely symbolic, but were eaten—from the plate. As the Seder menu changed, the foods on the Seder Plate required explanation. (clockwise from the upper-right-of-center)
Zeroa (shankbone), represents the Passover offering made in Temple times. It will be explained during the Seder. At vegetarian Seders it has become customary to use a red beet instead. No classic prooftext exists for the use of a beet. Some people refer to Talmud Bavli Pesachim 114b. However, this comment actually deals with rice (!) and beets as additional foods at the meal itself—not a symbolic food on the Seder Plate. Nonetheless, the blood-red color of the beet serves as a metaphoric stand-in for the blood of the lamb shank. I suggest scoring and roasting a beet with its greens.
Beitzah (boiled or roasted egg), represents the holiday offering made in the days of the Temple. It plays no role in the Seder. It will be explained during the Seder.
Maror (bitter herbs), though possibly horehound, it is usually a piece of unground horseradish, represents the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.11 It will be explained during the Seder.
Charoset ( a mixture of chopped nuts, apples and wine (and other wonderful ingredients) represents the clay the Jews used to make bricks for the Egyptians.12 It will be explained during the Seder.
Chazeret another bitter herb, usually ground horseradish, or a bitter lettuce such as endive. It plays no role in the Seder, and will not be explained.
Karpas any green vegetable (parsley, celery—some traditions suggest a boiled potato), represents the new
Said the parents to their children, “From your bondage you’ll cut loose, You will eat your fill of matzah, you will drink four cups of juice.”
Now these parents had four children, yes their kids they numbered four, One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore.
And the fourth was sweet and winsome, was so young and also small, While the other asked the questions, this one could not speak at all.
Said the wise one to the parents, “Would you please explain the laws... Of the customs of the Seder, will you please explain the cause?”
And the parents proudly answered, “’Cause our forebears ate in speed, Ate the Pesach lamb ’ere midnight, and from slavery were freed.
“So we follow their example, and ’ere midnight we must eat The afikoman (O so tasty!) which will be our final treat.”
Then did sneer the child so wicked, “What does all this mean to you?” And the parents’ voice was bitter, as their grief and anger grew.
“If yourself you don’t consider as a child of Yisrael, Then for you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well.”
Then the simple child said simply, “What is this?” And quietly, The good parents told their offspring. “We were freed from slavery.”
But the youngest child was silent, and just could not ask at all, but with eyes all bright with wonder, listened to the details all.
Now dear children heed this lesson, and remember evermore, What the parents told their children, told their kids that numbered four.
Every Seder tells a story that belongs to you and me, You and I were slaves in Egypt. Now we’re blessed with liberty.
The tasks ahead?
Once again we have recited the age-old epic of our liberation from slavery.
We have tasted the new growth of a world released from winter
We have celebrated advances our, and other peoples of the world, have made toward freedom from oppression.
We have focused our attention on how each one of us can become strengthened to feel,
think and act so as to take an active role in our own lives.
Each year we repeat the same phrase and seem to return to the same place from where we began.
We began our Seder by asking
Who are you? Where are you coming from? Where are you going?
To which we answered:
I am Israel. I am one who struggles with God. I am coming from Mitzra’yim, from a narrow tightness to openness.
I am going to Jerusalem. There are at least two “Jerusalems.” For thousands of years we have imagined both a Jerusalem of stone and one of the spirit. If, on reflection, we can state that we have—each of us, in our own individual way—made some progress to draw together the various strands of our lives, then, perhaps “Israel,” “Egypt,” and “Jerusalem” represent something different to us now. There may be a glimmer of a change in our lives as we transition from one metaphorical Egypt to, perhaps, a different metaphorical Jerusalem. If so, we can conclude, stating that we have conducted our Seder with the appropriate intention. Therefore, as we have celebrated this festival tonight, so may we celebrate it, all of us together, next year again—in joy, in a world which we have helped to bring closer to the Messianic era. We begin by celebrating our current freedom with song!
Charoset is a smooth mixture of various chopped fruits including apples, and nuts, as well as wine and spices. It represents the mixture of clay and straw from which we made the mortar during our bondage. It also calls to mind the women of Israel who bore their children in secret beneath the apple trees of Egypt, and, like the apple tree that first produces fruit and then sprouts leaves to protect the fruit, our heroic mothers first bore children without any assurance of security or safety. This beautiful and militant devotion sweetened the misery of slavery, even as we dip our bitter herbs in Charoset. The pattern of our celebration is the mixture of the bitter and the sweet, sadness and joy, of tales of shame that end in praise.
We begin our Seder and join our efforts with those everywhere who celebrate the Passover searching for its meaning in their lives; as an expression of our liberation so far... There are many possible modes for understanding the events retold in the Pesach Haggadah.
Of these, three are braided together so that, if we concentrate exclusively on any one of them, we diminish the special qualities of the entire story.
By participating in the symbolic actions built into the order of the Seder, we can share in:
the experience of the rebirth of the natural world around us, the national liberation of our people, the spiritual redemption of each individual human being.
We begin this evening: some of us feeling shackled by the bonds of winter, some of our people—and other peoples of the world—persecuted, many of us confined by our own personal limitations.
Tonight we hope to set in motion: processes of growth that encourage within each of us the
renewal of each person’s unique vision, and efforts to work for the freedom of our scattered—and all, oppressed—
people, as we see about us the flowering of a new year.
Indeed, we begin our Seder here.
However, our goals are neither our renewal, our freedom, nor our flowering.
Pesach is but the pointer to the acceptance of our commitments to complete these tasks—in a harvesting of the fruits of our labors yet to come.
Even before the Exodus from Egypt our ancestors probably celebrated the mystery of life and the creation of the world each spring. Now again, we remind ourselves of the greens of the earth and the salt of the sea from which all life emerged, and on which all life depends.
But we do not simply celebrate spring’s renewal nor love’s warmth. Pesach celebrates our becoming free. Through the wondrous rebirth of life we can feel the precarious beginnings of the struggle for freedom. The sea’s salt not only reminds us of life’s start, but also of the brine of tears shed by our people and by all people striving to be free.
The Seder Plate
Think of the Seder Plate as a “combination plate” dinner that formed the meal in ancient days. The foods were not merely symbolic, but were eaten—from the plate. As the Seder menu changed, the foods on the Seder Plate required explanation. (clockwise from the upper-right-of-center)
Zeroa (shankbone), represents the Passover offering made in Temple times. It will be explained during the Seder. At vegetarian Seders it has become customary to use a red beet instead. No classic prooftext exists for the use of a beet. Some people refer to Talmud Bavli Pesachim 114b. However, this comment actually deals with rice (!) and beets as additional foods at the meal itself—not a symbolic food on the Seder Plate. Nonetheless, the blood-red color of the beet serves as a metaphoric stand-in for the blood of the lamb shank. I suggest scoring and roasting a beet with its greens.
Beitzah (boiled or roasted egg), represents the holiday offering made in the days of the Temple. It plays no role in the Seder. It will be explained during the Seder.
Maror (bitter herbs), though possibly horehound, it is usually a piece of unground horseradish, represents the bitterness of slavery in Egypt.11 It will be explained during the Seder.
Charoset ( a mixture of chopped nuts, apples and wine (and other wonderful ingredients) represents the clay the Jews used to make bricks for the Egyptians.12 It will be explained during the Seder.
Chazeret another bitter herb, usually ground horseradish, or a bitter lettuce such as endive. It plays no role in the Seder, and will not be explained.
Karpas any green vegetable (parsley, celery—some traditions suggest a boiled potato), represents the new
Said the parents to their children, “From your bondage you’ll cut loose, You will eat your fill of matzah, you will drink four cups of juice.”
Now these parents had four children, yes their kids they numbered four, One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore.
And the fourth was sweet and winsome, was so young and also small, While the other asked the questions, this one could not speak at all.
Said the wise one to the parents, “Would you please explain the laws... Of the customs of the Seder, will you please explain the cause?”
And the parents proudly answered, “’Cause our forebears ate in speed, Ate the Pesach lamb ’ere midnight, and from slavery were freed.
“So we follow their example, and ’ere midnight we must eat The afikoman (O so tasty!) which will be our final treat.”
Then did sneer the child so wicked, “What does all this mean to you?” And the parents’ voice was bitter, as their grief and anger grew.
“If yourself you don’t consider as a child of Yisrael, Then for you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well.”
Then the simple child said simply, “What is this?” And quietly, The good parents told their offspring. “We were freed from slavery.”
But the youngest child was silent, and just could not ask at all, but with eyes all bright with wonder, listened to the details all.
Now dear children heed this lesson, and remember evermore, What the parents told their children, told their kids that numbered four.
Every Seder tells a story that belongs to you and me, You and I were slaves in Egypt. Now we’re blessed with liberty.
The tasks ahead?
Once again we have recited the age-old epic of our liberation from slavery.
We have tasted the new growth of a world released from winter
We have celebrated advances our, and other peoples of the world, have made toward freedom from oppression.
We have focused our attention on how each one of us can become strengthened to feel,
think and act so as to take an active role in our own lives.
Each year we repeat the same phrase and seem to return to the same place from where we began.
We began our Seder by asking
Who are you? Where are you coming from? Where are you going?
To which we answered:
I am Israel. I am one who struggles with God. I am coming from Mitzra’yim, from a narrow tightness to openness.
I am going to Jerusalem. There are at least two “Jerusalems.” For thousands of years we have imagined both a Jerusalem of stone and one of the spirit. If, on reflection, we can state that we have—each of us, in our own individual way—made some progress to draw together the various strands of our lives, then, perhaps “Israel,” “Egypt,” and “Jerusalem” represent something different to us now. There may be a glimmer of a change in our lives as we transition from one metaphorical Egypt to, perhaps, a different metaphorical Jerusalem. If so, we can conclude, stating that we have conducted our Seder with the appropriate intention. Therefore, as we have celebrated this festival tonight, so may we celebrate it, all of us together, next year again—in joy, in a world which we have helped to bring closer to the Messianic era. We begin by celebrating our current freedom with song!
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