הגדה של פסח: קערה description of Bezalel (great-grandson of Any non-maror vegetable can techinally be Miriam, sister of Moses), one of the two men used (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Orach Chaim chosen by God to lead the construction of the 473:16). Chabad custom is to use an onion (or Tabernacle. God imbued Bezalel with an innate a potato) for karpas (The Rebbe’s Haggadah). talent for all sorts of craftsmanship, including (Exodus 31:5) “stone craft (charoshet even) and wood craft (charoshet etz).” The Hebrew words for stone and wood respectively, even and etz, can be seen as acronyms for the Yiddish names of the charoset ingredients: epel (apple), bah- ren (pear), nissen (nuts), engber (ginger), and , Chazeret—Romaine Lettuce < tzimerind (cinnamon). However, the custom Although we use romaine lettuce and horse- is not to use the latter two ingredients for fear radish for both “maror” and “chazeret,” they are they may contain some chametz (The Rebbe’s called by different names, since the mystical Haggadah). implications of the name “maror” relate more to the spiritual dimension of the maror of the Seder Plate, whereas the mystical implications of the name “chazeret” relate to Korech, when the chazeret is used (The Rebbe’s Haggadah). Romaine lettuce is sweet and soft at the out- , Karpas—Vegetable < set, but when left in the ground, its stem hard- When reversed, the consonants of the word ens and becomes “bitter as wormwood.”14 It is karpas can be read as: s-p-r-kh. “S” in Hebrew is therefore best to use this lettuce, since it reflects represented by the letter samech, which stands for the manner in which we were seduced into slav- the number 60. “P-r-kh” or perekh, means crush- ery. The Egyptians manipulated us with sweet ing labor. Karpas thus alludes to the 60 myriad words and rewards, but eventually embittered (600,000) Israelites who were subjected to crush- our lives (Pesachim 39a; Levush; Chacham Tzvi ing labor (Avudraham). See below on Karpas. §119; Shulchan Aruch HaRav 473:30). , Kabbalistic Perspective < The Arizal teaches that the Seder Plate encompasses the ten sefirot (Godly attributes): Seder Plate Item Corresponding sefirah Three Matzot Chochmah, Binah and Daat (Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge) Zeroa Chesed (Kindness) Beitzah Gevurah (Strength) Maror Tiferet (Beauty/Harmony/Mercy) Charoset Netzach (Victory/Determination) Karpas Hod (Glory/Humility) Chazeret Yesod (Foundation/Attachment) The Tray Malchut (Kingship) 25b Merkos - Haggadah.indb 25 2/25/2011 3:11:35 PM The Passover Haggadah: The Seder Plate c The Seder Plate C , Three Matzot < , Maror—Bitter Herbs < The Jewish community of Kairouan [eastern The bitter herbs remind us of the bitter times Tunisia] once asked Rav Sherira Gaon: “Why we had in Egypt. In a personal sense, we expe- do we take three matzot on the night of Pesach, rience “maror” when we contemplate our dis- no less and no more?” tance from Godliness and cry bitter tears over Rav Sherira pointed to an allusion to this our spiritual inadequacy. This sort of honest custom in the story of the angels’ visit to Abra- self-appraisal, which evokes our yearning to be ham and Sarah, which occurred during Pesach close to God, awakens God’s great mercy upon (Bereishit Rabbah 48:13). Abraham asked Sarah us. to prepare three measures of flour for baking Kabbalistically, the zeroa is associated with cakes (Genesis 18:6).9 kindness and the egg with strength. The zeroa The three matzot also evoke the three “moun- is therefore placed on the right side, which tains” of the world, our Patriarchs: Abraham, is associated with kindness, while the egg is Isaac, and Jacob (Maaseh Rokeach 16:58). placed on the left side, the side of strength. Maror is placed in the middle, since mercy is the synthesis of kindness and strength (Lik- kutei Torah, Shir Hashirim 14d; see Kabbalistic Perspective below). , Zeroa & the Egg < , Charoset—the Dip < The Sages instituted that we have two cooked The clay-like charoset reminds us of the foods before us during the recitation of the clay with which our ancestors were forced to Haggadah. These commemorate the two sacri- work. [Even the word charoset, a generic term fices that our ancestors partook of during the referring to any type of dip (Machzor Vitri), Seder in Temple times: approximates charsit, which means clay (Mor- 1) the Paschal lamb,10 and dechai citing Jerusalem Talmud).] We add an 2) the Chagigah offering, a sacrifice brought acrid substance to the mix (Pesachim 116a) to to celebrate the festivals (Pesachim 114b).11 remind us of how the teeth of Israel were set on The custom is to use a shank bone and an egg edge by the harshness of their bondage (Bach). to signify the following: The charoset is made from fruits to which Zeroa (the word for shank bone) can also the people of Israel have been compared in the mean arm. The Aramaic word for egg (be’a) Torah (Teshuvot HaGeonim). This mixture is can also mean desire. Together, the two words then softened with a red liquid to commemo- allude to the following: rate the blood of the first plague (Jerusalem “The Merciful One desired to redeem us with Talmud, Pesachim 10:3). an ‘outstretched arm’12 (Kol Bo citing the Jeru- Pri Etz Chaim points to a mnemonic for salem Talmud).13 the ingredients of charoset in the Torah’s 25a Merkos - Haggadah.indb 25 2/25/2011 3:11:37 PM c Breaking the Matzah C יחץ ויקח מצה האמצעית ופורסה לשנים חלק אחד גדול מחבירו וחלק הגדול יניח לאפיקומן והקטן מניח בין הב׳ מצות: • Break the middle matzah into two pieces )while still covered by the cloth), one larger than the other. • Break the larger piece into five pieces, then wrap it in cloth and set aside to serve as afikoman. • The smaller piece remains between the two whole matzot. perceive, there is an undercurrent of goodness sigh and realized that he was upset that he did and Divine awareness that is permeating the not merit to hear the reason for the five pieces. world. We have studied the smaller piece for He said to his son, “I see that it is very impor- long enough; it is time for the afikoman of his- tant to you,” and then proceeded to explain: The tory to make its appearance (The Rebbe).33 middle matzah corresponds to Isaac, whose primary attribute is Gevurah, strength or sever- , The Five Pieces < ity. The word yachatz thus contains three of the Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch did letters of Yitzchak. Afikoman is related to the not know if his father, Rabbi Shalom “Kindness of Abraham.” Afiko-man, which DovBer, was deliberately breaking the afiko- means “bring out food,” corresponds to Abra- man into five pieces. Once, theafikoman broke ham, who provided nourishment to all, and into six pieces and Rabbi Shalom DovBer set whose primary attribute was Kindness. Kab- the sixth piece aside. His son then asked him balah teaches that Gevurah is made up of five what the significance of the five pieces was. elements. Rabbi Shalom DovBer replied: “Az men vil altz By breaking the middle matzah, we “break” vissen, vert men gech alt—one who wants to the severity and “sweeten” its five elements with know everything becomes old quickly.” the “Kindness of Abraham” (Sefer Hasichot Later, during a walk, the Rebbe heard his son 5698, p. 261). , Yachatz in Yemen < Rabbi Yaakov Sapir HaLevi (1822-1885) writes in his travelogue of a Pesach spent in Yemen, in the city of Sana’a: “They bake fresh matzah each day of Pesach in the custom of their forefathers, since their women are very quick and conscientious in the baking of the matzot.... “At the Seder, one participant takes a matzah, ties it in a napkin, places it on his shoul- ders and walks around the house. The others ask him: ‘Why are you doing this?’ To which he responds: ‘So did our ancestors do when they left Egypt in haste.’” 31b Merkos - Haggadah.indb 31 2/25/2011 3:11:43 PM The Passover Haggadah: Yachatz , Yachatz < , Stealing the Afikoman< We break the matzah prior to beginning the Some have the custom that children “steal” story of the Exodus (Ran citing Rav Hai Gaon), the afikoman and redeem it for a prize (see so that the story is told over matzah fit for the Chok Yaakov). This is not the Chabad custom mitzvah—“poor man’s bread”—i.e., a broken (see The Rebbe’s Haggadah).30 Indeed several piece (see Pesachim 115b). The larger piece is authorities have questioned the prudence of set aside for the afikoman, since it is a significant this custom (see Otzar Minhagei Chabad). mitzvah, one through which we commemorate Some Jews have the custom to place the the Pesach offering (Maharil; Bach). afikoman on their shoulders prior to hiding it, We wrap the afikoman in a cloth (see Zohar since this was how the Israelites left Egypt, II:158b; Tur and Shulchan Aruch §473). This with the leftover matzah (and maror) bundled commemorates the way we left Egypt with the on their shoulders (Magen Avraham 473:22; leftover matzah (and maror) wrapped in our Yaavetz). Although they had many animals that garments (Exodus 12:34, and Rashi ad loc.; see could have carried these bundles, they insisted Rokeach and Beit Yosef). We place it among on carrying them themselves because they the pillows (Hamanhig) so that it is not inadver- cherished these items used for a mitzvah (Rashi tently eaten during the meal (Siddur Yaavetz). on Exodus 12:34 from Mechilta).