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Getting to Grips with the Seder Plate!

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Getting to Grips with the Seder Plate! Getting to grips with the Seder Plate! Kaarah = Seder Plate, formerly known as Sal (basket) According to the ARI (Luria) According to Elijah Gaon According to Moses Isserles 3 Matzot Egg Shank-bone Haroset Maror Egg Shank-bone Maror 2 Matzot 3 Matzot Karpas Haroset Egg Shank-bone Haroset Maror Prepared by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers “Maharil (14th-15th century) placed the different items in the order of their ritual use. The dish that was used first was placed closest to the leader (Rema, Orach Chaim 473:4). Subsequent arrangements took the symbolic importance of each item into consideration. It is our custom to arrange two triangles. The upper triangle has the shankbone on the right and the egg on the left. Both commemorate sacrificial offerings, the paschal lamb (symbolized by the shankbone) and the festival offering, the chaggigah (symbolized by the egg). The maror (bitters) is placed in the center on a lower line. This completes the first triangle. The second triangle, at the bottom half of the platter, has the charoset on the right, the karpas on the left, and the lettuce in the center below them. These are placed in the lower triangle because they are of rabbinical origin.” Abraham P. Bloch The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies So as you can see there is no ONE way a Seder plate is organised! KARPAS Karpas, introduced just before the destruction of the Temple (Pesachim 114b) is a vegetable such as celery, parsley, or potato. It must be a vegetable on which we make the blessing, Borei Pri Ha'Adamah (Blessed are you Eternal, sovereign of the universe, who creates fruit from the earth). Passover is the Spring festival where we celebrate the birth of the nation, and these vegetables are a symbol of rebirth and rejuvenation. When Parsley is used it is also a symbol of the hyssop that was used by the slaves in Egypt to apply the blood of the Passover lambs to their doorways. It is dipped twice in the salt water (by Ashkenazim, or lemon juice or vinegar by Sephardim) before being eaten. It is also part of the Seder so that children should ask questions of it – why are we dipping? Why are we eating this first? Etc. MARROR & CHAZERET These are the bitter herbs which symbolize the lot of the Hebrew slaves whose lives were embittered by the hard labour. Many people use horseradish for Maror and Romaine lettuce or chicory for Chazeret. Not every seder plate has Chazeret but they all have Maror, which is one of the three biblically commanded ingredients of Prepared by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers the Seder (Exodus 12:8) (Numbers 9:11). Where used, the chazeret is used during korech, the part of the seder when a sandwich of matzah and bitter herbs is eaten. Pesachim 39a: MISHNA: The duty of eating bitter herbs on the Passover may be acquitted with the following herbs: with lettuce, wild endive and garden endive, with Harhabinah, with bitter coriander, and bitter herbs (horseradish), either fresh or in a dried state, but not if pickled, boiled, or cooked in any way; they may also be combined to the size of an olive, and the obligation is discharged if the stalks of them only had been used; also with Demai (when it is doubtful if they had been tithed), or such as are of the first tithe of which the heave-offering had been taken, or of the second tithe, or of redeemed consecrated things. GEMARA: The disciples of R. Samuel taught: "The duty of eating bitter herbs may be acquitted with the following herbs: with lettuce, wild endive and garden endive, with Harhabinah and bitter coriander, with oleander and Harginin and Hardafni [kinds of herbs having a bitter taste]." R. Jehudah said: "Also with lettuce of Julin and of Galin." See http://www.ladybugletter.com/?p=89 for some interesting comments on the Egyptian connections to Horseradish and Lettuce CHAROSET Charoset was introduced just before the destruction of the Temple (Pesachim 116a). Charoset can be a pasty mixture of nuts, dates, apples, wine and cinnamon in Ashkenazi homes, a fruit compote in Sephardi homes, and a sticky date syrup with nuts in some Mizrachi homes. The Talmud says this serves as an "antiseptic" to dilute the harsh effects of the Maror. “In BT Pesahim 116a, two explanations are given for the requirement to eat haroset on Passover. The more famous, offered by Rabbi Yohanan, is zekher letit (in memory of the clay). Haroset, a sign of our oppression, reminds us of the mortar used by the slaves to build bricks in Egypt. Rabbi Levi, however, suggests that haroset is zekher letappua’h (in memory of the apple tree). While this response explains the common Ashkenazic custom of using apples for haroset, its meaning is not at all clear. In his commentary on this passage, Rashi explains that the Israelite women gave birth to their children outside, under apple trees, to prevent the Egyptians from realizing that they were in labour and Prepared by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers killing their male infants. Rashi supports this story by quoting from Song of Songs 8:5: ‘Under the apple tree I roused you – it was there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you conceived you’. The Hebrew word orartikha (I roused you) is understood by Rashi to mean under the apple tree I brought you forth, I gave birth to you. Thus, the haroset is a sign of the bravery of Israelite women, who left their homes to give birth in the open fields, where, miraculously, they experienced no struggle or pain”. Ruth S. Fagen ‘Lifecycles’ Volume 2, 2000 ZERO'AH During the times of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Chorban Pesach (Pascal Lamb) was brought to the Temple on the eve of Passover. It was roasted, and was the last thing eaten at the Seder meal. To commemorate this offering, we place a roasted chicken bone with a little meat remaining, or a roasted lambs shank-bone (which can also be a reminder of the lambs-blood used by the Israelites to protect their homes from the angel of death) on the plate. Zero’ah is also said to symbolise God’s outstretched arm (U’vizero’ah Netuyah) with which the Children of Israel were brought out of Egypt. In North African communities it has been customary to preserve the shank bone for the whole year and suspend it over the door as a protective amulet! BEITZAH A second offering, called the Chagigah, was brought to the Temple and eaten as the main course of the Seder meal. Today, instead of a second piece of meat, we use a roasted egg, which is traditionally a symbol of mourning, to remind us of the destruction of the Temple. The Talmud points out that every year, the first day of Passover falls out on the same day of the week as Tisha B'Av, the day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple. An egg can also be a symbol of new life, and therefore can also symbolise our new lives of freedom, and the new life of spring. Prepared by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers What else is on the Seder Table? 1. Matzah (3 pieces) Matzah was the food the Israelites took with them on the Exodus. "They baked the dough that they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes [matzot], for it was not leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay; nor had they prepared provisions for themselves" (Exodus 12:39). According to this passage, matzah is the hard bread that Jews initially ate in the desert because they plunged into liberty without delaying. However, matzah carries a more complex message than just freedom. Made only of flour and water, with no yeast, or enriching ingredients--matzah recreates the hard "bread of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16:3) and meagre food given to the Hebrews in Egypt. Like the bitter herbs eaten at the seder, it represents the degradation and suffering of the Israelites. 2. Salt Water Ashkenazim dip karpas in it, Ashkenazim begin the meal by eating a boiled egg in it (Sephardim and Mizrachim tend instead to eat a warmed up boiled egg), and it helps us to remember the tears that were shed by the slaves in Egypt. The water could also symbolise the Red (or Reed) Sea, reminding us of the suffering of the Egyptians who drowned, and who also suffered with the plagues. Sephardim and Mizrachim tend to use vinegar or lemon juice instead. 3. Wine Red wine is a symbol of joy. Four cups are drunk by each participant to symbolise four expressions of redemption found in Exodus 6:6-7. 'I will bring you out from under their burdens.' 'I will deliver you out of bondage.' 'I will redeem you with great judgments.' 'I will take you to myself and I will be your God.' Prepared by Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers 4. Elijah’s Cup The passage in Exodus cited above has a 5th expression of deliverance ‘I will bring you in unto the land’. This gave rise to some uncertainty over whether there should be 4 or 5 cups! In some early Rabbinic works (such as Isaac ben Jacob of Fez and R. Amram) this 5th cup is said to accompany the Great Hallel. Maimonides says it should be on the table but doesn’t mention each participant having one (perhaps because we were not in the land). It is generally accepted that since Elijah alone will solve all unanswered religious questions, the use of this cup awaits his decision; hence ‘Elijah’s cup’.
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