Dipping of Parsley or other green

Elyssa Joy Austerklein. 2021. Karpas. 

Artist Statement: Karpas is the symbol of rebirth and new growth. We use parsley or a vegetable that comes from the earth. Here the parsley encounter each other, roots and all, inviting one and other into a sort of dance. The bottom of their roots touch the salt water, which we traditionally dip our parsley into. The saltwater reminds us of our tears, possibly the very seed of our expansion.

Artist Bio: Elyssa Joy Austerklein is an artist, yogi, musician, and congregational rabbi. She is a graduate of Brandeis University, BU School of Theology, and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. Rabbi Elyssa has published in The Forward, eJewish Philanthropy, the journal Kerem, has contributed several times to the “Ask the Rabbis” section in Moment Magazine, and has a poem published in the volume When We Turned Within: Reflections on COVID-19. She is a trained mikveh guide, has led Hallel with Women of the Wall in Jerusalem, and was a "rabbi on the road" for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life. Rabbi Elyssa is a Rabbis Without Borders Fellow, and was named one of America’s 33 most inspiring rabbis of 2015 by The Forward.  She is a devoted wife and mother of two. She is so blessed to have an art piece in this Haggadah alongside her son, Georgie. elyssajoyauster.com


haggadah Section: Karpas