The traditional Seder plate contains…             

Bitter Herbs - מָרוֹר

Egg - בֵּיצָה

Parsley - כַּרְפַּס

Greens - יְרָקוֹת

Charoset - חֲרֹסֶת

Shank bone – זְרוֹעַ

When the hardships imposed by the Pharaoh did not slow down the population growth of the Israelites, Pharaoh then decreed that all Israelite males born should be killed. However, the Israelite midwives – Shifra and Puah – who were ordered by Pharaoh to be in charge of this task, feared the wrath of God and made sure that this did not happen. The Pharaoh then ordered his people to throw every male child born to an Israelite in the Nile River. Pharaoh was afraid that Israelite males would grow up to become fighters against his regime. Pharaoh spared Israelite girls because he doubted they would become fighters against his regime, and he thought they would marry Egyptian men and adopt Egyptian values.

But they did not! Baruch Ha’shem…

As human beings today, we reflect with great distance on the hardship of our ancient ancestors but with great commitment we spend a significant amount of energy retelling and remembering their suffering and story of perseverance annually. As we make great efforts to celebrate and commemorate, we also turn and look at our recent history and the stories that surround our collective struggle to bring equality and respect to all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and any other divisible way we segment ourselves in our modern lives.

The GLBT community has made great strides in the last half century to receive recognition, acceptance and respect as human beings and within the Jewish community great attempts have been made to further inclusion efforts within the community on spiritual and cultural fronts. We sit here today to celebrate, commemorate and further commit ourselves to making all people welcome and respected here at this table and everywhere we can in our everyday lives.

As GLBT community members, allies, friends and family of the GLBT community, our second Seder Plate symbolically represents our lives, our struggles and our progress here and now.

Our GLBT Seder plate contains…

Orange - תַּפּוּז

Coconut - קוֹקוֹס

Sour Vegetables - חֲמוּצִים

Fruit Salad - סָלַט פֵּרוֹת

Sticks and Stones - זֶרֶדִים וְאֶבֶנִים

Flowers – פְּרָחִים

 


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: JQ International GLBT Haggadah