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Karpas
Contributed by Neil Shapiro

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We begin Karpas with Deborah showing us the symbol from the song, which mimes dipping.  The question is: why do we dip?  We’ve tried to answer that question a few different ways.  The text we’ve used most often at our Seders is “A Guilty Memory”:

 

“The dipping of greens reminds us of two other famous dippings in our history: one that led us into slavery, and one that led to our redemption.  The descent to slavery in Egypt began when Joseph’s brothers dipped his coat of many colors into blood of a goat to deceive Jacob into thinking he’d been killed.  Our ascent from exile began when families in Egypt gathered with their neighbors to share a meal of lamb, to dip a plant into the lamb’s blood and dab it on their doorposts as a protection against the tenth plague.”  (Source – A Different Night: The Family Participation Haggadah, page 31.  I have also seen this text in Seder Supplemental Readings edited by Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner of the Foundation for Family Education, Inc.)

 

On occasion, we have worked in the following two texts.  The second is a bit dated because of the reference to the Soviet Union, but the sentiment is still valid:

 

“We take a green vegetable and bless G-d for creating fruits from the ground.  Gratitude is liberating.  The Talmud asks ‘Who is the rich person?  The one who’s satisfied with what he or she has got.’  This appreciation comes through focusing on details.  For example, to get this green vegetable to our table, it had to be planted, harvested, packed, shipped, unloaded, unpacked, displayed, and rung up by a cashier – all before we bring it home!  If we truly appreciate all we have, we’ll be constantly proclaiming ‘Life is a wonderful gift!’”  (Source – Karpas and Gratitude, Rabbi Shraga Simmons at aish.com)

 

“As you brought Israel forth from the dark and narrow places of Mitzrayim, so every spring You bring forth green shoots of life from the dark earth.  To hold aloft a sprig of new life is to hold aloft a people blessed with new life – Israelites sprouted from Mitzrayim, refuseniks from the Soviet Union, Beta Yisrael from Ethiopia. 

Yet, for each sprig that breaks through the soil to turn green beneath the sun, there are so many that remain hidden in the darkness, in hostile lands, in the narrow places of homelessness and hunger.  We rejoice that there are so many places where the world is green; we mourn all those places where it is not.

And so we wash the green in the salt water of all the tears that flow in those places, and in the salt water of the sea You split as a reminder that one day, tears shall only flow in joy.”  (Source – OWOF, page 16-17)

 

Our green vegetable of choice is parsley.  We distribute sprigs to each of our guests, and have them dip the sprig in a gravy boat containing the salt water (prepared in advance).  Once this is done, we say together:

 

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה.

Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech haolam borei peri haadamah.

You are praised, Adonai our G-d, Monarch of time and space, who creates this fruit of the earth.

 

Before we go on with the Seder, it’s become our custom after the Karpas prayer to have a salad break.  We have a long way to go until Shulchan Aruch (the meal) and we don’t skimp, especially on the Magid section!  So, we take this opportunity to pass around some chopped raw veggies (lettuce, cucumber, celery and carrots) and let our guests have a little snack.

haggadah Section: Karpas
Source: Original

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