TAPPUZ- ORANGE

In the 1970’s, the first women were ordained as Rabbis. According to one story, during a speech by a Jewish scholar named Dr. Susannah Heschel, a man in the audience yelled out, “A woman belongs on the bimah (pronounced beemah -- the stage where a religious service is presented) as much as an orange belongs on the Seder plate!” A new tradition was born. As we share the orange pieces, we honor the religious and spiritual contributions of women throughout all of time.

After this story became widely circulated, Dr. Heschel said sheactually began to use the orange in her Seders to symbolizethe struggle of lesbians and gay men for legal equality. (Eat the orange, if you want – of course J).

BAYTSA- ROASTED EGG

The roasted (hard-boiled) egg was a traditional appetizer of the ancient world, and to us, it is a symbol of rebirth and spring. (Invite people to eat it if they want).

PESACH

Pesach is the Passover lamb and is represented by the bone. On the night of the Exodus the Jews held the first Seder feast in honor of their freedom. In each home a roasted lamb was eaten as the meal of redemption. The legend tells that the lamb’s blood was placed on the doorways of the Jews’ homes so that the angel of death would “pass over” them when coming for the first born. In addition, the lamb was a reminder of the shepherd days when they were free and happy. In succeeding years they relived the Passover supper in all the lands in which they found their homes. 


haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu