Welcome to Haggadot.com (the "Site"). Haggadot.com, customandcraft.org, [email protected] and all future,
as-yet-to-be-created brands are projects of Custom & Craft Jewish Rituals, Inc., which is the legal name of this
California nonprofit organization (hereinafter referred to as “Haggadot.com”). All projects of Custom & Craft Jewish
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only recourse is to not use the Site and the Haggadot.com Service. Your continued use of the Haggadot.com Site following
posting of a change notice or new TOS on the Haggadot.com Site will constitute binding acceptance of the changes.
The Haggadot.com Service.
Haggadot.com provides a number of Internet-based services through the Site as well as any other Haggadot.com affiliate
websites, digital content, mobile applications, online service or anywhere the TOS are shown (all such services,
collectively, the "Haggadot.com Service"). One such service enables users to create customized products, including
without limitation, merchandise and books (collectively, "Products"). Haggadot.com users may create and purchase
individual Products for their own personal use. Haggadot.com may offer a number of other services on its Site, including
without limitation, message boards, contests, and newsletters, which may change from time to time.
Use of the Web Site and Haggadot.com Service.
Eligibility. Haggadot.com will only knowingly provide the Haggadot.com Service to parties that can lawfully enter into
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Compliance with TOS and Applicable Law. You must comply with all of the terms and conditions of this TOS, the applicable
agreements and policies referred to below, and all applicable laws, regulations and rules when you use the Haggadot.com
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Your License to Use the Web Site and the Haggadot.com Service.
Haggadot.com solely and exclusively owns all intellectual property and other rights, title and interest in and to the
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You will not acquire any right, title or interest therein under this TOS or otherwise to any intellectual property owned
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Haggadot.com grants you a limited revocable license to access and use the Site and the Haggadot.com Service for your own
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information contained on the Site for purposes prohibited by Haggadot.com; to compete with Haggadot.com; to create
derivative works based on the content of the Site; or download or copy the Site (other than page caching). If you use
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This Section 2.3 does not pertain to your intellectual property rights. For information regarding your intellectual
property rights, please see Section 4.
Third-Party Content: Wherever Haggadot.com websites, online services, and digital content make reference to third party
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Prohibited Use. You may only use the Haggadot.com Service as expressly permitted by Haggadot.com. You may not cause harm
to the Site or the Haggadot.com Service. Specifically, but not by way of limitation, you may not: (i) interfere with the
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site.
Privacy Policy. By entering into this TOS, you agree to Haggadot.com's collection, use and disclosure of your personal
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Password Security. You are solely responsible for protecting the security and confidentiality of the password and
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identification or any other breach or threatened breach of this website’s security.
Ordering Policies. If you purchase Products, you agree to do so in accordance with Haggadot.com's ordering policies and
instructions on the Site. Your order constitutes an obligation to pay, subject to acceptance by Haggadot.com at our sole
discretion. Your order is accepted by us when we ship the goods to you. An order confirmation does not signify our
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produced, an approximate availability and delivery time are shown alongside the product description prior to order
completion. The products will be delivered as soon as they are available. The times are estimates only and cannot be
guaranteed. At the latest, delivery will occur within thirty (30) days from acceptance of your order by Haggadot.com.
Please note that Haggadot.com is not able to deliver to all regions worldwide. All prices are subject to the delivery
charges, as well as any applicable taxes, duties, fees, or levies. Haggadot.com reserves the right to change the prices
published on the Services at any time. However, orders already submitted to us will not be affected by such changes.
Title to the Products you purchase passes to you when the Products are delivered to the common carrier.
Create and Buy General Rules and License.
Description. As part of the Haggadot.com Service, Haggadot.com offers a service (the "Create & Buy Service") that allows
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Delivery of Content. You will upload or deliver to Haggadot.com all Content that you want to use with the Create & Buy
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Ownership of your Content. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise possess all necessary rights with respect
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Use of Likeness. You consent to the use of your likeness, and you have obtained the written consent, release, and/or
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of using and otherwise exploiting the Content in the manner contemplated by these TOS. If any such identifiable
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Licensing Your Content to Haggadot.com. You will retain ownership of the Content that you upload to the Site. You hereby
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that, while you retain ownership of your Content, any template or layout in which you arrange or organize your Content
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the rights to such template or layout are reserved to Haggadot.com.
Licensing Your Content to other Haggadot.com Members. Except for any of your Content that you specify as “private”
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worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, copy, publicly display, create derivative works from, and otherwise
communicate and distribute your Content for any purpose on or through the Site or the Haggadot.com Service and/or in the
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foregoing rights without further notice, payment, or attribution to you. For avoidance of doubt, any of your Content
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Reservation of Rights.
Monitoring. Haggadot.com reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to monitor transactions and
communications that occur through the Site. If Haggadot.com determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that you or
another Haggadot.com user will breach a term or condition of this TOS or that such transaction or communication is
inappropriate, Haggadot.com may cancel such transaction or take any other action to restrict access to or the
availability of any material that may be considered objectionable, without any liability to you or any third party.
Modification of the Service. Haggadot.com reserves the right to modify the organization, structure or "look and feel" of
the Haggadot.com Service or the Site, and may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Haggadot.com Service at
any time without any liability to you or any third party. Haggadot.com shall have complete discretion over the features,
functions, prices and other terms and conditions on which the Haggadot.com Service is offered to Haggadot.com users.
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When you submit questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, message board postings, material submitted via web forms,
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You shall not upload, distribute, or otherwise publish through this website any content, information, or other material
that (a) violates or infringes the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights of any
person; (b) is libelous, threatening, defamatory, obscene, indecent, pornographic, or could give rise to any civil or
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or other harmful code or properties.
Haggadot.com reserves the right to immediately remove any content it deems offensive, or in violation of these Terms and
Conditions. Haggadot.com also reserves the right to remove a user account, without notice, if the user has been found to
pose a threat to other users or has violated any rule laid out in the Terms and Conditions.
Copyright and Trademark Issues
While we are not obligated to review Content for copyright or trademark infringement, we are committed to protecting
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a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is
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identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by
a single notification, a representative list of such works);
identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information
reasonably sufficient to allow us to locate the material on our Site and/or the Haggadot.com Services;
the name, address, telephone number and email address (if available) of the complaining party;
a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is
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a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining
party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA
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Haggadot.com Services, should be sent to:
Haggadot.com
PO Box 385
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
[email protected]
Upon receipt of a compliant DMCA Takedown Notice, Haggadot.com will investigate the claim, take appropriate action and
serve the notice on our member. If a member submits a DMCA Counter-Notice, Haggadot.com will forward such notice to the
party that submitted the relevant DMCA Takedown Notice and allow the member to repost the disputed content after 10
days, as provided by law. Haggadot.com reserves the right to terminate the account of any member who repeatedly
infringes the copyright rights of others, as determined in Haggadot.com’s sole discretion.
Representations and Warranties.
Mutual Representations and Warranties. You represent and warrant to Haggadot.com and Haggadot.com represents and
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execution and performance of your or its obligations under this TOS does not constitute a breach of or conflict with any
other agreement or arrangement by which you or it is bound, and (iii) this TOS is a legal, valid and binding obligation
of the party entering into this TOS, enforceable in accordance with its terms and conditions.
By You. In addition to any other representations and warranties contained in this Agreement, You represent and warrant
to Haggadot.com that, in your use of the Haggadot.com Service, you: (i) will not infringe the copyright, trademark,
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no claims, demands or any form of litigation pending, or to the best of your knowledge, threatened with respect to any
of your Content; (ii) Haggadot.com will not be required to make any payments to any third party in connection with its
use of your Content, except for the expenses that Haggadot.com incurs in providing the Haggadot.com Service; (iii) the
use of any instructions, formulae, recommendations, or the like contained in your Content will not cause injury to any
third party; and (iv) your Content does not contain viruses or any other programs or technology designed to disrupt or
damage any software or hardware.
Disclaimers and Exclusions.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. Haggadot.com PROVIDES THE SITE AND Haggadot.com SERVICE ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE"
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UNINTERRUPTED, (ii) WILL BE FREE OF INACCURACIES OR ERRORS, (iii) WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR (iv) WILL OPERATE IN
THE CONFIGURATION OR WITH THE HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE YOU USE. Haggadot.com MAKES NO WARRANTIES OTHER THAN THOSE MADE
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WARRANTIES OF TITLE, ACCURACY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND ANY WARRANTIES
THAT MAY ARISE FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.
Limitation of Liability.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER Haggadot.com, NOR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS,
SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, OR AFFILIATES (COLLECTIVELY, “THE HAGGADOT PARTIES”)
SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION
DAMAGES RELATING TO LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, USE, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL) ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO OR
CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE Haggadot.com SERVICE OR THIS TOS, BASED ON ANY CAUSE OF ACTION, OR FROM UNAUTHORIZED
ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT OR DATA, EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED ITS ESSENTIAL
PURPOSE AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. FURTHERMORE, THE HAGGADOT PARTIES WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY
TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY CONTENT UPLOADED. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE
OR THE Haggadot.com SERVICE IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE
MAXIMUM LIABILITY OF THE HAGGADOT PARTIES SHALL BE THE ACTUAL PRICE PAID THEREFORE BY YOU. NOTE: CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS
MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR CERTAIN OTHER TYPES OF DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE
ABOVE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Indemnification.
You must indemnify and hold Haggadot.com and its employees, representatives, agents, affiliates, directors, officers,
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liabilities, damages, losses, expenses, and/or. costs (including without limitation, attorneys' fees) that arise
directly or indirectly out of or from: (i) your violation of these TOS or any other agreement or terms of use with us;
(ii) your violation of any representation or warranty contained herein or any applicable law; (iii) your Content; (iv)
your activities in connection with obtaining any products or services from us; or (v) any activity related to access to
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the claim; (b) give you sole control of the defense and settlement of the claim against the Indemnified Parties (except
that you may not settle any claim against the Indemnified Parties without the express written consent of the Indemnified
Parties); and (c) give you reasonable assistance, at your expense.
Term and Termination.
Term. This TOS shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Site and Services.
Termination. In its sole discretion, with or without notice to you, Haggadot.com may: (i) suspend, limit your access to
or terminate your use of the Site and/or the Haggadot.com Service; (ii) suspend, limit your access to or terminate your
account; (iii) remove any of your Content from Haggadot.com's servers and directories; and (iv) prohibit you from using
the Haggadot.com Service and/or the Site. Upon termination for any reason, your right to access and/or use the Site
and/or the Haggadot.com Service will immediately cease.
Survival. Notwithstanding Section 12.2 above, this TOS will survive indefinitely unless and until Haggadot.com chooses
to terminate this TOS.
Effect of Termination. If you or Haggadot.com terminates your use of the Site or the Haggadot.com Service, Haggadot.com
may delete any Content or other materials relating to your use of the Haggadot.com Service on Haggadot.com's servers or
otherwise in its possession. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand that any Content you expressly designated as
being “Public” and that Haggadot.com or other users of the Site made available in other areas of the Site other than
your user profile (including, without limitation, in another user’s library) may not be deleted. Haggadot.com will have
no liability to you or any third party for any termination of your use of the Site or Service or for any deletion of
your Content or for any Content that was not deleted that remains on the Site.
Notice.
All notices required or permitted to be given under these TOS (other than in connection with Section 7) will be in
writing and delivered to the other party by any of the following methods: (i) U.S. mail, (ii) overnight courier, or
(iii) electronic mail. If you give notice to Haggadot.com, you must use the following addresses: 19 Worth St., Saratoga
Springs, NY 12866 [email protected] & [email protected]. If Haggadot.com provides notice to you, Haggadot.com will use
the contact information provided by you to Haggadot.com. All notices will be deemed received as follows: (i) if by
delivery by U.S. mail, seven (7) business days after dispatch, (ii) if by overnight courier, on the date receipt is
confirmed by such courier service, or (iii) if by electronic mail, 24 hours after the message was sent, if no "system
error" or other notice of non-delivery is generated. If applicable law requires that a given communication be "in
writing," you agree that email communication will satisfy this requirement.
Dispute Resolution.
All disputes arising out of, relating to or connected with these TOS or your use of any part of the Haggadot.com Service
will be exclusively resolved under confidential binding arbitration held in California, before and in accordance with
the Rules of the American Arbitration Association, by a sole arbitrator applying California law (without regard for
conflicts of law principles). The arbitrator's award will be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of
competent jurisdiction. Any action to enforce an arbitrator's award will be brought in a federal or state court located
in California. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the personal jurisdiction of the Federal and California State
courts. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section Can 14, Haggadot.com may seek equitable relief,
including, without limitation, injunctive relief and specific performance, without the requirement of posting a bond or
other security or proving money damages are insufficient, from a court of competent jurisdiction.
Miscellaneous.
These TOS will be binding upon each party hereto and its successors and permitted assigns, and governed by and construed
in accordance with the laws of the State of California without reference to conflict of law principles. This TOS is not
assignable or transferable by you without the prior written consent of Haggadot.com. This TOS (including all of the
policies and other Agreements described in this TOS, which are incorporated herein by this reference) contain the entire
understanding of the parties regarding its subject matter, and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements and
understandings between the parties regarding its subject matter. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right,
power or privilege under this TOS will operate as a waiver thereof, nor will any single or partial exercise of any
right, power or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other such right, power,
or privilege. You and Haggadot.com are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, or
employee-employer relationship is intended or created by this TOS.
So You Are Celebrating Pesach With Sephardim:
A Primer for Those Unfamiliar With Our Practices...
Before reading about Sephardi Passover customs and traditions, one must understand the origin and meaning of the Hebrew words "Sephardic", "Sephardi", and "Sephardim" (alternate spellings: "Sefardic", "Sefardi", and "Sefardim"). All the aforementioned Hebrew words are derived from the Hebrew word "Sepharad" which was originally mentioned as a place name in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, in Obadiah 1:20. The place named "Sepharad" was identified by Jewish biblical commentators (Rashi, Ibn Ezra) the Iberian Peninsula, and "Sephardim" came to denote the Jewish inhabitants of both Spain and Portugal. Similarly, a "Sephardi" was either a Spanish-Jewish person or a Portuguese-Jewish person, and the word "Sephardic" described Jews who adopted the rich cultural and religious traditions of the Spanish-Jews and Portuguese-Jews. Since Jews in Spain and Portugal from the Early Middle Ages until the latter part of the 15th century C.E. lived more or less in relative peace with their fellow citizens, a rich and strong cultural and religious tradition developed within both the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities, particularly in the Spanish-Jewish communities, including prayer rites ("nusach", "nusah" or "nusakh" in Hebrew), legal concepts, mores, religious traditions, etc. Following the 1492 and 1497 expulsions, the Jews from "Sepharad" migrated to other countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. When they settled amongst the already established Jewish communities of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia their cultural and religious practices melted together and ultimately evolved into what it known as Sephardic Judaism today, a rich Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cultural heritage.
Sephardic Passover customs and traditions can vary from region to region, country to country, city to city, community to community, and family to family. Many Sephardic customs and traditions involved assimilating Pesach rituals with the culinary, musical, and linguistic traditions of the surrounding peoples in the areas where Sephardim lived. The following is a selected list of Sephardic Passover customs and traditions... If an item is in BOLD - you will notice it's inclusion in our Seder tonight, if an item in in Italics, this is a part of our family's tradition, however for tonight's Seder it has been omitted to include the traditions of our Ashkenazi guests as well, and if an item is in plain text then it's just interesting and cool and I thought you'd appreciate it :)
Sephardic Passover Food - Sephardic Passover Dietary Law Rulings Permit the Use of Kitniyot - Kitniyot are small fleshless seeds of annual plants that an individual might ground into flour], and their derivatives in other products. Examples are: ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, caraway seeds, castor sugar, chick peas, citric acid, corn, custard powder, dextrose, dried beans, dried peas, glucose, green beans, icing sugar, lecithin, lentils, mustard, rice, sesame seeds, soya beans, soya products, starch, sunflower seeds, tofu, and their derivatives in food and beverage products in cooking during the Passover festival. In practice, most - but not all - Sephardic communities eat products containing these grains and legumes and their derivatives during Passover. However, like Ashkenazim, Sephardim forbid the use of chametz grains, which include: barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat, during the Passover festival, except when making matzah, in which case any of the 5 chametz grains MUST be used so that it simulates the situation that the Hebrews experienced when they tried to bake their bread as they prepared to flee Egypt. Furthermore, Sephardim, like Ashkenazim, are forbidden to come in contact with or even have in their possession in their household any chametz. Chametz includes leavened foods, drinks and ingredients that are made from or contain wheat, rye, barley, oats or spelt. Therefore, all grain products such as breads, cereals and other breakfast foods, grain alcohol, grain vinegar and malts, are forbidden during Passover. Some Sephardic communities will eat rice and kitniyot during Passover but must check them three times prior to the Passover festival to make absolutely certain there are no kernels of chametz in the rice or kitniyot, in accordance with the Passover dietary laws for chametz. In addition, out of the concern for an accidental mixture of kitniyot flour with chametz flour, Sephardim will only use fresh legumes and not dried legumes, unless the dried legumes were dried for the specific purpose of being used for the Passover festival. Despite these restrictions, Sephardim and Ashkenazim agree that having possession of kitniyot (Sephardic pronounciation) / kitniyos (Ashkenazic pronounciation) is permitted during the Passover festival.
Sephardic Passover Food - Sephardim usually do not cook with matzah meal. Instead, they use matzah with eggs and in meat or vegetable dishes. Olive oil is usually used in Passover cooking.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: The Four Questions Pt. 1 - Sephardim recite The Four Questions in the following order: 1. "On all other nights, we do not dip even once, but on this night, we dip twice. Why?"; 2. "On all other nights we eat bread or matzah, but on this night we eat only matzah. Why?"; 3. "On all other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only maror. Why?"; and 4. "On all other nights, we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night, we eat reclining. Why?".
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: The Four Questions Pt. 2 - Sephardic custom is to have all participants at the Passover Seder table chanting "The Four Questions" in unison.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Passover Symbolic Foods - Karpas / Maror / Chazeret - Most Sephardim use celery leaves, romaine lettuce, or parsley for the karpas. The celery leaves or romaine are dipped in either salt water, vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice, depending on the custom of one's community. The karpas vegetable should not be the same type of vegetable as the maror or the chazeret. All Sephardim use a second bitter vegetable, called chazeret, as part of the symbolic foods of Passover. Instead of the Ashkenazic preference for horseradish that would represent one of the bitter herbs, Sephardim use either escarole or endive.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Passover Symbolic Foods - Charoset - The basic charoset recipe of honey, wine, nuts, fruit, and spices is common to all Sephardim. However, Sephardic families will use a variety of ingredients that reflect the cuisines of their country or community, or what is available in their community to make charoset. Either one or a combination of crushed, chopped or boiled dates, figs, chestnut paste, raisins, pomegranates, apricots, or oranges might be used as the fruit ingredient, chopped pistachio nuts or chopped walnuts might be used as the nut ingredient, and a variety of spices might be used in place of using cinnamon as the traditional spice to make charoset. Other charoset combinations include the use of date honey, known as Haleq, or mixing figs, apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine. Charoset is the Passover food that has the greatest variety of recipes of any Passover food.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Passover Haggadah - For Sephardim, the Passover Haggadah is recited using both the local language and Hebrew, or in the Sephardic dialect known as Ladino, which is primarily a mixture of Hebrew and/or Judeo-Arabic and 14th and 15th century Spanish, or by using a combination of Ladino and the local language and/or Hebrew, depending on the community.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Re-enacting the Exodus from Egypt - Following either the Passover Seder step of Yachatz (breaking of the middle matzah) or during the Maggid, most Sephardim (except for Spanish-Portuguese Sephardim) re-enact the exodus from Egypt. The afikoman is tied in a large napkin, given to one of the children at the Passover Seder table, and then the child slings the napkin over his or her shoulders. The leader of the Passover Seder then asks a series of three questions to the child: 1. "From where have you come?" The child answers: "I have come from Egypt". 2. The Passover Seder leader then asks: "Where are you going?" The child answers: "I am going to Jerusalem". Finally, the Passover Seder leader asks: "What are you taking with you?" The child then points to the sack or napkin full of matzah. A variation of this is performed among Sephardic Egyptian Jews, where not just a child is given the chance to re-enact the Passover story and be asked the questions, but each person at the Passover Seder table will takes turns re-enacting the exodus from Egypt. Also, the person at a Sephardic Egyptian Passover Seder will first sling the napkin of matzah over their right shoulder and then be asked by the leader of the Passover Seder: "Where are you from?" The person answers: "Egypt". The leader then asks: "Where are you going?". The person then slings the napkin of matzah over their left shoulder and says: "Jerusalem!".
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions #11: Participants at a Sephardic Persian (or Iranian) Passover Seder will simultaneously chant the Passover song "Dayenu" and hold bunches of either celery, chives, leeks or scallions in their hands and lightly beat each other on the back and shoulders to symbolize the sting generated by the whip of the Egyptian taskmasters. A variation of this custom with Sephardic Persian Jewish families will have participants at the Passover Seder table take turns being an Egyptian taskmaster, lightly beating another person with the celery, chives, scallions, or leeks. Once one person is done, they then pass the chives, scallions, or leeks on to the next person at the table who will then repeat the custom, and so on until all at the table have had their turns. While Sephardim are performing this ritual, all at the Passover Seder wish each other "Sentak Khadhra", which is a blessing for a green, fruitful year for everyone. Iraqi Jews will say to each other "Sant-il-Khadra", meaning "a year of good fortune".
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Passover Seder Plate - Many Sephardic Jews will hold the Passover Seder plate aloft and pass it over the heads of all those at the Passover Seder table while announcing to each participant that they have left Egypt and are now free.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: The 10 Plagues of Passover - When reciting the 10 plagues, the leader at a Sephardic Passover Seder will spill a bit of wine from a special cup of wine into a bowl at the mention of each plague, for a total of 10 spills of wine. The leader usually will then wash his or her hands to symbolically cleanse themself of the 10 plagues. Some Sephardic families in countries such as Turkey and other Balkan countries will not even look at the wine that is spilled out of the cup when reciting each of the 10 plagues, while other Sephardic families in other countries will only permit the leader of the Passover Seder to recite the 10 plagues lest they be "poisoned" or "contaminated" from the recitation. Many Sephardic Greek Jewish families will pour vinegar into a basin beside them as the 10 plagues are recited, followed by the singing of "Dayenu".
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Sephardim, unlike Ashkenazim, usually do not hide the afikoman matzah or have a Cup of Elijah. However, Sephardim want to protect themselves from the "Evil Eye", and in so doing they take the symbols of Passover food and use them as good omens for the entire year. For instance, Sephardim in different communities might save a piece of afikoman matzah to be used as an ornament or even carried on one's person for protection against the "Evil Eye", or dip their hand in charoset to make an imprint of a hamsa hand on a sheet of paper to be hung on their door which serves as protection against the "Evil Eye".
Sephardic Passover Foods - Foods served at a Sephardic Passover meal might include lamb served as the main course, vegetable or meat matzah pies, called "Mina", huevos haminados (eggs boiled with red onion skins, saffron, tea, vinegar), fava bean or lentil soup, saffron rice, leek croquettes, and for dessert, a kosher for pesach torte or baklava.
Sephardic Passover Symbolic Foods - In lieu of huevos haminados, some Sephardim use a single hard-boiled egg, cut it up, and then distribute a piece of it to each participant at the Passover Seder table to be eaten.
Sephardic Passover Customs and Traditions: Candle-lighting - In addition to the two Shabbat/Yom Tov candles lit as part of the Seder, Sephardic Jews also light seven candles on the eve of each Passover Seder, and this is traditionally done by the lady of the household. The reason for seven candles is rooted in Kabbalistic traditions. According to the Kabbalah, the Passover Seder night radiates an extremely powerful light - in a spiritual sense.
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