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“In Every Generation”

[All present raise their cups – but do not drink.]

Emphasizing the Symbols of Passover

[Lift up the Seder plate and point out each item. Explain the purpose behind each item:]

Maror (bitter herbs)
Bitter Herbs (usually horseradish) symbolize the bitterness of Egyptian slavery. Maror is used in the Seder because of the commandment to eat the paschal lamb "with unleavened bread and bitter herbs."

Karpas (vegetable)
Vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped into salt water during the Seder. The salt water represents the tears shed during Egyptian slavery. The dipping of a vegetable as an appetizer is said to date back to biblical times.

Charoset (apple, nut, spice and wine mixture)
Apple, nuts, and spices ground together and mixed with wine are symbolic of the mortar used by Hebrew slaves to build Egyptian structures. The Charoset is sweet because sweetness is symbolic of God's kindness, which was able to make even slavery more bearable. According to legend, the use of apples in charoset stems from Pharaoh's decree that all male Hebrew children were to be killed at birth. Mothers would go out to the orchards to give birth, and thus save their babies (at least temporarily) from the Egyptian soldiers.

Zeroa (shankbone)
The Shankbone is symbolic of the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in biblical times. In some communities, it is common to use a chicken neck in place of the shankbone. Vegetarian households often use beets for the shankbone on the seder plate. The red beets symbolize the blood of the Paschal lamb, which was used to mark the lintel and doorposts of the houses during the first Passover (Exodus 12:22).

Beitzah (egg)
The Roasted Egg is symbolic of the festival sacrifice made in biblical times. On Passover, an additional sacrifice (the Paschal lamb) was offered as well. The egg is also a traditional symbol of mourning, and has been interpreted by some as a symbolic mourning for the loss of the Temple. Since the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 C.E., neither the festival sacrifice nor the special Passover sacrifice could be offered. It is also a symbol of spring - the season in which Passover is always celebrated. It should be baked or roasted if possible.

Tapuz (orange)

Many families and congregations have begun adding an orange to the Seder plate as a way of acknowledging the role of women in Jewish life. The origin of this custom has been described in a variety of ways; however, the authoritative explanation comes from Susannah Heschel:

In the early 1980s, the Hillel Foundation invited me to speak on a panel at Oberlin College. While on campus, I came across a Haggada that had been written by some Oberlin students to express feminist concerns. One ritual they devised was placing a crust of bread on the Seder plate, as a sign of solidarity with Jewish lesbians ("there's as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the Seder plate").

At the next Passover, I placed an orange on our family's Seder plate. During the first part of the Seder, I asked everyone to take a segment of the orange, make the blessing over fruit, and eat it as a gesture of solidarity with Jewish lesbians and gay men, and others who are marginalized within the Jewish community (I mentioned widows in particular).

When lecturing, I often mentioned my custom as one of many new feminist rituals that had been developed in the last twenty years. Somehow, though, my intention of affirming lesbians and gay men was transformed. Now the story circulates that a MAN stood up after a lecture I delivered and said to me, in anger, that a woman belongs on the bimah as much as an orange on the Seder plate.

MAGID / Narration -

1. HA LACHMAH ANYAH -

This is the traditional invitation for all to join the Seder. Some families open the door at this point in the

Seder as a sign of welcoming any and all guests to the Seder.

Ha lachma anya di achalu avatana b'ara d'mitzraim.

This is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

Let all who are hungry come and eat.

Let all who are in need, come and celebrate Passover.

Today, we are here. Next year, in the land of Israel.

Today, we are slaves. Next year, we will be free.

5. THE FOUR CHILDREN –

Some consider the four sons – or four children – to be representative of different “child parts” within each of us. These people are scary, and should be kept away from actual children. The four children are, in reality, representative of four typical reactions by young people to their first experience with the story of Passover. Each should be dealt with differently, but it is important that each child understand the meaning and history of the holiday.

ארבהאה בנים דברה תורה: אחד חכם אחד רשע אחד תם ואחד שאינו יודע לשאול

Arba banim di'bra Torah: Echad Chacham, Echad Rasha, Echad Tahm, V'echad Sheh'eino Yodeah Leeshol.

The Torah speaks of four types of children: one is wise, one is wicked, one is simple, and one does not know how to ask.

Chacham, mah hu omer?

The Wise One asks: "What is the meaning of the laws and traditions God has commanded?" You should teach him all the traditions of Passover, even to the last detail (the Afikoman).

Rasha, mah hu omer?

The Wicked One asks: "What does this ritual mean to you?" By using the expression "to you" he excludes himself from his people and denies God. Shake his arrogance and say to him: "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt." Say, "For me" and not for him – for had he been in Egypt, he would not have been freed.

Tam, mah hu omer?

The Simple One asks: "What is all this?" You should tell him: "It was with a mighty hand that the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

V’Sheeino yodeah lishol?

As for the One Who Does Not Know How To Ask, you should open the discussion for him, as it is written: "And you shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’."

THE FOUR CHILDREN: Pirkei Avot

[Although Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) does not deal directly with the same four children from the Passover Haggadah, it does speak a number of times of four types of people.]

There are four types among men: 

He who says, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours" – this is the common type, though some say that this is the type of Sodom. 

He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine" – he is an ignorant man. 

He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is thine own" – he is a saintly man.

And he who says, "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine" – he is a wicked man. (Pirkei Avot 5:13)

There are four temperaments among men: 

Easy to provoke and easy to appease – his loss is canceled by his gain. 

Hard to provoke and hard to appease – his gain is canceled by his loss. 

Hard to provoke and easy to appease – he is a saintly man. 

Easy to provoke and hard to appease – he is a wicked man. (Pirkei Avot 5:14)

There are four types of charity-givers: 

He who wants to give but does not wish that others should give – he begrudges what belongs to others. 

He who wants that others should give but not that he should give – he begrudges what belongs to himself. 

He who wants to give and also that others should give – he is a saintly man. 

He who does not want to give and does not wish others to give – he is a wicked man. (Pirkei Avot 5:16)

THE FOUR CHILDREN: Your Turn!

Take a minute to draw your own version of the four sons. It can be as funny, as serious, or as just plain ridiculous as you like. Just remember – this is a FAMILY Seder!

TZAFUN –

The Afikoman / Dessert

[If the adults have hidden the Afikoman since it was first put aside, let the children (the youngest generation that is out of diapers) look for it during the meal to win a prize. If one of the children has “stolen” it, let them mock whoever was supposed to be guarding it. In any case, it is now time to redeem the Afikoman. Then, each person eats a portion of the Afikoman.

After one eats the Afikoman, it is forbidden to eat anything further or to drink anything but for the two remaining mandatory ritual cups of wine, one for the Grace after meals (Birkat HaMazon) and one for Hallel.]

The accepted theory is that Afikoman is a Greek word connoting the dessert – dates, parched corn, nuts, sweet fruits, etc. The Seder meal in the time of the Temple was concluded with a taste of the Paschal lamb that had been offered in the Temple, after which nothing further was eaten.

More recently, the suggestion has been made that the word is akin to a Greek word meaning “entertainment,” which concluded Greco-Roman festive meals. Another theory altogether has the word derived from “Afukimin,” which is ancient Sanskrit for “I hope it’s not in the piano bench again.”

It is the custom in some countries to save a piece of the Afikoman from the Second Seder until the burning of the Hametz the following year, when both are burned together.