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Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin
Sometimes we ache for the possibility of freedom without the burden of choice. I know families that have a weekly dinner regimen: Monday– spaghetti, Tuesday–hamburgers; and so forth. Most of us tend to sit in the same seat at weekly staff meetings, at the dinner table, in the synagogue.
Freedom of choice moves
us to create rituals and routines,
responses to the need for order in
the face of chaos. Their performance
reflects and reinforces the values we
are trying out or have chosen. They
give us identity, a center, a spiritual
home. Routine limits our exposure
to the incessant clamor of choice,
enabling us to leash the chaos
that swirls around us and to
maintain an attitude of
control. It is what
allows us
to open
our front doors every morning,
dressed and ready to go, with a
destination in mind.
Without vigilance, our own desires and dreams will be sculpted by the winds around us. They will slowly and subtly metamorphose into the image of the culture that surrounds us. We must forever ask, are our appetites, yearnings and goals truly worthy? From where do they come? Have someone else’s desires slyly supplanted our own? What—or whose—purpose do they serve? The Exodus offers an answer: Seek a way to hear God’s voice, and live a life in response to it. That is not easy. And it can-not be done vicariously. That is why the Haggadah tells us to imagine that each of us was a member of the generation of the Exodus. Each of us needs to remember the thrill of freedom before it became a burden to be tamed, and each of us needs to remember the desires and the dan-gers involved in seeking to tame it.
Retracing the Road to Freedom
Here’s one that I love. Each person at our
Seder is given three cards: an “Ask A
Question” card; a “Share A Passover
Memory” card, and a “Lead a Reading or
Song” card (each in a different color).
During the Seder, each person is encouraged to
use each of the cards and then hand the card to
the leader. When someone has handed in the
third card, we all cheer.
How do we make sure everyone uses his
or her cards? Simple: dessert is served only to
those people who have no cards left!
Mara Addison Dorff, Director of Community
Partnership, Jewish Outreach Partnership
That is where the Seder
comes in, the ritual meal at which
we tell the story of the Exodus.
It is, somewhat paradoxically, a celebration
of freedom guided by a set
order. For that is what Seder means,
“order.” We may hold it where we
want to, gather at the time we set,
pace the telling as fits our needs,
sit in the fashion we desire, use the
language that we are most familiar
with. But we are to touch fifteen
landmarks. We are our own ritual
experts this evening, but we are
gathered in a cause that transcends
our personal desires. So we use a
book called the Haggadah, the col-lective
memory of the generations.
The Haggadah is more than a
book, really. It is a script suggesting
what we may say, showing us how
we may sit, and recommending
what we might eat. It serves as a
series of clues to the various parts of
the Seder. When we feel uncertain,
we anchor ourselves in the text, and
the story unfolds through the age-old
words. But the Haggadah also bids
us to free ourselves from the limits
of the written word: “Whoever
expands upon the telling of the
story is to be praised.” Retelling the story our way
So it is today that families
and friends often supple-ment
the tradition with
their novel ways of
telling the story and
their own Haggadot.
Based on the trials of our
ancestors, these Haggadot
expand on the lessons and
the readings and the hope
found in the original tale.
The plagues might be embell-ished
with a roll call of
contemporary environmental
calamities; the Israelites’ struggle
for freedom might presage modern
social inequities.
And in many ways, the story
is our own. Egypt in Hebrew is
Mitzrayim, meaning “narrow place.”
Each of us is constricted by our own
fears of change. We know that the
pull of freedom is threatened by the
tug of laziness or the lure of the
familiar. Each of us can use the help
of valiant men and women who call
us to be free. We can pass through
the narrow canal of the parted waters
and emerge new on the other side if
we have the help and the encourage-ment
of others. Passover is the
beginning of such encouragement.
But for the Jews, freedom is
just the beginning. It is the prerequisite,
not the goal. The goal leads
through the ethical to the spiritual:
to serve God willingly instead of
serving Pharaoh forcibly, to be part
of the sacred instead of the mun-dane,
to be joined to the ultimate
instead of to the finite. When Moses
first appeared before Pharaoh to ask
for the freedom of the Israelites, he
said, “Thus said Adonai: “Let My
people go so that they may worship
Me in the desert” (Exodus 5:1). The
Seder celebrates freedom with purpose.
It is journey with destination.
This piece is excerpted from The Tapestry of
Jewish Time by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin.
Rabbi Cardin is the Director of Jewish Life at
the Jewish Community Center of Greater Balti-more.
It is used by permission of the publisher,
Behrman House., Inc. www.behrmanhouse.com Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell When we open a Haggadah
that our families have used for years, the pages may be stuck together
with charoset, matzah crumbs make tracks along the bindings, and wine
stains decorate the pages on which the plagues are enumerated. The Haggadah, the
text of the Seder, is a script of questions and answers. Based upon the
order for telling the story prescribed in the second century Mishnah,
the Haggadah is a collection of biblical excerpts and ritual direction,
supplemented and enhanced over the centuries with creative interpretations,
poems, and songs. Like any time-honored teaching tool, the Haggadah has
been adapted by each generation and culture that has used it around the
family table. Who is
at the Table? Today’s families
are rich and varied. They are multi-generational, including individuals
related by birth, adoption and affection. Some are Jews by birth, some
are Jews by choice, some come from other traditions, and some from no
tradition at all. One way to ensure that your family enjoys a rich Seder
experience is to include a range of ages and backgrounds around your table,
welcoming visitors and those new to your community, and following the
tradition of including individuals who otherwise might not
attend a Seder.
Passover is a holiday that centers
on freedom and on food. So at
our house we try to bring the
idea of food and freedom together
just before we eat matzah for the first time.
Matzah is called the bread of affliction, of
poverty, but we eat it to celebrate freedom…so
it becomes the ultimate “freedom food.” So,
before we eat the matzah for the first time we
stop to discuss the idea that we are preparing
to eat a feast. Our ancestors, who wandered in
the desert with only matzah on their backs, only
Ellisha Greenhood, Master’s in Jewish Communal
Service student, Gratz College, PA An inclusive Seder
welcomes everyone and invites participation from the beginning. Guests
may be asked to contribute by sharing a treasured recipe, preparing parts
of the meal, or making decisions about the liturgy. You may want to ask
everyone who is invited to bring a question or a poem to contribute to
the evening. When family members and friends share the responsibilities
for this special event, no single individual need bear the weight of this
communal celebration. One way to bring people
together at the outset of the Seder is to ask them to introduce themselves,
sharing something about their past experiences of Passover. When each
voice is acknowledged, the celebration can begin. The Table An inclusive Seder
does not have to take place in the dining room. Choose a room in your
home that can comfortably accommodate the diverse participants who will
attend. Will parents of small children be able to be a part of the evening?
Will children have access to play space in addition to their places at
the table? Will older people be comfortable in their chairs? Will those
who have special needs be able to participate fully? While most families
prefer to hold their S‘darim (plural of Seder) around a large table,
other families use several small tables. Some families begin their Seder
in a family room, with the Seder plate, matzah, salt water, wine and glasses.
Only when they arrive at Shulchan Oreich, the main meal, does everyone
gather around the main table. You may choose to
use a Haggadah in its entirety, or choose particular portions that will
enrich and enhance your family’s celebration. Read through the Haggadah
in the weeks before your Seder and decide which pieces will and won’t
work for your family. Think about how to "customize" a Seder
experience that will include everyone present. You will want to include
the essential sections of the Haggadah. The Maggid section should include
what some call "the four tellings:" the Four Questions, the
Four Children, biblical verses and their midrashic interpretations, and
an explanation of pesach, matzah and maror. As more Jews become
fluent in Jewish traditions, many families are designing and producing
their own supplements to, or versions of, the Haggadah. Such Haggadot
draw on a rich range of sources, both historical and contemporary, and
reflect the geographical origins, the travels and the studies of individual
family members. Some families create their own Haggadah every few years,
cutting and pasting from published editions, adding drawings and sketches
by various family members, or marking children’s growth by including
artwork, poems and interpretations of various portions of the Passover
story. Leaders
and Readers The most successful
S‘darim reflect not only shared planning and execution but shared
liturgical leadership. While one person might be the primary facilitator,
every person at the table should have an opportunity to read, respond,
and, if able, to take a turn leading the group. To prepare yourself
to act as Seder facilitator, become familiar with the Haggadah or Haggadot
to be used. Then you will be able to guide others and to open discussion
at particular times during the course of the evening. You may wish to
underscore the importance of certain sections, encourage particular readers
for chosen parts, or move quickly through various sections.
This is a definite winner with children of all ages.
Following a Sephardic custom (found in
Afghanistan and Iran) before we sing dayeinu,
we give each person a scallion. When we sing
the chorus each person uses the scallion to lightly
beat another person around the table, symbolizing
the taskmaster’s whip. We have added
our own layer to the tradition,
each year we buy one leek in
addition to the scallions. The leek
goes to the person who, by popular
vote, has had the roughest
year and needs it the most!
Amy Warmflash, Special Projects Coordinator,
Camp Ramah in the Poconos, PA Some sections invite
discussion. After the Ha Lachma Anya, those gathered might discuss their
understanding of "Let all who are hungry come and eat." After
the Four Questions, encourage those present to ask their own questions.
As an introduction to Hallel, one might ask, "What has given us joy
this year?" When the text speaks of our ancestors’ bondage and
journeys, think about including stories of those who journeyed to freedom
more recently. When To
Hold Your Seder Most home S‘darim
are held on the first and second nights of Passover. Some people celebrate
with different individuals on each night. Some have traditions of using
different tunes or haggadot on each of the first two nights. Some attend
S‘darim on nights one and two, and then gather together again on
the seventh or eighth night with a special focus. Next Year
in Jerusalem The Seder ends with
a challenge: next year in Jerusalem. For Jews, Jerusalem is not only a
city but a symbol of the heart and soul of our people. When we end our
Seder, we understand the yearning for Jerusalem as a yearning for a healed
and renewed Judaism that fully honors Jewish women and men, respecting
the humanity of all people. Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, who serves as Director of the Pennsylvania Council of the Union for Reform Judaism, is the editor of The Open Door, the CCAR Haggadah. This article is adapted from The Journey Continues. Rabbi Philip Warmflash "For
Seven Days You Shall Eat Matzah…Remove All Leaven From Your Homes."
Give each guest a paper lunch bag that has a
random item from around the house (e.g., paper
clip, band-aid, roll of tape, whisk, nail file). Tell
them to make a connection between what is in
the bag and the Exodus story. When they find the
Cheryl Magen, Intern/Mentor Coordinator,
William Davidson Graduate School
of Education, NY Keeping kosher involves
every aspect of preparing and eating food: certain foods may not be eaten
together; specific foods are restricted altogether. Separate utensils
are used to prepare dairy foods and meat products. The rules of keeping
kosher reflect the Jewish tradition’s respect for the holiness of
the meal. At Passover the laws
of keeping kosher become more complex. Passover celebrates the liberation
of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. One of the most profound ways
we express this freedom is by restricting the foods we eat. At first it
seems a bit ironic, but how better to understand freedom than by experiencing
its absence? Passover
Food is Different The laws governing
"keeping" Kosher for Passover–when observed at their fullest–may
seem extremely demanding. A kitchen must be cleaned and any utensils (including
plates, pots, or silverware) used during the rest of the year for hametz
are not used on Passover. While it is possible to ritually clean some
glass and metal, porcelain, china, plastic and wood utensils must be removed
and replaced. Because the laws of Kashrut require the separation of meat
and dairy products, this most often means having two additional
sets of dishes! Passover
as a Process With your children, create a family “Passover Treasure Box” by finding and decorating a large box with a
Passover themed collage. Cut out pictures of spring, Passover objects, Egypt, plagues, or of your family. Take pictures
from magazines, use wrapping paper. Apply Mod-Podge (you can find it in any craft store) over the entire
box to give it a shiny finish. What goes in the box: old photographs, children’s art projects, Passover books, list
of who attended the Seder, etc. Each year you can add new items to the box. During the Seder, the children can
"seek the treasures" by looking through the box..
Shellie Dickstein, Director of Family Education and Outreach, SAJES,
and Susan Remick Topek, Director of Early Childhood Education and children’s author Seder
Tips While Passover kashrut
may at first seem overwhelming, consider this: Passover commemorates a
process—the transition from slaves to a free people. Such a major
shift is not easy, nor is it quick...it is a gradual series of steps.
Similarly, you can begin to look at "Kosher for Passover" as
a process. Begin simply, take a few small steps, see how they feel, and
then, each year, gradually enhance your practice as you develop a family
tradition. Here are some ways
that you can begin: • As a family,
choose a day (or more) before Passover begins to clean your kitchen (and
anywhere else food is eaten) thoroughly! Have everyone pitch in to scrub
and get at those old crumbs. • Take all foods
that are not Kosher for Passover (bread, crackers, cookies, pasta, or
cereals) out of your house and donate them to a local food
pantry. • Place products
not Kosher for Passover in a special cabinet or on a special shelf in
your kitchen to remind yourself that these days are different. • Explore the
Kosher for Passover selection in your local supermarket. You may be surprised
at the number and variety of products prepared especially for Passover.
Try something new. • Designate a
special cabinet or a special shelf in your kitchen for your Kosher for
Passover foods.
As we prepare to say Kiddush over
each of the four cups of wine at the
Seder, we give everyone the opportunity
to dedicate that cup to someone special.
Eva Grayzel, Storyteller
• Prepare Kosher
for Passover lunches for your children and yourself. You are not limited
to sandwiches on matzah–fruits, vegetables, and most dairy products
(yogurt or cheeses) can be used during Passover. For more information,
try: • The Haggadah:
Many Haggadot (plural of Haggadah) have a section about Kosher
for Passover. • Ira Steingroot.
Keeping Passover: Everything You Need to Know to Bring the Ancient Tradition
to Life and Create Your Own Passover Celebration. (Harper/San Fransisco) • Michael Strassfeld.
The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary. (Harper & Row). • Ron Wolfson.
The Art of Jewish Living: The Passover Seder. (Federation of Jewish Men’s
Clubs) (These books and others
are available at most larger book shops.) Rabbi Philip Warmflash
is Executive Director of Community Hebrew Schools
of Greater Philadelphia. Contact Making Connections for a Kosher for
Passover guide or a general guide to Kashrut. Phone: 215-635-2202; e-mail:
erivel@jopp.org Elana RH Rivel
A new tradition has gained momentum
in the past few years, highlighting
the role of women in Judaism—
and in the Exodus Story. Some
families fill a Kiddush cup with
water and designate it for Miriam,
Moses’ sister.
My brother-in-law is an Israeli whose parents
were born in Iraq. To honor his heritage,
we serve Iraqi charoset, which is
simply date honey (found in stores that
sell Israeli products) and chopped walnuts.
The honey and walnuts are served in separate
dishes and each person mixes the two
together on his/her plate. In this way, it’s as if
each of us helped to make the bricks. And by the
way, it’s yummy!
Debby Malissa, Director of Florence Melton Adult
Mini-School; Coordinator of Adult Jewish Studies,
Gratz College, Melrose Park, PA
Miriam is a central figure in
the Passover story. She stands guard
over her baby brother Moses, as he
is set floating on the
Nile and arranges for a
wet nurse—Moses’
mother—to care and
nurse for him while living
with the Pharaoh’s
daughter. Miriam leads
the Israelites in singing
and dancing after they
cross the Red Sea
successfully. It was her merits, one
midrash, biblical story, says that the
Israelites were blessed with fresh
sweet water all the days of her
life. And when Miriam dies, the
Israelites lose their rmost precious
possession—water.
Some place Miriam’s cup
on the Seder table as a symbol of
We recite this most wishful of
prayers over her cup:
You abound in blessings, God, creator of
universe, who sustains us with living water.
May we, like the children of Israel leaving
Egypt, be guarded and nurtured and kept
alive in the wilderness, and may you give
us wisdom to understand that the journey
itself holds the promise of redemption.
To further reinforce the idea
of our individual responsibility in
nurturing and guarding the Israelites
and in bringing forth the redemption
promised to us by the coming
of Elijah, some families pass around
the cup of Elijah and the cup of
Miriam, having each person pour a
little wine and a little water into
them from his/her own cup, thereby
filling the cups as one community.
Elana RH Rivel is Director of Education and
Outreach of the Jewish Outreach Partnership
of Greater Philadelphia.
Once a year we return, to the
degree that we can, to the event
that started it all. We don’t so much
celebrate Passover or mark Passover
or remember Passover as we experience
it, relive it, retell it.
Playing Cards at the Table
Telling and retelling the story
in our own way frees our imagina-tions
to enter into the mystery and
the marvels of the Exodus from
Egypt. To simply read the Haggadah
is to tell the story from the outside,
to focus on getting it right: The
story is something we hold in our
hands, when it needs to be something
we hold in our hearts. To speak
the story in our own words is to
enter into the tale and have the tale
enter us. We become the Israelites;
we feel the Egypt in our lives. We
recall what it is like to feel trapped,
oppressed, forgotten. The Haggadah
tells us that is what is supposed to
happen: “Each of us should imagine
that we personally went out from
the Land of Egypt.”
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What Does Your Matzah Taste Like?
had manna—the dew that God provided for
them which served as their food—to look forward
to. And so we ask: What would your
manna taste like this year? Then we say the
blessing and eat matza.
Choosing
a Haggadah
Scallions and Dayeinu
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(Exodus 12:15)
Paper Bag Seder
connection and you get to that point in the Haggadah,
they should stop the action and show the
item with their explanation. The connections are
clever and sometimes wacky, but always thought
provoking.
Passover Treasures
4 Cups, 4 Decorations
It could be a family member or friend, someone
who is ill, someone who is or was a role model, a
figure in history, or someone who is at the table.
We ask people to just say the name of the person
or to briefly tell us why they are making the dedication.
By the end of the Seder, everyone has had
the chance, through their dedication, to symbolically
bring one special person to the Seder table.
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A New Charoset
redemption in our present lives, in
contrast to the cup of Elijah, the
cup of Messianic
redemption
at the end
of time. Miriam
offered
hope and
renewal
throughout the
journey. We are
reminded, then,
on a holiday
celebrating
many kinds of
birth (Moses,
the Jewish people, springtime) and
of the women who make many of
these births happen.
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