A DIFFERENT KIND OF SEDER

This year, 5784/2024 there is a ton of conversation about doing different kinds of seders based on the ongoing agony of the hostages. No need to break the matzah, when our hearts are already broken reads one of the supplements I’ve seen.  On the other hand, the verse about pour out our wrath on those who oppress us are encountering the reality of the pictures from Gaza where we are indeed pouring out our wrath on another people, and it is making some of us just sick. So somehow doing the same seder we did last year seems impossible.

I’ve also been asking myself what a really different kind of seder would be like that is organized much more around the agricultural aspects of the holiday and the earth based symbols rather than the story of liberation.  I’m not denigrating the story of liberation—I’m rather saying that there are a ton of sources out there addressing this from all kinds of political positions, and I have not much to add. But emphasizing the agricultural aspects?  Not so much.

I also was interested in developing some practices that can be done throughout all of Pesach after the seder is over. Most of us who observe to a seder or two, eat matzah for a few days or the whole time and avoid some of the obvious foods that have leavening. But what would it be like to take on some further earth based practices?  That’s the question I am playing with.

These are suggestions, not some kind of nicely polished Haggadah.

The elements of the seder plate are:

  •          Karpas (greens)

  •           Beitzah (egg)

  •           Zaroah (shank bone)

  •           Haroset (a nut and fruit mixture that looks like bricks

  •           Maror (bitter herbs)

  •           Matzah

I’ve toyed with developing some sense of where each of these six parts of the seder plate should be played. I don’t have any good conclusions, and I’d urge readers to look inside and see what feels right to them. I’d love to hear how you’d organize the seder plate.

Starting with Karpas in the east, the core organizing principle is to say something about the symbol, pose some questions for deeper reflection and some practices for the rest of Pesach.  I’ve also included some songs, since I find it hard to imagine a seder without music. One note, I combine Hazeret and Maror which is how I learned the tradition.

Karpas.  These are the greens of spring. Placement is in the east.  Pesach happens in early spring time.  In the ecosystem in which I am located, everything is green and starting to grow.  Spring is a time of new growth, of renewal, of hope. It can be hard to feel hope.  Humanity is in the process of committing collective suicide through global climate change, let alone all the usual violence.  If it is true that it can be hard to hope, it is all the more true this year with the worst pogrom since the Holocaust on October 7 when Israelis were killed just because they were Jews, the rise of anti semitism and the trauma induced destruction of the Gaza strip which has not resulted in the military defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages.  Yet the spring is the time of hope if we look outside our windows. So many of the other beings with whom we share the earth are busy growing, mating, raising babies as a testament to their belief in the future.

  •           What are your hopes for the next turn of the wheel?

  •           What feels ready to burst forth in an explosion of growth, if anything?

  •           What inside of you needs to be renewed?

PRACTICE.  Spend time over Pesach wandering in the woods. Lie down on the ground.  Feel the reawakening of the earth. Let it permeate through your body so that you feel deeply connected.  Spent at least 15 minutes. Share your experience with a partner.

Beitzah.  This is the egg that symbolizes both the birth of something new and the wholeness of the world in its round shape. We are all part of a cycle of birth and death and rebirth that is symbolized by the egg.  The possibilities of our entire lives and death are contained in the egg, just as a woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have when she is born.

  •           What feels broken

  • What feels whole in your life?

  •           Do you believe that what is broken can be made whole? How?

PRACTICE. When you are wandering in the woods, before or after you have laid on the ground.  Cry out all of your pain, all of the broken places in your life. 

Zaroah.  This is the shankbone of the lamb that was roasted, not boiled, for the Passover offering. The Passover offering’s blood was used to protect the Jewish households from the angel of death and the flesh was used for the celebratory meal.  While Ashkenazi Jewish custom is to not eat lamb, Sephardi custom from what I understand is to eat lamb, and that is what we will do this year.  Blood was used by our ancestors for protective magic, both here and when Zipporah saved Moses’ life by putting the blood from her circumcised son on him. (Exodus 4:24-26).  Meat was a rare treat for our ancestors, mostly eaten at feast time because it was more expensive than eating lower on the food chain. Maybe fasting is an appropriate response to what is happening in the world today.  Except it wouldn’t feel much like a gathering time if we don’t eat.

  •           Where do you currently need protection in your life?  Where did you in the past?

  •           Is there any human you need to protect, like Zipporah protected Moses?

  •           Are there any non human beings you are called to protect?

  •           Are there any non human beings who protect you?

PRACTICE

          Sit with these questions outside (not on your walk, which is already too busy).  Give voice to your answers.  Spend at least 15 minutes.

Haroset.  This is a traditional food that does three things. First, it physically reminds us of the bricks we made in Egypt because it looks like bricks. Second, the reddish color is the best representation of the good earth on our seder plate.  All of our gifts begin with the good and fertile earth, because without it we wouldn’t exist.  Third, it is always sweet.  This is a reminder that even amidst terrible suffering, we should always seek to find whatever fleeting moments of sweetness we can find. Hope, as a mother of one of the hostages has said, is mandatory.  Haroset reminds us to be grateful, so it is a good time to sing Dayenu.

  •           What is sweet in your life?  Make a list of at least ten things. Notice how many of them are connected to the more than human world, and how many of them are exclusively or largely human oriented.

  •           What, if any, is the connection between what is sweet in your life and where there is suffering?

PRACTICE

          Do a gratitude practice for at least five minutes a day during Pesach.  Could be saying I’m grateful for and listing 10 things, or the morning blessings that Jews traditionally recite such as Modeh Ani, Mah Tovu, Elohai etc.

Maror.   These are bitter herbs designed to remind us of the bitterness of slavery.  Of course, some of us actually like maror combined with Haroset.  Also, some communities of Jews use Romaine lettuce leaves rather than horseradish under the theory that mature romaine leaves can be bitter.  On the seder plate above that’s the Hazeret.  It’s true that overmature lettuce can get bitter, but around here it’s not true at this point in the year.  Maror is a reminder that every life contains bitterness.  Then the task is to mix it with the sweet so that it becomes an integrated part of our lives. I’m reminded of the fact that Concentration Camp Jews during the Holocaust would sing Ani Ma’aminAni Maamin basically says despite everything, I believe in the coming of the Messiah.

  •           What are you bitter about in your life?

  •           How can you mix it with the sweet so that it becomes an integrated part of your life?

PRACTICE

          Cook or eat something where there is a mix of bitterness and sweet or astringent and sweet.  If you are used to eating a Hillel sandwich of Haroset, matzah and maror at the seder, but that’s it, eat the sandwich at least 3 or 4 times during Pesach to remind yourself that it is possible to integrate the bitterness.

Matzah.  This is the core symbol for most of us about Pesach.  As I’ve argued elsewhere and at length, for instance on my commentary on Pesach,  matzah is eaten for the sympathetic magical aspect of ceasing the rain.  Our ancestors desperately needed the rain to cease at Pesach so they could have a successful grain harvest.  Matzah isn’t about not having enough time to let the dough rise, contrary to the story we’ve been told these many centuries. (https://earthbasedjudaism.org/nissan/pesach)

          What is too wet in your life that needs drying out?

          What is too dry in your life and needs more moisture

PRACTICE

Eat Matzah each day of Passover and pray for a gentle climate that gives all beings what they need—enough rain in season, enough dryness to harvest crops.

May our dreams for this year, at least in part come true.  May our broken hearts experience some healing. May this coming year, somehow, miraculously, be a harbinger of better times.  Sing Eliyahu Hanavi/Miriam Haneviyah from Debbie Friedman to close the seder.

PRACTICES

Spend time over Pesach wandering in the woods. Lie down on the ground.  Feel the reawakening of the earth. Let it permeate through your body so that you feel deeply connected.  Spent at least 15 minutes. Share your experience with a partner

When you are wandering in the woods, before or after you have laid on the ground.  Cry out all of your pain, all of the broken places in your life. 

Do a gratitude practice for at least five minutes a day during Pesach.  Could be saying I’m grateful for and listing 10 things, or the morning blessings that Jews traditionally recite such as Modeh Ani, Mah Tovu, Elohai etc.

Sit with these questions around practice outside (not on your walk, which is already too busy).  Give voice to your answers.  Spend at least 15 minutes.  

Cook or eat something where there is a mix of bitterness and sweet or astringent and sweet.  If you are used to eating a Hillel sandwich of Haroset, matzah and maror at the seder, but that’s it, eat the sandwich at least 3 or 4 times during Pesach to remind yourself that it is possible to integrate the bitterness.

Eat Matzah each day of Passover and pray for a gentle climate that gives all beings what they need—enough rain in season, enough dryness to harvest crops.

 

 

         

 

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