The Seder plate holds ritual foods that hold the meaning of the Passover story. Each Seder plate includes a shank bone, a roasted egg, haroset (a mixture of apple, nuts and wine), horseradish, a second bitter herb (often romaine) and parsley (or other greens). Each of these items has a ritual significance in the story of Passover. Many modern Seder plates also have an orange and/or olives. Click here to find out why!
Thank you to everyone who sent in an RSVP for our congregational Seder. Registration for this event is now closed. Even if you won't be joining us for the Seder, I hope you'll continue to learn about Passover and celebrate in your own way next week. In the meantime, our Seder Snapshots will continue through Sunday.
“In the Jewish calendar, days do not officially start in the morning, but at sunset (sunset to sunset). If your calendar says Passover is on the 13th and 14th, it is celebrated on the evenings of the 12th and 13th, for example.” —from Nancy Cronk’s “Oranges and Olives: A Modern, Interfaith Family Passover Haggadah”
“It is a tradition for families to clean the entire house thoroughly before Passover and to remove all unleavened bread. This may be an origin for the American idea of “spring cleaning”.) Many reform and unaffiliated Jews do not remove grain products, but do try to replace as much bread as possible with Matzah at meals.” —from Nancy Cronk’s “Oranges and Olives: A Modern, Interfaith Family Passover Haggadah”
Today (Monday) is the last day to RSVP for our congregational Seder, Sunday, April 20, 5-7 pm. Contact Becky Brooks if you are interested in attending.
Like Unitarian Universalism, Judaism is a religion without a creed or mandated practice. Some Jews keep Kosher, some do not. Some Jews go to religious services, some do not. Many, though far from all, have special dietary practices during the celebration of Passover. These practices might include not eating leavened bread, beans, corn and other grain products, some wine or vinegar, or some combination of these, based on how they are made. Some foods are considered Kosher for Passover if they have gone through a special process or exclude certain ingredients. For example, “Kosher L’Pesach” Pepsi looks just like regular Pepsi, only made with sugar instead of corn syrup.
“Pesach” (pronounced “pay-sock”) is the Hebrew word for the Jewish holiday called “Passover” in English.
Because Hebrew is written with a different alphabet that the English alphabet, all the words you see with English letters are transliterations of the Hebrew. That’s why you often see Hebrew words written with a variety of different spellings. Haroset and Charoses refer to the same thing, they are just different ways to transliterate the word for the yummy chopped apple, walnut and wine dish.
Our Mystery Buddy program this year was a smashing success, with a record forty-six kid and adult participants! All forty-six buddies, plus their families joined in a celebratory meal on March 30. After a month of exchanging clues, there were some surprises and some suspicions confirmed at our bountiful potluck breakfast. Pairs ate together and worked together to decorate paper-people to represent themselves on the “Mystery Buddy” posters, now on display in the downstairs hallway of the RE building.
For more great pictures, be sure to check out the photo album at this link: Mystery Buddy Breakfast
Special thanks to our official photographer, Jessah Serafini, who graciously lent her superb expertise to capture the event on film!
