Passover Seder

Since I took a hiatus in 2012 from posting, I didn't get to formally document my first Passover Seder experience when Scott and Heather hosted the event at their apartment in Detroit.  Luckily, they continued the tradition with Scott and Angela hosting (with significant contributions from Heather!).  It's a little strange to think of all these years growing up celebrating Easter with a Jewish Mother that I never once experienced a traditional Passover Seder, but then again, we did eat a lot of Kugel!

Anyway, this year, Scott continued his tradition of using the Maxwell House Haggadahs (the Jewish text that is read during the Passover Seder) and explaining how in the 1930s, Maxwell House started offering a promotion of a free Haggadah with the purchase of some of their coffee.   This led to what is now considered the longest running sales promotion in advertising history.  Scott mentioned that only recently in 2011 did Maxwell House decide to update the Haggadah with a more contemporary translation recognizing the woman's role.

After this brief introduction and overview of the meaning behind Passover, Scott kicked off with the Kiddush (or the first of four cups of wine).  From there, he explained the Passover Seder Plate, which consisted of traditional food items as we started with the "Karpas" (or a vegetable typically celery).  We dipped the celery in salt water which represents tears to remind us of the pain felt by the Hebrew slaves in Egypt.  We moved onto to the next item on the plate, the three Matzot under a cloth.  The middle piece is broken in half, where half is hidden apparently for the children to find and the other half is split among the table to eat representing the desert in Egypt.

From there, we moved onto the "Four Questions" in which Scott allowed all of us to read from the Seder book.  This led us to the second cup of wine, which symbolizes intellectual freedom.  At this point, everybody was ready to dive back into the plate, where we learned about the "Z'roa" or "Pesach Sacrifice" or the shankbone which reminds us of the lamb which the Jews sacrificed to God the night they left Egypt.  We also dove back into the Matzot which should remind us of the dough the Jews baked the night they left Egypt.  They left so quickly they didn't have time to wait for it rise; however, when baked, the unleavened bread became known as Matzot.  With the Mazot, we tried the "Maror" or the bitter herbs, which makes us cry and reminds us of the bitterness of slavery.  To represent this, Scott used horseradish.  Yum!?  Moving on, we also tried the "Charoset" or a sweet, brown mixture representing the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to build the storehouses or pyramids of Egypt.  Of all the items, this was probably the most enjoyable.

Scott concluded by explaining the hard-boiled egg or "Beitzah", which symbolized the mourning over the destruction of the Temple.  There's also now an Orange on the plate to represents the fruitfulness of the Jews, including women and gay people.  We read a little more about the Passover story, drank the third cup of wine, and listened to Scott attempt to sing one of the traditional songs.  At the conclusion, Scott described the fourth cup of wine that is maseant to remind us that not everyone in the world and we have a responsibility to help bring freedom to everyone.  At the Seder Table, there is also a cup of wine left for Elijah and the back door is to remain open for him to enter.  Elijah's cup represents the promise of messianic freedom.  It symbolizes a time which has not yet come, but for which we yearn and pray for everyone to be free.  The idea too at the end of the Seder Book is that "next year in Jerusalem" we'll celebrate Passover.

After the ceremony, Scott explained all the food he prepared, including the Matzah Ball Soup (that we devoured earlier in the meal), brisket, kugel, and assorted other goodies.  For dessert, we sampled some flourless cake and macaroons.  I even made my first ever macaroons using coconut and bits of crushed almonds and dried cherries with dark chocolate drizzled over top.

It was a fun night with a full table, tasty meal, good company, and wonderful hosts.  I'm not sure how traditional Jews celebrate this holiday, but I hope to continue in this tradition!  Thanks Scott, Angela, and Heather!!