Pesach (Continued) -פסח

Pesach Preparation
During the two weeks before Pesach begins, the home is given a thorough spring clean, in order to rid it of chametz (any foodstuff that contains wheat, barley, rye, spelt (an ancient variety of wheat) or oats if they are leavened). To be on the safe side, it is easiest to look for food marked ‘Kosher for Passover’. Any chametz is either put in room that remains locked during Pesach, given to charity as tzedakah, or selling it either privately or through the synagogue to non-Jewish people and arranging to buy it back after Pesach.

At this time, crockery, cutlery and cooking pots are packed away and replaced with items that are only used at Pesach time.

The Seder Plate
זְרוֹעַ Z’ro’a (roasted bone), בֵּיצָה Beitzah (roasted egg)
On the afternoon before the Pesach holiday, two offerings would be brought in the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) in Jerusalem. We place a roasted shankbone from a lamb (with some meat on it) and a roasted egg on the Seder Plate to remind us of these. The word z’ro’a means shankbone or arm. Although any meaty bone can be used, we call it z’ro’a to hint at the outstretched ‘arm’, with which G-d took us out of Egypt. Also, the shankbone is a reminder of the lambs the Israelites sacrificed, the blood of which they smeared on the doorposts of their houses so that the angel of death would pass them by when he came to slay the first-born Egyptian sons. The egg, a traditional symbol of mourning, is used instead of a second piece of meat as a sign of our mourning at the loss of the Beis Hamikdash, which we hope will be rebuilt in our lifetime. We are not supposed to eat the meat on the shankbone, or any other roasted meat for that matter, as if roast meat were eaten at the Seder, it would seem as if we are eating the meat of the offerings, something we may only do when the Beis Hamikdash is standing. This explanation is given in the Artscroll Youth Haggadah, simplified translation and commentary by Rabbis Nosson and Yitzchok Zev Scherman (March 2006 Ed., Mesorah Publications Ltd, New York).

A different explanation given by Rabbi Julia Neuberger in her book “On being Jewish” (1995, William Heinman, London) is that the sacrifice of a new-born lamb is much more likely to be a spring fertility rite, as was the eating of the tender young shoots of green herbs (karpas), to symbolise the new beginning, the spring. With regard to the roasted egg, it is not coincidence that Passover and Easter (following the same lunar calendar as the Jewish calendar) usually coincide. There are eggs at Easter too, and it is likely that Jewish and Christian symbols have their origins in an ancient middle-eastern fertility festival in the spring.

מָרוֹר Marror, חַזֶרֶת Chazeres (two kinds of bitter vegetables)
We eat bitter vegetables, usually horseraddish and/or romaine lettuce, twice during the Seder: once by themselves as Marror; the second time with matzah as Korech. According to the Artscroll Youth Haggadah, Marror symbolises the bitterness of the suffering of the Israelites. However, Rabbi Julia Neuberger believes that bitter herbs were originally the relishes customary with meat in Roman times, since we know that the Romans had a strong palate for sauces. The Korech symbolises continuity with past tradition. In honour of the great teacher, Hillel, head of the rabbinic academy in Jerusalem around the time of the birth of Jesus, we each a ‘Hillel sandwich’ composed of matzah and marror. Hillel did this so that he might observe the Law handed down to him, exactly as his ancestors before him: “They shall eat the Pesach lamb offering with matzah and marror together”. The destruction of the Temple by the Romans brought an end forever to animal sacrifices by our people, as it is Law (see roasted bone section above) that animal sacrifices may only be made in the Temple, so our sandwich today is made only with matzah and marror.

חַרוֹסֶת Charoses (mixture of grated apples, nuts, other fruits, cinnamon, other spices and red wine)
The marror is dipped into charoses, which looks and feels like mortar and reminds us of the hard work that the Hebrew slaves had to do in Egypt, and according to Rabbi Julia Neuberger, also served and serves to cool down the mouth from the heat of the bitter marror.

כּרְפַּס Karpus (a vegetable other than marror)
This is taken from the Seder Plate and sipped in salt water, a symbol of the sweat and tears of the slaves.
Rabbi Julia Neuberger states that this is a custom, more ancient than the passover celebration itself, which derrives from an ancient first course or hors d’oeuvre to whet the appetite.

מַצָה Matsah
Three whole matzahs are placed one above the other separated by a cloth or napkin. Matzah is eaten at least three times during the Seder; once by itself as Matzah, the second time with marror as Korech, the third time by itself as Tzafun (the Afikoman).

Steps of the Seder
The fifteen steps of the Seder can be broken down into four sections:

A series of preparatory prayers and rituals.
The telling of the story.
The dinner.
The post-meal prayers and songs.

The very first step, the lighting of the candles, is not included in the fifteen steps, because this ritual always precedes the evening celebration of any Jewish festival

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