“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”
Time-servers are the cowering slaves of slaves,
Alone on earth, who serves the Lord is free,
Each soul shall win the gift that it most craves;
Seek God, my soul -- God shall your portion be!
Originating from the Greek, "karpos," meaning "fruit of the soil," this tradition borrows from the Greco-Roman symposium which always began with washing and dipping "karpos" accompanied by discussion.
While some medieval rabbis strictly forbid eating more than an olive's size of vegetable for Karpas, you may wish to revive the ancient custom of eating extensive appetizers - each with its own dip.
The ritual handwashing prepares us for eating finger foods, Karpas, the hor d'oeuvres of the Pesach banquet. Following the preistly tradition of washing hands before eating bread and even vegetables, the ritual handwashing is performed now in order to sanctify the eating of the Karpas. However, no blessing is said for this handwashing.
Ask for two volunteers: one to carry a pitcher of water and to pour water over each guest's hands, and one ot carry a basin and a towel. Having our hands washed by someone else is part of the Seder night experience of liberty and nobility.
On Shabbat and holidays, we celebrate the double gift of abundance with two whole loaves just as in the desert the Jews received a double portion of manna (Ex. 16:22) every Friday for the weekend. ("Manna feom heaven was suspended on shabbat).
However, the seder night is unique in that the Rabbis mandated that half a loaf is better than one, for matza is called the "bread of poverty" (Deut. 16:3).
Therefore, the seder begins by breaking the matza in two and explaining that "this is the bread of poverty and persecution."
Of the three matzot, two remain whole, in order to symplize the abundance of freedom, but one must be broken to recall the deprivation of slavery. The Rabbis noted that the poor in their era were "savers," experts at delayed gratification, who would never consume a complete loaf at one sitting, but would always put something aside against the uncertainty of the following week. In the midst of the seer bbanquet, the broken matza -- the symbol of poverty -- is meant to jar us out of our sense of complacency. Maimondides explains that the Torah repeats so often: "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt," because it fears that growing up in wealth tends to breed arrogance and insensitivity.
We begin by recalling the first seder night in history when we "hurriedly left Egypt:"
"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt...
This is how you shall eat it (the Pesach meal): your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand: and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover offering to the Lord..
In the middle of the night the Lord struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt...
The Egyptians urged the people on, impatient to have them leave the country, for they said,
"We shall all be dead!" So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders..." (Exodus 12:11-29,33-34).
Here I Am, ready to perform the mitzvah of retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
"Forgetfulness leads to exile, while memory is the secret of redemption," says the Baal Shem Tov (18th C. founder of Hassidism).
Therefore, we celebrate Pssover by teaching ourselves to become inventive storytellers and empathetic listeners.
“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.”
Time-servers are the cowering slaves of slaves,
Alone on earth, who serves the Lord is free,
Each soul shall win the gift that it most craves;
Seek God, my soul -- God shall your portion be!
Originating from the Greek, "karpos," meaning "fruit of the soil," this tradition borrows from the Greco-Roman symposium which always began with washing and dipping "karpos" accompanied by discussion.
While some medieval rabbis strictly forbid eating more than an olive's size of vegetable for Karpas, you may wish to revive the ancient custom of eating extensive appetizers - each with its own dip.
The ritual handwashing prepares us for eating finger foods, Karpas, the hor d'oeuvres of the Pesach banquet. Following the preistly tradition of washing hands before eating bread and even vegetables, the ritual handwashing is performed now in order to sanctify the eating of the Karpas. However, no blessing is said for this handwashing.
Ask for two volunteers: one to carry a pitcher of water and to pour water over each guest's hands, and one ot carry a basin and a towel. Having our hands washed by someone else is part of the Seder night experience of liberty and nobility.
On Shabbat and holidays, we celebrate the double gift of abundance with two whole loaves just as in the desert the Jews received a double portion of manna (Ex. 16:22) every Friday for the weekend. ("Manna feom heaven was suspended on shabbat).
However, the seder night is unique in that the Rabbis mandated that half a loaf is better than one, for matza is called the "bread of poverty" (Deut. 16:3).
Therefore, the seder begins by breaking the matza in two and explaining that "this is the bread of poverty and persecution."
Of the three matzot, two remain whole, in order to symplize the abundance of freedom, but one must be broken to recall the deprivation of slavery. The Rabbis noted that the poor in their era were "savers," experts at delayed gratification, who would never consume a complete loaf at one sitting, but would always put something aside against the uncertainty of the following week. In the midst of the seer bbanquet, the broken matza -- the symbol of poverty -- is meant to jar us out of our sense of complacency. Maimondides explains that the Torah repeats so often: "Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt," because it fears that growing up in wealth tends to breed arrogance and insensitivity.
We begin by recalling the first seder night in history when we "hurriedly left Egypt:"
"The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt...
This is how you shall eat it (the Pesach meal): your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand: and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover offering to the Lord..
In the middle of the night the Lord struck down all the first-born in the land of Egypt...
The Egyptians urged the people on, impatient to have them leave the country, for they said,
"We shall all be dead!" So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders..." (Exodus 12:11-29,33-34).
Here I Am, ready to perform the mitzvah of retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
"Forgetfulness leads to exile, while memory is the secret of redemption," says the Baal Shem Tov (18th C. founder of Hassidism).
Therefore, we celebrate Pssover by teaching ourselves to become inventive storytellers and empathetic listeners.
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