Remember Series

“Mah nishtanah ha-lailah hazeh mikol ha-leilot?”

Recognize it? If you were Jewish you would recognize it instantly. It is the question that the youngest child or person at the table asks at the beginning of every Passover or “Pesach” ceremony: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The celebration of Passover, as we heard, was decreed by God. The child’s question begins the telling of the Jews’ liberation from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. The answer to the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”, includes a brief review of early Jewish history, a brief narrative of how Abraham rejected idolatry and entered into a covenant with God, a description of the suffering imposed upon the Israelites, a listing of the plagues visited on the Egyptians, and an enumeration of the miracles performed by YAHWEH, the LORD Almighty, to redeem His people (Chabad.org).

This annual celebration centers around a meal and is called a “seder” … which is the Hebrew word for “order” … and there is an order to the celebration or meal … one that has been followed by thousands of generations of Jews since God first called for its institution. Every meal involves the sharing of four cups of wine. The wine represents “freedom” and the four cups can represent a number of things:

The four promises of God to liberate the Jews: (1) “I shall take you out” … (2) “I shall rescue you” … (3) “I shall redeem you” … (4) “I shall bring you.” They represent the four evil decrees of Pharoah: (1) slavery, (2) his order to murder all the male children born to the Hebrew slaves, (3) ordering them drowned in the Nile River, and (4) his command that the Jews collect their own straw to make bricks. They also represent the four exiles of the Jewish people … the Egyptian exile, the Babylonian exile, the Greek exile, and the current exile … and the promise that God will send a messiah … a great king … to bring them together and create a great nation (Explanations for Four Cups of Wine at Passover Seder, learnreligions.com) … or they could represent each of the four letters that make up the unpronounceable name of GOD … Y H W H. A fifth cup of wine is poured and set aside for the prophet Elijah in the hopes that this is the year that he shows up, heralding the arrival of the next and final messiah or king.

Remember … the name “seder” represents an “order” of worship that centers around a meal or plate that contains six symbolic ritual foods:

• The “zeroah” or roasted lamb shinbone … which represents the lambs that were sacrificed and eaten on the night that God passed over the Hebrew slaves. It also represents the blood of the lambs that were smeared with a hyssop branch on the lintel and door posts of the Jewish homes. The word “zeroah” means “arm” and also represents the outstretched arm of YAHWEH.

• The ”baytsah” or roasted egg. It stands in place of the sacrificial offerings that were performed in the days of the Second Temple. It also represents the Jewish people who get tougher the hotter things get for them. The baytsah, or roasted egg, is not eaten.

• The “maror” or bitter herbs. Any bitter herb can be used but the most common is horseradish. The purpose of the bitter herbs is to bring tears to the eyes and recall the bitterness of slavery. It is a call for the participants to remember their own bitter enslavement, whether through addiction or habit.

• The “charoset,” which is a salad or paste made up of apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon. It represents the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to make bricks.

• The “karpas” … which is a green leafy vegetable, typically parsley, which represents the freshness of springtime.

• The “chazeret” is the name for the second round of bitter herbs, typically romaine lettuce or the leaves from a horseradish plant or carrot, and represents the same thing as the maror or first round of bitter herbs.

• Salt water represents the tears shed during their time of slavery. The traditional practice is to dip the “karpas” … or parsley … into the salt water, followed by dipping and eating a hard-boiled egg in the salt water … but not the baytsah or roasted egg. As I said, that one is not eaten.

• Finally, we have the three pieces of matzah, unleavened bread … recalling the haste with which the Jews had to leave Egypt. (The Symbolic Foods at a Passover Seder. Dummies.com.)

The reason I’ve gone into such detail is to show you the “story” behind the meal or ceremony. The ceremony begins with the telling of the story of God’s powerful display of power in liberating the Hebrews from Pharoah and Egypt. Each item, each piece of food during the meal also tells the story … the roasted lamb bone, the bitter herbs, the salt water, the unleavened bread. The goal of the meal is to not only remember but to feel like you are actually there … to not only “hear” the story but to see it, touch it, and taste it. “As we eat the bitter foods of affliction and poverty,” said one author, “the Exodus becomes a reality” (What is a Seder (Passover Meal)? Chabad.org). The meal ends with the celebrants thanking God for having set His people free from Egypt and a prayer for God’s final redemption of His people.