Although Passover (Pesach) is a spring holiday, we hold a simulated Seder each semester, hosted by Ophir Yarden. We follow the Hagaddah, the book compiled in the Talmudic time period which describes the order of the ceremony. "Seder" means order, and it includes all the steps from the first blessing on the day to the conclusion where we say, "Next Year in Jerusalem."
The students worked together to arrange the room for a great feast, to make it different from an everyday meal. Below you can see the Haggadah book, the two thin candles on the silver candlesticks which were lit before the ceremony (thanks to one of the cafeteria workers who lent me his lighter), and a goblet for Elijah. Ophir said they don't actually set a place for Elijah. They have a cup for Elijah, and they open the door and see if he is there, but setting an extra place represents welcoming the stranger or unexpected guest.
Some students even helped make the Charoset (that's "ch" like in Bach), which represents the mortar with which the enslaved Children of Israel were forced to build. Ashkenazi Jews (of European descent) typically make charoset with apples, cinnamon, walnuts, and wine/grape juice). But Sephardi Jews (of middle eastern and North African descent) make Charoset with dates, walnuts, and wine.
Our Seder host Ophir recommended the Ashkenazi recipe, but our Palestinian chef Achmed, well seasoned at catering Seder events in Egypt and Jordan, he recommended using rich, chocolate-brown date paste. So we compromised. The students cut apples, chopped walnuts, added cinnamon and grape juice, then kneaded in the date paste by hand. It was delicious!
The charoset is placed on a Seder plate, along with parsley, a roasted hardboiled egg, a piece of roasted chicken, bitter herbs (we used commercially prepared red horseradish tempered with beets-not bad!), and romain lettuce. Each table has a dish of salt water for dipping the parsley. These symbols remind the participants of the bitterness of the slavery and the lambs that were sacrificed for the Paschal meal to save the firstborn of the children of Israel.
The delicious meal has to wait until the prescribed part of the evening, about an hour into the three-hour service. First come prayers of thankfulness, cups of wine (we used grape juice), and reading the story of the Exodus. Everything is participatory, as we take turns reading, dipping the parsley, making a sandwich with charoset, bitter herbs, and matzah. The students prepared songs in Hebrew and sang throughout the service.
Before eating, everyone washes their hands with a two-handled cup like those found in the washing stations of the Western Wall. They can also be found in restrooms and restaurants. This is a ritual cleansing of the hands.
The leader gets his own hand washing bowl and a special packet containing three matzah. The middle matzah is broken, and a piece of it gets hidden away. That piece is called the afikomen, and it somehow gets lost and must be found, then redeemed at the end of the evening. The children and students go look for the afikomen, and whoever finds it trades it for a treat, and the afikomen is eaten as the last bite of the supper. It would have been this piece of bread which the Savior blessed and broke at the Last Supper.
Our host sat at a head table with his daughter Yemima, and the students who helped read passages from the Haggadah.
Ashkenazi Haroset Recipe (Yield: 3 cups)
6 peeled apples, coarsely chopped
2/3 c chopped almonds or walnuts
3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
½ tsp cinnamon
grated rind of 1 lemon
4 tbsp grape juice
Combine all, mixing thoroughly. Add juice if needed. Blend to desired texture-some like it coarse and crunchy, others prefer it ground to a paste. Chill. (Optional: Add ground dates!)
