Remembering the First Passover

Passover
Date	March 23, 2013
Section(s)	Religion
Byline	By LINDSEY ADKISON The Brunswick News
"This is where you put the matzah. There is a separate plate for the matzah," she said, gesturing to a square plate. "And on this plate, you have a boiled egg, a lamb bone, haroseth which is apple and nuts, bitter herbs, horseradish." She continued listing the items as she moved around the plate, naming each item. "Everything has its place and it's all symbolic," Simpson said. It's all part of the Seder (which means "order" in Hebrew) service which accompanies one of the most important days in Judaism - Passover. Beginning Monday, Simpson and Jews around the world will mark the week-long celebration which commemorates the Hebrews exodus out of Egypt. It will begin at sundown, with the Passover Seder. For Simpson and other members of Temple Beth Tefiloh in Brunswick, the meal will be a time to reflect on the story of their ancestors. The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by generations of a family. Simpson says that a visiting rabbi, Rabbi Marshal Klaven, and student rabbi Matt Zerwekh, representatives of the Southern Institute of Jewish Life, will conduct the service when they arrive in Brunswick as a park of their Passover pilgrimage. "They are going throughout the South, visiting temples that don't have a resident rabbi," she said. "So this year, we will have a community seder." During the service, they will continue the practice that has been a tradition dating back thousands of years. And the items involved in the service help to underscore the history and trials of the Hebrew people. Simpson says everything used - from the matzah or unleven bread to the parsley or bitter herbs - has a meaning. Each item is used to reinforce the story of Moses and the Exodus. Approximately 3,300 years ago, as told in the first 15 chapters of the Book of Exodus, Moses was a prince among the Egyptians after being rescued from the Nile by a princess. He was really the son of a Hebrew slave girl who placed him in a basket, sending him downstream and hopefully to a better life. Once Moses grew up, he observed the harsh treatment of the Hebrews under Egyptian rule and learned of his true origin. Then, Moses decided to join the Hebrew slaves. God favored Moses and chose him to lead the Hebrews out of bondage. God sent nine plagues on the land of Egypt. When the Pharaoh still refused to let the Hebrews leave, God sent the 10th plague - the death of the first born son of all Egyptians. To avoid falling victim to the Angel of Death, God commanded Moses and the Hebrews to slaughter and eat a roasted paschal lamb which symbolizes the Passover sacrifice. God also instructed the Hebrews to spread the blood of the paschal lamb on the door posts and on the beam above the door of their houses. This was a signal to the angels to pass over the Hebrews' homes. Since then, Jews have marked this event at the Passover Seder. For the first half of the Seder, each participant will only need a plate and a wine glass. At the head of the table is a Seder plate containing various symbolic foods that will be eaten or pointed out during the course of the Seder. Other parts of the meal include dishes of salt water used to represent tears of the Hebrews. Each member also has a Haggadah, a small book explaining the course of the dinner. Candles are also used and a door is commonly left open to welcome in the prophet Elijah. All of these aspects, Simpson says, help to reinforce the important story of faith. "It gives us a chance every year to honor our history and remember where we came from," she said. * Lifestyle Editor Lindsey Adkison writes about lifestyle topics. Contact her at ladkison@thebrunswicknews.com, on Facebook or at 265-8320, ext. 316. Breakout: What's on a seder plate? * Maror and Chazeret: two types of bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery. For maror, many people use freshly grated horseradish or whole horseradish root. Chazeret is typically romaine lettuce, whose roots are bitter-tasting. * Charoset: This is sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. * Karpas: A vegetable other than bitter herbs, usually parsley but sometimes something such as celery or cooked potato. * Zeroa: A roasted lamb or goat bone, symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb's blood used during the 10th plague. * Beitzah: A hard boiled egg, symbolizing the korban chagigah (festival sacrifice) that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and was then eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.