WHAT’S WITH ALL THE FOURS: A Passover Seder Supplement
Despite being late at night and overcome with exhaustion, many people at the conclusion of the Passover Seder have wondered, what’s with all the fours! While many see the Seder as a random collection of verses and songs, the ancient rabbis saw the Seder as a tool to ingrain specific concepts in the minds of its participants. To do this, the rabbis borrowed from educational pedagogy and used songs, riddles, and puzzles to convey their intended meaning.
With this supplement, we hope to decode the fours and help enhance your Passover Seder.
WHAT IS A SEDER?
It is customary during the first (and for some the second) night of Passover to participate in a Seder. The Passover Seder is a festival meal where participants walk through 15 steps to retell the Exodus story and our ancestor's freedom from slavery in Egypt. Seder means order. It has this name because the steps in a Seder are intended to be done in a certain order to help us imagine that we ourselves are on a journey from slavery to freedom. Seders are intended to be unostentatious and fun, questions are welcome, as is the chaos that sometimes results from 4 cups of wine and a really good time! After all, we are celebrating not being slaves anymore.
HOW TO USE THIS PASSOVER SEDER SUPPLEMENT
On the pages that follow, you will find readings and rituals that can be added to your Passover Seder. Use them as is or let them inspire you.
THE PASSOVER STORY: A MODERN EXODUS THE PASSOVER STORY: A MODERN EXODUS
ThePassoverstoryisancientbutforhundredsofthousandsofJews,amodernexodusisongoing. FormanyJewsfromAfrica,Ukraineandaroundtheworld,themodernexodushasbeenanightmare forthemandtheirfamilies.
ImmigratingtoIsraelhasbeenespeciallydifficultforAfricanJewsastheyattempttofleetoIsrael andIsraeltriestostemthetideofasylumseekers. ThefirstwaveofAfricanrefugeeswasfromthe Darfur region of Sudan in 2000, followed by Eritreans escaping brutal military dictatorship and forcedconscriptionthathasbeencomparedtoslavelabor.TheEritreanasylum-seekersmadetheir waythroughEthiopia,Sudan,andEgypt,andeventuallypaidBedouinstosmugglethemthroughthe Sinai Desert. This last leg of the journey left many vulnerable to torture, extortion, and sexual assaults,accordingtohumanrightsgroups.
Fromthestart,thepresenceofAfricanasylum-seekershasposedaquandaryforIsrael.Thepolicyof successivegovernmentswasdrivenbytheconcernthatthecountrycouldbeoverwhelmedbylarge wavesofnon-Jewishmigrationfromtheregion.Eventhoughmanyofthesefamiliesself-identifyas Jewish, the Israeli government classifies them as non-Jewish asylum-seekers and “infiltrators”, putting their children into segregated schools. They are relegated to a life of limbo and chronic economicinstabilitywithlittlelikelihoodofbeinggrantedrefugeestatusinIsrael.Manyeventually settledinCanadawheretheyhavebeenembracedbytheCanadianJewishcommunity.
Asimilarnightmareisongoingforsome8millionUkrainianrefugeeswhohavebeenonthemovefor morethanayear.ThecircumstancesofthisexodusarestarklysimilartothetheAfricanrefugees. Gathering the few belongings they can carry, saying goodbyes to loved ones and chosen family, departingandbeingunsureiforwhentheymayreturn,afuturefullofrisk,uncertainty,andloss.
The story of these exoduses seem eerily familiar as a modern version of the biblical tale of the ExodusfromEgypt.Liketheancienttale,charactersofthesemodernsagasincludeautocratswho thoughtothersshouldservetheirregimesandfreedomfighterswithdeepfaithandresolve.
BRING THIS STORY TO YOUR SEDER:
• Include this reading in your Seder.
• Ask participants to consider collecting items for Ukrainian refugees who are making their new home here in Buffalo. Find out more at jfswny.org/ukrainian-community-care.
SEDER PLATE 2.0 SEDER PLATE 2.0
OneofthewaysthatthePassoverSederhelpsustoseeourselvesaspersonallyescaping fromEgyptisthroughtheintegrationoftheSederplate.ThecenterpieceofourPassover tables, aSeder plate uses each of our five senses toensure thatwesee, smell, feel, hear and taste experiences of both freedom and oppression. A traditional Seder plate contains:
עורז Zeroah Shank Bone: This represents the sacrifice the Jewish people made upon leavingEgypt.
ספרכ Karpas Green Vegetable: This represents one of the names of Passover, Chag HaAvivorthe“holidayofspring.”RightaroundPassover,thefirstbudsemergeandwelook forwardtothewarmthandsenseofpossibilityofthenewseason,similartotheemotions theJewishpeoplefeltastheyleftEgypt.
רורמ Maror Bitter Vegetable: This first bitter herb allows us to taste the bitterness of slavery.
תסורח HarosetMortar:Thismixoffruits,wineorhoney,andnutssymbolizesthemortar thattheIsraeliteslavesusedtoconstructbuildingsforPharaoh.
תרזח HazeretHorseradish:ThesecondbitterherbisusedaspartoftheHillelSandwich. (asandwichmadeofmatzahandhorseradishduringtheSeder)
הציב BeitzaHardBoiledEgg:Thisrepresentsthecycleoflife.Evenduringdifficulttimes, thereisalwayshopeforanewbeginning.
Today it is not unusual to see other modern ritual objects on Seder plates used to represent causes: such as creating space for marginalized voices, calling attention to issueslikeLGBTQ+inclusionandtheplightofpresent-dayrefugees.
Theseitemscaninclude:
Cashews: At a CVS, Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz saw a sign asking customers to buy bags of cashews to send to troops in Iraq. One of the employee’s sons was abroad in the war, and explained that cashews provide sustenance and hydration in Iraq’s dry climate. To honor the American and Israeli military forces, Rabbi Gardenswartz called for adding cashewstotheSederplate.
Artichoke: TheJewishcommunity ismadeupofpeople ofall colors, cultures, andlevels ofreligiosity.RabbiGeelaRayzelRaphaelsuggests:“LetthisartichokeontheSederplate standforthewisdomofcreationinmakingtheJewishpeopleapopulationabletoabsorb manyelementsandculturesthroughoutthecenturies—yetstillremainJewish.”
FairTradeChocolate:ThemostdeliciousuniqueadditiontotheSederplatehasgottobe chocolate. In 2011, Fair Trade Judaica launched a campaign to shine a light on forced childlaborinthechocolateandcoffeeindustries.
Banana: A photograph of a young boy, face planted on a Turkish beach, clothes sopping wet, rocked the world in 2015. Aylan Kurdi and his brother, Galip, were victims of the Syrian refugee crisis. To honor them along with thousands of other refugees — Rabbi DanMoskovitzcalledforplacingabananaontheSederplate,commemoratingatradition in which the boys’ father would bring them a banana to share every day. According to Moskovitz: “We place a banana on our Seder table and tell this story to remind us of Aylan,Galip,andchildreneverywherewhoarecaughtupinthismoderndayexodus.May they be guarded and protected along their journey to safety and shielded by the love of theirparents.”
Orange: This is perhaps the most well-known non-traditional food used to symbolize oppression.JewishstudiesprofessorSusannahHescheladdedanorangetoherplatefor all LGBTQ+ Jews. The professor asked everyone at her family Seder to take an orange slice,makeablessingoverthefruit,andeatittoshowsolidaritywithLGBTQ+people,and allJewishcommunitymembersthataremarginalized.
Olive: The olive branch is famous for being the symbol of peace. As such, olives were introducedtotheSederplateasasymbolofhopeforafuturewithpeacethroughoutthe world.
Potato:WhenEthiopianJewswerebroughttoIsraelviaOperationSolomonin1991,they were famished. In fact, they were so ill and emaciated that they could not stomach a substantial meal. Instead, doctors fed them boiled potatoes and rice. To represent the continuous exodus of Jews from oppressive regions, it has become customary to place boiledpotatoesalongsidethegreenvegetable—karpas—thatwedipinsaltwater.
HOW TO SHINE A LIGHT ON YOUR SEDER PLATE:
• Explain what each item on the Seder plate represents.
• Encourage your guests to use their senses to explore each of the items.
• Consider adding one of the modern ritual objects above or an item that represents something that is meaningful to you to your Seder plate.
• Ask participants to share an item they would add to the Seder plate to represent a cause they are passionate about.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? WHAT’S IN A NAME?
William Shakespeare taught us that a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. Jews don’t necessarily agree! We put a lot of weight and thought into names. In fact, Passoverhasfournames:
תורחה גח ChagHaCherut(theFestivalofFreedom)
חספה גה ChagHaPesach(theFestivalofPassover)
תוצמה גה ChagHaMatzot(theFestivaloftheUnleavenedBread)
ביבאה גה ChagHaAviv(theFestivalofSpring)
Passover’s honorifics represent the four dimensions of this holiday. The Festival of Freedom represents the idea that during the exodus of Egypt the Jewish people gained freedom from slavery. In more modern times, this aspect of the holiday also became connected to the Jewish people’s aspirations to reach Israel, which for almost 2,000 years (since Roman times) was an unfulfilled aspiration. After Israel was established as a statein1948,thisaspectoftheholidayhastakenonawholenewlayerofsignificance.
The Festival of Passover represents the idea that the Jewish people had to make sacrifices to leave Egypt, having to leave behind their familiar routines, comfort, and favoritefoods.Today,thisaspectoftheholidayresonatesaswewitnessmanyhavingto make great sacrifices to escape dangers in their county and become refuges to become safe.
TheFestivalofMatzotrepresentstheideathattheJewishpeoplehadtobeopentonew ways of thinking. As slaves in Egypt they were told what to do, and by gaining freedom theygainedfreedomofchoice. Thisisbestrepresentedbythematzahwhichisflatbread made without yeast. Yeast represents ego and without ego, one can enjoy a free and expansivemind,agoodreminderoftheluxurywehaveinourlivesofhavingthefreedom ofchoice.
Finally,theFestivalofSpringrepresentsthefinalleveloffreedom.,thefreedomtonotbe afraid. In the spring, when the plants begin to bloom anew, all of life’s possibilities are opentousastheJewishpeopleexperiencedwhentheyleftEgypt.Takeadvantageofthis seasonofSpringandbeopentoalloflife’spossibilities.
NAMING IT AT YOUR SEDER:
• Invite each guest to share which festival name resonates the most with them.
• Ask each guest to share a bit about the history and meaning of their name(s).
FOUR X FOUR FOUR X FOUR
Therearefourreasonstoexplainthethefourcupsofwineorgrapejuiceweare instructedtoconsumeateachPassoverSeder:
TorepresentthefourpromisesmadetotheJewishpeopleinEgypt:
IwilltakeyououtofEgypt
Iwillrescueyoufromslavery
Iwillmakeyourfree
Iwillbringyoutothepromisedland
Pharaoh’sfourdecrees:
Slavery
ThemurderofallnewbornIsraeliteboys
ThedrowningofallIsraeliteboysintheNile
TheorderbytheoverseersfortheIsraelitesto collecttheirownstrawtomakebricks
ThefourhistoricexilesoftheJewishpeople:
TheEgyptianexile:1523BCE–1313BCE
TheBabylonianexile:423BCE-372BCE
TheGreekexile:371BCE-140BCE
Thecurrentexile
TheFourMatriarchs:
Sarah,Rebekah,Rachel,andLeah
GETTING TIPSY AT YOUR SEDER:
• With your guests, generate your own explanation for each of the four cups of wine.
• Dedicate each cup of wine to a person or cause that is important to you.
WHAT'S NEW? WHAT'S NEW?
הנתשנ המ Ma Nishtanah, meaning what’s new, are the first two words in the familiar phrase "Why is tonight different from all other nights?" This question appears at the beginningofeachlineofTheFourQuestions,traditionallyaskedviasongbytheyoungest childattendingPassoverSeder.
ThesequestionsoriginateintheTalmud (acollection ofbooks featuring acompilation of laws, myths, and legends) but are quoted differently in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds(twodifferentversions,onecompiledinJerusalem,theotherinBabylon).
The Jerusalem Talmud only records three questions; why foods are dipped twice as opposed to once, why matzah is eaten, and why the meat sacrifice eaten is exclusively roasted. (The last question is a reference to the paschal sacrifice in temple times which wasfire-roasted).
WHAT THE &!;@! AT YOUR SEDER:
• What are the actual questions you always wanted to ask about the Passover story?
• Why did the Rabbis choose to use questions as the format for this lesson?
• What is your ‘what’s new’? Why is this night different than all others, for you?
The Babylonian Talmud quotes four questions; why matzah is eaten, why maror is eaten, why the meat sacrifice is exclusively roasted, and whyfoodisdippedtwice.
Asthepaschalsacrificewasnoteatenafterthe destruction of the temple, the question about themeatwasdroppedandanewquestionwas proposed to replace it: "why do we recline on thisnight?"
Ultimately,thiswascodified,inparttocreatea parallelism between the number of questions and the other occurrences of the number four intheHaggadah.
THE FOUR CHILDREN THE FOUR CHILDREN
In the magid (narrative) section of the Passover Seder, we read about four children: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not know how to ask. Sometimes these are referred to as “The Four Sons,” but the Hebrew word banim could mean "sons" or "children"andthereisnoneedtoexcludehalfoftheJewishpeople.
Additionally,theBiblicalBookofProverbssaysthatoneshouldteachachildaccordingto their way (22:6), and this may have been consciously or sub-consciously on the mind of theauthorofthispartoftheHaggadah.Similarly,theMishnahsaysthataccordingtothe abilitiesofthechilddoyouteachthemabouttheExodus(Pesachim10:4).
There are four times that the Torah says that you should tell your child about Passover, perhaps the rabbis assumed that this must mean there are four different types of childrenwhowere inneedofdifferentanswers.Otherwise,theTorahcouldhavesaidthis onceandbeendonewithit.
THINKING OF THE CHILDREN, AT YOUR PASSOVER SEDER:
• If you were to rewrite this narrative tool using four adults, what would their architypes be?
• Reflecting back to your own childhood, if you participated in Seders as a child, how did you understand the four children?
• If there are children at your Seder table this year, ask them how they feel about this simplistic breakdown of types of learners.
Mike Steklof, Ed.D.: mike@buffalojewishfederation.org
Robin Kurss: robin@buffalojewishfederation.org
Susan Schwartz: susan@buffalojewishfederation.org
buffalojewishfederation.org/link
