Your Ultimate Passover Checklist

Your Ultimate Passover Checklist

ESSENTIALS

Enough wine or grape juice for the four cups per person. A fifth cup is set out for Elijah, the Prophet. While many stick with the same beverage for the whole Seder, you might think about how your grape beverages progress with the meal to demarcate freedom (or just to pair with the food!).

Matzah, unleavened bread, symbolizes the quickly-prepared sustenance the Israelites brought when they fled Egypt. Each person should have three pieces of matzah, or there should be a central plate with three pieces of matzah.

Haggadah (“the telling”) guides you through the Seder steps and the story. Make your own at Haggadot.com!

A cup or bowl of salt water to dip karpas into. Two candles to welcome the holiday (or Shabbat).

A Seder plate which features six or more places for the symbolic foods.

ON THE SEDER PLATE

Karpas: parsley or green vegetables representing spring.

Baytza: an egg representing fertility & renewal.

Maror: bitter herbs (horseradish, romaine lettuce, endive, etc ) representing the bitterness of slavery.

Z’roa: a roasted shank bone or a beet, representing the paschal (literally "lamb") sacrifice made at the Temple in Ancient Israel

Charoset: a mixture of fruits & nuts, representing mortar used in the work of the Israelite slaves.

Hazeret: another form of bitter herbs.

SEDER HOSTS HAVE SOMETIMES INCLUDED ADDITIONAL SYMBOLS ON THEIR SEDER PLATE OR TABLE

An olive symbolizes hope for peace.

A banana symbolizes support for refugees.

An acorn acknowledges indigenous land.

Cocoa or coffee beans acknowledge forced labor that still happens around the world

An orange symbolizes LGBTQIA+ equality. Miriam’s Cup is a cup of water to honor women.