The Traditional Way to Make a Seder
Exodus 12
This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. You shall celebrate a sacred occasion on the first day, and a sacred occasion on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them; only what every person is to eat, that alone may be prepared for you. You shall observe the [Feast of] Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your ranks out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day throughout the ages as an institution for all time. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. No leaven shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a citizen of the country. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread. Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go, pick out lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover offering. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For when the Lord goes through to smite the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, and the Lord will pass over the door and not let the Destroyer enter and smite your home. "You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants. And when you enter the land that the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. and when your children ask you, 'What do you mean by this rite?' You shall say, 'It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.'" The people then bowed low in homage. And the Israelites went and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Deuteronomy 6:20
When your child asks you tomorrow saying "what are these testimonies and ordinances and laws that the Lord our God has commanded you?" that you shall say to your child, "We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and the Lord brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand."
The Passover Seder by Ruth Gruber Fredman
The Call of the Matzoh
Some housewives interpreted "freedom" literally, by going away for the holiday, an increasingly popular pre-World War I phenomenon that caused much consternation among American Jewry's cultural custodians." Avoid Household Cares, Spend Passover at Arverne," urged the owners of Stone's Cottage in 1915, while Eisenberg's Wave Crest Hotel, in nearby Far Rockaway, invited potentially fatigued women to "celebrate the Passover festival amid delightful country surroundings by the sea, avoiding the usual annoyance of ritual household preparation." A boon for housewives, the idea of spending Passover by the sea or in the mountains troubled their rabbis, and quite a few sisterhood leaders as well, who believed it mocked "the true Passover emotion" and diminished the holiday's true meaning. "The family is lost in a multiplicity of families; instead of a home ceremony, Passover calls up thoughts of travel and ease," they complained. By their lights, Passover was not intended as a glorious week-long vacation to be spent in the company of strangers one encountered in the hotel lobby; instead, Passover was meant to be spent at home, in the company of family and friends. "Do not close your home for that week," implored one sisterhood leader, contrasting the modern-day behavior of her coreligionists with its more distinguished, lustrous antecedents. "In those days of long ago Pesach was a holiday that young and old helped to prepare for in the home. Will you bring that Pesach back again? Prepare for it yourself."
American Jewry's cultural authorities also discouraged the practice of attending a public seder, whose sponsors and organizers typically included either a local synagogue, community center, or kosher caterer. Although its origins date back to the early years of the century when charitably minded Jewish organizations hosted a seder for those financially unable to mount one of their own, the public seder gained in both popularity and respectability during World War I. At that time, when thousands of young Jews, stationed far away from home, had no place to go for the seder, public institutions stepped into the breach by opening their facilities to "our boys." Long after the war ended, the practice stuck, this time appealing to middle-class families who were attracted by its convenience and ready-made ease. "That most characteristic of all home celebrations, the Seder service, shows some signs of migrating from the home into the banqueting hall," lamented Rabbi Jacob Kohn in 1932, attributing its appeal to the small size of the contemporary Jewish family and the inability of its members to conduct the service. Jewish leaders such as Kohn regretted the conditions that contributed to this "vogue" and encouraged their coreligionists to stay home. "The growing generation cannot permit its Jewishness to subsist on the haziest of childhood memories. Fathers and mothers may consider that their spark of Judaism is derived from a recollection of ceremonialism in their own youthful homes; and similar recollections must be passed on to their still susceptible offspring," editorialized the United Synagogue Recorder.
In alluding to the past, the proponents of the home-centered Passover resorted to an extremely powerful argument for ritual behavior. Memory and its claims enveloped the holiday, sustaining its spirited distinctiveness. As one housewife put it, Jews "may forget the furnishings of the home but they will never forget the Seder." Memory insinuated itself into every nook and cranny of the festivities, from the recitation of the Haggadah, a ritualized exercise in collective memory, to the physical appearance of the seder table. Assembled over time and place and from a variety of sources--Grandmother's cupboard, Aunt Sadie's basement--the items displayed on the table served as tangible, physical embodiments of family history and collective memory.
Source: Joselit, Jenna Weissman. The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880-1950. New York: Hill and Wong, 1994.
The Traditional Way to Make a Seder
Searching for the Afikoman (For Grown-Ups)
Given the high-tech nature of entertainment now available to children, it is amazing that searching for the afikoman continues to be a source of anticipation, fun, and memory. We can build upon the popularity of this beloved Passover ritual, increasing awareness of our potential for greater spirituality, commitment to Judaism, and creative transformation of Jewish life by adding a new practice to our Passover seder. It’s called "afikoman for grown-ups." This is a search for the themes of Passover that are already in our environments. We just need to notice them! Source: Kula and Ochs: The Book of Jewish Sacred Practices
Many commentators believe that the afikoman is reserved for the end of the meal so that matzah would be the last taste of the celebration. A striking commentary by Rabbi Harold Schulweis suggests that the afikoman is the matzah of the future (messianic) redemption. The matzah is broken because the world is still unredeemed; the matzah is eaten at the end because our hope is still unbroken. Source: Greenberg, Irving Yitz. The Jewish Way.
Here’s how to play "afikoman for grown-ups." At the seder, after the young people have searched for the afikoman, invite everyone (kids can play, too) to search for signs of Passover themes. Select any one of these themes: renewing life (karpas), being free (matzah), telling our sacred story (maggid), feeding the hungry (ha lachma anya), asking important questions (mah mishtanah), honoring multiple voices (arba’ah banim), connecting to past generations (b’khol dor va’dor), celebrating life (hallel), and yearning for sacred space (l’shanah ha’ba’ah bi’Yerushalayim). Get up from the seder table and search your home--or your host’s home (getting permission first)--for all the different ways your Passover theme is reflected in people, places, and things. For instance, if "renewing life" is an important theme for you, look for signs of springtime, personal and spiritual growth, new interests, new family members, rekindled relationships, pruning back, getting second chances, planning for the future, renovation. If you’ve found daffodils, slipcovers, or a pregnant guest, you’re on the right track.
Returning to the table, share the theme you’ve searched for and describe evidence you’ve found. The discoveries you’ve all made--the daffodils, the slipcovers--are symbols of sacred commitments, just like the haroset, matzah, and maror. If you have been a seder guest at someone else’s home, search for sings of your Passover theme when you return to your own home. Source: Kula and Ochs: The Book of Jewish Sacred Practices.
Removing Chametz from One’s Home
The tradition is ancient, the experience powerful. Starting as much as a week or more before Passover, the scrubbing, scouring, boiling, and burning begins. The cleaning includes a thorough check for chametz (non-Passover foods) in the pantry, fridge, freezer, and cupboards. Things like opened boxes of cereal and spaghetti are packed into boxes alongside the various other nonperishable products. When we have separated out all the leaven and have cleaned everything imaginable, from children’s toys to book jackets, there is a final ritual of checking for leaven called bedikat chametz.
Meditation
You bless us with the commandment to remove all chametz from our homes; may it be Your will that we find the way to remove the chametz of our souls, by finding and sharing freedom.
Blessing
(After you have distributed the foods)
All leaven in my possession, whether I have seen it or not, whether I have removed it or not, is hereby nullified and ownerless as the dust of the earth. Blessed is God, Ruler of the Universe, who has commanded us to look carefully for chametz and to turn it into blessing for those around us.
You bless us with the commandment to remove all chametz from our homes; may it be Your will that we find the way to remove the chametz of our souls, finding freedom.
Ritual
The tradition of ridding the house of chametz includes a variety of practices. There are contracts for selling one’s chametz to a non-Jew, candlelit searches for the last remaining leaven, and the burning of crumbs the morning before the seder.
There is another way you can remove chametz from your home. Take all foods in closed containers that are traditionally not eaten on Passover and bring them to the nearest food pantry or shelter. Find neighbors who might appreciate the remains of your open containers and refrigerated foods. Explain that you are about to celebrate the Festival of Freedom, and that this is part of you "soul preparation."
A third way to remove chametz is symbolic, according to the Hasidic masters. The mitzvah of bedikat chametz (inspecting for chametz) teaches that the work of liberation begins with careful attention to the hidden "chametz" in us and around us, symbolizing the oppression and slavery beneath our ordinary gaze. Each of us, in our own way, can remove those things that block our fullest freedom and the freedom of others.
In preparation for Passover, traditional Jews totally eliminate chametz--not just bread but any and all forms of leaven--from the house and the diet. This is a symbolic statement of cutting off from the old slave existence and entering the new condition of living as a free person. The decisive break with previous diet is the outward expression of the internal break with slavery and dependence. For the modern celebrant, it is a critical step in the process of liberation that finally leads to freedom.
Source: Kula and Ochs: The Book of Jewish Sacred Practices.