PassoverPassover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery and Exodus from Egypt. Its Hebrew name is Pesakh. Its name derives from the tenth plague, in which God "passed over" the homes of the Jewish firstborn, slaying only the Egyptian firstborn. Passover is celebrated for a week, and many diaspora Jews celebrate for eight days. The holiday begins at home at a seder meal and ritual the first (and sometimes second) night. Jews tell the story of the Exodus using a text called the haggadah, and eat specific food (matzah, maror, haroset, etc). seders are intentionally packed with moments that are out of the ordinary from a typical meal. These rituals prompt us to ask questions. We learn in the MishnahThe first layer of Jewish oral law, written down in Palestine around 200 CE. The Mishna consists of six books or sedarim (orders), each of which contains seven to twelve tractates or masechtot (singular masechet). The books are Zeraim (Seeds), Moed (Festival), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), Kodashim (Holy Things), and Tehorot (Purities). that we are required to ask questions on Passover, regardless of whether or not we know (or think we know) the answers. Framing the story through questions affirms that we are free—free to inquire and investigate, free to search for divine truth, free to seek justice.
Each year we ask “mah nishtanah” at our Passover seders; this helps connect to tradition and to Jews all over the world. But we also ask new questions that allow us to actively engage the world around us. By questioning societal norms and social injustice we notice how and when we are free, how and when we are not, and those who still struggle for basic freedoms we take for granted.
We offer you four collections of rituals that grapple with four new questions:
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How can we rethink gender assumptions so that we can better include and honor women during the sederLit. Order. The festive meal conducted on Passover night, in a specific order with specific rituals to symbolize aspects of the Exodus from Egypt. It is conducted following the haggadah, a book for this purpose. Additionally, there an ancient tradition to have a seder on Rosh Hashanah, which has been practiced in particular by Sephardi communities. This seder involves the blessing and eating of simanim, or symbolic foods. The mystics of Sefat also created a seder for Tu B'shvat, the new year of the trees.? https://www.ritualwell.org/list/1st-question-gender-seder
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How can we use the seder to explore a contemporary narrative of ongoing liberation? https://www.ritualwell.org/list/second-question-ongoing-liberation
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What alternate approaches [to wine] can we consider so that our cups, as they say, overflow? https://www.ritualwell.org/list/third-question-cups-wine
- How can we slow ourselves down and reflect on the seder while it is taking place? https://www.ritualwell.org/list/fourth-question-slowing-down
May we ask questions that open our eyes and compel us toward action so that in the coming year we can truly say, ”atah b’nei horin” (now we are free).
This piece originally appeared as Ritualwell’s April 2014 email. Sign up here to receive our monthly emails.
