The Fig: A Seder Plate Symbol of Peace

closeup of a fig growing on a tree

A 2024/5784 seder plate addition 

I don’t have a fig tree
but I really want one,
so that maybe if I sit under it
war will end,
hostages will come home,
and exiles will sit at their dinner tables again.
 
I want a fig tree,
for if I had one
maybe no one would bother me
or any other Jew on the street or anywhere else,
and I could really sit under it without being scared
like the prophet Micah said a long time ago.  
 
Meantime I go to the grocery store
and buy a bag of figs.
I’ll put one on the seder plate,
and grasp the hope of peace
like the tiny seeds inside
that I will plant to grow a tree.

 

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