The Passover Seder: Order out of Chaos

The Passover Seder: Order out of Chaos

 

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

Temple Beth-El

Richmond, Virginia

 

The Passover ritual observance on the first and second nights of the holiday known as Seder "makes order out of chaos." It is more than just a play on words, the Hebrew term for the ritual, 'Seder' referring to the order of the rituals of the night. It is more than restoring order to the household after a thorough cleaning and complete change of dishes, pots and silverware. There is a higher meaning that reaches from antiquity to us. Passover is timeless and speaks to every generation.

 

The Biblical text of Exodus gives scant information about the Israelites' condition in slavery, but it must have been chaotic. The ancient world devoured slave populations in building their monuments. As grandiose was the project, so was the consummation of the population. The Biblical reference to 'rigour' and the Israelite pleas only points towards their unimaginable subservient condition. Especially Pharaoh's decree to exterminate the male children wrecked havoc upon the Israelites. Their redemption restored order to the human condition and set a model for all times. Slavery is morally and ethically wrong. It is a sin. God finally intervened to end it. We must act in God's place and with His inspiration and assistance to forbid its recurrence.

 

At the Seder table we use 'action' symbols that just barely indicated the cruelty but are the best possible way to remind us, awaken in us to the abhorrence of slavery. They give us a taste that will linger on our mouths and in our souls. We dip twice. First a piece of green vegetable that symbolizes the yearning for birth, for optimism, for the future, is dipped into salt water, symbol of the copious tears shed. Who remembers crying so hard that tears stream down cheeks and into their mouth? At Seder table we do. The second time a bitter herb, often a slice of horseradish is dipped into a ground mixture of apples, nuts, and wine symbolizing the mortar used in construction. The biting sting of the horseradish is only slightly tempered. Who ever eats anything purposefully bitter? At Seder table we do. I can't possibly know what it means to be a slave, to live in bondage 150 years ago, never mind three thousand. But I can remember.  I can taste the saltiness of the water and the painful taste of a bitter herb, used two separate times in the Seder. I never forget not the taste nor history.

 

The most popular symbol of Passover is the Matzah, called 'poor man's bread' or 'bread of poverty.' It must be unleavened because leavening is really a process of fermentation which is really a corruption of the grain. Every time I eat a piece of matzah I remember that slavery is a corruption of the human condition, that bondage destroys both the enslaver and the enslaved. Matzah is dry. Slavery dries up the human spirit. Even tears don't necessarily help the matzah go down. Just as normally we wish for bread that has risen, we realize the need to raise our fellow citizens from poverty, out of economic or any other enslavement to a redemptive life.

 

The unique booklet used at the Seder is called the Hagaddah, meaning 'the telling.' Created in antiquity with continued layers added, it cites passages in Deuteronomy and Joshua for it speaks to generations like us, who weren't there, who didn't have the personal experience. In unique fashion, we the readers of the Hagaddah speak in first person, present, citing other Biblical verses as if "we were there." We read ourselves into history. Psychologically, spiritually, we transport ourselves in time to imagine the horror of Egyptian bondage and then give abundant gratitude to God for our redemption. In the Hebrew language there is no clear delineation of tenses, the past, present and future merge into an unbroken continuum. I am part of the Israelites in Egypt and they are part of me sitting at Seder in Richmond, Virginia.

 

Of the rich content of Seder and the Hagaddah I cite the inclusion of Elijah the prophet and a special glass of wine set for him. Elijah is the only Biblical figure that doesn't die but is whisked to heaven in a fiery chariot. In Jewish tradition he will return and be the forerunner of the Messiah. In Jewish thinking there are three Passovers: the historical one in Egypt; all the Seders of the present, and the ultimate Passover, harbinger of the redemption of all humanity from enslavement, from poverty, from cruelty of any form. At the Seder we open the door, and ceremonially invite Elijah in our homes, into our hearts and into our lives. We hope that our Seder will presage the imminent redemption of all. Then the true divine order will be restored and we will all live in peace and tranquility.