The Seder Plate | Passover haggadah by Dani Duke

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Traditional items:

Matzah: The bread of haste as the slaves did not have time to let their bread rise before escaping mitzrayim (Hebrew for Egypt, or narrow place). Also, a reminder of the people currently fleeing their homes throughout the world due to war and violence, taking only what they can carry.

Karpas: Represents the struggle for all of us to get out of our mitzrayim/narrow-mindedness. Traditionally, it's used to remember the initial flourishing of the Hebrews in mitzrayim. In the course of the seder, we dip the karpas in salt water in order to taste both the hope of new birth and the tears that the Hebrew slaves shed over their condition.

Charoset: A mixture of chopped nuts, apples, agave, and spices. Charoset is used to symbolize the mortar used to layer bricks which was done by the Hebrew slaves.

Maror: This bitter herb (cilantro) allows us to taste the bitterness of slavery. Like life in mitzrayim, these lettuces and roots taste sweet when one first bites into them, but then become bitter as one eats more. We dip maror into haroset in order to associate the bitterness of slavery with the work that caused so much of this bitterness.

Z'roa: The blood-red color of a roasted beet is certainly symbolic of the blood shed as well as the blood smeared over the doors of the people the Angel of Death was to pass over.

Beitzah: An avocado pit that symbolizes the second sacrifice, which would be offered on every holiday (including Passover) when the Temple stood. The roundness of the avocado pit also represents the cycle of life--even in the most painful of times, there is always hope for a new beginning.

New additions:

Orange: The orange reminds of the importance of inclusion of LGBTQIA+ folks in our community.

It all started with a story from Oberlin College in the early 1980's. Dr. Susannah Heschel was speaking at the Hillel, and while there, she came across a haggadah written by some Oberlin students to bring a feminist voice into the holiday. In it, a story is told about a young girl who asks a Rebbe what room there is in Judaism for a lesbian. The Rebbe rises in anger and shouts, "There's as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate."

Though Heschel was inspired by the idea behind the story, she couldn't follow it literally. Besides the fact that it would make everything-the dish, the table, the meal, the house-unkosher for Passover, it carried a message that lesbians were a violation of Judaism itself, that these women were infecting the community with something impure.

So, the next year, Heschel put an orange on the family seder plate, "I chose an orange because it suggests the fruitfulness for all Jews when [LGBTQIA+ individuals] are contributing and active members of Jewish life." In addition, each orange segment had a few seeds that had to be spit out — a gesture of spitting out, repudiating the homophobia of Judaism.

Tomato: The tomato is a symbol of modern-day slavery, representing the migrant workers who suffer abuse at the hands of a consumer market that demands fruits and vegetables without regard for how the pickers are treated.

Olive: An olive represents the oppression of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli Government. It reminds us to ask: “How will we, as Jews, bear witness to the unjust actions committed in our name? Will these olives inspire us to be bearers of peace and hope for Palestinians — and for all who are oppressed?” ( The Forward, Put an Olive on the Seder Plate )fcf

Lock and Key: We place the lock and key on our seder plate tonight to ally ourselves with those who are behind bars, with those who are labelled as felons in the community, and with the parents, children, and other family members of those who are locked up and locked out. The key represents our commitment, as Jews who know a history of oppression, to join the movement to end mass incarceration in the United States. The key reminds us of our potential to unlock a more promising, dignified future for us all. ( RitualWell )

Sources:
- A Seder For and By Us: Kavod Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, Mizrahim, & Sephardim 2019/5579 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Md2LqouIjcsf1iKjqu0UhRl02DMz4gxh/view)
- http://thevword.net/2014/03/how-to-make-a-vegan-seder-plate-plus-a-recipe-for-charoset.html
- https://www.juf.org/news/world.aspx?id=414773

haggadah Section: Introduction

Source: Kavod Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, Mizrahim, & Sephardim