Sheri Hebrew Lesson 4/7

Hay Hay-ers!

It was wonderful to see many of you on Zoom! I’m glad you and your families are staying safe and healthy. We’ll do another Zoom class after Passover (and I promise to get better at it)! For those who either didn’t sign on or couldn’t, I will try to make it easier for you the next time.

As Passover approaches, I know many of you (myself included) won’t have all the customary Passover seder items. (I won’t even have matzoh unless I make it myself, which….I CAN!) But, we can still learn some essential things about Passover.

So, here are a few Passover things to think about:

Passover is really about one thing: REMEMBERING (even remembering something that we did not directly experience)

What is it that we remember? (list as many as you can)

What do we do to help us remember? (list as many as you can)

Why do we remember? Why do we remember something we didn’t directly experience? (I’m going to ask this question again in a few weeks for another calendar commemoration)

In this year, when even our seders will be different, if there would be only ONE thing we could do at Passover, what would be the ONE thing you think would be the most important thing?

Our story that we tell at Passover is the story of the Hebrews becoming a people, going from slavery to freedom. (click on the Lesson for 3/17/20, and reread the story)

Our seder plate is like a screen shot of this story, because each of the items on the seder plate represents one important part of the story.

Here are the seder plate items and a reminder of what each means:

Charoset/Charoset (easy to remember, same word in English and Hebrew)! -a mixture of foods (sometimes apples, wine, and nuts; sometimes dates, honey, and other fruits) that look a bit like mortar or cement that we (we Hebrews who were slaves) had to make into bricks to build Pharoahs’ pyramids. It comes from the Hebrew word cheres, meaning clay.

Parsley /Karpas-a fresh green vegetable that represents spring and the new greenery that pushes up from the earth in spring. But we will dip it in salt water, mixing the hopefulness of renewal with the memory of tears and bitterness.

Horseradish/Maror- a bitter herb that reminds us of slavery’s hardship

Another green vegetable that is bitter, such as romaine lettuce/Chazeret

Shankbone/Zeroa-to honor the lamb that was sacrificed, whose blood was wiped on the doorpost of the Hebrew’s homes in Egypt so fool the Angel of Death into thinking that it had already visited those homes, so it would pass over those homes.

Roasted egg/Beitzah- to represent spring, new birth, and the cycle of life (egg’s roundness).

Why do you think food on a special plate is the centerpiece of our seder??? Why food? Why a pretty plate? What’s this all about??

The holiday originated in the Torah, where the word pesach refers to the ancient Passover sacrifice (known as the Paschal Lamb); it is also said to refer to the idea that God “passed over” (pasach) the houses of the Jews during the 10th plague on the Egyptians, the slaying of the first born.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on What we remember, How we remember, and Why we remember…and what ONE thing is the most important thing to “do” at Passover if there was only one thing we could do. Also, watch the video below and fill out the form at the bottom (make sure you hit "submit" at the bottom)

Please email me at: SheriAL@aol.com

Or let’s Facetime at: 516-445-1186.

All questions, thoughts, and even just greetings always welcome!

Morah Sheri