{ "clip_details": { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "the-seder-plate-108", "title": "What Is On Your Seder Plate?", "author": "Monika Zands", "author_handle": "monika-zands", "author_initials": "MZ", "covertext": "THE REAL STORY OF THE ORANGE ON THE SEDER PLATE As a kid, my mother taught us to put an orange on the seder plate as an...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>THE REAL STORY OF THE ORANGE ON THE SEDER PLATE</p>\n\n<p>As a kid, my mother taught us to put an orange on the seder plate as an act of feminism. Around that same time, she gave me a hot pink T-shirt with rainbow sparkle letters that read, “Anything boys can do, girls can do better.” <strong>It was the ’80s and my passions for girl power, rainbows and Jewish rituals were ignited.</strong></p>\n\n<p>My mom, and many other feminists, passed on the famous origin story of the orange, that Dr. Susannah Heschel was lecturing in Miami, and, while she was speaking of feminism, an Orthodox man supposedly shouted that <strong>“a woman belongs on the bimah [pulpit] as much as an orange belongs on the seder plate.”</strong> And so, as feminists, we all added the orange as an act of resistance; a symbol of women’s rights.</p>\n\n<p><strong>But, alas, that story that I had heard and retold for decades was a myth.</strong></p>\n\n<p>And while I was studying at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, I was quite surprised as the story was debunked by my rabbi and I learned what REALLY happened.</p>\n\n<p>It was the 1980s, and Heschel was speaking at the Hillel Jewish student group at Oberlin College. While there, she came across a Haggadah written by a student that included a story of a young girl who asks her rabbi if there is room in Judaism for a lesbian. The rabbi in the story replies in anger, “There’s as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate!”—implying that lesbians are impure and are a violation of Judaism.</p>\n\n<p>The next year, <strong>Heschel put an orange on her seder plate and shared that she chose the orange “because it suggests the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life.”</strong></p>\n\n<p>The seeds of the orange, like other items on the seder plate, symbolize rebirth and renewal. And some folks have taken on the tradition of spitting the seeds to remind us to spit out the hatred experienced by all marginalized members of our communities.</p>\n\n<p>Since the addition of the orange, other symbols have been added to the traditional seder plate. <strong>Some vegetarians and vegans have added a “paschal yam,” in place of the shank bone, which traditionally represents the paschal lamb.</strong> Others have included olives for peace in the Middle East. And some have placed potato peels on their plates to commemorate Jews who starved during the Holocaust.</p>\n\n<p>Most recently I learned that members of Rabbis For Human Rights, who work to support the under-paid and over-worked tomato pickers in Florida, have included a tomato as a symbol of contemporary slavery.</p>\n\n<p>“We who believe in FREEDOM, cannot rest until it comes.” This year, as I prepare to lead the Passover seder for my family and friends, I am emboldened to add these various symbols to our plate as reminders of who is not free. What segments of my community are still enslaved? What human rights issues must be addressed?</p>\n\n<p>I am empowered to take action and commit to do the social justice work to bring equality and dignity to everyone. <strong>In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “No one is free until we are all free.”</strong></p>", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": null, "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268930/seder-plate.jpg", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268930/conversions/seder-plate-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Introduction", "slug": "introduction" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 200, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "What Is On Your Seder Plate? | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/the-seder-plate-108", "og:title": "What Is On Your Seder Plate? | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268930/conversions/seder-plate-cover.jpg" } } }, "contributed_by": { "author": "Monika Zands", "handle": "monika-zands", "author_initials": "MZ", "total_books": 1, "total_clips": 4, "total_followers": 0, "is_following": 0 }, "user_book": null, "clips_by_author": [ { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "the-cup-of-miriam-2", "title": "The Cup Of Miriam", "author": "Monika Zands", "author_handle": "monika-zands", "author_initials": "MZ", "covertext": "The Talmud explains that the three “gifts” the Jews had in the desert—the well of water, the pillar of clouds and the ma...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>The Talmud explains that the three “gifts” the Jews had in the desert—the well of water, the pillar of clouds and the manna—were in the merit of Miriam, Aaron and Moses, respectively.</p>\n\n<p>What is the connection between Miriam and water?</p>\n\n<p>The Zohar explains that Miriam stood by the waters of the Nile River and watched over her baby brother Moses to ensure he would be safe. The Midrash connects the well to Miriam’s exuberant praise after the Splitting of the Sea. Since she was so grateful for a miracle that occurred through water, G‑d rewarded her with water—for which the Jewish people sang even more praise.</p>\n\n<p>Although the well produced the water in Miriam’s merit, the Mishnah lists it among the ten unique things created at twilight on the eve of the first Shabbat after creation.</p>\n\n<p>According to the Midrash, the “well” was actually a rock shaped like a sieve. It would roll with them throughout their travels, and when they stopped, the rock would dig deep into the sand. The leaders of the tribes would come and stand by it, saying: “Rise up, O well,” and it would rise.  Some commentators explain that the rock itself didn’t actually roll with them; rather, the stream of water that originated from the rock would spring up in their new location.</p>\n\n<p>It was from this rock that Moses first brought forth water when the Jewish people complained about their lack of water (in Exodus), and it is the same rock that, after Miriam died, Moses hit in order to draw forth water once again (in Numbers).</p>", "cliptype": "image", "clipsource": null, "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268728/miriam.jpg", "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268728/conversions/miriam-cover.jpg", "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Karpas", "slug": "karpas" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 140, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "The Cup Of Miriam | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "keywords": "", "og:type": "article", "og:url": "https://www.haggadot.com/clip/the-cup-of-miriam-2", "og:title": "The Cup Of Miriam | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "og:description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. Find artwork, family", "og:image": "https://assets.haggadot.com/clips/268728/conversions/miriam-cover.jpg" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "a-different-virtual-seder", "title": "A DIFFERENT VIRTUAL SEDER", "author": "Monika Zands", "author_handle": "monika-zands", "author_initials": "MZ", "covertext": "Haggadah Supplement 2020 \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t \t\t\tPassover Prayer in the Age of Coronavirus \t\t\tWhy is this night different from...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<table>\n\t<tbody>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td>\n\t\t\t<p>Haggadah Supplement 2020</p>\n\t\t\t</td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td>\n\t\t\t<p>Passover Prayer in the Age of Coronavirus</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>Why is this night different from all other nights? Why is this Passover different from all other Passovers?</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>On this Passover, when a pandemic threatens our collective health on an unimaginable scale, we are called to respond with the power of our humanity, with the Divine spirit implanted within us, with our legacy of hope and determination to prevail.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>We pray for the at risk, the isolated, the stricken, the mourners.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>We pray for those who have dedicated their lives to keeping us healthy—doctors, nurses, health-care workers—and all who sustain our hospitals and health-care institutions— existing and makeshift—operating under trying circumstances.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>We pray for the first responders—police officers, fire fighters, military personnel who have been marshalled to the cause—all who are responsible for the safety of our communities.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>We pray for our elected officials, who can save lives with wise leadership.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>May God bless all of our public servants and watch over them.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>On this Passover, when so many are separated from one another at a traditional time of being together, we reach out to one another with renewed love and compassion. When someone is missing from our Seder table, we tell their story as if they are with us. When there is personal sadness, we respond with communal solidarity, empathy, and fortitude.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>On this Passover, not “all who are hungry can come and eat” and not “all who are in need can come and celebrate Passover.” In response, we commit all the days of our year to a heightened awareness of Passover’s values—to freeing the enslaved, to feeding the hungry, to sheltering the homeless, to supporting the poor. We rededicate ourselves to rekindling and cherishing our Passover traditions for all the years of our future, when light will overcome darkness, when health will overcome infirmity.</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>Dear God, “Spread over us Your canopy of peace . . . Shelter us in the shadow of Your wings . . .Guard us and deliver us. . . Guard our coming and our going, grant us life and peace, now and always.”</p>\n\n\t\t\t<p>“This year we are slaves, next year we will be free.”</p>\n\t\t\t</td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td>\n\t\t\t<p>Passover 5780/2020 • Rabbi Noam E. Marans • AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations</p>\n\t\t\t</td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t</tbody>\n</table>\n\n<table>\n\t<tbody>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td> </td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t</td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t<td> </td>\n\t\t</tr>\n\t</tbody>\n</table>", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": null, "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Kadesh", "slug": "kadesh" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 149, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "A DIFFERENT VIRTUAL SEDER | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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Find artwork, family", "og:image": "" } } }, { "clip": { "is_admin": 0, "is_owner": 0, "handle": "a-response-to-corona", "title": "A RESPONSE TO CORONA", "author": "Monika Zands", "author_handle": "monika-zands", "author_initials": "MZ", "covertext": "A Seder Responsive Reading in the Age of Coronavirus As we fill our four cups of wine, we pray for a time when our cups...", "user_image": "", "user_image_original": "", "body": "<p>A Seder Responsive Reading in the Age of Coronavirus</p>\n\n<p>As we fill our four cups of wine, we pray for a time when our cups will yet again be overflowing.</p>\n\n<p>As we wash our hands, we affirm our role in protecting ourselves and others.</p>\n\n<p>As we dip in salt water, we cry the tears of a planet besieged.</p>\n\n<p>As we break the matzah, we long to be made whole.</p>\n\n<p>As we ask the four questions, we search for the answers that elude us.</p>\n\n<p>As we remember the ten plagues, we contemplate our own.</p>\n\n<p>As we imagine our own redemption from Egypt, we aspire to be free.</p>\n\n<p>As we sing Dayenu, we beseech, may our efforts to combat this pandemic be enough.</p>\n\n<p>As we eat the matzah, we contemplate our impoverished state.</p>\n\n<p>As we consume the bitter herbs, we empathize with another’s pain.</p>\n\n<p>As we enjoy the haroset, we remember the sweetness which awaits us.</p>\n\n<p>As we search for the afikomen, we pray to be connected to our missing pieces.</p>\n\n<p>As we welcome Elijah, we pray for redemption.</p>\n\n<p>As we sing songs of praise, we remain grateful for all of God’s gifts.</p>\n\n<p>Stay Involved with AJC</p>\n\n<p>AJC’s #BeAMensch campaign encourages and highlights acts of kindness and decency, which lift us all up and illuminate the darkness of the current period with countless points of light. Please visit AJC.org/beamensch to learn more and to share stories of kindness and decency.</p>", "cliptype": "text", "clipsource": null, "featured": 0, "featuredIn": null, "is_public": 1, "is_published": 1, "media": { "image": null, "audio": null, "video": null }, "thumbnail": null, "clip_section": [ { "haggadah_section": "Kadesh", "slug": "kadesh" } ], "likes": 0, "downloads": 141, "tags": [], "themes": [], "language": "0", "is_bookmarked": "0", "is_liked": 0, "meta_tags": { "title": "A RESPONSE TO CORONA | Passover haggadah by Monika Zands", "description": "Our simple platform allows you to create a custom Passover Haggadah, with access to unique content contributed by our community. 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