Seder Thoughts 5779

A few simple thoughts for Pesach:

1) This is a passing thought that occurred to me as I was walking past my husband kashering the sinks and listening to a shiur on Torah Anytime. The speaker mentioned the 15 steps and the number stuck in my head, sort of highlighting on a question as to whether there is a significance to the fact that Passover is celebrated on the 15th of the month. We Jews have lots of numbers that have significance (4 on Passover, 7 for Shabbat, 8 for Bris....oh, you all know Who Knows One), and 15 has a number of interesting connections and connotations. In this case, however, I was thinking about the fact that the commandments connected to Passover began on 1 Nissan, when God began the process of unifying the people into a nation by giving them to power to declare the new month and thus set the calendar. On the 1st of Nissan they were given the commandment to bring a sheep into their homes on the 10th in order to prepare for the Exodus. So I think it is particularly interesting that just as there were 15 days to prepare for Pesach there are then 15 steps to the Pesach seder. 15 leads to Hashem, Yud-Hey.

2) I can’t really claim a mastery of Hebrew grammar, but I was wondering about Kadesh, the first step of the Seder. Why don’t we call it Kiddush, like we do on every other holiday and, indeed, every week on Shabbat?  Kadesh is a noun of statement - “Sanctification,” almost an imperative, make it holy. This comes at the beginning of the Seder as if to say, “Hold on folks, it’s going to be a long night, but it’s up to you what to do with the next few hours.” The Seder is an annual ritual during which we review the same booklet every year, and it can easily become a rote and mundane celebration, even when we add in the gimmicks meant to encourage children to ask questions and participate. Kadesh, we (the adults) have the imperative to elevate the evening and thus become empowered from it.

3) One aspect of Judaism that I love is the significance of Hebrew homonyms, and this chag brought two particularly to mind. Again with the caveat that there is no scholastic background to this except perhaps thoughts that I heard long ago that drifted into a recess of my brain and stayed there but that can no longer be accredited.

A) The first one I was thinking about was the word Pesach. In Ashkenazi tradition, the samech makes a similar sound to the saf and pey-saf-chet is the root for the word for open. So what might be the connection between the pascal lamb (which is really the translation, not Passover) and an opening. One connection might be that the Israelites put the blood of that sheep offering onto the doorposts of their homes, but that doesn’t feel to me like an idea that translates down through the ages. An idea that occurred to me is that there is a message to Jews of every generation that the offering of the Pascal lamb (or in our day just the service of the Pesach seder) is one in which we must open ourselves in order to be able to truly feel that sense of freedom that we are celebrating. Pesach is, let’s be honest, a lot of work (even for people who are travelling). At the seder, it’s time to let that go and feel the joy, the freedom of the soul, of reaching a destination and of a job well done and, mostly, of whole heartedly dedicating one’s spirit to something.

B) The second homonym I was thinking about was the word matzah. Matzah the food is spelled with a hey, but when you replace the hey with an alef, you have the root of the word to find. I remember how confusing this was for me when I first started learning Hebrew (along with the similarity between to see and to fear, which is also an interesting topic for another day.) There is often discussion before Pesach about the connection of chametz to arrogance, haughtiness and pride, and seeking these things out to remove them from our lives. Perhaps the connection of matzah(hey) and matzah(alef) is that once we get rid of the chametz and have matzah (hey), we have the opportunity to “find ourselves” so to speak.

C) Maror – ok, so I couldn’t think of anything here, but the three primary mitzvot are Pesach, Matzah, and Maror, so I will take a page from Rosh Hashana and make a connection to another language, just for fun. Maror sounds a lot like mirror. When we eat the bitter herbs, we are remembering our bitter past, but we are also destroying it through the act of mastication (chewing it up). As we get rid of our chametz we should look in the mirror at the things about ourselves that have turned bitter and get rid of them as we aspire to be a part of a holy nation.