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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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a community-grown, libre Open Access archive of Jewish prayer and liturgical resources — for those crafting their own prayerbooks and sharing the content of their practice
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tag: symbolic foods Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? The color of beets, which never leaves our hands, symbolizes the teachings of the sages, which are still passed down. And the redness symbolizes the blood of the covenant, still there after all these years. . . . Categories: Tags: 3rd century C.E., 41st century A.M., beets, haggadah supplements, סגולות segulot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods Contributor(s): A millennium-old tradition, recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in 10th-century Iraq. He would always have three cooked foods on the seder plate. The egg, a product of the birds of the sky, a sign of renewal and rebirth, represented Moses, the law, the heavens, and the revelational aspects of faith. The shankbone, a product of the animals of the field, a commemoration of the original Pesaḥ sacrifice, represented Aaron, the priesthood, the earth, and the ritual aspects of faith. And the fish, representing the constant flowing nature of water, represented Miriam, prophecy, the waters, and the spiritual aspects of faith. . . . Categories: Tags: 10th century C.E., 47th century A.M., Geonic prayers, haggadah supplements, miriam's fish, סגולות segulot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods Contributor(s): Thank you to Nili Simhai and Yosh Schulman for sharing the Farsi (Persian) Nusaḥ of this punful minhag — the order of reciting kavvanot (intentions) for the New Year. Profound thanks are also due to Rabbi Simcha Daniel Burstyn of Kibbutz Lotan for his translation. Please help the Open Siddur Project by helping to translate and transcribe all of the Hebrew and Farsi in this seder. Sol’e nu Mobarak! سال نو مبارک — L’shanah Tova! . . . Categories: Tags: festive meals, Needing Transcription, Nusaḥ Farsi, punning, סגולות segulot, סעודות seudot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods, teḥinot during meals, teḥinot over foods Contributor(s): In the early 1980s, while speaking at Oberlin College Hillel, Susannah Heschel was introduced to an early feminist haggadah that suggested adding a crust of bread on the seder plate, as a sign of solidarity with Jewish lesbians (suggesting that there’s as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate). Heschel felt that to put bread on the seder plate would be to accept that Jewish lesbians and gay men violate Judaism like ḥamets violates Passover. So, at her next seder, she chose an orange as a symbol of inclusion of gays and lesbians and others who are marginalized within the Jewish community. She offered the orange as a symbol of the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life. . . . Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., haggadah supplements, inclusion, inclusion and exclusion, LGBTQIA+, oranges, סגולות segulot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods Contributor(s): As חז”ל [Ḥazal] taught us, on ראש השנה [Rosh Hashanah] we elevate puns from the lowest form of humor to the highest religious experience. The foods suggested by our Sages had names in Aramaic or Hebrew that symbolized hopes for the new year — here is a list of foods with English names for those of us for whom English is our vernacular. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., festive meals, punning, סגולות segulot, סעודות seudot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods Contributor(s): There it sits on the Seder plate: ḥaroset, a delicious paste of chopped nuts, chopped fruits, spices, and wine. So the question would seem obvious: “Why is there ḥaroset on the Seder plate?” That’s the most secret Question at the Seder – so secret nobody even asks it. And it’s got the most secret answer: none. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): The most traumatic event in recent Jewish history is the Holocaust. At this time, the survivors of the camps are aging, and in the lifespan of people alive today it is likely that the last survivor will die. We say we must never forget what happened during the Holocaust, but if we think of it as a tragedy that happened to our ancestors we will forget. But it has been 3000 years since the Exodus from Egypt, and the Haggadah keeps its history vivid and alive. We are taught that in each and every generation we are to think of ourselves as having been slaves in Egypt. May it be that just as we never forgot the wonders of the Exodus, so too we never forget the horrors of the Holocaust, and continue to strive that such horrors may never happen again until all live in freedom and peace. . . . Categories: 🌐 Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th), Kristallnacht (9-10 November, 16 Marḥeshvan), 🇮🇱 Yom haShoah (27 Nisan) Tags: 21st century C.E., כ״ז ניסן Nisan 27, 58th century A.M., Mourning this Broken World, North America, speaking truth to power, symbolic foods, the Holocaust, השואה the Shoah Contributor(s): A Passover seder supplement containing seven additional symbolic foods and their associated ritual presentations, along with their collective organization on a second seder plate. . . . Many communities have a custom of reciting “simanim” on the night of Rosh haShanah — invocations on a series of foods punning over their Hebrew or Aramaic names. This is an assortment of common simanim, along with English loose translations that preserve the punning aspects of the foods. . . . Categories: Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., festive meals, punning, סגולות segulot, סעודות seudot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods, teḥinot during meals, teḥinot over foods Contributor(s): An old Persian tradition involves hitting each other with leeks during the recitation of Dayenu. Nowadays this is replaced with a gentle tap with a scallion for safety reasons. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): Why is this coffee different from all other coffees? Because Maxwell House coffee is a deeply spiritual representation of the Diaspora experience. . . . Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., acrostic, diaspora, haggadah supplements, Maxwell House coffee, mnemonic, סגולות segulot, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods Contributor(s): Pearl Benisch… remembers Passover in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in the spring of 1945, just days before her liberation. . . . Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., haggadah supplements, סגולות segulot, שפוך חמתך shfokh ḥamatekha, סימנים simanim, symbolic foods, the Holocaust, השואה the Shoah Contributor(s): If you are doing a Rosh Hashanah seder of simanim (signs, augurs, portents) using food puns, here are some topical additions including for beginning the Shmitah year. . . . Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): | ||
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