Dispelling the Urban Myth of the Orange on the Seder Plate

Haggadah Section: Introduction
InterfaithOrangeSeder Plate

Dispelling the Urban Legend of the Orange on the Seder Plate

By Rabbi Robyn Frisch

If you, like me, are past the age of 40, you may remember years ago hearing the claim that Little Mikey of LIFE cereal fame died from the explosive effects of mixing Pop Rocks candy with soda pop. Or you may have heard that children’s television show host Mr. Rogers (Fred Rodgers) always wore long-sleeved shirts and sweaters on his show to conceal the tattoos on his arms he obtained while serving in the military. Or perhaps you’ve heard that alligators live under the New York City sewer system. But, in reality, none of these stories are true. They’re all “urban legends.” And I’m proud to say that I never believed any of them (well, except the one about Mikey and Pop Rocks—I did believe that one for awhile…).

But there’s another urban legend, one connected to the Passover seder, that I’ve believed for years. In fact, I’ve told this story many times at my own seders. It’s the story of the “orange on the seder plate.” And until this week, I always thought the story I told was true—after all, I’d heard it so many times, and read it in so many different places.

The story goes something like this: Professor Susannah Heschel was giving a lecture in Miami Beach, when a man stood up and yelled: “A woman belongs on a  bimah  like an orange belongs on a seder plate.” In order to show that women DO belong on the  bimah —that women have the right to a place in Jewish ritual and in Jewish leadership—Heschel and others began to place oranges on their seder plates. (According to another version of the story, the man yelled: “A woman belongs on the bimah  like a piece of bread belongs on the seder plate.” Wanting to make a point about women’s rightful place in Judaism, but not wanting to place bread, which is forbidden on Passover, on her seder plate, Heschel replaced “bread” with “an orange,” since the incident took place in Florida, “The Orange State.”)

I learned the story of “the orange on the seder plate” sometime in the late 1990s, when I was a rabbinical student. At the time I was in my early 30s, hosting my own seders for the first time.  Like many of my colleagues, I strived to make my seders authentic, relevant and meaningful by balancing tradition with creativity and innovation. I embraced the traditional symbols of the seder (the four cups of wine,  matzah,  egg, parsley, etc.) and also newer symbols, such as Miriam’s Cup and the orange. For the past 15 years or so, when I’ve gone to the produce store to buy parsley, horseradish and apples and nuts for my  charoset,  I’ve made sure to purchase an orange for my seder plate as well. And at every seder I’ve hosted, I’ve shared the “story of the orange on the seder plate” and how it represents women’s equality in Judaism.

But recently I found out that the story I’ve been telling simply isn’t true. Here’s the TRUE STORY, in Professor Susannah Heschel’s own words, from an article that she wrote for  The Jewish Daily Forward  in 2013:

“At an early point in the seder… I asked each person to take a segment of the orange, make the blessing over fruit and eat the segment in recognition of gay and lesbian Jews and of widows, orphans, Jews who are adopted and all others who sometimes feel marginalized in the Jewish community.

“When we eat that orange segment, we spit out the seeds to repudiate homophobia and we recognize that in a whole orange, each segment sticks together. Oranges are sweet and juicy and remind us of the fruitfulness of gay and lesbian Jews and of the homosociality that has been such an important part of Jewish experience, whether of men in yeshivas or of women in the Ezrat Nashim.”

Heschel went on to write of the Miami Beach lecture urban legend:

“That incident never happened! Instead, my custom had fallen victim to a folktale process in which my original intention was subverted. My idea of the orange was attributed to a man, and my goal of affirming lesbians and gay men was erased.

“Moreover, the power of the custom was subverted: By now, women are on the bimah, so there is no great political courage in eating an orange, because women ought to be on the bimah.

“For years, I have known about women whose scientific discoveries were attributed to men, or who had to publish their work under a male pseudonym. That it happened to me makes me realize all the more how important it is to recognize how deep and strong patriarchy remains, and how important it is for us to celebrate the contributions of gay and lesbian Jews, and all those who need to be liberated from marginality to centrality. And Passover is the right moment to ensure freedom for all Jews.”

I’m glad to have finally learned the “true story” of “the orange on the seder plate.” And now that I know it, will I still put an orange on MY seder plate this Passover? I sure will! But, like Professor Heschel, I’ll invite each of the participants at my seder to take a segment of the orange, make the blessing over fruit that grows on trees and eat the segment in recognition of gay and lesbian Jews and of widows, orphans, Jews who are adopted, interfaith couples and families and all others who sometimes feel marginalized in the Jewish community.

After all, the Passover seder is very much a time for asking questions (for the importance of questions in the Passover seder—beyond the “Four Questions”—see my blog from last year about the seder). And if I’ve learned anything from discovering the truth about the urban legend of the “orange on the seder plate,” it’s that we need to constantly be questioning: even those things that we’re confident we already “know.”

For more on Passover and seders, visit Interfaith Family's Guide to Passover for Interfaith Families.

Source:  
InterfaithFamily.com
Edit Clip
Women's Seder
HA
Haggadot
Table of contents
    -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
  • Learning to say Dayenu
  • Miriam's Cup - Winona LaDuke, Native American Activist
  • The Passover Symbols, The Orange & Miriam's Cup
  • Learning to say Dayenu
  • Orange on the Passover Seder Plate
  • Still We Rise
    • Introduction
  • Audre Lorde Quote
  • Women's seder introduction
  • My Jewish Anniversary: A Liberation Story
  • This is Just the Beginning
  • Dispelling the Urban Myth of the Orange on the Seder Plate
  • The Well of Tradition and Miriam's Well
  • Dismantle the Patriarchy
  • Rape Culture Is...
  • Revenge of Dinah: Candle Lighting
  • Volunteer
    • Kadesh
  • The First Cup - Out of Slavery
  • Downtown Los Angeles 1.21.17
  • Kosi R'vayah-My Cup Runneth Over
  • 4 Cups, 4 Promises and 4 Mothers
  • Kadesh
  • On Account of the Righteous Women
  • First Cup of Wine
    • Urchatz
  • TOGETHER
  • Urchatz - Dip Hands
  • Urchatz
  • Dear 1%...
  • Revenge of Dinah: Urchatz
    • Karpas
  • Karpas
  • Karpas Image
    • Yachatz
  • Breaking the matzah - hunger
  • Emma on Freedom
  • Men of Quality Respect...
    • Maggid - Beginning
  • The Second Cup - I will deliver you
  • Hannah Szenes Quote
  • Women's Rights Are Human Rights
  • The Heroic and Visionary Women of Passover
  • Carole King: One Small Voice, 2017 Release
    • Commentary / Readings
  • Women of the Wall
  • Miriam's Cup Ritual for the Family Seder
    • -- Four Questions
  • A Feminist Seder Ma Nishtana
  • Alternative Four Questions
    • -- Four Children
  • Four Daughters
  • The Four Daughters
  • Queer Latina Femmes Fight Back
  • Revenge of Dinah: Four Children
    • -- Exodus Story
  • Mi Chamocha - Awe and Wonder in the Sea
  • Gender Quiz for Passover
  • Gender Reflections on the Passover Story
  • Justice For All
  • The role of women in The Redemption from Egypt
  • Telling Our Story
  • Resist or Cease to Exist
    • -- Ten Plagues
  • Ten plagues that women today face
  • Ten Modern Plagues
  • A Seventeen-Year-Old Jewish Feminist's Ten Plagues
  • Hands Off My Uterus
  • Ten Plagues of Rape Culture
    • Rachtzah
  • Rachtza- Mandi Cohen
    • Maror
  • The Journey Towards Liberation - The complicated parts
  • Lamenting the Wounds of Mother Earth
  • Infertility and Apples
    • Koreich
  • Maybe She's Born With It...
  • Mixing the Bitter and the Sweet
  • Apples
    • Tzafun
  • Diversity Makes Us Who We Are
    • Bareich
  • The Third Cup - I will redeem you
  • Where Did All the Women Go?
    • Hallel
  • The Fourth Cup - I will gather you
  • Adrienne Rich on Freedom
  • Poem Of Miriam
    • Nirtzah
  • I Change Myself, I Change the World
  • won't you celebrate with me, by Lucille Clifton
    • Conclusion
  • Does Your Feminism Gentrify My Hood?
    • Songs
  • Snow
  • Inspired to create
    your own Haggadah?

    Make your own Haggadah and share with other Seder lovers around the world

    Have an idea
    for a clip?

    People like you bring their creativity to Haggadot.com when they share their ideas in a clip

    Support Us
    with your donation

    Help us build moments of meaning and connection through
    home-based Jewish rituals.

    OUR TOP CONTRIBUTORS

    contributor image
    Esther Kustanowitz
    4 Haggadahs38 Clips
    contributor image
    JQ International
    1 Haggadah40 Clips
    contributor image
    MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
    5 Haggadahs109 Clips
    contributor image
    18Doors
    1 Haggadah13 Clips
    contributor image
    JewishBoston
    1 Haggadah78 Clips
    contributor image
    Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
    1 Haggadah36 Clips
    contributor image
    American Jewish World Service
    1 Haggadah44 Clips
    contributor image
    JewBelong
    3 Haggadahs57 Clips
    contributor image
    Repair the World
    12 Clips
    contributor image
    HIAS
    5 Haggadahs48 Clips
    contributor image
    Be'chol Lashon
    2 Haggadahs27 Clips
    contributor image
    PJ Library
    1 Haggadah17 Clips
    contributor image
    Jewish World Watch
    3 Haggadahs42 Clips
    contributor image
    Secular Synagogue
    10 Clips
    contributor image
    SVIVAH
    1 Haggadah9 Clips
    contributor image
    The Blue Dove Foundation
    12 Clips
    contributor image
    ReformJudaism.org
    24 Clips
    contributor image
    Jewish Emergent Network
    1 Haggadah22 Clips

    Passover Guide

    Hosting your first Passover Seder? Not sure what food to serve? Curious to
    know more about the holiday? Explore our Passover 101 Guide for answers
    to all of your questions.

    Haggadot

    Haggadot.com by Recustom, is a free resource for all backgrounds and experiences. Consider making a donation to help support the continuation of this free platform.

    Copyright © 2024 Custom and Craft Jewish Rituals Inc, dba Recustom, dba Haggadot.com.
    All Rights Reserved. 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. EIN: 82-4765805.