Water, Bitter and Sweet

Haggadah Section: Karpas

Picture drawn by an immigrant child detained at the Tornillo tent city, Tornillo, Texas, December 2018, shortly before the facility was closed. The quetzal is significant in Central American culture and mythology, including as a sign of spring and symbol of freedom. Photograph by Justin Hamel.

As the Four Questions will soon point out, we dip twice in our seder. The two dippings are opposites. The first time, as we prepare to enter a world of slavery, we dip a green vegetable into saltwater, marring its life-giving freshness with the taste of tears and death. The second time, as we move towards redemption, we moderate the bitterness of maror with the sweetness of charoset. Any time we find ourselves immersed in sadness and suffering, may we always have the courage to know that blessing is coming.

The dipping of karpas also recalls the Israelites’ first stop after crossing the Red Sea, which was called Marah. After a three-day journey, they found water there, but it was bitter, undrinkable. God showed Moses a piece of wood to throw (dip) into the water, which made it potable. (Exodus 15:22-27)

Even after a major initial victory, our elation can collapse swiftly under the weight of the next steps we have to take. Karpas reminds us that the journey to freedom — like the seder — is long, and we have to pace ourselves.

This episode is also the source-text for the rabbis’ instituting reading Torah on Mondays and Thursdays, so we never go more than three days without water/Torah. Karpas reminds us that on the long road to redemption, we have to make sure we stop and nourish ourselves wherever we can.

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The Other Side of the River, the Other Side of the Sea, by T'ruah
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Truah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Table of contents
    Introduction
  • Introduction: Forced Labor, Racism, and Immigration
    • Karpas
  • Water, Bitter and Sweet
    • Maggid - Beginning
  • The Thesis Statement of the Haggadah
    • -- Exodus Story
  • After Pittsburgh
  • Slavery and Racism
  • The Statue of Liberty Reimagined
  • Refugees, Then and Now
  • Jewish Diversity: Great, Mighty, and Multitudinous
  • Embodying Anti-Racism at the Seder
  • Excerpts from "Maror and Maggid: Clearing My Throat"
  • We Cried Out: Class and Labor Activism
  • They Put Hard Work Upon Us: Border Security
  • God saw our suffering: A new midrash
    • -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
  • Dayeinu: The Long Process of Redemption
  • In every generation: The fulcrum of the seder
    • Tzafun
  • The Organizing Principle for the Second Half of the Seder
    • Nirtzah
  • Counting the Omer Towards Redemption
  • Redempton Requires Repentance
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