Contributors

Sebastian Greenholtz

Maggid - Beginning

And You Shall Tell Them On This Night...

by Sebastian Greenholtz

Maggid is considered to be the most important part of the seder because in this part we tell the story of the Exodus and explain the significance of the ritual. The seder was implemented for the purpose of remembering the liberation from Egypt, so we are fulfilling this purpose here. There are three main components of Maggid: Four Questions - traditionally said by the youngest child present Four Children -commentary on the four types of approaches to the questions Telling of...

Symbolism of the Middle Matzah

by Sebastian Greenholtz

There are many explanations for the breaking of the middle matzah. One question is why do we break the matzah now when it is not needed until later in the ceremony? Because a key to freedom is to anticipate the future and make it real. We cannot move forward with our project of revolution if we stay only in the mindset of our current crisis. Many people who call themselves Marxists are stuck in the pessimism of the day. But armed...

Breaking the Middle Matzah

by Sebastian Greenholtz

Next we break middle of the three matzahs and lay aside the larger piece to be hidden as the afikomen. At some seders an adult hides the afikomen for the children to find, at other the children hide the afikomen and the adults try to find it. Either way the children end up with some sort of prize, which keeps them engaged and awake through what can be a long and boring ceremony. Even at seders without children present, having one...

What is Karpas?

by Sebastian Greenholtz

Karpas is a green vegetable, most often parsley. Karpas represents the initial flourishing of the Israelites during the first years in Egypt. At the end of the biblical book of Genesis, Joseph moves his family to Egypt, where he becomes the second-in-command to Pharaoh. Protected by Joseph’s exalted status, the family lives safely for several generations and proliferate greatly, becoming a great nation. The size of this growing population frightens the new Pharaoh, who enslaves the Israelites, lest they make war...

The First Wash

by Sebastian Greenholtz

We wash our hands twice during the seder. This time, we wash without reciting a blessing. The absence of a blessing here acknowledges that the custom of washing one’s hands before eating vegetables, while once a part of Jewish ritual, is no longer practiced. This hand-washing is a vestige of that custom. We clean our hands here as a preparation for eating, but later in the seder we wash our hands as a spiritual practice, so a blessing is more customary...

Explain Kadesh

by Sebastian Greenholtz

We start the seder with the blessing over the first of four cups of wine. Blessings over wine, called kiddush from the Hebrew word meaning holy, set aside, or marked off, are a fixture of Jewish tradition and usually mark the beginning of holidays and celebrations. Wine has been a part of many different religious observances since biblical times, and by saying a special prayer over the wine we are marking off our activities of before the holiday from those inside....

Why Include Prayers?

by Sebastian Greenholtz

It might seem odd to have prayers and references to God within a Marxist haggadah, and I certainly could have secularized the text completely. However, this is a Reconstructionist Marxist haggadah, and rather than throwing out traditional texts like prayers, we reinterpret and revalue them to fit within our understanding of the world. As Marxists, this means fitting a God concept within dialectical and historical materialism, a project I've been engaged in for quite some time. The Hebrew word to pray,...

First Cup for Political Action

by Sebastian Greenholtz

As we come together this year the world can seem grim, and at times we are very tired and lose hope of any change occurring, especially with the pace and level of destruction the US government is perpetrating. What we drink to tonight is our community fomenting change together, around this table and around the world. We all are engaged in struggle, personally, in this country, and internationally. We dedicate this first cup of wine to the workers around the world...

The History of the Haggadah

by Sebastian Greenholtz

The book called the Haggadah (from the Hebrew root “to tell”) that serves as the liturgy and guidebook for the seder is an amazing pedagogic instrument that developed over time. The first documented evidence of parts of the Haggadah is found in the Mishnah (edited ca. 200 CE). The arrangement of the table, the psalms, benedictions, and other recited matter of today coincide substantially with the program laid down in the Mishnah. Midrashim (commentaries) were added and most of the version...

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