Reconstructing  the Seder Plate

Symbolism is an important part of the Passover Seder, with the most central ritual object being the Seder Plate. 

Unfortunately, some elements of the traditional Seder Plate are not consistent with a vegetarian or vegan ethos. Therefore, the following suggestions are ways to substitute items on the Seder Plate while maintaining the appropriate symbolism.

The Shankbone:

Broiled beet – Is arguably the most common substitute which the Reconstructionist Haggadah notes has its origins in Talmudic tradition.

Other options include:

Olives, grapes, and grains of unfermented  barley – According to The Haggadah for the Liberated Lamb these items symbolize “the commandments of compassion for the oppressed, to be found in the Bible. We use olives to commemorate the commandment to leave the second shaking of the olive tree for the poor, we use grapes to commemorate the commandment to leave the second shaking of the grapevines for the poor (Deut. 24:20), and we use grains of unfermented barley (or other unleavened or unfermented grains) to commemorate the commandment not to muzzle the ox when it treads out the corn in the fields (Deut. 25:4), in other words, to recognize the natural appetites of the animal and not interfere with them. This commandment is considered to be the oldest extant concept of "animal rights," and enshrines the notion of the dignity and rights of the animal." 

The Egg:

For those vegetarians who don’t eat eggs, and  for vegans, this is another item that requires a substitution.

The main purpose of the egg is to symbolize life and creation.  Any nut would make a substitution as they are easy to roast and also hold inside it the seed of creation.  

The remaining items are additions to the Seder Plate/Table that many Reconstructionists and other progressive Jews make.

Miriam’s Cup/Well:

This is a large cup of water, similar to the Elijah’s cup of wine.  It represents Miriam's role in the Exodus story, brings a key woman into the story, and references Miriam's Well, which was said to have followed the Israelites on their journey through the 

desert.

An Orange:  

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 (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 chametz 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. In addition, each orange segment had a few seeds that had to be spit out – a gesture of spitting out, repudiating the homophobia of Judaism. While lecturing, Heschel often mentioned her custom as one of many feminist rituals that have been developed in the last twenty years. She writes, "Somehow, though, the typical patriarchal maneuver occurred: my idea of an orange and my intention of affirming lesbians and gay men were transformed. Now the story circulates that a MAN said to me that a woman belongs on the bimah as an orange on the seder plate. A woman's words are attributed to a man, and the affirmation of lesbians and gay men is erased. Isn't that precisely what's happened over the centuries to women's ideas?" (www.ritualwell.org)

A 4th Matzah 

Traditionally the Seder Plate has just 3 pieces of matzah.  In the past, a 4th piece had been added for Soviet Jews.  This tradition can be continued and expanded to include all those Jews who live in oppression.

In all this talk about changes and additions, don’t forget the traditional ritual items of

Haroset/Mortar

Maror/Bitter Herbs 

Hazeret/A second bitter herbs

Karpas/Greens

Keeping Kosher For Passover

While many people think of bread and pastry products as the only food prohibitions for Passover, this is not the case.

Chametz

This is the main category of prohibited food and includes any food that rises or can be leavened, baked from the grain of wheat, barley, spelt, oats or rye.

Kitniyot

This second category of foods are traditionally prohibited in the Ashkenazy tradition but are permitted in the Sephardic tradition. Whether you choose to eat foods classified as Kitniyot or not during Passover can be considered a matter of either conscience or practicality. This information is provided to explain the custom, but is not meant to endorse any specific practice.

Items classified as Kitnyot include corn, rice, peas and legumes (which includes most bean and soy products).

Eco-Kashrut

Excerpted from “EcoKosher” Arthur Waskow, The Jerusalem Report, April 3, 1997

What can we learn by renewing the ancient text? For shepherds and farmers, food was what they ate from the earth. For us, it is also coal, oil, electric power, paper, plastics that we take from the earth. For shepherds and farmers, kashrut was the way of guiding their eating toward holiness. For us, eco-kashrut should do the same.

We should ask: it is eco-kosher to eat vegetables and fruit that have been grown by drenching the soil with insecticides? Is it eco-kosher to drink Shabbat Kiddush wine from non-biodegradable plastic cups? Is it eco-kosher to use 100 percent unrecycled office paper and newsprint in our homes, our synagogues, our community newspapers? Might it be eco-kosher to insist on 10 percent recycled paper this year, 30 percent in two years, and 80 percent in 5 years?

Is it eco-kosher to destroy great forests, to ignore insulating our homes, synagogues and nursing homes, to become addicted to automobiles----so that we drunkenly pour carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, there to accelerated the heating of our globe? Strange fire indeed!

We can light a blaze to consume the earth. Or we can make a holy altar of our lives ---- to light up the spark of God in every human and in every species.”