Seder Plates Tie Past and Present

c. 2002 Religion News Service

BALTIMORE -- In 1981, Susan Vick purchased a ceramic Seder plate from a shop in New Jersey dealing in Judaica, or Jewish religious art. The plate had a curvilinear edging and a floral pattern, and came with small glass cups about the size of shot glasses to hold the ritual food items used during the traditional Passover meal.

The plate, said Vick, a Baltimore resident, is by no means a collector's item; its artistry is limited and its monetary value is nil. But it means a great deal to the Vick family. "It's just one of those things that ties the years together when we bring it out. It's a small plate, not much bigger than a regular dinner plate. But it's very pretty to us," she said.

Jill Levin's Seder plate was purchased nine years ago in Israel during a family visit. "We found it in a little shop, I think it may have been an Arab shop, and I like it because of its floral pattern and bright colors. It's made of copper and brass and is silver-plated," said Levin, who displays the plate year-round on a wall in her Baltimore home.

"We use it at Seders because it reminds us of a really special time as a family," said Levin, "Plus it's practical. There's indented places labeled in English and Hebrew on the plate for all the items that go on it, so it's sort of a blueprint for the Seder. This way I don't forget anything."

As Vick and Levin attest, Seder plates are more than mere ceremonial artifacts. Rather, they are links to the past for Jewish families that will come together for the ritual Seder meals held the first two nights of the eight-day Passover holiday (seven for Reform Jews) that begins Wednesday evening (March 27). The holiday commemorates the ancient Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt. Surveys show that festive Seder meal to be the most widely celebrated of all Jewish rituals.

The Encyclopedia Judaica calls Seder plates "the most important item on the Passover table" because they hold the ritual foods that symbolize the holiday. They are the roasted shank bone representing the ancient Passover sacrifice, a green vegetable symbolizing rebirth, a bitter herb symbolizing the bitterness of slavery, a roasted egg also evocative of the Passover sacrifice, and a mix of chopped apples or dates, nuts, wine and spices representing the mortar used by the Israelite slaves to make bricks.

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