Learning Library
What Will We Say This Year?
The Unexpected Origins of Seder Rituals
The Pesach seder, the oldest continuously practiced religious ritual in the world, is replete with symbols familiar to us all. The matzah, the bitter herbs, the cups of wine are but a few of the objects that make up the evening’s elaborate choreography. Some of these rituals, however, do not mean what we think they mean. Or, more precisely, we have added new meanings to old rituals in the very recent past. These new meanings have taken hold and are now are now taken for granted. What can be learned by revisiting the original intention of familiar rituals? How can excavating these rituals’ history help us have more meaningful seders?
