Temple B’nai Chaim hosted a Community Seder last week to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover. Nearly 150 people came together for the festive ritual dinner on Saturday, April 4, the second night of the eight day-long holiday. This event was the first time TBC has held a Community Seder in many years, and the synagogue hopes to make it an annual tradition.
Jews around the world observe Passover to celebrate God freeing the Jews from slavery in Egypt, as told in the story of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible.
Led by Rabbi Rachel Bearman and Cantor Jon Sobel, the attendees included new and long-time congregants, prospective members and other non-member guests who were welcomed to participate by reading from a special Haggadah created by TBC members for the occasion. A Haggadah is the prayer text that retells the story of Passover and sets the order for the seder.
Traditionally, families or congregations gather together for a seder, the meal that is eaten in a very specific order. Many of the foods are symbolic of elements of the Passover story. Most symbolic perhaps is the matzoh, a flat unleavened bread which replaces leavened bread during the week of the holiday. This is eaten because in the story of Exodus, the bread did not have time to rise as the Jews rushed to leave Egypt once Pharaoh agreed to let them go.
One important element in every seder is a seder plate, which is a special plate holding six items that represent key elements of the Passover story. For example, one item–bitter herbs (usually fresh horseradish)–symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. TBC collected pictures of seder plates belonging to congregants to reflect the variations in styles and decoration of the many plates. They have the images featured on their Facebook page.
During the meal, the guests at TBC’s seder enjoyed some favorite appetizers made by congregants, followed by a catered buffet dinner and dessert.