Passover what does the egg symbolize

The things that divide us — race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, among others — also have the power to unite us. During the Seder, we are each meant to remember that we ourselves were once strangers in a strange land. If the Jewish community is to be a home for all, we So, first of all, the four children appear in the Jerusalem Talmud, where Rabbi Hyyia, a student of Rabbi Judah the Prince, is quoted as bringing this parable.

But it is Rabbis at the time of the collection of the Mishnah and Talmud who are creating this rubric. And so we proceed: The "Wise" Child asks about the rules Nirtzah Nirtzah. Maggid - Beginning The Red Haggadah. A blessing on your head Mazel tov! Our spin on the Moroccan Jewish tradition is to pass the remaining pieces of matzah around for everyone to both make and receive a blessing. Hold the matzah up over the person's head to your left and whisper a private blessing or wish for them.

We will continue with our Seder while you each partake in this private moment. Wishes and blessings around themes of freedom are especially appropriate tonight but feel free More clips from Brandon Wolfeld.

Water to Blood And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

Frogs And if thou refuse to let them Share Clip Share this Clip with your friends, family, community and social networks with just one click. Open in new window. Share This clip on Social Networks.

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Already have an account? One topic of intense rabbinic debate concerned how much matza and bitter herb one must eat on Passover. This seems to be quite a precise and final answer, but for whatever reason, the rabbis debated this matter for centuries. They came up with a bunch of different answers — but usually used the volume of an egg as a standard measure. Maimonides said the amount of mandatory matza and bitter herb was just over a third of an egg.

Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet said the amount should be a quarter of an egg's volume. Rabbi Joseph Karo advocated for half an egg. Perhaps, originally, eggs on the Passover table were there as a reference measure for volume, and later were given vague symbolic meaning. The earliest written reference to the giving of Easter eggs seems to be in German ostereyer and was written in This custom is widely believed to have arrived in Germany from the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe, although there is no written, pictorial or other evidence to the existence of this custom among the Slavs.

Still, a Slavic origin seems quite likely because: a There is little written evidence of anything in these parts during the Middle Ages. So that lack of evidence is no surprise. That in itself implies that the custom was extant before. Following this evidence to early Orthodox Christianity, the custom seems likely to have originated in Mesopotamia, from the tradition of decorating eggs and placing them on the table on Nowruz.

That is the Zoroastrian new year celebration that takes place in spring, around the time of Easter. Zoroastrianism was the major religion of Mesopotamia at the time when Christianity took hold. The tradition proliferated when the Germanic tribes converted to Christianity.

One snag with this theory is that the only reference connecting ostre to eggs is a single reference written by the English monk Bede the Venerable who lived from to The truth is, we know little about the religion and custom of the ancient Germans.

Another more prosaic and likely origin of the tradition is the Christian tradition of abstaining from eggs during Lent, the 40 days before Easter. So did the tradition of eating hard-boiled eggs on Passover come from Christian or earlier pagan traditions of decorating eggs? Probably not. The custom likely arose independently within Judaism: since they were there on the table anyway as a measure of volume, centuries before Isserles' first mention of their ingestion, they came to be eaten too.

It does bear adding that the Zoroastrian new year, Nowruz, did influence the seder, especially the plate of symbolic foods set in the middle of the table, which includes eggs, greenery and other symbolic foods. So we cannot totally reject the possibility that the Passover egg originated with Nowruz, though it is unlikely. The origins of religious customs are often obscure, shrouded by millennia of history, and difficult to uncover with accuracy. Thus we must be content with the answer - they may be connected, but probably aren't.

By the way, there is zero evidence for the theory making the rounds on internet, that the Easter egg started with the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamia. None at all. Fake news.