PAGE SIX

TREPLTROMJEWISR efRONICIE

The Spirit of the Seder

Passover Greetings to our Many Friends

Israel's glorious past, supreme in its
consciousness of Israel's great pres-
ent.

Elijah the Prophet.

By RABBI LEON FRAM.

There is an empty chair at the Se-
der table, and an additional cup of
wine. Both are waiting for a wan-
dering guest who would be glad to join
in the Seder, but who has so many in-
vitations that he can only stay a few
seconds at each home. Elijah the
prophet, borne along swiftly on his
angel's wings, makes a flying trip this
night around the globe. Invisibly he
enters every Jewish home, sits on the
chair that has been provided for him,
takes a sip from the cup of wine await-
ing him and, seeing that all is well,
hurries off on his rounds.
Long, long ago, according to the
story told in the Bible, Elijah was a
prophet among his people. He was so
fearless that he dared to denounce the
king of Israel publicly when he found
him committing wrongs. One day he
was seen suddenly to disappear in a
chariot of fire amounting heavenward
in a cloud.
Transferred to heaven, he did not
lose interest in his people, but contin-
ued to be their guardian and cham-
pion. Our ancestors, who lived in the
Middle Ages, often suffered terrible
persecution at the time of Passover.
In their sorrow and dread they liked
to think that Elijah was ever at hand
to help them. To show their grati-
tude, they made him welcome to par-
take of the cheer of the Seder.

V. Geist & Son

Passover Night.
there in the slave hovels of Egypt,
Is there any indoor game so enjoya- proud fathers, happy mothers and be-
ble as that of acting out for ourselves wildered children. The joy of life just
some of the great events of history? discovered was in their veins. The
Now, suppose you want to act out a awe of God, the champion of the op-
historical event, the most important pressed, was upon their hearts. It
part of which was the eating of an ex- was a momentous Watch Night for
cellent meal, what greater fun could them.
you imagine?
A shrill cry came from the depths
This fun may be experienced in ev- of the darkness of Egypt. The silence
cry Jewish home on the first night of of the Sphinx was shattered. The An-
Passover. For something like a great, gel of Death had done his work. Char-
wonderful game is played at the table nob had realized at last the power of
that night, a game which includes the God.
telling of old stories, the singing of At a signal from Moses the slaves
old, old songs, the solving of puzzles, poured forth from their huts and, with
competition for prizes, and—what is many a hearty shout and cheer, they
,•.,
best of all—the eating and drinking marched boldly out of Egypt. The sun
of most delicious things. rose upon them as they left the hated
While the frolic is meant chiefly for land.
the children, the whole family joins
Then God spike to Moses and told
OFFICES AND PARLORS:
the fascinating sport—father and him that this Watch Night should be
mother and grandparents arid big sin- repeated year after year to comment-
ter and brother, and uncles and aunts. orate the night which ended with the
What makes this the strangest of all dawn of freedom. "And it shall come
games is that, with all the fun and to pass," went on the words of God,
laughter, there are included serious "when your children shall say unto
prayers; mixed with the spirit of you: What mean ye by this service ,
light mirth is the feeling of deep rev- that ye shall say: it is the sacrifice of
erence. the Lord's Passover, for that Ile
This ceremony is called the Seder, passed over the houses of the Children
and it is an imitation or a living over of Israel in Egypt, when Ile smote the
of the experiences of our forefathers Egyptians and delivered our houses."
on the night on which they won their
The Seder Dishes.
The Aphikomon.
freedom from the Egyptians.
At the very beginning of the Seder
"When your children shall say unto
The Original Seder,
this sentence is contained
ned something takes place which makes the
What was the original, thrilling the "
origin and the meaning of the children open their eyes wide. The
Passover
night,
of which our Seder is Seder. Strange dishes are placed upon father of the house rises front his pil-
such
a jolly
imitation?
the table in order that we children lowed chair and makes Kiddush, that
is, sings or recites the prayer which
Darkness
Egypt,
both the
darkness
of hung
night over
and the
darkness
of may ask questions about them. In an-
saver the story of the Exodus from sanctifies the table. All sip their cups
of wine.
dread.
Nine
plagues,
sent
by
the
Egypt
is
told,
and
the
events
of
thp
avenging God of Israel, had -almost
Then, from the three matzoth on
exhausted the proud empire of the Watch Night are acted over.
The most striking dish is, of course, the plate before him, father takes the
Nile. This night the final blow was to
middle
one and breaks it into two
Tonight that would happen the unleavened bread or matzoth, "the
fall.
parts. One half is left on the dish.
which would break the will of Thar- bread of affliction," which the Israel-
Carefully the children's eyes follow the
aoh and humble the mighty builder of , ilea
y had to use. We are next attracted other half. Father either puts it un-
pyramids to the dust before the God el the unusual abundance of bitter
In eating der his pillow or places it on the table
of Right. The Angel of Death was vegetables and waters.
stalking through the silent city, lay- these, we mean there is the roasted where he can keep his eye on it. It
ing his hand upon every first born of bone of a Iamb upon the table to re- must not get b st or become confused
Egypt. But into certain houses he mind us of the Passover lamb A with other matzoth, for, according to
tradition, this piece must be eaten at
came not. A streak of blood upon the
ter, but dish
made resenfblibg
really of a peanut
ground but-
and the end bf the Seder as dessert. It is
doorpost told him that here an Israel-townish
ite dwelt. beaten mixture of apples, almOnds, called the Aphikomon, or dessert.
The children know how valuable the
Within these marked houses, the raisins and cinnamon, serves to re-
Aphikomon is to father. Therefore,
Israelites, slaves till but an hour be- mind us of the lime with which our fa-
they
plot darkly among themselves to
fore, were celebrating their newly thers toiled in making bricks. A
"kidnap" it, awl to extort a heavy
found freedom by a festival meal. roasted egg is meant to represent the
Each family had killed a whole lamb new life our fathers won on the Watch ransom. Alt rough the Seder they
lie in wait, hungrily eyeing the place
for the midnight feast. Nothing was Night. •
Besides these curiosities on the ta- of concealment. The raid is carefully
to be left over, even as God had com-
planned. While the other children at-
ble,
there
come
to
us
from
the
direc-
manded through Moses.
Never did meat taste sweeter than Con of the kitchen, odorous currents tract the attention of the family by
some
question, one slips unnoticed
did the Passover lamb to the emanci- of air full of the promise of unusually
from his seat, crawls over to his fa-
pated slaves. Little did they mind the savory food. We ask the questions
ther's
chair
and steals the Aphikomon.
loam which was still on their hands, about the meaning of the Seder table,
Meantime, the other children can
for it was ingrained toe deeply to be and all reply in unison.
hardly
.keep
from bursting out with
The reply consists in part of the
no quickly washed oir. Little did they
laughter.
heed the bitter pain which was still in story of the Exodus read from the
At
the
end
of
the Seder, when the
their hearts, for it had penetrated too Haggadah, a little book especially
father looks about for the Ahpikomon,
far to be so easily frogotten. Free- written for that purpose, and in part
there
is
a
shout
of triumph from the
dam was ahead of them. What mat- of the eating of the fragrant, -flavor-
tered all else? Standing up, they ate ing dishes. Most children agree that children, then a groan of defeat from
the
father.
with their staves in their hands and the latter part of the reply is the more
"I'll give anything in the world to
their bundles on their backs, prepared I convincing.
get the Aphikomon back," pleads fa-
The Welcome.
for travel. For the liberation was to
ther.
come at any moment now, and they There is something inspiring about
"Well, father, I want a baseball
did not want to stay in the land of the way the Seder begins. When all
suit, and a bat, and a glove."
their bondage a moment more than the family has been seated and the
"And I want a tennis racquet and
was necessary. They had not even had Kiddush has been said the father of
balls."
time to let their bread rise, but had the house rises and takes a matzoh out
"And I want white slippers and a
MIXIXIANNWAISWAWAVOSISISW•11.10•WCISVOSSWOXIS,SW•S%
baked the flat dough, and they were of the plate before him. Holding it
new hat."
now eating hard biscuits of unleav- high, he calls aloud: "Lo! This is
"And I want a new doll."
ened bread as a result of their hurry. the bread of affliction, which our fa-
The parents are overwhelmed.
Eager and expectant they stood thers ate as they went out of Egypt.
"Can't you make the terms a bit eas-
Whoever is hungry, let them come in
ier?" begs mother. But the children
and eat. Whoever is in need let him
Come and keep the Passover with us!" are relentless. Either all their de-
Season's Greetings.
mands are granted or there shall be
Can you imagine a nobler way of
no Aphikomon that night.
beginning a feast than to invite all
The parents yield in dismay. The
who are hungry to take part in it?
ransom
is promised, and the Aphi-
That this invitation is not merely re-
komon is produced. The father breaks
cited but really meant is shown by the
it
into
bits.
Each member of the fam-
fact that, in many Jewish homes,
strange guests are always invited for ily eats his bit, then all join in say- 1
ing Grace.
the Seder. It is a night of joy, and we
At the very end of the Seder comes
see to it that no Jew shall be gloomy
the best treat of all, the singing of
or lonesome this night.
that
quaint old nursery rhyme, called
The Law of Jewish Hospitality.
"And if a stranger sojourn with you "Chad Gadya," or "An Only Kid." It
is
written
in Aramaic, but may now be
in your land, ye shall not do him
sung in the English translation. As
wrong. The stranger that sojourns
you read it you are naturally reminded
with you shall be unto you as the
of that famous rhyme, "The House
2481 RUSSELL STREET
home-born among you, and thou shalt
that Jack Built."
ove him as thyself, for ye were strang-
Chad Gadya,
ers
in
the
land
of
Egypt:
I
am
the
Randolph 1697
Up to a few years ago there were
Lord, your God."—Leviticus 19:33-34.
many learned men who believed that
The Haggadah.
"Chad Gadya" was more than a chil-
A remarkable little book is the Hag- dren's song. They thought that there
+1,5Ie +le
le.ote,o1
gadah. It contains the directions for were deep and mysterious things con-
IcrweAtwa,t1t...,V
preparing the Seder table, and the tained in it, which the simple lines
prayers, storits, puzzles, songs, and merely hinted at. As a result, many
4' 0
games that belong to the Seder serv- books were written to explain the
ice. It is a very old book. Many parts meaning of the series of events begun
t.1
of it are as old as the Talmud. For with daddy's purchase of only one kid.
a long time it was used in manuscript
The favorite interpretation of the
C a
form, being first printed in 1526. The song has been that the only kid rep-
Haggadah is the only hook which an- resents the people of Israel, God's
cient Jews ever illustrated with pic- chosen nation. The father who pur-
tures. The very oldest copies contain chased the kid is God, the two pieces
pictures of Israel crossing the Red of gold with which Ile made the pur-
Sea and of a company of rabbis hold- chase are Moses and Aaron, for it
ing Seder together. Modern Ilagga- was through them that God redeemed
dahs have many more illustrations, Israel from Egypt. The various ani-
and the pictures are much more beau- mals and objects that come upon the
tiful, being taken from the works of scene now are the various oppressors
great Jewish painters. Originally, from whom Israel suffered in the
the Haggadah was written in Hebrew course of its long history.
and Aramaic. Today it has been
The cat is Assyria, the cruel em-
translated into all modern languages pire which destroyed the ten tribes of
and, at the Seder Table, it is read Israel. The dog is Babylonia, con-
both in Hebrew and English.
queror of Assyria, which brought
The Royal Family.
about the first exile of the Jews from
The chair, on which the father of their land and the first destruction of
the house sits on Seder nights, is un- the Temple at Jerusalem. The stick
like any other chair in the house. Its stands for Persia, conqueror of Baby-
seat and its back are heaped with the lonia, the fire for Macedonia, which,
softest of cushions. The chair, on under Alexander the Great, conquered
which father sits on Seder night, is a Persia. The water stands for Rome,
royal throne, for, on that night, father which conquered the entire world,
feels as free and as proud as a king. brought about the second destruction
Mother, of course, is queen. On Seder of the Temple and the final dispersion
night her face beams with the be- of Israel. The ox represents the Sara-
4
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nignity and happiness of a queen of cens, who conquered Palestine. By
some great realm. Now, if father is the slaughterer is meant the Crusad-
Jo
king and mother is queen, that makes ers, who massacred many Jews while
of Greater Detroit.
the boys and girls princes and prin- on the march to the Hold Land. The
cesses. Indeed, they look handsome Angel of death is the Turks, who con-
enough, in their new suits and their quered Palestine. The Most holy is
new dresses, to rival the most graceful God, who, in His justice, punishes all
prince or princess that ever stepped the persecutors and redeems Israel,
out of the pages of a fairy book.
His only kid.
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is gathered around the table to tell give to so simple a song? How do
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Been the Making of Our Success.
story
of
Israel's
liberation
and
to
you prefer to think of it, as a mere
Mean Quality."
feast and sing in honor of it, is a nursery rhyme or as a review of his-
royal family, sovereign in its pride in tory?

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