| I don't know about in Australia, but in the US, anyways, a lot of
liberal Jewish congregations run "community seders" in the weeks right
before Passover (usually Easter falls during Passover; this year is
unusual in that Easter is one lunar month too early; I guess the
Christian liturgical calendar does not completely follow the Jewish
lunar calendar, but I don't know if this happens every time the month
of Adar is doubled, as it is this year - the other effect of the
calendar skew is that Christmas falls during Passover rather than after
it, by the way). Our schul does this. Paul and I have helped with
these in the past (when it is not TOO close to Passover so that it
interferes with our Passover preparations). Sometimes they have even
been held at one of the local churches, and most of the people who come
are interested non-Jewish people, and quite a few of the local clergy.
The Reform movement prints an abbreviated Haggadah for use at these (it
has greatly abbreviated the answer to the "four questions" - otherwise
the model seder would take as long as a real seder, and we wouldn't see
too many folks come back the next year!). So, you might try contacting
a local liberal Jewish congregation; their youth group might be
interested in helping, for example. (I've been saying "liberal" here
because I don't know if a more traditional synagogue would be
interested in such an event; I don't know for sure that they would
refuse to help you out, but I think you will get a more sympathetic
response from a liberal group - maybe because I myself am a liberal.)
Even if they aren't, the rabbi can reccomend some books for your youth
group to look at, and suggest a suitable Hagaddah.
Apart from the ritual food items that are actually part of the
religious aspect of the Passover seder ceremony itself, in the middle
of the seder a real (usually pretty lavish) meal is served. There
aren't any real requirements on the food served other than that it has
to be acceptable for Passover (ie, nothing made from flour except for
matzoh and its derivatives, and no other grains or grain products -
which to most Jews of Eastern European extraction also includes
legumes, with the exception of peanut oil). The meal would
traditionally include matzoh-ball soup, roast chicken or turkey and
brisket of beef, various vegetables (not beans, peans, lentils, etc. -
and of course no grains like corn or rice), kugels (a sort of baked
vegetable pudding - often made of potatoes or broccoli), and of course
matzohs. Any Jewish cookbook will have sample menus for the meal part
of the seder. Since the holiday celebrates freedom, a lavish meal is
the right thing to serve.
The ritual foods will be described in a Jewish cookbook, too, and
include horseradish (a "bitter herb"), hardboiled eggs, parsley or
boiled potatoes dipped in salt water, matzohs, charosses (a sort of
fruit relish, usually made of chopped apples, nuts, cinnamon, and kosher
wine, although sometimes other things such as dates or pears), and
kosher wine (or grape juice). There is also a roasted shankbone
present, but not eaten. The ritual foods are displayed on a special
plate (a "seder plate") and are pointed out at the appropriate times
during the ceremony (except for the matzohs, which have their own
plate, divided up to hold three specially-designated matzohs that are
part of the ceremony - some matzoh plates have three slots for these,
but usually there is a cloth cover with three compartments). Oh, some
people will use Romaine lettuce in place of horseradish (well, it *is*
somewhat bitter); I've been tempted for years to bring some Japanese
green horseradish root (wasabi) and see if anyone can actually eat it
grated up, but I am not positive it would be kosher (and I *know* *I*
can't eat the required quantity of that stuff!!) An extra cup of wine
is set out for the prophet Elijah (Eliyahu, in Hebrew). (I don't think
I am forgetting any of the ritual foods, but I'm sure someone will
correct me if I do. I have amost terrible cold today and am only half
here anyhow....)
I'm sure your youth group will find researching this very interesting!
/Charlotte
PS-
By the way, I am reasonably convinced that what we eat these days for
matzohs are nothing like the original sort of unleavened bread that
would have been eaten on the way out of Egypt. It takes modern
machinery and very fast work, and very hot ovens, to make the
cracker-like things we eat today. The original was probably more like
pita bread that did not have time to rise - sort of like a heavy cake.
So maybe paintings of the Christian "last supper" are not as
unreasonable as they look compared to a seder today.
|
| May I add my recommendations to the prior ones?
You signed that you are in Sydney, Australia. To my recollection
(from family members who have visited there) Sydney is a VERY large
city, with a good sized Jewish community..Kosher butchers, Synagogues,
Hebrew/Yiddish bookstores, etc. to say nothing of universities and
libraries, Hillel Houses, and so on.
While we here in this Notes file could answer some of your questions,
chances are that one answer will breed more questions....and by
the time you get all your answers you will end up working for next
year rather than for this year. My suggestion is that you try
contacting someone in your local area who could answer more of your
questions in less time than we could. And we could still be a 'back-up
support' for you.
Good luck, and do let us know how you are making out.
Regards,
|