The Passover Seder: What Kind of Meal Is This?

Italian comedian Sebastian Maniscalco discusses experiencing his first Passover Seder, along with his need for bread within 15 seconds of sitting at a table. He’s shocked when he realizes that for the next two hours his cuisine will mainly consist of a big tasteless cracker, bitter herbs, salt water and celery.

I'm sure he's not alone in thinking: What is going on here? And what does this have to do with me? This happened a really long time ago!  

Truth be told, when it comes to Passover I have to mentally prepare myself for two days of intestinal challenges, combined with a good case of acid reflux. The fact that I have ADHD and don’t enjoy sitting at any table for more than an hour further adds to the excitement. For many years, the Passover Seder was nothing more than a five-hour ritual I had to get through.

But gaining a deeper understanding of the Seder changed all that.

To be fair, Sebastian is 100% right. If the Seder is nothing more than a meal, then there’s something seriously lacking. But the Seder is not just another meal. It’s the retelling of the story of our exodus from Egypt to the next generation. The Seder isn’t a feast; it’s a spiritual experience. It's a long prayer of gratitude for freedom that’s performed around the dining room table surrounded by loved ones as you re-experience your family’s salvation. It’s not something that can be done in a synagogue.

You don’t just recite the story – you relive it, with props. When speaking of the hard labor endured as slaves, you actually eat bitter herbs as an attempt to connect - in some way - with your ancestors who suffered as slaves. A few hours of hunger pangs are nothing compared to what they endured - for around 200 years no less.

Amazingly, in that very same meal, you can lean back and relax as you drink yet another glass of wine (at least 4 in total), reiterating your gratitude to God for being free. Not just from the physical bondage of chains, but from the spiritual bondage as well.

The Seder discusses bondage, miracles, the ten Plagues, the splitting of the Sea and the piece de resistance – receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jews’ blueprint to bring Godliness and light into the world. This very Torah prompted President John Adams to declare, "The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation."

The miracle of Passover is happening right now. In the past five years, hundreds of thousands of Russians, not to mention thousands of Europeans, Ethiopians and Americans have made Aliyah and moved to Israel. This is why the Seder is just as important today as it was a thousand years ago

when pogroms were sweeping through Jewish communities throughout Europe and the Jews had nowhere to run.

Albert Einstein was once asked if he could meet any person, who would it be and what would he ask? His response: "Moses, and I'd ask him if he knew that the Jews were still around." Seems like Einstein appreciated the miracle of the Jews’ existence.

Antisemitism is the highest it’s been in decades; the threat is constant. Yet once a year, Jews sit down and remember that, as Ecclesiastes said, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” You’ve seen this movie before. From time immemorial, the Jew has been scapegoated and persecuted for being a light in a sea of darkness. The Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, the Chmielnicki massacre, the Holocaust, the Dreyfus Affair, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad... all are clear reminders that the world has something against the Jews.

The Seder is a clear reminder that God is running the show, observing and controlling everything in the year 2023, just as He was 3,500 years ago when He freed us from Egypt and gave us the Torah.

So while I totally understand Sebastian’s need to dip some bread into oil, I also know that this isn’t just another delicious meal for my stomach. This one’s for the soul. (And for the record, Sebastian, my wife makes a wicked Seder meal - Definitely worth the wait!)

Featured image: Courtesy of Peggy Sirota