A Seder is the centerpiece of the Passover celebration.
Brian O’Mahoney/Sun-Times file
Passover, one of the most sacred holidays in the Jewish community, begins before sundown Monday.
The holiday, which ends after nightfall on April 30, commemorates the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt. The message of the holiday is one of freedom and liberation from both external power and internal struggles.
A Seder is the centerpiece of the Passover celebration.
A Seder includes reading from the Haggadah, which tells the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, prayers, eating special foods, and sometimes singing.
Rabbi Reni Dickman, executive vice president of the Chicago Board of Rabbis and senior Jewish educator at the Jewish United Fund, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Seders follow the same order of prayers and rituals but differ based on the Haggadah that’s read during the dinner.
“There is a specific order of prayers and rituals that are done at the Seder, but the Seder is also an invitation for creativity,” Dickman said.
Observers sometimes sing parodies, bring extra poems and include children in plays to involve them in stories about the Exodus.
“There’s a lot of space for questions, conversations [and] discussions,” Dickman said.
Four cups of wine are served during a Seder. One explanation for the four cups is based on the four expressions of deliverance promised by God in Exodus 6:6–7. The four cups are also said to stand for four ancient kingdoms that oppressed Israel and for which God gives four cups of consolation.
The wine included on the table also symbolizes joy. Sarah van Loon, regional director with the American Jewish Committee of Chicago, said the cups are usually filled to the brim, though Jewish communities will be filling their cups halfway this year because it hasn’t been a “joyful, celebratory year for us.”
“We’re marking the fact that we don’t have all of our community here with us and therefore aren’t going to be having our full measure of joy,” van Loon said. “This calling for peace [and] freedom just rings so much more true this year than any other time in recent memory for the Jewish community.”
Dickman added there will be “fervent prayers for peace in the whole [Middle Eastern] region.”
During Passover, observers eat Karpas, or a green vegetable that’s often parsley; haroset, a sweet fruit paste of wine or honey, fruits and nuts; maror, or a bitter herb, often horseradish; zeroa, or a shank bone and a roasted or hard-boiled egg.
The food on the Seder plate is mostly the same for Passover observers, though some modifications do exist, according to Dickman.
Vegetarians replace the shank bone with a roasted beet, and oranges were included on the Seder plate for members of the LGBTQ community but expanded to also symbolize the inclusion of women. Depending on where an observer’s ancestors came from, the recipe for haroset may differ.
Here are some events and gatherings planned throughout the Chicago area during Passover:
Passover first and second night Seder and dinner. The Selfhelp Home, 908 W. Argyle St. 5 to 6:30 p.m. April 22 and 23. $40 per guest. RSVP at SMetovic@selfhelphome.org. Community Seder at Base LNCLN, 858 W. Wrightwood Ave. 8 p.m. April 22. Free to attend but donations are encouraged. Register here. Contact ravsarah@metrochicagohillel.org with questions. KAM Isaiah Israel hosts “Chametz Quest & Singalong.” 5039 S. Greenwood Ave., 10 a.m. to noon April 24. Register here. $10 per family. Contact jBabyChicago@juf.org or 312-357-4905 with questions. Chabad Center for Jewish Life in Downtown Chicago hosts first and second night Seder and dinner. April 22, 6:45 p.m. for pre-Seder reception, 7:20 p.m. for candle lighting and 7:45 p.m. for Seder. April 23, 8:26 p.m. for candle lighting and 8:30 p.m. for Seder. Ambassador Chicago Hotel, 1301 N. State Pkwy. Reservation for both Seder meals is $140 for adults, $70 for children ages 5 to 12 and free for children under 5. One meal is $80 for adults and $40 for children between 5 and 12. Holiday meals cost $50 per person. RSVP here. Contact 312-664-7770 with questions.