Arranging the Seder Plate in Judeo-Arabic Tradition
I have a (modest but growing) collection of vintage haggadot with Judeo-Arabic translation, and they contain a lot of fascinating information not just about different dialects and vocabularies of Judeo-Arabic (which is why I originally started) but also about Passover traditions in general.
One common image or diagram at the front is the arrangement of the seder plate, called in some traditions as-sistuorat-tabaq oras-siniya in others. Many North African communities used a reed basket rather than the metal or porcelain tray common in other traditions. The items on the seder plate, as you see, are arranged in a Qabbalistic formation which corresponds to the ten sephirot:
The three matzot for keter,hokhma, and bina.
The egg (al-bayda) for gevurah and the shankbone (ad-dra’) for hesed.
Themaror (translated in one haggada as hinduba, “chicory”) for tiferet.
Thekarpasforhod and the haroset (known as hileqorhaliq in Iraqi tradition) for netzah.
Thehazeretforyesod.
The seder plate itself representing the lowest sephira,Malkhut.
The haggadot here are: 1. Algerian (printed in Livorno), 1856. 2. Tunisian (printed in Tunis), 1930s or 40s. 3. Algerian (printed in Vienna), 1890. 4. Moroccan (printed in Casablanca), 1930s or 40s 5. Iraqi (printed in Jerusalem), 1940s. 6. My own summary and diagram, from this booklet, 2012.
Printers: Giovanni di Gara, together with the publisher and proofreader Israel ben Daniel ha-Zifroni
Venice, Italy, 1609
letterpress, woodcut, and watercolour on paper, H: 35; W: 23.5 cm
This Haggadah was widely used in 17th-century Europe. It includes commentaries on the Hebrew text in three languages - Ladino, Yiddish, and Italian - as it was intended to serve diverse Jewish communities in Italy and across Europe.
I made these fun graphics for the #Friendseder haggadah for The Well, a cool Jewish outfit from Detroit. Can you figure out what parts of the Seder they are? Check it out at friendseder.com.
#Friendseder: It’s like Friendsgiving but with plagues.
A few of the illustrations I made for the HIAS Haggadah. This Haggadah provides stories and prompts to help us connect to the contemporary refugee experience on the night where we remember our own journey from suffering to freedom. You can download it at hias.org/passover or buy a paperback copy at amazon.com/dp/1091939942.
Excerpt from a responsa of the Chasam Sofer. In the middle of discussing a complicated psak [halachic ruling] he writes about not being able to check up on certain sources:
“I have no access to my study room because I have been evicted by righteous women who are honoring [i.e cleaning for] the Yom Tov of Pesach. Because of that I could not expand on everything [that was] necessary.”
“Every Passover when the Cohens set their table for the traditional Seder meal, they took out something reserved for their table alone—a matzah cover woven for them by experimental textile artist Anni Albers. ‘It sat on the table next to my father, or my mother after he died,’ says Tamar Cohen, daughter of Elaine Lustig and Arthur Cohen, who gifted the custom-made ritual object to New York’s Jewish Museum in 2021.″
Friend: How can you be sure your cat is not antisemitic?
Self: This is a fair point. She has literally stepped on the name of G-d before when she has decided that my looking at a siddur is a distraction from the important work of loving her.
That being said, I think I can be sure she is not antisemitic because she does not realize that people believe in any G-d(s) other than her, which means she would be unaware of Judaism. You can’t hate something you don’t know exists, right?
Friend: And maybe she was trying to use one of her paws as a yad when pointing to the name of G-D.
Self: My cat can lien Torah. It must be time to throw her a bat mitzvah.
Friend: Cat Mitzvah*
What will her Purrsha be?
Self: I’ll make it happen. I’m sure my rabbi would be thrilled to have a cat in shul.
I Googled “what parsha should a cat have” and this came up: http://www.chabad.org/…/1008420/jewish/Feeding-Animals.htm I think she would concur that it is very important the conregation hear about the importance of feeding animals, given that her life mission is to be fed.
(Also there is apparently a midrash in which Noah is late feeding a lion and is injured. The rabbis must have had cats. There is no other explanation of their understanding of feline psychology.)
Friend: What minhag does your cat follow for Pesach? Does she eat KITTENyot?
Me: She’s a Cataite, clearly - cats are from Egypt, after all - so she relies on her own interpretation. Which is fitting because cats are not fans of authority, so I doubt she would be in support of the sanhedrin.
Pok Pok Som drinking vinegars, sparkling water, & various aromatic bitters for non-al mocktails
(That’s chicory instead of romaine, but it’s one of the allowed bitter vegetables allowed in the Talmud. And yes, we put an orange on the seder plate. The lamb shank is in the leg of lamb nearby.)
Iraqi charoset: date syrup with almonds (We forgot to pick this up.)
Chicory & arugula salad with blood oranges (GET IT? BLOOD), grapefruit, fennel, and hard-boiled eggs; olive-oil, honey, and meyer lemon dressing.
SOUP
bouillabaisse consommé with tiny gefilte fish balls on a stick (like a non-shellfish concentrated bouillabaisse martini)
fingerling potatoes (1 per person) sliced & roasted, dabbed with a touch of rouille and salmon caviar
DINNER
Strong but not too strong reds: Highway 12 Reserve Syrah, a portuguese, and a TJ reserve merlot.
roast bone-in leg of lamb (opposite of vegan)
stew of fava beans, lemon, and dill (vegan)
carrot-zucchini ribbon salad with mustard vinaigrette (vegan)
salad of roasted beets and spring peas with minty-lemony avocado dressing (vegan – pureed with a little water to get a creamy green-goddess style texture)
DESSERT
coconut-cardamom-vanilla “panna cotta” with rose confit centers and rose petals on top and a splash of rosewater (vegan) (THESE ARE SO GOOD – just drop a teaspoon of jelly or jam into each serving.)
French macarons
rose, pomegranate-pistaschio, and honey-almond Turkish Delights (vegan)
Espresso
Slivovitz Dry Creek Distillery blue plumb brandy
– Post-dinner. Those bottles are aromatic bitters that we added to seltzer & pok pok som drinking vinegar mocktails. And maybe I added some of the lavender bitters to my sip of plum brandy.
Great for Pesach! Creamy, velvety, reasonably light, and no dairy. Serves 6 - 10 depending on the size of the molds you use.
2 cans light coconut milk
¼ c + 2 tbps sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
½ tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp agar powder (or 2 tbsp agar flakes if you’re using those)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
Silicone molds – you can use cupcake molds, cannelé molds,pyramid molds, or any shape you’d like. But use silicone – it will make your life much easier. You can also use individual ceramic / glass dessert cups or soufflé cups without unmolding them at the end.
Whisk all the ingredients into a 2-quart pot. Let it rest for 10 minutes; this gives the agar a chance to soften. Turn the heat on low; bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes.
Put your molds on a metal tray – you won’t be able to move them individually once they’re filled with liquid! Fill each mold with the coconut milk mixture. (A soup ladle works well for this.) Cover the molds with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours.
Unmold onto plates. You can put sauce under the individual panna cottas (if you’re using a decorative shape this can be nice), or spoon sauce over them. Be creative!
Berry coulis
1-2 packs of frozen (organic) berries
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1-2 tbsp sugar, depending on the berry; to your taste
1-2 tbsp liquor, per your preference.
Other seasonings – try black pepper with strawberry or cardamom with blueberry.
Put everything in a pot. Gently bring to a boil. The berries will break down. Blend with a hand blender and strain through a mesh colander to make a coulis. Or don’t bother and serve a rustic sauce. Let it cool for a bit so the arrowroot powder can thicken it up a little.
