Pesach, Maror and Matzah: A Sephardic Reflection on Bitter Herbs

Can the arrangement of the Passover Seder plate reflect a deeper message? In the Sephardic tradition, the answer is a resounding yes. 

 

This week’s Torah portion - Parashat Bo - lists many of the commandments that came to define Judaism’s most significant night of memory, identity and storytelling – Passover. Amongst those commandments is the eating of the Korban Pesach - The Paschal Sacrifice: “You shall eat the meat on that night, roasted over fire, with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs (maror)” (Exodus 12:8).

 

After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, our Passover celebration changed from a sacrificial ritual to a symposium around the table at home, where we read a book that helps us tell the Passover story – the Haggadah– and we place food items related to the Passover story on a platter we call The Seder Plate.

 

One of the well known sections of the Haggadah is when we play “show and tell,” based on a teaching of the sage Rabban Gamliel, who famously taught: “All who have not discussed the significance of three things during the Pesach Seder have not yet fulfilled their duty: Pesach (the Paschal sacrifice), Matzah and Maror.”

 

In his Hazon Ovadia commentary to the Haggadah, Rav Ovadia Yosef, of blessed memory, remarks that Maimonides lists Rabban Gamliel’s “three things” in a different order: “Pesach, Maror and Matzah.” This order differs from the standard “Pesach, Matzah and Maror” in that Maimonides places Maror in the middle, between Pesach and Matzah.

 

Could Maimonides’ order of “Pesach, Maror and Matzah” have influenced how Sephardim set up the Seder plate? It seems like it did, for unlike the standard Ashkenazi version sold in Judaica stores or printed in most Haggadot, the Sephardic custom is to place Maror— the Bitter Herbs — at the very center of the Seder plate. Just like Maimonides placed Maror in the middle, the Sephardic custom became to place the Maror at the center of the plate. Whenever we look at the Seder plate, Maror sits at the center of everything.

What does this uniquely Sephardic custom reflect?

 

Any casual student of Jewish history knows that the Jewish experience is as much about bitterness as it is about celebration, and while that might seem like a paradox to many, we Jews understand that life – especially the Jewish journey - is lived between a laugh and a tear. Thus, on the very night when we celebrate our freedom from slavery, we have no problem embracing bitterness and recognizing its ongoing presence and centrality in our collective story. The Sephardic placement of Maror at the center emphasizes this deep truth about the collective Jewish experience.

  

The Sephardic custom of placing Maror at the center of our story opens the opportunity to expand the Passover story to include our bitter experiences beyond our slavery in Egypt. On that very night, we also remember the Babylonians and Romans who destroyed our Temples in Jerusalem, the inquisition and expulsion from Spain and the pogroms under the cross of Christianity, as well as the episodes of jihad against us under the crescent of Islam. The bitter herbs include Auschwitz and Treblinka, Warsaw and Salonica, the tragedy of those who perished and the trauma of those who survived. Finally, the centrality of Maror calls on us to reflect on contemporary bitterness, including our ongoing fight against terrorism in Israel, as well as the resurgence of anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance around the world. All of these are part of the "Marror narrative" told at the Seder.

 

While all of this seems painful, indeed bitter, Judaism does not shy away from the bitter truths of our history. Only by telling these bitter stories can we contemplate their lessons as they affect us today. There is no better night to do so than Passover, a night when we are commanded and urged to conduct a meaningful and relevant symposium on where we were, what we've experienced, and where are we headed. The Sephardic placement of Maror at the center is a physical reminder of all of this.

 

So when we play that game of show and tell, we lift up the Bitter Herbs and we ask: “Maror Zeh” – “These bitter herbs that we eat - what do they recall, what do they mean?" 

Maimonides’ unique order of “Pesach, Maror and Matzah,” along with the Sephardic custom of placing maror at the center of the Seder plate - arguably makes this the most important of all questions asked during the Seder.

Shabbat Shalom 

Gratitude and Thanks: The Ethical Wisdom of Rabbi Haim Sabato

When I first met Rabbi Haim Sabato, the setting was not the typical book-lined study or corner table at a literary café one would expect when meeting with a bestselling author. Instead, it was the Beit Midrash of Yeshivat Birkat Moshe in Ma’aleh Adumim, where he serves as a Rosh Yeshiva and teaches Talmud and the works of Maimonides. 

Best known for novels such as Aleppo Tales, Adjusting Sights and The Dawning of the Day, Rabbi Haim Sabato is also one of the leading Torah scholars in the world. He has published creative commentaries on the Torah and Talmud, including his beautiful book Ahavat Torah ("Rest for the Dove" in English), a series of essays on the weekly Torah portion. In Ahavat Torah, Rabbi Sabato seeks to highlight the Torah's ethical wisdom for life, following the classic genre of his Sephardic Rabbinic ancestors from Aleppo and Spain. 

This week's Torah Portion - Parashat Shemot - launches the second Book of the Torah, the Book of Exodus. Within this parasha, we learn of the enslavement of the Jewish people by the "new Pharaoh who did not know of Joseph," the harsh labor he imposed on them, the birth of Moses, the marriage of Moses to Tziporah, daugher of Yitro, and God appointing Moses to become the leader who will help bring the word of God back to Egypt and help liberate the Jewish people.

Throughout all of these experiences, Rabbi Sabato detects various expressions of gratitude for an act of kindness committed. 

He begins with Yitro, the man who would become Moses' father-in-law. Rabbi Sabato remarks that Yitro says only one thing in this parasha, but it is enough to discern his grateful character. Upon being told by his daughters that "An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds, and he even drew water for us and watered the sheep," Yitro's response to them is "Then where is he? Why did you leave the man" Summon him and let him eat his bread" (Exodus 2:18-20).

"Yitro's thought process," says Rabbi Sabato, "teaches us that he was a man who felt gratitude. It was clear to him that he could not abandon the man who had saved his daughters."

In turn, says Rabbi Sabato, Yitro's son-in-law Moses also possessed the beautiful character trait of gratitude. Upon hearing God's voice from the burning bush instructing Moses to return to Egypt and begin the process of freeing the Israelites from slavery, Moses does not go until he receives permission from his father-in-law. "Let me go back to my brethren in Egypt and see if they are still alive" asks Moses of Yitro. 

Why did he feel the need to ask Yitro's permission? "Moses knows that gratitude is owed to the man who opened his home to him when he was a stranger in a strange land" says Rabbi Sabato. "This is why Moses feels he cannot leave Yitro's home without his consent, even though God commanded him to go. Moses is certain that this is how he should behave, and that this is God's will."

"Go in peace" responds Yitro to Moses, giving Moses his blessing. One man of gratitude interacting with another.

"The basis of faith lies in gratitude," says Rabbi Sabato, and "one who is grateful for a kindness done by a friend will eventually appreciate the kindness of God."

With regard to gratitude as an expression of "God's will," Rabbi Sabato points to a commandment later in the Torah, also rooted in our experience in Egypt: "You shall not reject an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land" (Deuteronomy 23:8). 

Rabbi Sabato sees this commandment to express appreciation towards the Egyptians as "one of the most powerful virtues in the Torah." 

"We express our appreciation," says Rabbi Sabato, "despite our bitter experiences in Egypt, and the Torah does not allow us to forget our sense of gratitude towards the Egyptians for hosting us when we were strangers in their land."

When Rabbi Sabato's family emigrated to Israel from Egypt in 1951, they went from living a life of luxury to the poor Beit Mazmil neighborhood of Jerusalem. Life in the Beit Mazmil ma'abara (transit camp) was difficult and painful, and many Sephardic Jews who experienced the ma'abarot harbored resentment for being placed in such poor living quarters.

"How do you feel about your experiences growing up in Beit Mazmil," I asked Rabbi Sabato. "Do you feel any sense of resentment for your family being placed in a transit camp?"

Rabbi Sabato's response to me: "While the experience came with pain and disappointment, I feel nothing but gratitude to God and the State of Israel for giving me and my family the privilege to fulfill the mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel. I bear no grudge or hard feelings at all."

"The basis of faith lies in gratitude." This beautiful wisdom for life is an expression of God's will, and is highlighted by the behavior of men of deep faith - Yitro, Moses...and Rabbi Haim Sabato.

Shabbat Shalom