Karpas

Distribute the parsley to each guest, and dip in salt water.

The parsley may be symbolic of spring, but we temper the joy of this spring festival with the salt water to remind us of the tears shed by our ancestors during slavery. In the spring of the year, the season of rebirth and renewal, we praise the natural wonders of earth. Jews of Eastern European origin often use potatoes because their ancestors used potatoes (green vegetables were scarce!).

In Jerusalem of the first and second centuries, it was common practice to begin a formal meal by passing around hors d'oeuvres, which usually consisted of vegetables dipped in salt water. To expand on the tradition started in the Middle East, we will start our meal with an assortment of Middle-Eastern foods in which we will dip our vegetables. Please refrain from eating the matzah.

The salt water on our table traditionally represents the tears of the Israelite slaves. The green vegetable we dip in the water suggests the possibility of growth and renewal even in the midst of grief. The greens on the table also remind us of our commitment to protect the planet from ecological destruction. Instead of focusing narrowly on what we may "realistically" accomplish in today's world, we must refocus the conversation on what the planet needs in order to survive and flourish. We must get out of the narrow place in our thinking and look at the world not as a resource, but as a focus for awe, wonder, and amazement. It is this spiritual attitude, so absent from the logic of the marketplace or the speed of new technologies, that is fostered by the weekly observance of Shabbat and by the slowing down that accompanies our development of an inner spiritual life.

All say the blessing for vegetables, then eat the parsley dipped in salt water.