Among all Jewish customs, one of the most widely celebrated is the Passover Seder. The plate which contains symbolic foods is placed at the center of the Seder and it is referred to as Seder plate. There are six meaningful elements on this plate signify the story of the exodus of Jews from Egypt where they had resided as slaves. What makes the Seder valuable is not only its religious importance but as well as the fact that each person at the table plays a significant role in the retelling of the story of Passover. There is a valuable book known as the Haggadah used as a reference of the instructions for every Seder’s step and the story of exodus.
Entire family can participate in the food preparation for the plate. Moreover, while doing it, young children are also exposed to the Passover traditions and learn much about it. What are the food items that need to be placed on the Seder plate? These include the Maror, Charoset, Karpas, Z’roa, Beitzah and Chaserez. All of these items should be arranged on the plate in a certain order. Nevertheless, the order varies from one family tradition to another. The Maror is a bitter herb which signifies the Jews’ bitterness in Egypt. The most widely used herb is the Horseradish. The Maror is dipped into the mixture of Haroset and this reminds Seder participants of the tough labor causing some significant measure of bitterness.
The Charoset is a mixture of wine, apples, nuts and spices. What this mixture symbolizes is the mortar that was used by the Jewish people at the time they were insisted on building for Pharaoh. The Karpas is a vegetable which includes a parsley, potato or celery. It symbolizes the beginning of spring. It is dipped into saltwater and represents the tears that were shed by the Jews at the time of the Egyptian rule.
The Z’roa is a shank bone or the neck of poultry. It signifies the Jews’ sacrifices that were made before they left Egypt. The commemoration of this offering was done at the Temple on Passover at the time this temple was erecting in Jerusalem. The Beitzah is a roasted egg. This egg represents the Hagigah offering given on Festivals like the Passover in the Temple. Later on, the roasted egg became a representation of rebirth and spring.
How can you make your own game with the Seder plate? You can actually make a cardboard or paper version of this plate and have it filled in with pictures of the valuable foods by your child in a specific order. Here are a few steps on how to make this game for your little angel. Firstly, take a hardy paper plate and within it, draw smaller circles with the use of a marker, dividing the paper plate into six segments. For the picture of every special food on the plate, you can browse the Internet or look through pages of magazines. You may also bring out the creativity in your child by asking them to draw the food items on a piece of paper and cut them out. Now, it is time for your child to place each picture of the food items into its proper locations.
Here is an example of the order of food items on the Seder plate. On the plate’s top lest corner is the Beitzah; on the upper right corner is the Z’roa; at the center is the Maror; on the lower right corner is the Charoset; on the lower left corner is the Karpas; and lastly, the Chazeres is at the plate’s bottom.