Passover — Pesach — begins on Monday night, with the Seder meal — a ritual repast that forms the basis of installations in various Jewish (and sometimes other) museums.
With its Matzo and its symbolic foods arranged on a special plate, the Seder is guided by the Haggadah, whose wealth of ancient texts and songs retell the story of the Biblical Exodus from Egypt.
To get ready for the holiday, we want to introduce our readers to a recently launched resource, the Judaica Index — and specifically to its Passover content.
The Index — like JHE a project of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe — is a compilation of more than 200 objects used in Jewish ritual, searchable in 15 languages by name or keyword. Each record includes a definition, images and a bibliography related to the object.
For Passover, it includes the Seder plate and Haggadah, but lots more.
Click the links to learn more about:
— The Seder Plate HERE and HERE
— The Passover Towel (used when washing hands during the Seder)
— A Passover Pillowcase (because we recline on cushions at the Seder)
— Elijah’s Cup (filled with wine on the Seder table, but not drunk)
— Afikomen Bag (for the dedicated piece of matzo, eaten at the end of the Seder)
— Miriam’s Cup (filled with water on the Seder table, to honour the prophet Miriam)
— Eruv Plate (on which members of a community place a commonly owned matzah, which hung over the heads of the worshipers in the synagogue)