US Jewish Holiday (Passover) Plate: "Seder Plate"

This Israeli Jewish plate is used in the celebration of the 8-day holiday Passover, called "Pesach" in Hebrew. Jews around the world participate in a special home ceremony on the first two nights of Passover, called the "seder," designed to inform any children in the family about the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt 3,000 years ago.

A book called the "Haggadah" sets out the order for the Seder, a fifteen-step family-oriented tradition and ritual-packed feast. During the ceremony, celebrants eat matzah, made of flour and water, to represent unleavened bread, showing how quickly the Jews had to flee. A special plate is prepared for the Seder with specific foods eaten in a certain order to help tell the story. Bitter herbs commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites. A lamb shank bone represents the lamb's blood that the Jews spread over their doors so that the Angel of Death would pass over their house and not kill their firstborn sons. Karpas, usually parsley is dipped into saltwater as a symbol of the Israelites' tears of slavery. "Haroset," the Hebrew word for clay, a paste made from almonds, apples and wine that is a symbol of the mortar the Israelites used for forced labor. They eat bitter herbs to commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the Israelites.

Judaism is a religion in which people believe that there is one god (monotheism), the same god the Christians and Muslims worship, who created the universe and has a personal relationship with humans. The religion was founded in Israel about 4,000 years ago by Abraham, who entered into a covenant with God to follow the laws of God. Moses received the Jewish holy book from God. Scholars disagree about whether there is an afterlife. Jews are waiting for the Messiah who may bring about an afterlife.

Source:
Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition) Jacobs, Louis, et al. "Passover." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. 2nd ed. Vol. 15. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 678-683. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 15 Apr. 2013; Web 13, Mar. 2013 Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|CX2587515458&v=2.1&u=lapl&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/Jewish-Holiday-Passover-Pesach.htm http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/871715/jewish/What-Is-Passover.htm