Setting the Table
First and foremost, Passover is a holiday, so don’t be shy about using a nice tablecloth and fancy china. On the other hand, some people keep their Passover meals extra-safe from chametz (the dreaded, forbidden leavning) by plates they only have for Passover. So if you want to use you fanciest papergoods instead of china, you can feel free, whether in the name of being extra-kosher or just not wanting to have to wash a million dishes after the seder.

Because the seder is all about conversation, avoid tall centerpieces – everyone should be able to see each other across the table! Plus, there’s not likely to be room for elaborate flower arrangements, thanks to some special additions to our table: the seder plate, the plate of matzah, and Elijah’s cup. In some homes, they’ll also add a couple of condiments that come in handy during the seder, such as a cup of salt water and a dish of horseradish.

The Seder Plate
The Seder Plate is your convenient holder of most of the main symbols we talk about during the seder. There’s sometimes a bit of variation on what appears on a seder plate – some have five items, others have six. Pictured here is the plate JewishBoston.com sent out in our Seder in a Box program. It, like most seder plates, has each spot labeled with both a picture and the name (in Hebrew and English) of the item that belongs there:

•    Roasted Egg / Beitza

o    Yeah, that’s right – roasted. That means cooked inside the oven, not just boiled. Boil it first, then put it inside the oven (at about 350 degrees) and roast it until the shell starts to brown – be careful not to overcook. But if you use a simple boiled egg, no one is likely to know the difference.

•    Parsley / Karpas

o    This is the vegetable you’ll use for the Karpas part of the seder. Some people use celery, boiled potatoes, or onions instead.

•    Bitter Herb / Maror

o    Generally, this is horseradish. Traditionalists will tell you it must be the actual horseradish root. But many people use the chopped stuff from a jar, which can then do double-duty as a condiment for your gefilte fish.

•    Lettuce / Hazeret

o    Really? Lettuce? This is the one that sometimes get left off, but the idea here is to use Romaine or a similarly bitter green, which can therefore take on both the springtime symbolism of the parsley and the bitter symbolism of the bitter herb.

•    Shank Bone / Zaroa

o    Ask your butcher for a piece of lamb shank bone. In the weeks leading up to Passover, most kosher specialty stores will have lots of these around. Before you put it on the plate, don’t’ forget to roast is – you wouldn’t want raw animal parts on your table! (Throw it in the oven with the egg.) If you miss out or forget to purchase an actual lamb shank bone, you wouldn’t be the first to substitute a chicken leg bone.

 If you’re having an all-vegetarian seder, there are several alternative customs – broiled beets being the most popular. (Read more about vegetarian seder plate options at MyJewishLearning.com.)

•    Charoset

o    This is the delicious fruit-based mixture that’s supposed to be reminiscent of mortar. In our recipe section above are two sample recipes, one from the Ashkenazi (Eastern European Jewish) tradition, another from the Yemenite Jewish tradition.  Just about every Jewish community in the world has its own take on Charoset, so if you’re feeling ambitious, check out some other recipes on the web and make a few!

Note: Most Seder Plates only hold enough for symbolic purposes – for the items that you actually use during the seder, you’ll need another way to get them into the hands (and mouths) of your guests. So, you’ll either want to prepare a plate of parsley (or its equivalent), a dish of charoset, and a dish of horseradish, or pre-set small portions of each at every guest’s plate.

The Matzah
For the seder, you’ll need three pieces of matzah on a plate, under a cover. Traditional matzah covers include three pockets, one for each piece of matzah, but if you don’t have one, simply putting a napkin over the matzah works just fine. Unlike the items on the seder plate, you actually will eat these pieces of matzah at specific points in the seder. It’s traditional to use only plain (not egg, whole wheat, or otherwise flavored) matzah for these three pieces of matzah. If your seder guests love to munch on matzah, you might want to have some additional pieces available on the table.

Elijah’s Cup and Miriam’s Cup
Some families have special, fancy wine goblets specifically made to be “Elijah’s Cup,” but any wine glass on the table, not assigned to a guest will do. Some families fill Elijah’s cup at the start of the seder; others wait until the part of the seder that specifically mentions Elijah to do so.

The traditional text of the Haggadah talks about lots of men and barely ever mentions women. To help make the contributions of women more present at the seder, many families also include a second symbolic cup for Miriam, the sister of Moses.  This cup is filled with water because Miriam was associated with the Jewish people’s ability to find water in the desert during their years of wandering, so filling her cup with water has double significance.  Water played a significant role in most stories involving Miriam, from her first appearance in the Bible as the watchful sister who ensures that baby Moses is rescued from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter  to her role as the prophet who leads the entire people of Israel in joyful song after they cross through the parted waters of the Red Sea.

Miriam's Cup photo by Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt, used under a Creative Commons BY-SA-NC 2.0 license.

Find everything you need to prepare for Passover on JewishBoston.com!

• Download our new, free, printable Haggadah. We've even got a version you can customize if you like.  Do your thing!
• Find a Seder and other Passover programming in the Greater Boston area.
• Hosting a Seder? Between the ages of 18 and 40? Check out the Seder in a Box.
• Get Passover recipes (and post your own!) - new recipes are being added all the time!
• Visit our Passover Guide for all events and blog posts.

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