The Eternal Jew’s Tale, #193, Crystal Haggadah, 4

In this episode we look down from our literary heights to observe three seders.

The Eternal Jew’s Tale
A Pesakh Montage, The Crystal Haggadah
Israelite, Karaite, and Rashi seders

These are some crystals that I found and buffed up:

Israelite Pesakh, Jerusalem, ~140 BCE

Hear the source text sung, kinnor playing, everyone singing and drumming along, the hills reverberating, the mountains dancing, swaying, skipping, the forests shaking their wivvering leaves; the crowds, the mobs bringing sacrifice, the special altars in the Upper Court, the twenty-seven slaughter sites, the squealing lambs, the chant of prayers, the sparks, the popping and hissing logs, the clouds of smoke that burn your eyes and saturate your clothes and hair. Rush and bustle, crowds and mobs, the thousands of offerings of lambs. Jerusalem, it’s the pilgrimage! The matzah dough mixed and stretched, quickly, quickly roll it thin and lay it upon the oven dome to bake and char, to flick it off. Some is crunchy, some is soft. Pesakh in Jerusalem.

Karaite Pesakh, Baghdad, ~1000 CE

The mobbing crowds on the Karkhiya bridge that jostle and hustle to the *Dar al Yahud.* Spotless houses on spotless streets, Pesakh, Pesakh, the season to clean. Nary a crumb of khametz* to be found in our spotless house, in our spotless soul, and may that be the will of God.
*-* Jewish quarter; * leavened products, which are forbidden

The lambs slaughtered, the blessings over them said, then spitted and roasted, head to hoof, innards intact as Torah demands. Rejecting those Rabbanite heresies, just matzah, maror,* and fire cooked meat, and raisin juice, just a single cup, so we can bless the fruit of the vine.
* bitter herbs

In one voice our community sings the age old blessing over a cup of wine, then all the young men, well taught to serve, carry pitchers of water and bowls and towels silently around the room, while everyone else remains in their seats to do the *al netilat yediyim.* Now the seder begins for us, in three steps, not fifteen: the telling, the meal, and then Hallel.* Then off to bed for a good night’s sleep.
*-* ritual hand sanctification; * a special selection of psalms, 113-118

Rashi’s Pesakh, Troyes, 1094 CE

Spring in Champagne, a floral montage —

lilies of the valley, wild daffodils, Primroses, cowslips, forget-me-nots —

and likewise, Pesakh is a choral collage of ditties and psalms, ballads and chants. Ahh, but first the many tasks preparing for that holy week. In the root cellars, first fruit of wheat has been set aside as the finest grain for baking matzah. There, as well, the small amphoras of special wine —
in any of them will the wine still be sweet?! Or must we revert to grape syrup to make our wine for the five cup mean?
Meanwhile, women and children are at work cleaning, cooking, making repairs, and kashering* all the utensils and pots. And the sages, students, and tradesmen too, are pouring thru their holy texts, memorizing chapter and verse, writing drashes** and parables, and searching for new anomalies and contradictions yet unknown, to prove their learning on seder night.
* make kosher by immersion in boiling water; to ritually purify from contact with leaven;
** analytics of holy texts

Come seder night there’s fifty or more seats set under an arbor of grapes. Candles lit, blessings said. As soon as the full moon appears in the east, we then begin the *fifteen steps.* And there at the table’s head, the rav, the ga’on,* the word of God in his mouth, and no one knowing what he might say, what he will do to divide the Sea, to leave that narrow place behind, to help us find the Sinai in us and leap ourselves into God’s hand.
*-* a traditional seder has 15 steps; * head of community, literally, ‘pride’

At ma nishtana* all the young children gather around Saba** Ga’on to recite te questions together as one. Then those who want to distinguish themselves recite them alone, or answer them, or offer their own interpretations.
* Hebrew: the 4 questions; literally, ‘what is different tonight?’
** grandfather; that is, Rashi

And now the adults, like wrestlers at a fair, strive among themselves to display the deepest wisdoms and mystic flights. And who can know when their jousting will end and the Pesakh meal will finally be served?

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In the next episode we move on to Derbent and Tsfat.