Seder, was Re: [Sca-cooks] FW:request for recipe(s)

[Randy Goldberg MD]

> Matzoh is very dry, and neither of the traditions associated with
charoset
> and bitter herbs had been instituted yet (both medieval, I believe) so

Not exactly. It goes back at least as far as Hillel, who headed a
Yeshiva in the Babylonia city of Sura during the Babylonian Exile - 6th
c BCE.

> The ritual things you need for a Seder: several pieces of matzoh, the
> unleavened bread; four cups of wine; charoset to symbolize mortar;
bitter
> herbs, usually horseradish; green herbs for spring; a roasted
something to
> symbolize the sacrifice, usually a roasted bone although vegetarians
can
> use a roasted beet; a hardboiled egg, again for spring, I think; salt

Because eggs are "round" and have no beginning and no end - or so I was
taught.

> And while I'm wandering on the subject, the ritual blessings are
> interesting in what they are and aren't for. Wine and bread have their
own
> special blessings separate from everything else.

Wine because it's "holy"; bread because it's the staff of life.

Avraham