Things to Talk About
(Somewhere in your Seder ask one of these questions and see how people react. If you don’t want to rely on someone’s actually responding, type the following questions on small pieces of paper. Fold them up, pass them around your table, have people read aloud the question they’ve got, and ask them to respond. Obviously, the responses can be serious or playful. It depends on your audience. Either way you can’t lose.)
One - Roasted egg, maror, pesach (shankbone), karpas, charoset…Which symbol on the Seder plate do you think is the most important?
Two - It is traditional for the youngest person at a Seder to ask the Four Questions. If you were to create a new “tradition” for the asking of the Four Questions, who would you choose to ask the questions and why?
Three - Tradition says that Elijah the Prophet is supposed to announce the coming of the Messiah. If you could send Eliyahu Ha-Navee to any spot on the globe to make the announcement of the Messiah, where would you send him?
Four - If Barak Obama or Daisuke Matsuzaka or Jon Stewart of The Daily Show (or anyone else you want to name) came to the Seder, which Seder symbol or ritual would you want to show them first?
Five - Should the Ten Plagues be part of the Seder? Some people say they’re part of tradition and so they should be included. Others say the Plagues lead us to exalt in the adversities suffered by the Egyptians. That’s not appropriate. Others say that Jews take a drop of wine from the cup for each plague. That acknowledges that freedom was won at a cost. But do we believe in a God who punishes people? Would God slay the first born? What do you think?