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A Different Night
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Strange Customs
"This is not just "another" Haggadah. It is itself a rich, joyful, and immensely informative celebration that will help transform the Pesach Seder. It is a book that becomes a trusted and encouraging companion. No matter his or her starting point, everyone will emerge with an expanded sense of personal competence."
Leonard Fein (Founder and former editor of MOMENT Magazine)
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Strange Customs
The Afghani Onion Free-for-All
If things at your Seder are slowing down and people seem drowsy, try the Afghani custom of distributing green onions during the song “Dayenu”.
Beginning with the ninth stanza, "Even if You had supplied our needs in the desert for 40 years, but not fed us manna from heaven," the participants hit each other (gently?) with the green onion stalks, every time they sing the refrain "Da-yeinu".
Perhaps this custom refers to the biblical history of the Jews who complained about the manna God had given them and recalled with longing the onions in Egypt. “We remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the ONIONS and the garlic. Now our gullets are shriveled. There is nothing at all. Nothing but this manna to look at" (Numbers 11:5-6). By beating each other with onions we admonish ourselves not to yearn for the fleshpots of Egypt and not to forget the Egyptian bondage.
Filling the Cup of Redemption Ourselves
The Hassidic rebbe Naftali Tzvi Horowitz (died 1817) used to invite all the participants of the Seder in order of their place at the table to pour from their personal cup into Elijah's cup. This symbolizes the need for everyone to make their own personal contribution to awaken the divine forces of redemption by beginning with human efforts (heet-o-ra-rut dee-l'ta-ta).
In some families, each participant helps to fill Elijah's cup of future redemption while expressing a particular wish for a better year.
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