Quote:
|
Originally Posted by BC-AmyP
There are a few explanations for why some people put an orange on the seder plate - we always did it fo the reason that is now described as a myth.
Here is what is currently circulating as the reason - still not sure it is aboslutely accurate - I lifted it (probably in violation of all sorts of copyright laws) from jbooks.com
Susannah Heschel sets the record straight about the origins of placing an orange on the seder plate, a practice that has become widespread in mainstream as well as women's seders. She introduced that ritual in her home in the 1980s as a sign of solidarity with lesbians and gay men. The orange, she felt, suggested the fruitfulness the community enjoys when gays and lesbians are accepted into it. Over the years, as Heschel's custom spread throughout the Jewish community, a myth developed around it. The story went that she had added the orange to the seder plate after a man shouted at her that a woman belongs on the bimah (pulpit) as much as an orange on a seder plate.
The orange has come to represent the empowerment of Jewish women. By giving her account in these books, Heschel wants to affirm her original intention, and she is right to do so. But as symbols often do, this one has become larger than its originator. To many people the orange now stands for the inclusion of all who have been marginalized. Gays and lesbians, yes, but also all Jewish women, whose stories and voices were written out of the haggadah. And now, like the orange on the seder plate, these two volumes of Passover writings and rituals reclaim those stories and voices and place them where they should be, at the center of the festival of freedom
|
The odd thing is to use something out of season. Its a winter fruit. Surprised they did not choose a spring fruit---like a peach, or maybe grapes (individual yet together.) Jewish holidays always use seasonal symbols.
