We did the 30 Minute Seder this year for the first time. It was pretty good. It didn’t describe the orange so I just added that when discussing the plate.
Surely American Jews are familiar with the Book of Deuteronomy which describes “A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey” ?? That’s at least four non-citrus fruits mentioned right there.
Is it the case that modified haggadoth (adding, skipping, changing) are considered non-orthodox, yet not heretical? Who, if any, decides whether a particular version is kosher?
Yes, but we already have ceremonial fruit of the Vine in the service, you pretty much can’t get fresh figs for sale, both figs and pomegranates are out of season in the spring (and citrus is still in season), and olives aren’t really thought of as fruit, and don’t give that “sweet fruitful” vibe.
Whereas the success of Israeli agriculture and Jaffa oranges were both quite popular among American Jews at the time the orange was added. I suspect it moved from a tangerine to an orange on part because of that, and perhaps in part due to
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, of course
The Seder is a service conducted at home, led by someone in the family (traditionally the family patriarch.) I’m sure everyone adds something. A favorite song, toys for the kids, stories about what aunt Ethel used to do at Passover… And it’s quite common to skip parts of the extremely long traditional text.
I suppose if you care about whether some addition or subtraction is kosher, you ask your rabbi. But ultimately, if everyone at the table is okay with it, the service was okay.
We’ve been using the 30 Minute Seder for a number of years. We had traditionally used the Maxwell House Haggadah for many years but I changed things up when my dad retired from Seder duties and I took it over.
We have had up to about 40 in our house in previous years. Last night was 11, including the 4 of us. All in all, I think I prefer it small.