Modern Traditions for Your Passover Seder
April 1, 2025 | Shabbat and Holidays
By Brenda Footer
Passover is my favorite holiday. I love the traditions that are passed down through my family history and those I’ve chosen to add as I began to plan my own seders as an adult. As my family has grown, so have our “new traditions”, bringing fresh meaning to our Passover table.
Traditionally, the seder plate contains an egg (symbolizing spring and rebirth), a bone (representing the Passover sacrifice), a green vegetable (another reminder of spring) and charoset (a mixture of fruit and nuts that reminds us of the mortar we made when we were slaves in Egypt). Many people expand their sederplates to reflect modern social justice ideas. Here are a few meaningful additions:
Orange for LGBTQ+ Visibility
There are some stories that the orange represents women in the rabbinate, but Professor Susannah Heschel, from The Jewish Daily Forward in 2013, explained that her idea to include the orange is to represent all who feel who feel marginalized—especially LGBTQ+ Jews. “When we eat that orange segment, we spit out the seeds to repudiate homophobia and we recognize that in a whole orange, each segment sticks together. Oranges are sweet and juicy and remind us of the fruitfulness of gay and lesbian Jews and of the homosociality that has been such an important part of Jewish experience, whether of men in yeshivas or of women in the Ezrat Nashim.”
The orange is such a part of my seder that instead of asking why it’s there, my nieces ask, “Why did you forget to put it out?!”
Fair Trade Chocolate or Cocoa Beans for Labor Justice
The fair-trade movement promotes economic partnerships based on equality, justice and sustainable environmental practices. Fair Trade certified chocolate and cocoa beans are grown under standards that prohibit the use of forced labor.
They can be included on the seder plate to remind us that although we escaped from slavery in Egypt, forced labor is still very much an issue today.
Banana for Refugees
During the summer of 2015, the world was awakened and shattered by the images of a Syrian refugee child whose body was found on a Turkish beach.
His name was Aylan Kurdi, 3, and he drowned with his brother, Galip, 5, and their mother, Rihan, on their exodus to freedom’s distant shore. Aylan and Galip’s father, Abdullah, survived the harrowing journey, and in teaching the world about his sons, he shared that they loved bananas, an unaffordable luxury in their native, war-torn Syria.
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom in Vancouver, British Columbia, writes: “We place a banana on our seder table and tell this story to remind us of Aylan, Galip and children everywhere who are caught up in this modern-day exodus. May they be guarded and protected along their journey to safety, shielded by the love of their parents, watched over by God full of mercy and compassion.”
Miriam’s Cup
In parallel to Elijah’s Cup of wine, many people now add Miriam’s Cup of water. Miriam is recognized as a prophet, like Moses and Elijah. It is said that a well of fresh water followed Miriam as the Jews wondered through the desert after leaving Egypt. There is no prescribed prayer for blessing Miriam’s Cup. Ritualwell offers several options, or you can create your own!
Passover is a time of reflection, liberation, and renewal. Adding new traditions to our seder can make the experience even more meaningful, connecting our ancient story to the struggles and hopes of today.