8/12/2019 Pesach Seder Words

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Explanations of Some Hebrew Words Used in the Pesach Seder

Pesach: Pronounced peh-SAHKH: Literally to skip over. While Pesach is translated as “Passover”, itdoes not ean to physically pass over so ethin!, "ut rather to pass #skip$ over or o it so ethin! in a!roup. %his re&ers to the skippin! over o& the &irst"orn o& the 'hildren o& (srael, )ho )ere not killed)hen all the other &irst"orn in *!ypty )ere killed. Ho)ever, &i!uratively, the )ord is split into t)o: peh

sakh: )hich literally eans “a outh that discusses”. %his is a re&erence to the lon! discussions a"outthe *+odus &ro *!ypt that the seder is desi!ned to &acilliate. Leche oni: Pronounced L*H-kheh H-nee: Literally: “"read o& poverty” #i.e. at ah$, the &oodeaten "y poor people. i!uratively ho)ever, the at ah is called leche oni "ecause it is the “lechesh/oni alav har"eh” -- the "read that )e ans)er #e+pound$ on a lot. %his is "ecause any o& thecusto s o& the Seder are ade so the children )ill "e ade curious and paticipate "y askin! 0uestions,and )e !ive any ans)ers "ack to educate the a"out the *+odus &ro *!ypt.

1it rayi : Pronounced eets-2AH-yee : %he na e in He"re) 3"oth 4i"lical and odern5 &or *!ypt.%he na e co es &ro the son o& Ha the son o& 6o/ach 36oah5 )ho inha"ited the land accordin! to the4i"le. Ho)ever, 1it ra/i is spelled the sa e as et ari , )hich literally eans a narro) place, "ut itused to re&er to a di&&icult ti e or situation, 7ust like a narro) place is di&&icult to pass. So &i!uratively1it rayi re&ers to the very di&&icult ti e that the 'hildern o& (srael passed durin! their slavery in *!ypt.

Karpas 8 pronounced kahr-PAHS: %his is a non-"itter ve!eta"le appeti er eaten at the "e!innin! o& theSeder. Spelled "ack)ards it is the letter sa ech, )hich represents the nu "er 9 , and perech, )hicheans hard la"or. %he 9 , en o& &i!htin! a!e that le&t 1it rayi are re&ered to as the sheesheeree"o -- the si+ty ultitudes, "ecause a ree"o re&ers to a unit o& ; , . So to!ether it re&ers to the9 , en 3plus )o en and children5 su"7ected to the hard la"or o& slavery. Karpas is also anacrony &or “klal rishon, peh sa!ur” -- “the &irst principal is a closed outh” a re&erence to the &act that)e are not supposed to stick to talkin! a"out the *+odus and not stray into discussin! undane atters.

'haroset -- pronounced khah-2 H-seht: the i+ture o& !round &ruit and nuts that sy "oli es the udortar used "et)een the "uildin! "ricks durin! the hard "uildin! la"or in *!ypt. %he shoresh 3root5 o&the )ord is khet, resh, sa ech, )hich spells cheres, or clay. A clay "uildin! "rick is called “charsit”.

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