שלחן עורך

Now eat and drink to your heart's delight. It is permitted to drink wine between the second and third cups.

אוֹכְלִים וְשׁוֹתִים הַסְּעוּדָה הָעֲרוּכָה וְנוֹהֲגִים לֶאֱכוֹל תְּחִלָּה בֵּיצִים מְבֻשָּׁלוֹת. ולֹא יֹאכַל יוֹתֵר מִדֵּי, שלֹא תִהְיֶה עָלָיו אֲכִילַת אֲפִיקוֹמָן אֲכִילָה גַּסָּה.
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What

This is the meal portion of the Seder. The Hebrew words shulchan orech literally mean “set table” and invoke images of a formal dining experience.

Why

While eating is not unique to the Seder, it is an important part of the night’s ritual. Eating formal meals is one of the ingredients of every Jewish holiday, to make it special and joyous. Eating a prepared, formal meal as part of the Seder is a symbol of freedom, in contrast to the many of the symbols of slavery and rushed Exodus that the Haggadah describes.

For a Jew, most mundane events have a prayer or blessing that can be attached to them. This is not merely an attempt to impose God into the behavioral details of daily life. Rather, it is an earnest conviction that all of God’s creations possess kedushah (holiness) and we each have the ability to engage that kedushah in every one of our encounters. Look around the Seder table during Shulchan Orech. The food we have is a blessing; our body that the food fortifies with energy is a blessing; the joy we get from its touch, taste, and smell is a blessing; being the beneficiary of the efforts of many people in the food chain is a blessing; our loving relationships with family and friends around the table is a blessing; our ability to observe, reflect, and grow is a blessing; our time is a blessing. Shulchan Orech is bracketed between Rachtzah, preparing our hands for the holy act of eating, and birkat ha’mazon, thanking God for our gift of satisfying food (also called the Blessing after the Meal). After all, eating is never just eating. Judaism sees the integral bond between the spiritual and the physical, and engages us in making the physical holy.

Respect, Joy, and Happiness

The Talmud teaches (Tractate Shabbat 113a–119a) that the biblical holidays (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh HaShanah, and Yom Kippur) are comparable to Shabbat in our responsibility to imbue them with kavod (respect), oneg (joy), and simchah (happiness). The Talmud then offers examples of kavod, oneg, and simchah: Kavod would include preparing food for a festive meal, preparing special clothing, or reciting the kiddush to initiate the special day. Oneg may be eating festive meals and engaging in marital relations. To create simchah, one might drink wine and eat delicacies (historically, meat) as part of a meal, or give gifts to a child and spouse as a loving gesture. The Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu ben Sholomo Zalman, 1720–1797, Vilna, Lithuania) describes kavod as things we do in preparation for Shabbat or a holiday, and oneg and simchah as the experiential joys on the day itself.

  1. In what areas of your family, work, or social routine do you employ the principles of kavod, oneg, and simchah?
  2. Does the preparation for and attentiveness to these principles help in getting the function done, in making it special, or both?
  3. Preparing requires trusting in the likelihood and value of the outcome. Is the time you give to preparation proportional to the value of the expected outcome? What is that value?

Shulchan Orech is the opposite of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt. It is dignified, intentional, and prepared for, with food, a set table, invited guests. It also lies in contrast to the lechem oni, the bread of affliction of Egypt.

Whom Would You Invite to the Seder?

The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, is an important icon of 1970s feminist art and a milestone in twentieth-century art. The Dinner Party portrays a large ceremonial banquet arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings (three times the thirteen men at the Last Supper). Each person in attendance is an important woman from history or mythology. The table settings consist of embroidered runners, gold chalices, utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates with raised central motifs that are tailored to each of the women present.

View the web pictures of The Dinner Party at http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/. Imagine sitting down at a meal with people from throughout history or myth. Whom would you invite to the meal/Seder? What would you like to accomplish during your time together?

In Light of the Video...

  1. In the video, there are multiple sets of hands preparing food in the shape of the Hebrew words Shulchan Orech. What do you think this preparation represents (beyond the words themselves)?
  2. Why do you think this step in the Seder is referred to as “the set table” and not “eating dinner”? How does this word choice emphasize the value of preparing: the food, the table, and the guest list?  How is this different from the act of eating?