Add Pineapple To Seder Plate? Reconstructionists Create Symbol Of Solidarity With Refugees
Image by YouTube
Attend a Reconstructionist Passover dinner this season, and there’s a good chance there will be a new addition to the Seder plate – pineapple, to represent support for refugees and immigrants.
“In American colonial times, the pineapple was a symbol of welcome and prosperity. They were special gifts because of the great labor and expense required to ship them from the tropics,” explains Rabbi Deborah Waxman, the president of Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, in a video posted to YouTube. “As we think about those in the midst of crossing through danger and into unknown lands, we aim to bestow upon them the gifts of hospitality and a sweet welcome.”
Many Jews already add modern symbols to the Seder plate depending on their pet causes – some use olives to represent peace in Israel-Palestine, some an orange to stand for women’s rights, some a tomato to call attention to contemporary slavery.
In addition to the video, RRC has released a Passover supplement about refugees and immigrants, complete with blessings and discussions questions. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, or HIAS, has also been active in crafting inserts for the seder table, last year recommending that Jews place shoes in front of their doors in solidarity with immigrant populations.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
