כרפס
לוקח מן הכרפס פחות מכזית – כדי שלא יתחייב בברכה אחרונה – טובל במי מלח, מברך "בורא פרי האדמה", ומכווין לפטור בברכה גם את המרור. אוכל בלא הסבה.
ברוך אתה ה', אלהינו מלך העולם, בורא פרי האדמה.
Greens.
Take from the greens less than a kazayit - so that you will not need to say the blessing after eating it; dip it into the salt water; say the blessing "who creates the fruit of the earth;" and have in mind that this blessing will also be for the bitter herbs. Eat without reclining.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.
Essential Questions:
What does the dipping of the Karpas symbolize?
How might the dipping of the Karpas represent the journey of the Jewish people exiting slavery and traveling to receive the Torah?
How might we incorporate the symbolic ritual of Karpas into our own lives?
Learning Outcomes:
Learners will be able to articulate the definition of Karpas and provide multiple reasons for the symbolism of dipping
Learners will formulate ideas about how this ritual represents the journey of the Jewish people from Egypt
Learners will reflect on how they can incorporate these lessons into their own lives.
Part 1: Identifying the different parts and reflect on their possible meanings
- Ask the students to identify the different parts of the Karpas ritual (Vegetable, dipping, water/salt water).
- Ask the students what they think each part represents. For example, Why a vegetable? Why must we "dip it"? Why into water? Salt water?
- Ask the students if they can think of connections to other rituals in Judaism that involve water?
- Ask the students if they can think of any part of the Pesach story that involves "dipping".
- Summarize and list the student's background knowledge, theories, and new questions.
Part 2:
- Break up into pairs. For each section have one reader and one note taker.
Person #1: Read the text below out loud while person #2 listens and takes notes
Then, person #2 reads, and person #1 listens and takes notes. Switch at the next section.
Pay attention to the different reasons offered for the ritual and symbolism of Karpas
Teacher: You can have them read all three sections and then return for a class discussion or bring them back after each section for a check-in.
וּלְקַחְתֶּ֞ם אֲגֻדַּ֣ת אֵז֗וֹב וּטְבַלְתֶּם֮ בַּדָּ֣ם אֲשֶׁר־בַּסַּף֒ וְהִגַּעְתֶּ֤ם אֶל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף֙ וְאֶל־שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֔ת מִן־הַדָּ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּסָּ֑ף וְאַתֶּ֗ם לֹ֥א תֵצְא֛וּ אִ֥ישׁ מִפֶּֽתַח־בֵּית֖וֹ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר׃
Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.
- Where does dipping appear in the source?
- How was fulfilling this commandment a declaration of faith in God?
By dipping the greens in salt water or vinegar, he still remembers the time when he was humbled while in Egypt and that God took us out of subjugation so that we could reach this exalted level. The dipping of karpas alludes to two opposing ideas, subjugation and freedom. First it symbolizes subjugation when our lives were like the vinegar or the salt water, and in the end it symbolizes the merit of dipping the hyssop when we fulfilled the commandment of placing the blood on the doorposts of our homes, so that Israel was saved from the death of the first born and afterwards they went forth to freedom.
- What is the meaning of the salt water?
- What are the two themes of Karpas? How does is represent both themes?
- What is the connection between "dipping the blood" and "dipping the Karpas"
- How does the dipping represent serving God?
(א) כרפס ר"ל שטובל ירק במי מלח לרמז דצריך ג"כ כרפס לטבילת כל גופו ר"ל טהר לגמרי ולא כטובל ושרץ בידו ח"ו ומרמזין בזה לזכרון, שישראל בארץ מצרים עובדי ע"ז היו. וכשהוציאם השי"ת משם כדי לקדש אותם בקבלת התורה היו צריכים בתחילה להסיר הטומאה מעליהם ולעשות תשובה ומהאי טעמא מטבל בירק לרמז שבעל תשובה צריך להיות עניו כירק השדה שנדרסין כדאיתא בשמות בה. ע"כ נקרא כרפס היינו כרֶפֶס שהוא לשון דריסה ורמיסה או כרפס בשין שהוא טיט וקרקע עיין רש"י וביאור משלי ו' ומרמז בזה ג"כ לזכרון שישראל היו במצרים נכנעים תחת ידם כ"כ כרֶפֶש וטיט עוד יש לרמז במלת ו'רחץ כ'רפס בתחילה רחיצה וטבילה ואח"כ הזאה כדמצינו בפרה אדומה דהזאה לטהר היתה באגודת אזוב. וכן כאן מטבל אגודת ירק לרמז על הזאה וכן צוה במצרים לזאת דם על המשקוף ועל שתי המזוזות באזוב שנאמר ולקחתם אגודת אזוב. וטעם הטיבול מרמז בזה אחר שקשטת את עצמך ואז נאה לך לבוא אל (אודיענץ) להראות למלך קודם שידבר לפניו שהוא עבדו ועשה כרצונו כמצותיו. ע"כ מטבל בתחילה ירק במי מלח או בחומץ להראות שעדיין הוא בזכרונינו העת שהיינו בשפל המדרגה כשהיינו במצרים ויצאנו משם ועוד מעט אשר זכינו להיותינו במדרגה עליונה. ומרמז דבר והיפוכה שעבוד וחירות בתחלה וימררו את חיינו בשעבוד כחומץ ומי מלח ולבסוף ע"י זכות טבול ירק שקיימנו מצות הזאה על המשקוף וגו' ניצלנו כל ישראל ממכות בכורות ואח"כ יצאנו לחירות:
(1) Karpas: One dips green vegetables in salt water to symbolize that like karpas, we must undergo an entire immersion of one's body for the purpose of a complete purification...This is an allusion to the fact that the Israelites were idolaters while they were in Egypt. When God took them out of Egypt in order sanctify them by giving them the Torah, it was necessary first to remove the impurity that was upon them and to have them perform complete repentance. One immerses the greens to symbolize the Baal Teshuvah (repentant) who is as humble as the plants in the field which are trampled underfoot. The greens are called karpas, which comes from the word for trampled over; or it is related to the word refes, spelled with a shin instead of a samech, which is the word for mud or earth.
- Why must we dip the Karpas totally into the water? What does is symbolize?
- What did the Jews need to be purified from? What were the purifying themselves for?
- Of all the things to dip, why vegetables?
- Why do we call it Karpas and not just vegetables?
Part 3: Recap and Reflections
After bringing the class back and asking them to report their findings you can ask them:
- Why is it important that the Pesach Seder starts with the ritual of Karpas?
- How does the journey of impure to pure, and slavery to freedom, represent the journey of the Jewish People? Of our own lives?
- Is this a process that happens once or a cycle that repeats itself?
- What is an area of your life that you want to "purify" so you can enter a new stage of freedom?
Optional Part 4:
Depending on the maturity and background of your class you can also introduce the idea of Mikvah and how dipping into water is a purifying ritual that symbolizes rebirth and renewal. The first 30 seconds of the following video does an excellent job of introducing that idea. You can then also discuss moments of personal and national transition and how we use rituals in Judaism to mark those moments.