🌀 Dip sprigs of parsley in salt water and distribute them to all present at the Seder table while reading the following paragraphs and singing the following songs.

My heart overflows with joy! I finally see more daylight than darkness and a full moon glows tonight. Celebrate with me the flowering of the world of nature.

Spring! The season of rebirth and renewal. On this Passover festival, we read from the Song of Songs.

I want to hold your hand and run through the fields of flowers as the fresh sun shines on our faces. I know that what I feel for you mirrors the love of a caring universe for the people of Israel. This is the song of our betrothal covenant.

🌀 North half of the room reads:

As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. How fair is thy love, my sister my bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices!

El Ginnat Egoz

I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley,
to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower. 

Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded, whether the vine-blossom be opened, and the pomegranates be in flower;

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious fruits.¹

As an apple tree among the trees of wood, so is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my taste. He has brought me to the banqueting-house and his banner over me is love.

Dodi Li

דּוֹדִי לִי וַאֲנִי לוֹ הָרוֹעֶה בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים. (2)

מִי זֹאת עֹֹלָה מִן הַמִּדְבָּר, מִי זֹאת עֹֹלָה? מְקֻטֶּרֶת מוֹר, מוֹר וּלְבוֹנָה. (דּוֹדִי לִי…)

לִבַּבְתִּינִי אֲחוֹתִי כַּלָּה, לִבַּבְתִּינִי כַּלָּה. (2) (דּוֹדִי לִי…)

עוּרִי צָפוֹן, וּבוֹאִי תֵּימָן. (2) (דּוֹדִי לִי…)

Dodi li, va-ani lo, ha ro-eh ba-shoshanim. (2)

Mi zote olah, min ha-midbar; mi zote olah
Meh-ku-teret mor, mor uleh-vo-nah, mor uleh-vo-nah… (Dodi Li…)

Li bav-ti-ni a-cho-ti kalah; li bav-ti-ni kalah (Dodi Li…)

Oo-ri, tsafon, oo-vo-ee tey-man; Oo-ri, tsafon, oo-vo-ee tey-man (Dodi Li…)

My beloved is mine and I am my beloved’s, a shepherd in the wild roses. Who is this, coming up from the wilderness, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense? You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride… Awake, north wind, and come, south wind…²

Awake, o north-wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon our garden that its spices may flow out. May we enter our garden and eat its precious fruits.

Even before the Exodus from Egypt our ancestors probably celebrated the mystery of life and the creation of the world each spring. Now again, we remind ourselves of the greens of the earth and the salt of the sea from which all life emerged, and on which all life depends.

But we do not simply celebrate spring’s renewal nor love’s warmth. Pesach celebrates our becoming free. Through the wondrous rebirth of life we can feel the precarious beginnings of the struggle for freedom. The sea’s salt not only reminds us of life’s start, but also of the brine of tears shed by our people and by all peoples striving to be free.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ri ha-adamah.

Blessed are You Adonai our God, Sovereign of all space and time, who brings fruit from the earth.

🌀 Everyone eats the parsley

🌀 The third of the four questions asks why we dip our vegetables twice during the Seder meal. No one is certain what the second “dipping” actually is—either the Charoset itself (fruit and nuts with wine), or the Charoset mixed with the Maror (the Hillel sandwich). It is possible that the question refers to two salads: a vegetable salad and a fruit salad. As such, the green salads (crudités) with dressing might be served now, as the Seder continues.

Footnotes

¹ Song of Songs 6:11; 7:12-13; 4:16

² Song of Songs 2:16