Folklore: Orange on a seder plate

Subject: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: GerryM
Date: 24 May 21 - 11:09 PM

The seder plate is an important part of the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. In recent times, some folks have taken to adding an orange to the more traditional contents of the seder plate. There is much folklore as to how this came to be. I think Wikipedia has it right:

Orange – Some Jews include an orange on the Seder plate.[15] The orange represents the fruitfulness for all Jews when marginalized Jews, particularly women and gay people, are allowed to become active and contribute to the Jewish community. A common, though incorrect, rumor says that the tradition began when a man told Susannah Heschel that a woman has as much business on the bimah in a synagogue as an orange does on the Seder plate. In fact, the tradition began when Heschel spoke at Hillel at Oberlin College, where she saw an early feminist haggadah that included Susan Fielding's short story about a young Jewish lesbian told by her Hasidic rebbe that "there is as much place for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for hametz at the seder table."[16] Heschel felt, as did those women at Oberlin, that putting bread on the Seder plate would mean accepting the idea that lesbian and gay Jews are as incompatible with Judaism as chametz is with Passover. At her next Seder, she used an orange as a symbol of inclusion for lesbians, gays, and others who are marginalized by the Jewish community. Participants eat a segment of the orange, spitting out the seeds as a symbol of rejecting homophobia.[17]

The links are
[15] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/an-orange-on-the-seder-plate/

[16] https://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/background-background-orange-seder-plate-and-ritual-inclusion

[17] https://reformjudaism.org/learning/answers-jewish-questions/why-do-some-people-include-orange-seder-plate

Subject: RE: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 May 21 - 10:02 AM

I am asking around the Jewish side of the family...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: GUEST,#
Date: 25 May 21 - 07:54 PM

https://www.haggadot.com/clip/dispelling-urban-myth-orange-seder-plate

I hope that helps.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 May 21 - 01:18 PM

Someone answered it is instead of the lamb shank but no memory of why.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 May 21 - 01:29 PM

I've heard that too, Mrrzy - that it's used by vegetarians to replace the lamb shank. But I find teaching religion as a Catholic (and in studying folksongs), that there are often many backstories to traditions, and they all have a certain level of validity. Yes, there may be one story or incident that is the root of the tradition, but that doesn't invalidate all the others.

In contrast to a lot of religious people. I rarely put a whole lot of emphasis on Truth - I'm far more interested in the Story, because that's the human side of it. My approach invariably gets me into trouble. But hey, it's "good trouble."

-Joe Offer, fuzzy logician-

Subject: RE: Folklore: Orange on a seder plate
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 May 21 - 01:40 PM

The Orange Many will tell you that the orange represents women, and feminism. A false myth circulates, saying that a man angrily told Jewish scholar Susannah Heschel that “A woman belongs on the bimah like an orange belongs on the Seder plate,” and that’s why feminists today include an orange. However Heschel herself repudiates this myth, saying that she added the orange to honor lesbians and gay men.

This is from something on new traditions.