If the Passover seder is a communal drama, the seder plate is its main stage prop. Here, the central theme of Pesach–emerging from slavery into freedom–is expressed by the separation of foods representing those two states. Haroset, maror, and hazeret are 3 ritual foods meant to recall our enslavement to the Egyptians. The shank bone, egg, and the karpas remind us of our status as a free people.
The foods of slavery rest on a lower level, set into a heavy limestone slab. In stark contrast, the foods of freedom are elevated on a shimmering brass disc, evoking the higher spiritual plane of the Israelites in the desert. The element that simultaneously separates and connects these two conditions is water. Here, a channel of salt water on the seder plate points to the pivotal role of the Red Sea in the Exodus story.
- Jerusalem Gold limestone + hand-hammered brass, 12” x 20” x 4”
- Limited edition of 36
- Created for “New Works/Old Story” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
- $3,800. Available at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, The Jewish Museum, NY, and this website.
