I had originally written in my article that if you click on the picture of the plate nothing happens (the link is broken) but if you click on the text below the picture of the plate it will take you to a definition of each element of the plate. That comment got cut during the editorial process.

Thanks, Roz, for this truly inspired post!  I love that aspect of Judaism, that so much that is of great importance takes place in the home, not only in the synagogue.  Passover of course is special, but every Shabbat of the year is special too.  So far as I can tell, the Friday-evening meal in an observant Jewish household has an element of reverence (however embarrassing that may be to some participants) which is not at all essentially present in a Sunday dinner in a believing Christian household.

Yes, some Jews can be embarrassed by these things, and Woody Allen is among the finest examples.  His takes on Yom Kippur in "Annie Hall," and in his later childhood memoir "Radio Days," are brilliant.

In fact it is testimony to this great plurality of attitudes among Jews that so many are prepared to personalize the way they do their seders.  I had already heard of Jews who read readings during the seder -- yes, prescribed reading is a part of it -- that are not traditional, and are not even Jewish, but usually are pointed, values-wise, in some way, e.g. Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.; very possibly John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson have been read at seders.  So it does not surprise me that there are ways to do a vegetarian seder too.

I very much appreciate what your friend Rabbi Feshbach says about the seder, as a "multimedia teaching experience."  And the words of Marge Piercy on Shabbat, and on setting aside time for a contemplative rest filled with quiet observation, are of value to all of us, no matter where we come from.

The emphasis on the Earth and our connectedness to it during Passover is excellent.  We should remember, more specifically, that the holiday week is about rejecting a part of the Earth associated with slavery, ethnic hatred and death, and looking forward to another part of the Earth associated with life, freedom, universality and renewed hope.  The children of Israel had no natural right to that land, since that was not their homeland; it was promised to them as a gift, with a few strings attached.  It does us well always to remember our precariousness on this Earth, and in whatever land in which we live.  We are absolutely assured of only a small number of things; and security on this Earth, and in this land, is not one of them.

And in that connexion: I wonder where on Cape Cod Marge Piercy lives.  Home-owners on the Outer Cape are having problems getting home insurance, thanks to global warming, i.e. the predictions of rising sea levels and more destructive storms.

Jewish cuisine has its critics, because it must operate within three great legal constraints:

First, no meal in which it is intended to serve meat may include anything made from a dairy product.  And vice-versa: if the host intends to serve something in which a dairy product is an ingredient, e.g. a cheese pizza, then no meat, e.g. pepperoni, may be present.

Secondly, all kosher meat is drained of its blood.  This reduces the meat's taste, according to many carnivores.

Thirdly, the prohibition of lighting fires during Shabbat has huge consequences cooking-wise.

And so, working within these constraints, Jewish cooks have had to be creative.  Whether their creativity has impressed many "foodies," I cannot say.

The seder is traditionally supposed to be a meal with meat.  Hence, no dairy product may be an ingredient of anything served at the seder.  Therefore, it should be observed that while the Sweet Potato Kugel and the Dried Fruit Betty may perhaps resemble recipes that we are familiar with outside of Jewish cuisine, in which butter is an ingredient, these recipes contain no butter.  The oil is olive oil: very Mediterranean, very Sephardic.  More on that in a bit.  God knows what the Ashkenazim did to celebrate ...

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!