Objects

The photograph shows a group of six men seated behind a table during a Seder supper. The men are sitting on one side of the table, against the wall. An ornamented eight-branched candle holder stands in the centre of the table (the candle places are empty). The table is covered with a white tablecloth and set with dishes. The men are dressed in suits and also have headgear (yarmulkehs or hats). The third man from the left pours wine into the glass of the second man from the right. In the background, on the wall, three paintings in decorative frames can be seen. | The photograph was taken during a Seder supper in Warsaw's Jewish community in 1983. The Seder (Hebrew for order) is a ritual meal eaten on the first evening of Passover. The order of the supper is strictly defined. On the table are dishes symbolically reminiscent of the Jews' Exodus: three matzahs (symbolising the priest, the Levite and the Israelite), maror (bitter herbs), charoset (a dish of apples, nuts, almonds, cinnamon and wine), hard-boiled eggs, a lamb bone (symbol of the Passover sacrifice), salted water, vegetables and wine. Traditionally, at dinner, the head of the family tells the story of the Exodus contained in the Haggadah (a story forming part of the rabbinic exegesis of the Bible and Talmud, a kind of midrash) and the youngest child asks four questions to explain the meaning of the Seder feast. The door of the house is also (symbolically) left ajar, a free seat is left at the table and a cup of wine for the prophet Elijah. At the end, a piece of matzah (afikoman) symbolising the Pesach sacrifice is eaten, psalms (Halel), hymns and songs are sung and a wish is made: "Next year in Jerusalem".| Marta Frączkiewicz