What do you use for Karpas?!

ValleyMom

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:17 am

Growing up my parents used onion dipped in salt water. Yesterday my friends husband went to a Pesach shiur and he learned that It is not suggested to use onion as Karpas as it is really a Shehakol NOt a Haadama because most people don't eat a bite out of a raw onion.

I NEVER heard this one before?

Any thoughts??!

Last edited by ValleyMom on Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:22 am; edited 1 time in total

kalsee

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:20 am

yes, I've heard that before.
We use potatos and celery . I've heard that the celery is preferred (or any vegetable that one would eat a piece with their hands), because that is why we wash our hands before eating karpas.

OOTBubby

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:22 am

We used to eat celery, but when it became known several years ago that it needed thorough examination for infestation (I don't use any vegetables that need that kind of examination as I don't have great eyesight and don't feel I can check them properly) we switched to boiled potatoes (which is what my husband says his parents used when he was young).

ValleyMom

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:23 am

But, for arguments sake,
The Rabbi said it was because it is not the norm to eat RAW onion.
However, WE like chopped raw onion in tuna salad...
Does that make us weird? Abnormal people??!
<DONT answer that!!!)
:-)

kalsee

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 10:25 am

ValleyMom wrote:

you might be normal and not weird (I don't know since you ARE anonymous).
But it doesn't make it "the norm".

yummydd

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 11:12 am

cooked potatoes. I always wish for a bigger peice but you gotta eat less then a ksais....

someoneoutthere

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 11:37 am

ValleyMom wrote:

Did you grow up in a Lubavitch environment? The Alter Rebbe (Shulchan Aruch Harav- seder birchos hanehenin) paskens that raw onion is Ha'adama while others hold they're shehakol. That would explain this discrepency.

lech lecha08

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 12:43 pm

My family always used celery. Dh's family does potato.
The biggest change from my family's sedarim to DH's family is marror. We always used horseradish root but DH's family uses romaine which is so mild compared to what I'm used to.

Seraph

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 12:54 pm

We used either potato or parsley growing up. My husband used carrots growing up. We give a choice of all now. :-/

Ruchel

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 1:22 pm

Celery or lettuce, if I remember right.
Now we use parsley as it's the only one that dh doesn't find too repulsive but he "should" use radish.

chanchy123

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 1:35 pm

We used potatoes growing up, but my parents had used parsley. Celery is considered the origional karapas.

Marion

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 2:33 pm

Potatoes/cucumber/pickles/parsley/celery/radish. (They're all out on a platter; each person gets to choose.)

ChossidMom

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 2:37 pm

Growing up, my family used cucumber.
My husband's minhag is cooked potatoes.

chaylizi

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 2:42 pm

my grandparents use potato
my parents use potato
and my husband's family use potato

imasinger

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 2:44 pm

I grew up with parsley, DH grew up with boiled potatoes. I provide both.

DD and I were just discussing the onion question yesterday. I wonder if anyone uses cooked onions?

Fabulous

Sun, Mar 21 2010, 2:45 pm

flowerpower wrote:

Radish/cooked potatoe.

same here. My father's family ate the small red radishes (peeled) partially because it's supposed to be an individual serving that's smaller than a kizayis. My mother's family ate potatoes and we ate many sedarim at my maternal grandparents. So when my father made his own seder, he merged the minhagim, partially because when we were small we were hungry and didn't really like radishes. We haven't made our own seder yet, so I don't know yet what we will do.