The Paschal meal could no longer be celebrated after the fall of the Temple and the cessation of the sacrificial system; only a bone with a little roasted meat on it (zero'a) still reminds Israel today of the paschal lamb. Yet there remained as festive symbols the unleavened bread (Matzah) and the bitter herbs (maror) which were once eaten together with the Passover lamb; the maror was reminiscent of the bitterness of the Hebrews' lot under Egyptian bondage (Pes. 116b). There was added also a mixture prepared from apples and nuts, called Haroseth, which was supposed to represent symbolically the mortar (clay) employed by the Hebrews in their forced labor in Egypt, while the parsley which was dipped into the salt water is reminiscent of the hyssop which, according to Ex. 12:22, was dipped into the blood of the paschal lamb. In addition, a roasted egg was to symbolize the freewill festival offering. All these symbolical objects are placed on the "Seder dish" together with the three Matzoth, called Kohen, Levi and Israel, in reference to the three main groups of the Israelites: priests, Levites, and laymen.

Wine, too, is placed on the Seder table. On every festival evening two cups of wine are drunk, one after the Kiddush and the other following the grace after meals. On the Seder evenings, however, two additional cups of wine are drunk in order to heighten the joy in the festival; one of these is drunk at the close of the first portion of the Seder or of the

Haggadah, just before the meal is served, while the other is drunk at the end of the praises of God which were added to the Haggadah narrative in accordance with ancient prescription. Another reason for the four cups of wine ('arba kosoth) is the passage Ex. 6:6-7, where the redemption of Israel from Egypt is announced in four different phrases. Furthermore, one cup of wine is poured out for the prophet Elijah (popularly called Alyenove or Elyenove, a corruption of 'Eliyahu Hanabi, "Elijah the prophet"), who was believed to be the messenger announcing the future redemption of Israel.

The Haggadah, up to and including the Nishmath Kol Hai portion, arose in the Mishnaic and Talmudic period (Pes. 10); thus far the Haggadah is the same in all the several rituals. In later times much was added in the various rituals. The Ashkenazic Jews adopted into their Haggadah two small portions of the Sabbath liturgy as well as two songs connected with the benediction over the fourth cup of wine. This benediction is preceded by the words leshanah haba'ah biyrushalayim ("the coming year in Jerusalem"), and it is followed by the benediction which is customarily recited after the enjoyment of wine and the conclusion of which is a petition for the rebuilding of the holy

Temple. The latest portions of the Haggadah of the German ritual are formed by three additional poems or songs which were taken over into the Haggadah toward the end of the Middle Ages. The third and last of these, the Had Gadya ("One Kid”), has become especially popular. In all probability it is patterned after an old German song, and poems similar to it in form and content are to be found among other peoples as well. It is descriptive of the constant process of retribution, and is interpreted, in connection with the prophecies in the book of Daniel, as referring to the world powers which destroyed each other successively and the destruction of the last of which will finally be followed by the inauguration of the kingdom of God. The arrangement and order of the Seder are as follows: as on every festival evening (the Ereb of the festival), the Kiddush is recited first, and then the master of the house washes his hands. He then dips parsley or some other vegetable, such as water cress, into the salt water and gives a piece of it to all those at the Seder table. Then he breaks the middle one of the three cakes of Matzah into two, and sets aside one-half as the Afikomen, which is distributed among those present and eaten at the end of the meal as a sign that after the meal nothing further may be eaten on that night. Next follows the recitation of the famous section, composed in the Aramaic vernacular of the Babylonian Jews: ha lahma 'anya ("This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate

in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat! He who is needy, let him come and celebrate the Passover with us! This year here; next year in Jerusalem. This year [we are] still slaves; next year [we shall be] free men").

The narrative (Haggadah) is then begun with the recitation, by the youngest person present, generally a child, of the well-known four questions (popularly called Kashes), which begin with the words mah nishtannah ("Why is this night different from all other nights?") and refer to several of the practices carried out on the Seder evening, inasmuch as the "Haggadah," the telling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, is chiefly, according to Ex. 13:8, for the sake of the children.

In keeping with the desire to retain the attention of the children in the Seder services, the Talmud suggests various devices for keeping them awake during the somewhat lengthy service and arousing their interest so that they may be impelled to ask questions. It is suggested in the Talmudic tractate Pesachim (109a) that nuts and other goodies be distributed among the children and also that the Matzah be "snatched" so that the children "remain awake and ask questions."

Based upon the idea of "snatching the Matzah" the custom arose of allowing the children to steal the fragment of Matzah broken off from one of the three ritual cakes at the beginning of the meal and put aside to be eaten at the conclusion of the Seder. Since the Seder can not be concluded without eating this fragment of Matzah (the Afikomen), the

A Seder plate

children who find it are given a present in return for it (cf. Minhage Jeshurun, § 122).

The narrative then continues with the story of the oppression and deliverance of Israel, in connection with various Biblical verses, especially Deut. 26:5-8. One of the introductory portions reads as follows: "And this promise of God (mentioned just previously) has been fulfilled in us and in our fathers; for not only one person has risen up against us to destroy us, but in every age there arose up against us men who wished to destroy us, but the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered us out of their hand."

Next, the explanation of the three symbols of the Passover festival, i.e. the paschal offering, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, is followed by a portion beginning with the words: "In every age the Jew is obligated to regard himself as though he himself had gone forth from Egypt." This closes the Haggadah portion proper, and the praises of God commence with the singing of the Hallel psalms, which used to be sung in former times when the Passover offering was brought and at the Passover meal. Ps. 113 and 114 precede the serving of the meal; the other psalms of the Hallel are recited at the conclusion of the meal. Before the meal the second of the four cups of wine is drunk, after a benediction in which thanks are expressed to God for the former redemption as well as a petition for the future redemption. In this connection unleavened bread and bitter herbs, usually horseradish, are eaten, first separately and then together. The meal proper is now served, followed by the grace after meals and the third cup of wine.

After the meal, in accordance with a custom which did not develop until the latter part of the Middle Ages, the door is opened for a moment while several verses are recited. According to some, this is for the purpose of announcing that this night is a "night of watching" (lel shimmurin, Ex. 12:42), and in order to hasten Israel's redemption by means of this trust and belief. The Biblical verses which are recited at the opening of the door reflect the Jews' terror and dread of the ritual murder allegation which was usually and chiefly connected with Passover and the Seder evening. There then follow, in keeping with the old order, the remaining Hallel psalms (Ps. 115 to 118) and other hymns, followed by the drinking of the fourth cup of wine, which in turn, in the Ashkenazic ritual, is followed by three additional songs.

See also: AFIKOMEN; HAD GADYA; HAGGADAH, PASSMAX JOSEPH.

OVER.

Lit.: Abrahams, Israel, Festival Studies, 40-55, 103-10, 167-73; Idelsohn, A. Z., Jewish Liturgy (1932) 173-87; idem, The Ceremonies of Judaism (1929); Wiener, S., Bibliographie der Haggadah; Pes. 10; Shulhan Aruch, Orah Hayim 472-84; Schauss, Hayim, The Jewish Festivals (1938); Rosenau, William, Jewish Ceremonial Institutions and Customs; Dembitz, Lewis N., Jewish Services (1898) 48, 180, 337, 354-66; Rivkind, I., and Yaari, A., "Additions to Wiener," Kiryath Sefer, vols. 6 to 12; Shinedling, Abraham I., "The Night that is Different," American Hebrew,

April 12, 1940, pp. 11, 28 et seq.; Eisenstein, J. D., Otzar Haggadoth; Friedmann, Mayer, Das Festbuch Haggada (1895); Nadel, A., "Originelle Seder-Melodien," Gemeindeblatt der jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin (1928), No. 4; cf. also the literature to HAGGADAH, PASSOVER.

SEDER OLAM ("order of the world"), an old book which records in chronological order the Biblical events from the Creation to the war of Bar Kochba (132-35 C.E.). This compilation adheres closely to the Bible, employs Scriptural expressions and is often a mere combination of scattered verses. Wherever the data or sequence of events is indistinct in the Bible, the writer avails himself of old rabbinic interpretations. It is the aim of the author to present the events in as concise a form as possible. The book may be designated as a Midrash to a certain degree: it also contains certain digressions, which are explainable on the ground of association of words, such as abound in the Midrash. Only the last chapter of the book shows independence. There the author endeavors to outline in detail the era between the end of the Persian period and the eve of the Bar Kochba war. The computation of time since the Creation, which came into general use among the Jews of Europe, is based upon the Seder Olam. The work is mentioned as a Baraitha in the Talmud. Johanan ascribes its authorship to Jose ben Halafta (d. about 160), who was regarded as an authority on chronology. The chronological record of the Seder Olam terminates with Johanan's death.

The fact that Jose's views as expressed in the Talmud conflict with those in the Seder Olam does not disprove his authorship. It is held that the present text underwent many changes, and moreover that the author chronicled the generally prevailing opinions instead of his own. The book is written in clear and concise Hebrew. It is the first Hebrew work of the post-Biblical period to be generally accepted. The material is divided into thirty chapters in all manuscripts and editions; these were for a long time embodied into three parts, similar to the Mishnah tractates Nezikin and Kelim, a feature lacking in the older manuscripts. The text of the Seder Olam as a whole is well preserved. Extensive material for its critical analysis was compiled by B. Ratner. A. Marx started a thorough critical review of the work, but only chapters one to ten saw the light. The book was widely studied, frequently commented upon and translated into Latin.

Since its first printing the Seder Olam has always been published together with another short chronicle. Much of the contents of the second book are derived from the original. The first book is therefore named Seder Olam Rabbah, while the smaller publication is termed Seder Olam Zuta. The latter was written with the object of proving that the lineage of the exilarchs, who descended from the house of David, had died out a long time before, and that only a female branch, which had emigrated to Palestine about 520 B.C.E., existed. A detailed account of Mar Zutra's adventures is rendered at the end of the book to substantiate this contention. This part of the Seder Olam Zuta is also of historic importance. The story is preceded by a dry chronological account of eighty-five generations, starting with Adam and ending about the year 500. The author then enumerates the generations from Adam to King David; these are followed by the kings of Judah with the high priests and prophets of their respective periods. The final part starts with King Jehoiachin and cites the exilarchs with the sages of their time. This list is also historically important, because there is no other source of information concerning the period it covers. Through this record the Karaites traced back the descent of their exilarchs. The text of the Seder Olam Zuta is preserved in poor condition; it has as yet not passed a critical review, but was commented upon and translated into Latin.

Owing to literary contributions by medieval authorities, it is held that the Seder Olam Zuta was written about 804. According to others, the book originated in the period of the Saboraim. In all likelihood, the book was composed at a time when there was considerable doubt as to the authenticity of the pedigree of the Babylonian exilarchs. ISMAR ELBOGEN.

Lit.: Neubauer, Adolf, Medieval Jewish Chronicles, vol. 2 (1895); Seligsohn, M., in Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 11, pp. 147-50; Marx, A., Seder Olam (1903).

SEDER TANNAIM VAAMORAIM, a short treatise dating from 885 or 887 in which the succession of the numerous figures whose names and discussions occur in the Talmud, and also those in the line of Saboraim, is given chronologically and with reference to the development of doctrine according to time and circumstance. By means of this work the student was enabled to derive an orderly historical scheme and a consistent methodology from the innumerable disconnected labyrinths with which the Talmud is threaded.

The text was published at Prague in 1839, with notes by Hayim Joseph David Azulai; in Kerem Hemed, vol. 4 (1839), by Samuel David Luzzatto; by Heinrich Graetz in Festschrift für Zacharias Frankel (Breslau, 1871, and London, 1910); and at Warsaw (1866); it was included in the Festschrift für Israel Lewy (Breslau, 1911), with a new text by A. Marx (155-72, Hebrew, and 392-99, German).

Lit.: Steinschneider, Moritz, Catalogus librorum hebraeorum in bibliotheca bodleiana, vol. 1, col. 626.

SEDJERA (Ilania), see COLONIES, AGRICULTURAL. SÉE, well-known Jewish family, whose ancestors added to their name the designation Mizze or Mizze Ashkenazi, which is probably derived from the river Seille (Lorraine), on the shore of which Jews resided.

The first known member of the family was Samuel Sée, who in 1541 was rabbi in Frankfort. Besides, there are records of Eleazar Sée of Worms (1587); Isaac Sée, corrector of the Mahzor Tannhausen (1594); Mattithiahu ben Adonijah Israel Sée, grandson of Israel Heppingen and disciple and correspondent of Samson Bacharach, in Thiengen and Stühlingen (d. after 1663); Joseph ben Lipman of Prossnitz, who was driven out of his home by the Swedes and who composed in Judeo-German rhymes an elegy and memorial book on the persecution in Kremsier (1643), in the Ukraine and Lithuania; Judah Selke, rabbi in Cracow (1643-60); Moses ben Elijah in Posen (1652); Menachem Manlin Sée, precentor in Worms (prior to 1688); and Moses Hayim ben Eliezer Todros in Prague (1702-9). Many members of the family lived in Metz from 1595 on, whence they emigrated to the other communities of Lorraine, to Alsace (Bergheim, Rappoltsweiler and Colmar), and, later, mostly to Paris.

The most important members of the Sée family in the 19th and 20th cent. were:

GERMAIN SEE (b. Rappoltsweiler, Alsace, 1818; d. Paris, 1896), was a physician. In 1852 he was made Médicin des hôpitaux; subsequently he was appointed professor of therapeutics at the Faculté de Médecine of Paris, as successor to Trousseau (1866). In 1869 Sée was given a position at the Charité. He was a member of the Académie de Médecine, commander of the Legion of Honor, and Officier de l'instruction publique.

LEOPOLD SEE (b. Bergheim, Upper Alsace, 1822; d. Paris, 1904), was in 1849 promoted to captain of the third line regiment in the French Army. He was wounded twice during the Crimean War (1853-56) and once at Saint Privat during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), where he was taken prisoner. Two months after he was discharged as an invalid he returned to France, reported for military duty and was

SEEING EYE

made a brigadier general. Sée was entrusted with the defense of Carentan. He became a commander of the Legion of Honor (1876), and subsequently grand officer of this body. In 1880 he became a general of a division.

CAMILLE SEE (b. Colmar, 1847; d. Paris, 1920) was a jurist and statesman. He studied law at Strasbourg and began to practise in Paris (1869). Appointed secretary general to the minister of the interior in 1870, he showed remarkable executive ability in handling difficult problems during the Franco-Prussian War. He helped to liberate the detained members of the government. In 1872 he became sub-prefect of SaintDenis, but resigned after the fall of Thiers (1873). In 1876 he became a deputy, and sided with the Republicans of the left. After he was defeated in the elections of 1881 he was appointed a councillor of state. During his parliamentary career he defended the civic rights of women, and introduced laws favoring the promotion of education among girls. He was the prime mover for the enactment of the law known as Loi Camille Sée, which was adopted by the Senate in 1880.

By this law a teachers' college for girls was established at Sèvres. Sée was decorated with the ribbon of the Legion of Honor in 1884; the girls' lyceum of Colmar was named after him in gratitude. A collection of documents relative to his activities was published by him in 1881, Les lycées et collèges des jeunes filles. He founded and directed the educational periodical, Revue de l'enseignement secondaire des jeunes filles.

EDMOND SEE (b. Bayonne, France, 1875) was a dramatist and critic. He published the Avenir Artistique, a literary review, while he was still a student. Subsequently he became a dramatic critic for La Presse and L'Oeuvre. His critical articles were published in book form, Le Théâtre des Autres (2 vols., 1915) and Le Soir, notes on the theatre.

In 1893 he wrote his first one-act play, Ce qu'elles veulent, but it was not until 1896, when his two-act play, La brebis, was produced, that he was recognized as a dramatist. Les miettes (1899), a drama in two acts, was presented at the Odéon in Paris (1905) and later at the Comédie Française. Among his other works were: L'indiscret (1923); Saison d'amour (1919); Un ami de jeunesse (1921); Le métier d'amant (1928); L'élastique (1930); Charité (1932). He was author of many novels, including: Confidences (1919); Notre amour (1920); La lettre anonyme (1921); Un cousin d'Alsace (1918), which won the Montyon prize of the French Academy.

Lit.: On the Sée family: Ginsburger, M., Die Namen der Juden in Elsass; Zunz, Leopold, Gesammelte Schriften, vol. 3, pp. 212-13; idem, Literaturgeschichte der synagogalen Poesie (1865-67) 435; Revue des études juives, vol. 16, p. 318; vol. 20, p. 309; vol. 46, p. 269; Dembitzer, Kelilath Yofi, 45b, 46b; Buber, S., Anshe Shem (1895) 175, 447. On Germain Sée: Jouve, Henri, Les Alsaciens-Lorrains, vol. 2. On Leopold Séc: Sitzmann, Edouard, Dictionnaire de biographie des hommes célèbres de l'Alsace, vol. 2, p. 766. On Camille Sée: Bauzon, La Loi Camille Sée. On Edmond Sée: Larousse du vingtième siècle, vol. 6 (1933) 272; Revue mondiale, vol. 130 (1919) 125; vol. 143 (1921) 309.

SEEING EYE, a philanthropic organization located in Morristown, N. J., whose purposes are to train dogs to act as guides for the blind, to teach blind persons the proper use of the trained dogs, and to teach instructors in the science and technique of educating dogs as guides. Morris S. Frank was the first blind man in America to be guided by a Seeing Eye dog. He received his dog in Switzerland where he had gone at the invitation of Mrs. Dorothy H. Eustis who at that time, with Elliott S. Humphrey, the geneticist, was investigating the intelligence of dogs in relation to

SEELIGSON

their service to mankind. When Frank returned to the United States with Buddy, he traveled thousands of miles testing the efficiency of his dog guide under all conditions of American traffic. When his experiment was a proved success, Mrs. Eustis returned to the United States and, together with Frank and Humphrey, founded the Seeing Eye school (1929), establishing a new concept of philanthropy for the blind. Frank was vice-president of the organization in 1943. In 1943 there were approximately 700 Seeing Eye dogs in service all over the country. Eighty-five per cent of all Seeing Eye graduates were gainfully employed.

SEELER, MORIZ, theatrical and motion picture director, b. Berlin, 1888; d. somewhere in Germany, 1941. From his early youth Seeler belonged to the theatre. He was the discoverer and patron of many young artists during the years following the first World War.

He opened the Junge Bühne in Berlin with a performance of Arnold Bronnen's expressionistic drama Vatermord, which started a theatre scandal of proportions rarely known to Berliners. Yet the play opened the door for many young talents. (That Bronnen, whose father was the Jew Esriel Bronner, later became one of the ugliest Nazi writers is one of the many grotesque occurrences of that time.) Among the motion pictures which Seeler directed, Menschen am Sonntag turned out to be one of the greatest German motion picture successes. His direction of the legitimate play Automaten Buffet was no less successful.

After the Nazis' ascent to power, he became a refugee in Prague, where he lived in retirement, writing verses of uniquely melancholy beauty. His collection of poems was published in Vienna (1937) under the title of Die Flut. The very last poem, covering the very last page, bears the title "Weltuntergang." It ends with these prophetic words:

"Die fürchterliche Flut von Tränenschaume Und dem durch rotes Blut gefärbten Gischt Steigt zu des Himmels Rand und seinem Saume Und sie verschlingt die Sonne, die erlischt." When the Nazis entered Prague Seeler was forced to return to Berlin. He was so ill, however, that he was exempted from doing forced labor. Finally, in 1941, the road to liberty seemed to open; he had received permission to enter Switzerland. But on the eve of his departure he was again arrested and now forced to do hard labor. A few weeks later he died at work in a coal mine in Nazi Germany. Lit.: Der Aufbau (New York), Oct. 24, 1941. SEELIG, MAJOR GABRIEL, physician, b. Helena, Ark., 1874. He studied at Harvard (A.B., 1896) and Columbia University (M.D., 1900). He was a professor of surgery at the St. Louis University School of Medicine (1905-10) and at the Washington University of St. Louis from 1918 on. Seelig joined the staff of the Jewish Hospital at St. Louis in 1904. He entered military service in 1917 as lieutenant in the Medical Corps, and retired in 1918 with the rank of colonel. He wrote Outline of Medical History (1925).

Lit.: Kagan, Solomon R., Jewish Contributions to Medicine in America (1939) 223.

SEELIGMANN VON EICHTHAL, a Jewish family which played an important part in the development of German industry at the end of the 18th cent. AARON SEELIGMANN established (1779) a tobacco factory at Leimen, near Heidelberg, Germany. The Elector of the Palatinate to which Leimen then belonged granted Seeligmann several privileges. Thus all Jewish workers employed in Seeligmann's factory were exempted from the protection money which other Jews had to pay, and Seeligmann was also allowed to have four other Jewish families exempted every year. Due to his initiative, an important tobacco industry

flourished for more than a century in the grand duchy of Baden. Seeligmann was president of the Landjudenschaft (Jews of the duchy) of Baden.

LIEBMANN SEELIGMANN, the brother of Aaron Seeligmann, was treasurer (Kassierer) of the Landjudenschaft, and was granted full citizenship in 1808. Although Aaron Seeligmann gave 30,000 florins for Jewish humanitarian and cultural purposes, the Jews of Baden seemed to be opposed to the supremacy of the Seeligmann brothers, and tried to induce the government to nominate another president and treasurer. The government endorsed the Seeligmann family in 1804.

DAVID SEELIGMANN, the son of Aaron Seeligmann, founded the banking house of Seeligmann and Company at Karlsruhe. In 1809 he took the salt monopoly on lease, and made it profitable. With the consent of Emperor Napoleon, he negotiated a loan for the gov ernment of Baden, but was unsuccessful because the Dutch creditors tried to overcharge the lender.

AARON ELIAS SEELIGMANN, a nephew of Aaron and Liebman Seeligmann, was granted a franchise for himself, his children and sons-in-law, in 1799. He went to Munich, and was created Baron von Eichthal after his conversion to Catholicism.

DAVID SEELIGMANN, Baron von Eichthal, the son of Aaron Elias Seeligmann, founded an arms and machine factory at St. Blasien, employing more than 400 workers. He had no male issue, and the Barons von Eichthal died out before 1840. The French Barons d'Eichthal, descended from baptized Jews of Nancy, were not related to them.

Lit.: Levin, Adolf, Geschichte der badischen Juden (1909); Rosenthal, R., Heimatgeschichte der badischen Juden (1927); Gedenkbuch zum 125-jährigen Bestehen des Oberrats der Israeliten Badens (1934).

SEELIGMANN, SIGMUND, historian, b. Karlsruhe, Germany; d. Amsterdam, 1941. Descended from a family of bankers (which flourished at Karlsruhe from the end of the 18th cent. on), he went to Amsterdam (1885) where he devoted himself to the study of the Jews in Holland and the Dutch colonies. He founded the Genootschap for de Joodsche Wetenschap in Nederland (Society for the Science of Judaism in the Netherlands) and became its first president. For some years he was also president of the Nederlandsche Zionistenbond.

Seeligmann, who was a corresponding member of the American Jewish Historical Society and contributed to its annual publications, wrote De Emancipatie der Joden in Nederland (1913), Het Geestijkleven in de Hoogduitsche Joodsche Gemeinte te's Gravenhage (1914), a study on the cultural life of the German Jewish community of The Hague, and Het Marranen-Problem uit ockonomisch logpunt (1925) in which he sought to prove that the first Marranos did not come to Holland to enjoy religious freedom but for economic reasons, and returned to Judaism only after a lapse of time. He also published a short survey on Bibliographie en Historie (1927). A bibliography of his writings was compiled by Helmuth Galliner (Historia Judaica, vol. 5 (1943), No. 1.

SEELIGSON, MICHAEL, mayor, Texas pioneer, b. 1797, place of birth unknown; d. Galveston, Texas, 1867. He resided at various times in Pennsylvania and Michigan, being master mason of lodge 168, Doylestown, Pa. (1824), and of lodge 130, Philadelphia, in 1835. In 1838 he came to Texas; in the same year he was royal arch mason, San Felipe de Austin, Chapter No. 1 at Galveston. In the following year he had his family join him at Galveston where he established himself very well, for in 1840 he was elected alderman. Re-elected in 1848, he was made mayor in 1853, but