A Passover UU Haggadah
Compiled by Gene & Elijah Bergman in 2012
Leader: Passover is the Jewish spring holiday. Like spring celebrations of other
faiths and traditions, we gather with family and friends, sharing eggs and greens.
This is our link and our bond with the past, following a commandment to tell our
children about the Exodus. We mark rebirth, fertility and love as we remember
slavery and liberation. We are called to remember so we can be inspired to
cherish and strive for freedom, to recognize oppression and work to overcome it.
Reader: It is written in the Torah that “You must keep the feast of the
Unleavened Bread because on this very day I brought you out of the land of
Egypt. You shall observe this day throughout the generations as a law for all
time.” (Exodus 12:17) Tonight we continue a tradition begun by our ancestors by
retelling this story of freedom.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES
Reader: Passover is not just the celebration of the Jewish peoples’ liberation.
It is a moment when we recommit ourselves to the struggle for peace, justice and
equality of all people. We welcome this festival as darkness descends.
We remember that our ancestors discovered freedom in the midst of the dark
final night in Egypt. We light these candles as a reflection of the light that shines
in each of us, radiating Hope and praising the Source of Light that keeps Hope
alive when darkness pervades all.
Leader: Let us bless the Source of our lives, the Source of all life, inspiring us to
become holy through the performance of good deeds, as we kindle the lights.
N’varech et m’kor chayyenu, ruach ha-olam, asher kideshanu b’mitzvo-tav,
vitzivanu l’hadlik ner shel yom tov.
(Light the candles)
Leader: Now we join in singing the traditional blessing for special occasions,
giving thanks for being here to celebrate together.
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam, she-he-cheyanu vekiyemanu
vehigianu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are you, our G-d, who has kept us in life, sustained us and brought us to
this season of joy.
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KIDDUSH, THE FIRST CUP OF WINE
Reader: Throughout Jewish history, wine has been used on festive occasions as
a symbol of joy and of the holiness of creation. Our Passover story tells us that
G-d promised us freedom 4 times in 4 different ways: I will bring you out of the
land; I will save you; I will restore you; I will take you to me as a people. With 4
cups of wine throughout the Seder, we will recall each promise.
For this first promise, we acknowledge the continuity with hundreds of
generations of Jews who kept alive this vision of freedom in the Passover story.
For thousands of years, we have affirmed that by participating in the Seder,
bringing its transformative power into our own lives.
Reader: The Hebrew word for Egypt is Mitzrayim, which means “narrow straits.”
Traditionally, Mitzrayim has also been understood to mean a spiritual state, of
confusion, fragmentation, and disconnection. The way out of this narrow spiritual
place is through chesed, compassion.
The people of Israel left Egypt as a “mixed multitude,” a multicultural mélange of
people attracted to a vision of social transformation. What makes us Jews is not
just genealogy, but our willingness to proclaim the message of those ancient
slaves: that the world can be changed and we can be healed.
Leader: Please raise your cup as we give thanks for this first cup of wine:
N’varech et m’kor chayyenu, ruach ha-olam, boray pri hagafen.
Group: We bless the source of our lives, of all life that creates the fruit of the
vine.
(Drink the first cup of wine) {note: There will be 4 ceremonial cups of wine. 2
before the meal and 2 after the meal.]
KARPAS
Leader: Spring is a time of renewal and hope. In ancient days, spring was a time
of festivals celebrating the greening of the land. Our tradition reminds us to care
for the Earth, especially now, when life as we know it on the planet is
endangered. We would do well to take wisdom from the Kenyan proverb: “Treat
the world well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was lent to you by your
children.”
(Raising parsley)
This green herb, Karpas, is a symbol of spring and the promise of sustenance
that our blue-green planet gives to us.
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(Each person takes a green and dips it into salt water)
The salt water represents the tears of the Israelite slaves. Dipping the green into
the salt water suggests the possibility of growth and renewal even in the midst of
grief.
Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohaynu Melech ha-olam, boray p’ri ha-ademeh.
Group: We give praise to You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who
creates the fruit of the Earth.
(Eat the Karpas)
BREAKING THE MIDDLE MATZAH
(Hold up the middle matzah)
Leader: This matzah is the bread of affliction, the unleavened bread our
ancestors ate when they left Mizrayim. Among people everywhere, breaking
bread forms a bond of friendship and peace. I will break this middle matzah and
hide it as the Afikomen. We will share it later to end our meal and continue the
bond with all who are hungry, all who are needy, all who are not free.
(Break the middle matzah)
Reader: It is our tradition, at this point in the Seder, to say: “All who are hungry,
let them come and eat. All who are in need, let them come and celebrate.” We do
this for our own sake as well as theirs. For generations our parents listened to
the call of liberation. Tonight that call rings again, commanding us to join the
struggle of the oppressed and exploited. In a land with ever-growing disparities of
wealth and power, let us remember that our redemption is bound up with the
deliverance of people everywhere.
(Cover the matzah)
THE FOUR QUESTIONS
Reader: Now we begin to tell the story of the Passover. We start by asking
questions. This is an admission, the first step to greater knowledge and learning;
to ask questions is to signify that we are free.
Young person present asks these 4 questions:
Child Reader: 1. Why is this night different from all other nights?
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Leader: Mah nish-ta-na ha-lai-lah ha-zeh mi-kol ha-lei-lot?
Shehbechol ha-lay-lot anu ochlean chamatz u matzah; ha lai la hazeh ha laila
hazeh ku ol matzah.
On all other nights, we eat leavened products and matzah but on this night we
eat only matzah. This is because when we left Egypt, we were in a hurry. We
couldn’t take time for the bread to rise. We baked flat bread called matzah to take
with us.
Child Reader: 2. Why do we eat bitter herbs on this night?
Leader: Shehbechol ha-lay lot anu ochlean sh’ar y’rakot; ha lai la hazeh ha lai la
hazeh, hazeh mahor.
On all other nights we eat any vegetables, but on this night we must eat bitter
herbs. The bitter taste helps us to remember how we felt when we were slaves
and how people feel when they are hurt by other people.
Child Reader: 3. Why do we dip our food in salt water two times on this night?
Leader: Shehbechol halay lot eyn anu matbilin afilu pa’am echat; ha lai la hazeh,
sh’tey p’ah mean.
On all other nights, we don’t dip our food even once, but on this night we dip
twice. The first time reminds us of the tears we cried when we were slaves. The
second time helps up to remember the ocean and green plants and the earth
where we get air and water and food that help us live.
Child Reader: 4. Why do we sit and relax when we eat on this night?
Leader: Shehbechol ha lay lot anu ochlean bayn yash veen uvayn m’mubeen; ha
lai la hazeh ku lah nu m’subeen.
On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining, but on this night we only recline. A
long time ago, free people sat down to eat but slaves weren’t allowed to sit and
relax. Tonight we sit and eat slowly so we’ll remember that we don’t have to be
slaves any more. We can be free.
Reader: The simplest questions can have many answers. To see everything as
good or bad, as matzah or maror, is to be enslaved to simplicity. The haggadah
challenges us to ask whether or not we are asking the right questions. To accept
the fact that not every question has an answer, that not every problem can be
neatly resolved, is another stage of liberation. This means we need to ask
ourselves new questions.
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Reader: We need to ask why oppression or exploitation exists; why and how
women, LGBTQ, and people of color have been excluded. Why do we poison our
water, our air and our land? Why is it that the children of Abraham, Palestinians
and Israelis, cannot and do not share the land of their father and live in peace?
THE FOUR PERSPECTIVES
Leader: The Torah tells us to tell our children the story of the Exodus. Four times
it repeats that “You shall tell your child on that day.” From this our tradition infers
that there are many different kinds of people.
Our Sages speak of 4 different types of questions people might ask when they
hear the Seder. To each we respond in a different manner, according to the
question, situation and need.
Reader: One might ask: What does this Seder mean? What are the laws,
observances, and traditions? What do they symbolize and what is their origin?
Leader: To this questioner, we will encourage them to learn and deepen their
understanding of this Passover. We should instruct them in the laws and nurture
them in pursuit of justice, the nature of freedom and justice and tikkun olam,
transforming the world.
Reader: A cynical question might be: What does this mean to all of you?
Leader: By this question, the person isolates himself or herself from the
community, and the struggle for freedom. In Egypt, they may have been left
behind as a slave of Pharaoh. To join us, we ask the person to be fully here, to
listen closely, sing, read, dance and drink, and become a part of us. Then they
will know what the Seder means to us.
Reader: A simple question might be: What is this all about?
Leader: To this we should give a clear and simple answer: Freedom is possible.
We are remembering that a long time ago, in another land, we were forced to
work for other people as slaves. We became a free people and are celebrating
our freedom.
And to the one who does not know what to ask, we answer by saying that this
Seder happens every spring so we can remember how out of death and sorrow
and slavery can come life and joy and freedom. To remember sorrow we eat
bitter herbs. To remember joy, we drink wine and sing.
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MAGGID -- THE STORY
(Pour the second cup of wine – not drunk until page 12)
Leader: Every year we retell the story of the Jewish people’s enslavement,
struggle, and ultimate freedom from Mitzrayim. We remember and honor our own
history of oppression so that we remain committed to other people’s movements
for justice and equality. Yet tonight we acknowledge that the traditional
interpretation of this story has been used to justify a modern-day exodus. Since
1947 hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people have been forced to leave
their homes and lands. With this in mind, we now remember a story that is more
than three thousand years old.
Reader: The Book of Exodus tells of a time around 1200 BCE when
approximately 600,000 Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Jacob, a descendant of
Abraham and Sarah, along with his wives Leah and Rachel and their 12 children
left the land of Palestine as refugees due to a famine. One day, Rachel and
Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery by his older brothers. Joseph earned
his freedom and became a valuable advisor to Pharaoh thanks to his astute
agricultural knowledge and ability to administer the food supply before and during
a famine. In gratitude for Joseph’s service his people were welcomed into Egypt.
There they prospered and grew in numbers and influence.
But when a new Pharaoh came to power he singled out the Israelites because
they were a distinct, successful and numerous people. He forced them into
slavery, confiscating land and separating families. He set taskmasters over them
and forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses. Yet, despite all his
power, Pharaoh feared that the slaves might organize and so he ordered that all
male Israelite babies be drowned.
The Talmud says that for the sake of the pious women who lived in that
generation, the Israelites were freed from bondage. In defiance of Pharaoh’s
decree forbidding contact, the Israelite women would visit the men in the fields
and many children were born. Rather than kill their people’s sons, the midwives
Puah and Shifrah began hiding and caring for the children and their mothers.
This act of civil disobedience of women was the beginning of the successful
rebellion against slavery that led to the Exodus.
Reader: In another act of rebellion, a loving Jewish mother resisted the decree
and saved her son by making a boat of reeds and floating it down the Nile. The
boat was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, aided by the baby’s sister Miriam.
Pharaoh’s daughter named him Moses and raised him in the palace with Moses’
own mother as his nursemaid. Moses was blessed with a sense of justice. One
day when Moses was a young man, he saw an Egyptian taskmaster beating an
Israelite slave. In anger Moses killed the taskmaster and fled into the desert for
many years.
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Then we cried unto the Lord, the G-d of our ancestors, and the Lord heeded our
plight, our misery, and our oppression. G-d heard our moaning and remembered
the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And G-d knew. What did G-d
know?
That when the Israelites had grown accustomed to their tasks and began to labor
without complaint, then G-d knew that it was time that they be liberated. For the
worst part of slavery is when we learn to endure it. And G-d knew . . .
Reader: As long as there was no prospect of freedom, G-d knew that the
Israelites would not awaken to the bitterness of bondage. First Moses had to
teach the taste of freedom’s hope and only then did servitude taste bitter.
So though bitter slavery is first and then comes liberation, the Seder teaches us
to taste the matzah of freedom and only then the bitter herbs of bondage. And
G-d knew.
And G-d knew . . . If our freedom had been given us by Pharaoh, we would have
been indebted to him, still subservient within ourselves dependent, slavish at
heart. We had to free ourselves!
And how did this happen?
Reader: One day as Moses was tending a flock of sheep on a mountain, he saw
a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. Then the voice of G-d told him
that he had observed the Israelites’ suffering and commanded Moses to go to
Pharaoh and lead his people out of Egypt. Moses asked Pharaoh for his peoples’
freedom but Pharaoh refused. Instead, Pharaoh ordered his taskmasters to
collectively punish the Israelites because of Moses’ request. Then, Moses cried
out and G-d brought plagues upon the Egyptian people. But rather than free our
ancestors, Pharaoh became more defiant after each plague.
TEN PLAGUES
Leader: Although we rejoice in our redemption, any joy must be diminished by
the slaughter of our foe. When we recall the ten plagues which were visited upon
the Egyptians, we pour a drop of wine onto our plate at the mention of each
plague in compassion. Although they were our oppressors, we must never
rejoice in the suffering of other humans. We must always remember that one
may be both the oppressed and the oppressor.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dam (blood)
Tz’farday’a (frogs)
Kinim (lice)
Arov (wild beasts)
Dever (cattle plague)
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6. Sh’chin (boils)
7. Barad (hail)
8. Arbeh (locusts)
9. Cho-Shech (darkness)
10. Makat B’chorot (slaying of the Firstborn)
We will now sing Go Down Moses
When Israel was in Egypt’s land, Let my people go!
Oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let my people go!
Chorus: Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
Tell old, Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”
“Thus saith the Lord,” bold Moses said, “Let my people go!”
“If not I’ll smite your first-born dead.” Let my people go!
Chorus
No more in bondage shall they toil, Let my people go!
Let them come out with Egypt’s spoil, Let my people go!
Chorus
Reader: But Pharaoh didn’t listen.
So the Israelites marked their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb and
the angel of death “passed over” their homes, taking only the children of the
people of Pharaoh. And upon hearing the cries of grief of parents and brothers
and sisters, Pharaoh cried out: “Let the Israelites leave my land forever.”
And they did. In their haste the Israelites did not have enough time to wait for
bread to rise so they only brought matzah. But before they got far, Pharaoh had a
change of heart and ordered his army to bring them back. The army caught up
with the Israelites by the banks of the Red Sea.
When the Israelites saw their former masters, they were afraid and cried out. “Do
not be afraid,” Moses assured them. “The Lord will show us the way.” Then G-d
told Moses to lift his rod, and when he did, a strong wind drove back the sea so
that the Israelites could cross. But the Egyptians pursued them into the sea. And
so Moses lifted his hand over the sea and the waters rushed in, drowning the
chariots and the horsemen. Then the prophet Miriam, Moses’ sister, led the
women in joyous dance and song, thanking G-d for saving their lives.
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When the Egyptian armies were drowning in the Red Sea, the Heavenly Hosts
broke into songs of jubilation. But G-d silenced them and said, “My creatures are
perishing and you sing praises?”
(The matzah are covered and the cups of wine are lifted)
Everyone: This is a promise which has sustained our ancestors and ourselves. It
has always been that, in every age and generation, forces have risen to
annihilate, to oppress, to enslave us; but a Divine Power has sustained and
delivered us.
(The cups are lowered and matzah uncovered)
THE STORY, THE HOLOCAUST, AND TODAY
Leader: For more than one enemy has risen against us.
Reader: There have been many who have tried to destroy our people, among
them Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and Titus and Vespasian, Emperors of
Rome. Yet for all of us who take part in this service, the words, “More than one
enemy has risen…” are likely to recall with a special and monstrous emphasis
what has come to be known to the world as the Holocaust – an explicit program
of annihilation of all European Jews, in which six million men, women, and
children were sent to their deaths. To remember them on this evening, as ones
who once shared in this service, is right.
(Anthony Hecht)
Reader: Tonight we remember with reverence and love the six million Jews of
the Holocaust, along with the many thousands of Gentile gypsies, gays, religious
minorities, and political prisoners who perished at the hands of a tyrant more
wicked than Pharaoh. It is particularly appropriate to remember them now, as it
was on the first night of Passover when the remnants of the Warsaw Ghetto rose
up against their oppressors.
Reader:
In the presence of eyes
Which witnessed the slaughter,
Which saw the oppression
The heart could not bear,
And as witness the heart
That once taught compassion
Until days came to pass
That crushed human feeling,
I have taken an oath: To remember it all,
To remember, not once to forget!
Forget not one thing to the last generation
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When degradation shall cease,
To the last, to its ending,
When the rod of instruction
Shall have come to conclusion.
An oath: Not in vain passed over
The night of terror.
An oath: No morning shall see me at flesh-pots again.
An oath: Lest from this we learned nothing.
(Abraham Shlonsky, A Vow, translated by Herbert Bronstein.
The original is in the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.)
Reader: Still, Anthony Hecht also wrote: “Yet we must guard against letting our
bitterness at their extermination deflect our hearts from, or diminish our gratitude
for, the gift of deliverance that we celebrate tonight.” So we read this excerpt
from The Diary of Anne Frank :
That’s the difficulty in these times: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise
within us, only to meet the horrible truth and be shattered. It’s really a wonder
that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and
impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still
believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a
foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually
being turned into a wilderness. I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will
destroy us, too. I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the
heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that
peace and tranquility will return again. In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals,
for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.
Reader: Tradition calls on us to expand on the story of our people in Egypt and
to see its meaning in our own lives. Consider this: our people have great power
over the lives of Palestinians, as the Egyptians had power over our lives. We
have the choice to act and think like the Egyptians, or to refuse to act like them.
Usually we tell the story from the perspective of the stranger and the oppressed.
Tonight we must also think of the story from the perspective of those who have
power.
A Midrash teaches that Pharaoh did evil to us by thinking of us as evil. For those
of us committed to peace, we must overcome the fear that allows Jews to see
Palestinians as Pharaoh once saw us.
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DAYENU
Leader: Dayenu means “it would have been sufficient.” When we say dayenu we
are reminded to be grateful and proud of each success as it was achieved.
Leader: If we had been freed from slavery, but not passed through the sea in
safety
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had passed through the sea in safety, but not been given manna to
survive in the desert
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had been fed with manna, but not been given the Sabbath
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had learned to rest on the Sabbath, but never been given the
Torah
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had been given the Torah but never entered the land of Israel
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had settled in the land of Israel, but never built the Temple
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had built the Temple, but had not been sent Prophets of Truth
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: If we had been sent the Prophets, but not been made a holy people
Group: Dayenu!
Leader: Now let us bring Dayenu into the present.
Group: Only if we were to end all oppression, war and hunger;
Only if we had a world of justice and equality for all;
Only then can we truly say…Dayenu!
A FEMINIST DAYENU
Leader: In honor of the many contributions made by Jewish women that are far
too often not recognized we add this feminist dayenu:
If Eve had been created in the image of God and not as a helper to Adam
Dayenu!
If Eve had been created as Adam’s equal and not been considered a temptress
Dayenu!
If she were the first woman to eat from the tree of knowledge and had been
recognized as bringing knowledge to us
Dayenu!
If Lot’s wife had been honored for compassion in looking back at the fate of her
family in Sodom, and had not been punished for it
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Dayenu!
If our mothers had been honored for their daughters as well as for their sons
Dayenu!
If our fathers had not pitted our mothers against each other like Abraham and
Sarah and Hagar, or Jacob with Leah and Rachel
Dayenu!
If the Just Women in Egypt who caused our redemption had been given sufficient
recognition
Dayenu!
If Miriam were given her seat with Moses and Aaron in our legacy
Dayenu!
If women had been among the writers of the Tanach and had interpreted our
creation and role in history
Dayenu!
If every generation of women together with every generation of men would
continue to go out of Mitzrayim
Dayenu, Dayenu!
Let’s sing Dayenu:
KOS G’ULAH, THE SECOND CUP
We now drink the second cup of wine to rejoice in our liberation, blessing the
source of our lives, the source of all life that creates the fruits of the vine:
Nevareych et m’kor chayyenu ruach ha-olam, boray p’ri ha gafen.
We give thanks for the creation of the fruit of the vine.
(Drink the second cup)
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THE SYMBOLS ON THE SEDER PLATE
Leader: According to the Mishnah, Rabbi Gamliel taught that the person who has
not considered the meaning of the pesach, matzah and maror has not fulfilled the
purpose of the Seder. We will now explain these and the other items on our
Seder plate.
Points to the z’roah or shankbone and says: Our Seder plate includes a symbol
of the ancient Passover sacrifice brought each year while the Temple in
Jerusalem stood. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban, which is derived from
the word “near.” Offering a sacrifice was something one did to draw closer to Gd, to enter into a sacred space and intimacy with the Divine. Our people ate the
paschal lamb as a reminder that G-d passed over, which is what pesach means.
Points to the orange and says: The story goes that during one of Susannah
Heschel’s synagogue lectures, an elderly rabbi stood up and said, “A woman
belongs on the bema like an orange belongs on the Seder plate.” But this myth is
not how the custom of an orange on the Seder plate originates.
In the early 1980’s students at Oberlin College in Ohio developed a feminist
haggadah which included a crust of bread on the Seder plate to represent Jews
who were marginalized within the community, particularly queer Jews. When
Heschel was introduced to this custom, she like the idea of expressing
oppression and exclusion within Judaism at the Seder, but she did not agree that
the symbol should be bread. To do so seemed to accept that queer Jews violate
Judaism like chametz violates Passover. So at her next Seder, Heschel chose an
orange to symbolize the inclusion of all Jews who are marginalized within the
Jewish community. She offered the orange as a symbol of the fruitfulness for all
Jews when these people are contributing and active members of Jewish life.
Today we place an orange on our Seder plate to symbolize the inclusion of all
Jews who are marginalized within the community, particularly women, lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Jews, working-class Jews, and Jews of
Color.
Points to the olive and says: Because for slavery to truly be over, to truly be free,
we must know that we can feed ourselves and our children—today, tomorrow,
and for future generations. In Palestine, olive groves provide this security. When
olive groves are destroyed, the past and the future are destroyed. Since 1948,
millions of Palestinian olive and fruit trees have been uprooted in an effort to
destroy villages and all evidence of their existence. This olive symbolizes our
solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and the Diaspora.
Distributes pieces from the top two matzah to everyone: This matzah reminds us
of our unexpected flight from Egypt. Making matzah was a hasty, creative and
practical response to our people’s new situation. The Torah reminds us that our
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people had not prepared any food for the Exodus. Matzah reminds us that when
the opportunity for liberation comes, we must seize it even if we do not feel fully
prepared—if we wait until we feel prepared, we might never act at all.
Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohaynu Melech ha-olam hamotzi le-chem min ha-aretz.
Group: We give thanks for the bread brought forth from the Earth as it was given
to our ancestors in the flight from slavery. To those who have been driven from
their homes we link ourselves to you as we fulfill the mitzvah: for seven days
shall you eat matzah, that you may remember your departure from Egypt as long
as you live.
Leader points to the charoset and says: This is charoset. It is mixture of apples
and nuts, wine and spices. It symbolizes the mortar that our ancestors used to
build the pyramids. The sweetness of the charoset also reminds us that even in
the bitterest times of slavery, our people remembered the sweet taste of
freedom.
Points to the maror and says: the bitter herbs symbolize that bitterness of
slavery. One of the most radical messages of the Torah is that cruelty is not
destiny. Though we tend to treat others the way we were treated, the message of
Passover is that the chain of pain can be broken, that we do not have to pass on
to others what was done to us.
Baruch Atah Adonai, Elohaynu Melech ha-olam asher kideshanu b’mitzvo-tav,
vitzivanu l’hadlik maror.
Group: Today, wherever oppression exists, Jews should taste its bitterness.
Leader: In every generation, each person should feel as though they themselves
had gone forth from Egypt, for as it is written, “And you shall explain to your child
on that day, it is because of what G-d did for me when I, myself, went forth from
Egypt.” One of the most frequently repeated commands in the Torah is “When
you come into your land, do not oppress ‘the Other’ and remember that you were
the Other in the land of Egypt.” In fact, the Torah goes further and makes it an
absolute categorical command: You shall love the Other.
Arguably Jewish people today are systematically violating this command. Israel
has occupied and dominated the lives of over two million people for the last 60
years. We oppose the violence used by the Palestinians in their struggle for
liberation, but it is hypocritical to not notice that Moses himself killed an Egyptian
taskmaster who was beating a Jew and that our own people resorted to violence
to fight the British colonialists and create the State of Israel. We have repeatedly
justified the use of force when our people are faced with oppression.
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KORECH -- THE HILLEL SANDWICH
Reader: And now we preserve a bond with our ancestors, following a practice of
Rabbi Hillel from a time when the Temple stood. It was this sage who said that
the essence of Judaism is to not to do to others what is hateful to you and the
rest is commentary.
Rabbi Hillel combined the matzah with the bitter herbs and ate them together,
just as his parents had done before him. Together they are the matzah of
freedom and the bitterness of slavery, symbolizing the merger of slavery and
freedom in one historical event. The bread of poverty became the bread of
freedom and should be tasted together with the bitter maror. For in the time of
freedom, there is knowledge of servitude and in the time of bondage, the hope of
freedom is always alive.
(Eat a sandwich of the charoset, maror and matzah.)
Reader: The Haggadah says, Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
Traditionally, this is understood to mean not only literally feeding the hungry, but
offering spiritual sustenance to those in need. Both must go hand-in-hand. We
live in a society of unprecedented wealth—yet we turn our backs on the hungry
so that even supposedly liberal or progressive political leaders are unwilling o
champion any program to seriously end world hunger and homelessness. And
there is a deep spiritual hunger that must also be fed. Our tradition teaches that
money, power, and fame cannot sustain us. Our spiritual tradition teaches us to
be present to each moment, to rejoice in all that we are and all that we have
been given, to experience the world with awe and wonder and radical
amazement, and to recognize that we already have enough and we are enough.
(Michael Lerner, Tikkun Passover Supplement 2004)
SHULCHAN ORECH -- THE MEAL
We have now finished the first part of the Haggaah and are ready for the
Passover meal. It is customary to begin the meal with hard boiled eggs flavored
with salt water. The egg on the Seder plate has come to represent the ancient
Temple service in Jerusalem and we eat the egg to remind us of the destruction
of the Temple—the first day of Passover always falls on the same day of the
week as the day commemorating the destruction of the first Temple by the
Babylonians in 586 BCE and the destruction of the second Temple by the
Romans in 70 CE.
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AFTER THE MEAL
Leader: Welcome back. The Afikomen has been hidden and it the children’s job
to find it. Until it is found, this ceremony will not be complete.
(Children search for the Afikomen)
KOS B’RAHA, THE THIRD CUP OF WINE
Now we come to the Third Cup, the Cup of Blessing, recalling the third divine
promise:
Nevareych et m’kor chayyenu ruach ha-olam boray p’ri ha-gafen
Group: We bless the source of our lives, the source of all life, creating the fruit of
the vine.
(Drink the third cup of wine)
ELIJAH’S CUP
Leader: Elijah, the prophet from the Village of Tishbi in Gilead challenged the
injustice of the king and overthrew the worship of Baal. He healed the sick and
helped the poor. At the end of his life, his disciple Elisha had a vision of Elijah
being carried to the skies in a chariot of fire. Years later, the prophet Malachi
promised that Elijah would return to Earth in the guise of a poor or oppressed
person, coming to people’s doors to see how he would be treated. By the
treatment he received, Elijah would know whether the people had reached a level
of humanity making them capable of participating in the Messianic age. Hence
Elijah has a place in every Seder. We open our door that he may enter and set a
cup of wine to represent the final Messianic promise for us and for all peoples.
(Send a person to open the door)
The injustice of this world still brings to mind Elijah, who in defense of justice
challenged power. May Elijah’s spirit inspire us to work for peace, justice and
freedom for all people.
KOSHATZA-AH, THE FOURTH CUP OF WINE
As our Seder draws to an end, we take up our cups of wine. The fourth and final
cup recalls our covenant with the Eternal One, and reminds us of tasks that still
await us as a people called to the service of the preservation and affirmation of
hope. Let us continue to work toward the day when slavery will give way to
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freedom, when hate will give way to love, when ignorance will give way to
wisdom, and when despair will give way to hope.
N’varech et m’kor chayyenu, ruach ha-olam, boray pri hagafen.
Group: We bless the source of our lives, of all life that creates the fruit of the
vine.
(Drink the fourth cup of wine)
NIRTZAH: THE CLOSE OF THE SEDER
Leader: Traditionally, at the end of Seder, we say “l’shanah haba-ah
b’yerushalayim:” “next year in Jerusalem.” But this statement is extremely
problematic as this metaphor of freedom has been exploited by Jews in order to
take Palestinian land. Therefore, tonight we conclude with a prayer for peace and
justice in Israel-Palestine and the world by saying, “l’shanah haba-ah b’cheroot:
next year in freedom.”
All Sing: Vine and Fig Tree
And everyone ‘neath their vine and fig tree
Shall live in peace and unafraid (repeat)
And into plowshares beat their swords
Nations shall learn war no more. (repeat)
(repeat as long as you like…)
END OF SEDER
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