Tonight, rather than songs of praise and praise of revenge, we dedicate this third glass of wine to those who fought against the Nazi Terror. Their bravery made it possible for us to live here today.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen.

May Our Anger Be Holy

Oppression breeds anger to which we must attend.

Once, we asked God to pour forth wrath because we were unable to express our own. But in today's world, where we enjoy agency to an unprecedented degree, we must resist the temptations of perennial victimhood and yearning for revenge.

And yet we know that rage, unexpressed, will fester. Let us therefore acknowledge our communal pain. Let us recognize the intersecting systems of oppression which ensnare our world, from anti-Semitism to xenophobia, and feel appropriate anger in response. And let us recommit ourselves to honing our anger so that it might fuel us to create change, so that our wrath may lead us to redemption. In the words of the poet Audre Lorde:

Focused with precision, [anger] can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change. And when I speak of change, I do not mean a simple switch of positions or a temporary lessening of tensions, nor the ability to smile or feel good. I am speaking of a basic and radical alteration in those assumptions underlining our lives.

[all sing]

Zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho– S’vet a poyk ton undzer trot–mir zaynen do!

Fun grinem palmenland biz vaysn land fun shney, Mir kumen on mit undzer payn, mit undzer vey. Un vu gefaln s’iz a shprits fun unzer blut, Shprotsn vet dortn undzer gvure, undzer mut.

Es vet di morgnzun bagildn undz dem haynt, Un der nekhtn vet farshvindn mitn faynd. Nor oyb farzamen vet di zun in dem kayor– Vi a parol zol geyn dos lid fun dor tsu dor.

Dos lid geshribn iz mit blut un nit mit blay. S’iz nit keyn lidl fun a foygl af der fray. Dos hot a folk tsvishn falndike vent Dos lid gezungen mit naganes in di hent!

To zog nit keyn mol az du geyst dem letstn veg khotsh himlen blayene farshteln bloye teg. Kumen vet nokh undzer oysgebenkte sho– S’vet a poyk ton undzer trot–mir zaynen do!


haggadah Section: Bareich
Source: Velveteen Rabbi Haggadah (in parts)