ברך: Barech | Passover haggadah by Dalya Romaner

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We say grace!

Leader: When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion,

We were like those who dream!

Cong: Our mouth was filled with laughter,

And our tongue with song.

Leader: Then they said among the nations,

The lord has done great things for them;

Cong: The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced!

Leader: Restore us, O God, as you restore the streams in the desert.

Cong: May those who sow in tears,

Reap with joy!

Leader: May he who goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, come home with joyous song, bearing ripe sheaves!

Cong: Blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth and forever more.

Leader: Blessed be our God, of whose bounty we have been satisfied, and whose goodness we live.

All: Blessed art thou, Oh Lord our God, who gives nourishment to all the world in goodness and in loving kindness. Because of His great goodness we have never lacked food, and may we never lack it in all time to come. Blessed art Thou, Oh Lord, who givest food to all! Blessed be he; blessed be his name.

(lift the third cup of wine– the cup of remembering)

All: When we drink to the joy and freedom of life, we must remember there are those who do not have our blessings. If we remember this, we will always be working toward the day of peace and freedom for our people in all lands.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu melech ha-olam boray pree hagafen.

Blessed Art Though, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine.

(Drink the third cup of wine while leaning to the left side)

Leader: Let us now fill the cup of Elijah!

Cong: Who is Elijah?
Leader: Elijah was a great prophet in Israel. Legends tells that he did not die as all men die, but was lifted to heaven in a fiery chariot. Often he returns to Earth.

Cong: Why does he return?

Leader: He comes in answer to Israel’s prayer, to help those in need, to taste of the cup of wine on every Seder table.

(The door is opened for Elijah)

Leader: We rise and open the door for Elijah’s coming. Welcome him with the ancient greeting of Israel and with song.

(Sing eliyahu hanavi)

All:

,אֵלִיָהוּ הַנָבִיא

,אֵלִיָהוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּי

,אֵלִיָהוּ הַגִלְעָדִי

,בִּמְהֵרָהבְיָמֵנוּ

,יָבוֹא אֵלֵינוּ

עִם מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָוִד

Eliyahu Hanavi, Eliyahu Hatishbi, Elyahu Hagiladi, Bimherah Beyamenu, Yavo Elenu Im Mashiach Ben David.

Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Giladite, May he soon come to us, with Mashiach the son of David.

(everyone sits)

Leader: As we again sit at our Seder table, let’s remember the fifth child. This is a child of the Shoah (Holocaust), who did not survive to ask.

All: Therefore, we ask for that child –why?

Round robin reading:

We are like the simple child. We have no answer. We can only follow the footsteps of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, who could not bring himself to mention the Exodus at night until Ben Zoma explained it to him through the verse: “In order that you remember the day of your going out from Egypt, all the days of your life,” (Deut. 16:3). “The days of your life” indicates the daylight and the goodness of life. “All the days of your life” means even in the darkest nights when we have lost our first born, we must remember the Exodus.

We answer that child’s question with silence. In silence we remenber that dark time. In silence we remember that Jews preserved their image of God in the struggle for life. In silence we remember the Seder nights spent in the forests, ghettos, and camps; we remember that Seder night when the Warsaw Ghetto rose in revolt.

(We fill the wine cups for the fourth time)

All: We dedicate this final cup of wine to our hopes and dreams for the future. We dream of a world not threatened by destruction. We hope for a time when Jerusalem will be a beacon of brotherhood and sisterhood. We dream of a world in which Jews and all other people are free to be themselves. We dream of a world at peace.

haggadah Section: Bareich