** Third cup: Creativity: envisioning the new world. Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri hagafen. Blessed are You, Whose interwoven Breath of Life breathes forth the fruit of the vine.

[We drink from the second cup, the cup of resistance.]

[Pour Miriam's Cup, a cup of water because waters birth new possibility. Someone reads:] As a child, Miriam reached out to Pharaoh's daughter to save the life of her baby brother Moses; together they crossed boundaries of class and race and nation to give a new birth to freedom. As a grown woman, she led the women in rejoicing as the Red Sea waters broke and the birthing went forward. She had the courage to rebuke Moses; and she called forth the well of water that nourished the runaway slaves in the wilderness.

Miriam: The Red Sea

High above shores and times, I on the shore forever and ever. Moses my brother has crossed over to milk, honey, that holy land. Building Jerusalem. I sing forever on the seashore. I do remember horseman and horses, waves of passage poured into war, all poured into journey. My unseen brothers have gone over, chariots deep seas under. I alone stand here ankle-deep and I sing, I sing, until the lands sing to each other. —Muriel Rukeyser


haggadah Section: Hallel
Source: SEDER FOR THE EARTH: Facing the Plagues & Pharaohs of Our Generation, Shalom Center