** By meeting each other: In each table-group, people say their names and in one sentence, no more, explain why they have chosen to come to this Seder.

** By joining our voices:

[All sing:]

Circle 'round for freedom,
Circle 'round for peace;
For all of us imprisoned,
Circle for release.
Circle for the planet,
Circle for each soul;
For the children of our children,
Keep the circle whole.
--- Linda Hirschhorn

** By creating light
[All say together:]
We are the generation/That stands between the fires./Behind us is the flame and smoke/That rose from Auschwitz and from Hiroshima,/From the burning of our Towers/In jet fuel lit by rage,/ From the torching of our forests for the sake of fast hamburger; / Before us is the nightmare of a Flood of Fire: /The scorching of our planet/From a flood of greenhouse gases,/Or the blazing of our cities/In thermonuclear fire/Or the glare of gunfire/Exploding in our children. / It is our task to make from fire/Not an all-consuming blaze/But the light in which we see each other;/Each of us different,/All of us made in the image of God.

We light this fire to see more clearly/That the earth, the human race,/are not for burning./We light this fire to see more clearly/The rainbow in our many-colored faces.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who gives us light that we may become a light for peace and freedom and healing for all peoples and our planet.

Blessed are you, Yah, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who has breathed life into us, lifted us up, and carried us to reach this moment.
[Light candles at each table.]


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