Grandma's Phyll's Explanation of Passover

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This day shall be for you a memorial day," Scripture enjoins. "And you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance forever."

"Why is this night different from all other nights?" the youngest child asks in each Jewish family after it sits down for the commemorative evening meal, the Seder, and the head of the household answers from the Haggadah which tells the story:
"We were Pharoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord our God rescued us. With a mighty hand and outstretched arm, the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage."

That amazing deliverance, of the powerless from the powerful, shaped the conscience of Judaism, confirmed the sacred covenant with its forefathers, drew its people into nationhood, and answered a profound question.

It disclosed to a whole community, for the first time in the recorded history of man, an indication of what God is like. It attested that He is the One Who saves, Who frees from oppression, Who cares for the lowly, Whose love redeems the lost.

At its fundamental core, however, the event stands as the key, initial action by which God made Himself known to an entire people. In that primitive era of surrounding superstition and idol worship, the Israelites themselves groped in religious shadows. "Who is God? What is His name? Moses asked in bewilderment when seized by a burning demand that he lead the mass flight of the slave laborers from Egypt. Through the bushfire of his conscience, he got only a baffling response, "I am who I Am."

Both Judaism and its offspring, Christianity, draw their faith from happenings -- from events -- in the conviction that the only realistic understanding of God comes solely as He Himself chooses to provide it in human history.

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Pesach is a time of inclusion.

On seder night, there are two moments where we metaphorically open our doors and invite others in. One is at the opening of the Magid portion of the seder, when we say, “All who are hungry come and eat.” There is a beautiful message here: we were once slaves; poor and hungry, and we remember our redemption by sharing what we have with others.

The other, comes towards the end of the seder, when we have the custom of pouring a fifth cup of wine, which we claim is for Elijah the Prophet. This is a statement of faith, a statement that says that although we are a free people, our redemption is not yet complete, and we believe that it will come.

From the most downtrodden to the most celebrated, the message is clear: everyone is welcome and everyone is necessary. Why is it that we go out of our way to include all at our seder table? Perhaps it is because when we make room for others, we have the opportunity to make room for ourselves as well. In fact, the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:5) teaches us that:

בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים
In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they left Egypt

The seder presents us with the obligation of identifying with the generation that left Egypt and internalizing that experience. And through that internalization, we come to feel the redemption as if it was our own as well to - לראות את עצמו. Further, the reliving of the story of the Exodus affords us the opportunity see one’s true self. It is only when we are able to see ourselves clearly, that we are able to be redeemed. But perhaps the only way we are able to see ourselves, is when we are truly able to see those around us.

(Everyone Reads Together)

Long ago at this season, our people set out on a journey.

On such a night as this, Israel went from degradation to joy.

We give thanks for the liberation of days gone by.

And we pray for all who are still bound.

God, may all who hunger come to rejoice in a new Passover.

Let all the human family sit together, drink the wine of deliverance, and eat the bread of freedom:

Freedom from bondage and freedom from oppression

Freedom from hunger and freedom from want

Freedom from hatred and freedom from fear

Freedom to think and freedom to speak

Freedom to teach and freedom to learn