Introduction

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Baseball, Like Pesach, Is Built on Hope....

Welcome to our Seder!

The Seder plate is the center of the Passover ritual. On it rests the Egg, the Parsley and salt water, the Charosas, the Shankbone, the Maror, and the Matzah.

In baseball we have home plate

The Seder is like a puzzle. Each step fits together with the next, creating a ritual passed down through the generations by our people. From biblical times until now - the Seder has been one of the things that has kept our people together.

1st INNING

Kiddish

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

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

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,

שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam,

she-hechiyanu v’key’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything,

who has kept us alive, raised us up, and brought us to this happy moment.

Drink the first glass of wine!

Urchatz - wash hands and dip parsley

Dip parsley in salt water

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

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

Breaking the middle matzah

break the middle matzah in half and place the larger piece of matzah, the Afikomen, in a napkin and hide it.

The matzot are uncovered and held up.

ANNOUNCER--

The beginning of the seder seems strange. We start with kiddush as we normally would when we begin any festive meal. Then we wash, but without a blessing, and break the matzah without eating it.

What’s going on here?

It seems that the beginning of the seder is kind of a false start. We act as if we are going to begin the meal but then we realize that we can’t – we can’t really eat this meal until we understand it, until we tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. So we interrupt our meal preparations.

Only once we have told the story do we make kiddush again, wash our hands again (this time with a blessing) In order to savor this meal, in order to appreciate the sweet taste of Passover, we must first understand it.

2nd IINNING--

A TIME OF REMEMBERING

On this Seder night, we recall with anguish and love our martyred brothers and sisters, the six million Jews of Europe who were destroyed at the hands of a tyrant more fiendish than Pharaoh. Their memory will never be forgotten.

Trapped in ghettos, caged in death camps, abandoned by an unseeing or uncaring world.

Evil ran rampant and devoured the holy innocents. But the light of the Six Million will never be extinguished. Their glow illuminates our path. We will teach our children and our children’s children to remember them with reverence and with pride.

3rd INNING

Both baseball and Passover, “involve stories of wandering, of confronting challenges as we venture out from safety, and of finally coming home. On Passover, we celebrate God’s ‘mighty hand and outstretched arm.’ Baseball also celebrates the ability of a good arm to take a team home.”

The object of baseball is to score runs by going home. Pesach celebrates our returning home from slavery in Egypt.

4th INNING

The Four Questions

ANNOUNCER

The reason the youngest asks the four questions, is so that he/she will remain an active participant in the Seder, for after all – the main idea of this Seder is - to tell the story of our heritage to future generations. Indeed, many of the activities done at the Seder, both traditional, and of new traditions, are designed to keep the little ones involved. The Afikomen (eating of the last Matzah), the opportunity given to each child to participate. Yes, the Seder is geared around the children, so that we may “Pass” “OVER” our story and heritage to them.

LITTLE LEAGUE PLAYERS ASK

1st Question:

Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin hametz umatzah; halailah hazeh, kuloh matzah.

On all other nights we eat leavened products and matzah, and on this night only matzah.

2nd Question:

Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin sh’ar y’rakot; halailah hazeh, maror.
On all other nights we eat all vegetables, and on this night only bitter herbs.

3rd Question:

Sheb’khol haleilot ein anu matbilin afilu pa’am ehat; halailah hazeh, shtei f’amim.
On all other nights, we don’t dip our food even once, and on this night we dip twice.

4th Question:

Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin bein yoshvin uvein m’subin; halailah hazeh, kulanu m’subin.
On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining, and on this night we only recline.

5th INNING

Baseball answers to the Questions

So we sit back, settle into the stately rhythms and sounds of the game, and watch hope and promise bloom before our eyes with every pitch. Now that’s something all Jews can celebrate.

Pesach is a holiday of hope. We place a cup of wine on our table for the prophet Elijah, in hope that this year will be the year that he comes to announce the coming of the Messiah, and will usher in a time of peace for Israel and the entire world.

Baseball has no time limit. Sometimes it seems like the Seders we attend have no time limit either. Baseball teaches us patience. The game isn't over until the very last out. Or as Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over, till it's over." The Seder teaches us patience, as we cannot leave until we say, "Next year in Jerusalem."

Baseball is a game of special foods -- hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jack. Passover is a time of special foods -- not only the required matzah, but also macaroons, matzah ball soup, brisket, matzah brei and other family favorites.

The object of baseball is to score runs by going home. Pesach celebrates our returning home from slavery in Egypt.

Yet, in the end, baseball is just a game. We cheer for our favorite teams. We celebrate their wins and cry with their losses. But it is just a game.
Pesach isn't a game. Pesach is life. Play ball.

6th INNING

THE 10 PLAGUES

These are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

Blood | dam |דָּם

Frogs | tzfardeiya |צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ

Lice | kinim |כִּנִּים

Beasts | arov |עָרוֹב

Cattle disease | dever |דֶּֽבֶר

Boils | sh’chin |שְׁחִין

Hail | barad |בָּרָד

Locusts | arbeh |אַרְבֶּה

Darkness | choshech |חֹֽשֶׁךְ

Death of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot |מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

The Egyptians needed ten plagues because after each one they were able to come up with excuses and explanations rather than change their behavior.

10 plagues in our world today

1) homelessness

2) entitlement

3) debt

4) nut allergies

5) discrimination

6) healthcare

7) violence

8) global warming

9) binge watching

10) baseball season is too short

MAROR (bitter herbs--the symbol of bitterness and slavery of the Israelites in Egypt.

By blending our maror and charoset. We know it is not always sweet and it is not always bitter, but that life is a mixture of both. By our dipping tonight we bring together the bitter and the sweet for something new to emerge.

ברוּךְ אַתָּה יְיַָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מרוֹר:

Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb | koreich | כּוֹרֵךְ

-- DAYENU

A Song of Gratitude - Dayenu

We have so many reasons to be grateful to God tonight: for freedom and dignity, friendship and family, prosperity and health. Any one of these would have been enough - Day'aynoo!

Kama ma'alot tovot la-Makom alaynoo, Day'aynoo!
How many are the gifts that God has granted us!

Eeloo ho'tzee-anu me'meetzrayeem, Day'aynoo!
Eeloo seepayk tzarchaynoo ba-midbar arbaeem shana, Day'aynoo!
Eeloo heh-eh-cheelanoo et ha-man, Day'aynoo!
Eeloo kayr-vanoo leefnay har seeni, Day'aynoo!
Eeloo natan lanoo et ha-Shabbat, Day'aynoo!
Eeloo natan lanoo et ha-Torah, Day'aynoo!

Had God taken us out of Egypt...Day'aynoo!
It would have been enough! Had God carried us across the Sea... Day'aynoo!
It would have been enough! Had God cared for us for forty years... Day'aynoo!
It would have been enough! Had God given us the Sabbath... Day'aynoo!
It would have been enough! Had God given us the Torah... Day'aynoo!

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם

B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim.

In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt.

---2nd CUP

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

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

7th INNING STRETCH

DINNER

8th INNING

Elijah's cup

9th INNING

SONG - Chad Gadya