Why is this night different from all other nights?

On this night, we gather together to prepare for Passover, outside of our kitchens, in a way our foremothers could have never imagined.

On this night we join as a community to rid ourselves of a different kind of chameitz .

What do we cleanse ourselves of tonight?

The echo of exclusionary language.

The weight of history.

The fear of women's voices.

The silencing of women's stories.

The violence done to women's bodies.

The pressure to conform to one image of who women are supposed to be.

The lingering belief that this tradition doesn't belong to women.

Let us all gather all this together like crumbs. Like chameitz we are ready to burn. Let us enter into this seder as if there were no more chameitz anywhere.

As if God had forever delighted in the image of Herself in each and every one of us.

As if freedom had been ours always, fully - like an open sea.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: The Journey Continues: The Ma'yan Passover Haggadah