Let's get this seder started

Every Passover, Jews around the world join with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers to celebrate the holiday of Passover. But why? What is behind this tradition?

Seder means “order.” The fifteen ordered steps and rituals of the Passover seder help us to tell the story of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. Every one of us has come out of Egypt. Therefore, every one of us has the responsibility to retell this story out loud to each other, so that we can all remember together.

For today’s seder we choose to recognize that while the Jewish people may be free, not everyone has cause for celebration. Many people, even in a free society such as ours, are bound by the hardships and challenges of their circumstances. We come together today with them in mind, determined to realize our vision of a day when we will all be truly free.

Let us honor this moment by joining together in song: 

Hineh mah tov u’ma-na’im shevet achim gam yachad.
How good it is for brothers and sisters to be together.


haggadah Section: Introduction