We can pause here after our song and celebration to observe a new tradition with many old meanings. Think back to the story we are telling tonight and remember: There would have been no Exodus, no Passover, no Seder, no freedom without the many brave women who played crucial roles in the Passover drama.

There would have been no Exodus without Yocheved, who hid her baby Moses, then wove him a little basket so he could float safely down the Nile; without Pharaoh's daughter, Thermutis, who defied her father, the king of all Egypt, when she rescued an Israelite child and drew Moses from the water.

And, last but not least, the Exodus never could have happened without the sister of Moses, Miriam the prophet--who watched over Moses, who brought her mother to Pharaoh's daughter, who led the singing and celebration after our safe crossing through the Red Sea. Legend also tells us that Miriam found the wells that kept us alive during the forty years we wandered in the wilderness.

Leader:
Let us read the following words together.

Everyone:

Our tradition teaches that all of us must work together to end slavery, find freedom, and create a better world. In this spirit, let us each pour some water from our own glasses to fill Miriam's cup.

(Pass Miriam's cup around and fill it with water from everyone's cup.)

Everyone:

Let us now dedicate this cup of water to the memory of Miriam, to the women of our Exodus and to the women in our own lives who help heal us and repair the world.


haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
Source: The Family Haggadah