Together with our fellow Jews everywhere, we celebrate tonight the eternal story of the Jewish people, forever linked with man's divine passion for justice and human liberty.

In this, our great yearly feast of liberation, we give thanks for the preservation of our spirit through every brutality, through both defeat and victory. We give thanks for the event that became the great symbol of liberation, the Exodus from Egypt. We give thanks for the inspiration that taught us to live by law. We give thanks for the first laws proclaiming the dignity of humankind: the Ten Commandments. We give thanks for our tradition of learning, continuous inquiry, and the passing down of heritage from generation to generation.

In this, our great yearly feast of liberation, we remember those we have lost: those who lived a full life and those whose lives were cut short by illness, accident or the cruelties of history. 

In this our great yearly feast of liberation, we are mindful that as we sit here today, countless other peoples are striving for freedom from oppression and that we may not turn a blind eye to their struggle.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Israel Haggadah (edited)