Welcome to Sinai. As you have just crossed the Red Sea, you have had to make many hard choices: freedom or slavery? Pettiness or tolerance? Materialism or life. In many ways, we are in shock of our recent actions. We find ourselves reflecting on what we’ve done. Did we really just leave Egypt? Did a band of slaves—no—ex-slaves really push the leader of one of the greatest empires of our time to let his workforce just leave? Many of us are in shock. Some of us are crying. All of us realize that it is important to never forget our actions and the actions of our ancestors. We know what we have done will rock the world for generations to come.

Which brings our journey to today 5776. Although the Seder as we know it today wasn’t developed for hundreds of years after we became free, it has become the standard for how we remember our escape from the hand of tyranny. Thank you very much for joining us this evening as we remember the way things once were and look forward to the future.


haggadah Section: Introduction