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Passover Story
Contributed by ZadeKia Krondorfer

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023

Leader: 
“In each and every generation we are obligated to see ourselves as if we personally left Egypt.” This statement, from the Haggadah, the book used to tell the story of Passover, sums up the importance of the seder, the ritual meal held in the home (and/or the synagogue) on the first two evenings of Passover.

Group Member 1:

The Passover story is from the Biblical book of Exodus, which discusses the ancient Hebrews’ enslavement in Egypt and how they were freed. The Passover story begins when the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, starts worrying that the Jews living in Egypt will outnumber his own people. His response: forcing them into slavery, and decreeing that every son born to the Hebrews should be drowned in the Nile. 

When Moses grows up, he’s told by God to command Pharaoh to let the Jews go. Pharaoh says no, and God sets out to convince him by way of the Ten Plagues. As the story goes, during the tenth and final plague, God passes through the land of Egypt and strikes down the firstborn of every household. But the Jews have been told to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb they’ve sacrificed — the Passover offering — and so God “passes over” their homes. Jews give thanks for being “passed over” and protected from the plagues: it’s a reminder that even when Jews are oppressed, the Bible teaches that they are a chosen people and will survive

Pharaoh’s son is killed during the plague, and as a result, Pharaoh lets the Jews go free — before changing his mind, as Pharaohs do. The ensuing chase ends up with Moses being trapped in front of the Red Sea, before it’s parted by God for the Jews to cross — the act of divine intervention that finally leads them to freedom, and (after forty years in the desert) to the land of Israel.

Group Member 2: 

Each year, Jews across the world join with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers to celebrate the holiday of Passover. Seder means “order.” The ordered rituals and symbols of the Passover seder help us to tell the story of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt.

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 from the oppression of hunger.

Altogether:

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

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