LAMB (“Pesach” - Host raises roasted lamb bone for all to see.)

PESACH is the Passover lamb and is represented by the shankbone. On the night of the Exodus our fleeing ancestors held the first Seder feast in honor of their freedom. In each home a roasted lamb was eaten as the meal of redemption. The lamb was a reminder of the shepherd days when they were free and happy.

In succeeding years they relived the Passover supper in all the lands in which they found their homes. To emphasize the luxury of liberty they reclined while eating and relaxed in the luxurious manner of free people.

ROASTED EGG (Host raises the roasted egg for all to see.)

The roasted egg was a traditional appetizer of the ancient world, but to us, as to peoples of many other faiths, it is a symbol of rebirth and spring.

WINE (Host holds up cup of wine.)

Wine has traditionally been part of the Seder and was served even to those in attendance who were most poor. As in all Jewish ceremonies of rejoicing -- the Sabbath, marriage, holidays, Bar and Bas Mitzvahs, and honoring the newborn - at the Seder, too, wine is used as a symbol of festivity.

Even as we remember tonight what it was like when we were slaves in the land of Egypt; even as we think of our Jewish brothers and sisters who are still enslaved in various lands and places, so do we tonight remember people (whether they are Jews or not) who still suffer from slavery, hunger, and/or repression.

We raise our third cup of wine and offer tribute to the universal spirit within all that gives us life and strives for freedom.

SUPPER
(The Passover supper should begin with a hard-boiled egg and end

with a sigh of contentment.)


haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu