Welcome to the seder. You’re here. You made it.

Passover is a holiday about looking backwards. We tell the story of Exodus, of our people’s deliverance from slavery thousands of years ago. We speak prayers from ancient lips, prepare foods eaten by our grandparents and our grandparents’ grandparents and our grandparents’ grandparents’ grandparents. We preserve, and we remember.

Passover is also a holiday about looking forwards. We open the door for Elijah, for a salvation we can never be sure is coming but we continue to hope for anyway. “Next year in Jerusalem!” We envision future Passovers in a world where we are all safe, all together. We wait, and we dream.

We are a people obsessively looking backwards, constantly looking forwards. We, the Jewish people. We, the modern people. We pour over our pasts, fret over our futures. We tell our stories. We look ahead to a better world.

But Passover is also a holiday about being present. “ Seder ” means “order.” We bring our loved ones together to share a ritual, a series of steps, of order. We read passages in turn. We prepare certain foods, cast others out of the house. We pay special attention -- drink now, eat this, dip your vegetables (twice), drink again, sing, read, recline, discuss.

We look backwards, and forwards, so that we might be here. Now. To give thanks and to share. To be. We made it. We’re here.

(We light the candles and recite the prayer)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה אַדֹנָ-י אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר שֶׁל יום טוב

Baruch a-ta A-do-nay Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam a-sher ki-di-sha-nu bi-mitz-vo-tav vi-tzi-va-noo li-had-leek ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the light of the holiday.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Serena Berman