Our Passover meal is called a seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, because of how we retell, step by step, the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

Our Seder celebrates the first liberation struggle of our people, overcoming slavery and proclaiming to the world that the "way things are" is not the only way things can be. In the face of oppression, we proclaimed to the Pharaoh’s empire that there is a force that makes possible the transformation from "what is" to "what ought to be."

At our Seder tonight we celebrate the steps we've taken toward liberation. We look at where we are as a people and individuals in our struggle to build a world of freedom and peace for all.

We remain concerned about structural inequalities that impact everyday lives and aspirations of all people. We want to move forward rather than continue the longstanding economic arrangements that have perpetuated inequalities.

We also recognize that the false equation of "progress" with the perpetual accumulation of material goods damages the planet. Developing solutions and a new vision for the future is the task for spiritual progressives from every religious background.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Adapted from Michael Lerner's "A Passover Seder Haggadah Supplement"