Leader: We have gathered here this evening to remember, to retell, and to create a sacred space together. This moment is made sacred not because it is extraordinary in any way, but because it is a moment that has been lived and shared an retold by generations of people, in all nations   and across countless years. The very fact that our words this night are NOT extraordinary is what makes them holy. We are here because our Ancestors where there: there at the pyramids in Egypt, there at the riverbanks of Babylon, there at the auto-da-fe’ of Spain, there at the crematoria of Dachau. We are here to remember. We are here to be free. Why are you here?

 ALL:I am here because I was a slave in Egypt. I am here because I was a refugee in a strange land. I am here because I was burned in the plaza. I am here because I labored in the camps. I am here because I was with my ancestors on the day of liberation. I am here because there are many today who still dream of freedom. I am here to remember. I am here to be free.

Leader: It is written in the Torah that we shall teach our children “It is because of what HaShem, the Sovereign of the Universe did for me when I was freed from bondage. For had my ancestors not been brought forth from bondage, my children would be slaves even today” Let us never forget the darkness of our enslavement.

 The lights are extinguished and all stand in darkness for a moment

 Leader: Even in blackest dungeon, there is the light of hope, of truth, of free dom that lies just beyond the prison walls. May each of us assembled here seek to bring forth the light of justice wherever the darkness rules. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitz votav, vitzivanu l’hadlik ner shel (Shabbat v’shel) yom tov.

 Leader lights the candle of the person on their right, who passes the flame on around the table.

 ALL: We pass the flame to honor the sacred fire which energizes the web of life, of which we are each a part. We pass the flame to connect one soul to the next, bringing light to banish the darkness from our lives. We pass the flame to remember the forgotten and to send forth a beacon guiding them home. We pass the flame to mark a path for the lost, to light the way for those who walk with us and to blaze a trail for those who will follow. We pass the flame to leave the a brighter world for tomorrow. We pass the flame to remind ourselves and each other that the work begins with us.

Leader: May the festival lights we now kindle inspire us to use our power to heal and not to harm, to help and not to hinder, to bless and not to curse, to struggle and not to bend, to serve the holy cause of freedom for all people, everywhere.

 


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Unitarian Universalist Haggadah