Wine Time

[Pour the first glass of wine.]

Leader:

All Jewish celebrations, from holidays to weddings, include wine. Let us all fill our glasses with wine and share a blessing. But note that it is not the wine we bless. Instead, the wine is a symbol of our joy and the (Manischewitz) sweetness of this moment. Held together by bonds of family, friendship, and personhood, we share this table tonight with one another and with all the generations who have come before us. We are blessing the four cups of wine we will drink in celebration of our freedom!

Group:

[Raise and hold the first glass of wine.]

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Leader:

The blessing praises God for creating the "fruit of the vine." We recite the blessing, not over the whole grape, but over wine — squeezed and fermented through human skill. We do not bless the sheaves of wheat, but bless bread, ground and kneaded and prepared by human hands. We bless the gifts of sun, seed, and soil transformed by wisdom and purpose to sustain the body and rejoice the soul.

Group:

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, she-hechiyanu v’key’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who has kept us alive, raised us up, and brought us to this happy moment.

[Drink the first glass of wine.]


haggadah Section: Kadesh