Leader:

Havdalah means “separation”.  It is the ritual that separates Shabbat from the rest of the week.  As we chant Havdalah, you are invited to sing “yai na nai” or “yai la lai” instead of the words themselves if you do not know them.

Leader:

Brucha Haba'a.  Welcome to our Seder.  Today we are gathering after more than a year of a deadly plague to celebrate the exodus, in a world and in a country which deprives so many of freedom.  As we honor the tradition of the seder, we do so virtually, in a way that those who originated this tradition, and those who have sustained it for millenia, could never have imagined.  As we observe each ritual of the seder meal, we will reflect on tradition - both the meanings we can find in it, and the ways in which it can change.  Throughout the seder, we have set aside opportunities for us to reflect on these questions, and any others which we as a community come up with: How do traditions start? How does necessity play a role in tradition? How do traditions change?

Because singing together in a virtual setting is difficult, during songs it will probably be easiest for all but one of us to mute our microphones. While I'm willing to lead every song if no one else wants to, I hope anyone who wants to lead a song (or many songs) will volunteer.

Our Passover meal is called a seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, because we go through specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery. Some people like to begin their seder by reciting or singing the names of the 14 steps—this will help you keep track of how far away the meal is!

1. Kadeish  קדש – recital of Kiddush blessing and drinking of the first cup of wine
2. Urchatz  ורחץ – the washing of the hands
3. Karpas  כרפס – dipping of the  karpas  in salt water
4. Yachatz  יחץ – breaking the middle matzo; the larger piece becomes the  afikoman
5. Maggid  מגיד – retelling the Passover story, including the recital of "the four questions" and drinking of the second cup of wine
6. Rachtzah  רחצה – second washing of the hands
7. Motzi  מוציא,  Matzo  מצה – blessing before eating matzo
8. Maror  מרור – eating of the maror
9. Koreich  כורך – eating of a sandwich made of matzo and maror
10. Shulchan oreich  שלחן עורך – lit. "set table"—the serving of the holiday meal
11. Tzafun  צפון – eating of the  afikoman
12. Bareich  ברך – blessing after the meal and drinking of the third cup of wine
13. Hallel  הלל – recital of the Hallel, traditionally recited on festivals; drinking of the fourth cup of wine
14. Nirtzah  נירצה – say "Next Year in Jerusalem!"

Throughout the seder, we will drink four cups of wine (or grape juice, or whatever meaningful beverage you've chosen).  Each time we will say the blessing over the wine, thanking G-d (who in Hebrew is also called "Adonai" and "Elohim") for grapes, the fruit of the vine.  The earliest talmudic commentary on the four cups of wine doesn't actually have anything to do with drinking the wine.  Instead, it says "And they should give the poor person not less than four cups of wine."   As we progress through the seder, we ask ourselves: "What must we do so that all people can be free?".

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

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

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

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
 שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

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

Drink the first glass of wine!

What does freedom feel like in our bodies? Now we wash our hands, and remember that Passover is a holiday of sensation as much as it is the telling of the story of the exodus of the Hebrew people from slavery. The bitterness of the herbs, the crack of the matzah, the bloom of spring, sensations are important when we celebrate this holiday.

In an ordinary year, we would pass a pitcher of water and a bowl around the table.  Each of us would help to wash our neighbor's hands.  This year, is different from all (or, at least most), other years.  This year, the washing of the hands, Urchatz, cannot be observed as usual for we cannot all physically be together.  We invite you to share other ways in which the pandemic has forced your traditions to change, or the new traditions which you have begun in the past year. [Pause for Discussion]

As we wash our hands for the first time this evening, we remember that we have the freedom to access resources that many do not. Ask yourself these questions: In what ways are we free today? When we tell the pesach story later in the seder, we will ask: in what ways are we the Israelites? In what way are we like Moses?  In what ways are we like Pharoah? What must we do to in the struggle for freedom for all people?

Now we will say the blessing over Urchatz (the washing of the hands), and then we will was our hands.

As we wash our hands
We pray,
Blessed is the Soul of the Universe,
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
May our breaths continue
And our health and the health of all
Be preserved
In this time of sickness and fear of sickness.
Holy Wholeness,
We take as much responsibility for this as we can
By observing the obligation to wash our hands
Thoroughly:
For as long as it takes to say this prayer.
Amen

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה הָ׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדַיִם

Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Mitzrayim, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration.

We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter. Most families use a green vegetable, such as parsley or celery, but some families from Eastern Europe have a tradition of using a boiled potato since greens were hard to come by at Passover time. Whatever symbol of spring and sustenance we’re using, we now dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves. Before we eat it, we recite a short blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

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

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruits of the earth.

We look forward to spring and the reawakening of flowers and greenery. They haven’t been lost, just buried beneath the snow, getting ready for reappearance just when we most needed them.

-

We all have aspects of ourselves that sometimes get buried under the stresses of our busy lives. What has this winter taught us? What elements of our own lives do we hope to revive this spring? 

Too frequently, the passover story is told in a way that inaccurately compares ancient Egyptians to the modern day Middle East.  Jews regularly hear the narrative that in order to be free, our ancestors needed to flee Arab lands, Arab culture, and Arab rule.  In this telling of the story, Arab Muslim people are and always have been the perpetual enemy of the Jewish people.  We know that this is not true and that an Arab/Jewish binary erases the existence of Arab Jews.  

Throughout tonight’s seder we have choses the term Mitzrayim instead of Egypt.  Mitzrayim comes from the root “tzar” meaning narrow or constricted.  It can refer to the geography of the Nile valley but also to a metaphorical state of confinement.  Leaving Mitzrayim also means freeing ourselves from narrow-mindedness and oppression.  And in this time of intense anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, we are intentionally differentiating between the “bad guys” in this story and any contemporary Arab places or people.  

If you do notice the word "Egypt" in this hagaddah, in a piece of text we overlooked, know that it should say "Mitzrayim" instead.

We read together:

In a typical year, we would at this point in the seder break the middle of the three  matzot  on the seder plate in half.  We would wrap up one of the halves and hide it for the children attending the seder to find and eat for dessert.  If you live in a household where you can do this, you of course still can.  There will be an alternate activity at the point in the seder when we usually search for the matzo.  

We read together:

Tonight, let us bless our cracked surfaces and sharp edges, unafraid to see our brittleness and brave enough to see our beauty. Reaching for wholeness, let us piece together the parts of ourselves we have found, and honor all that is still hidden.

This next part of the seder is pretty long - and after it, we'll get to eat! We want to invite you to take a 5-10 minute break to get food ready to warm, grab a writing utensil and paper for a drawing activity we'll be doing, and do anything else you need to do.

On pesach, we are commanded to avoid all leavened grain, as the Israelites did not have time to allow their bread to rise when they left Mitzrayim.  The millenia-old tradition which we observe tonight was born of necessity,  

We read together, as one person holds up the remaining Matzah:

This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in Mitzrayim.  Let all who are hungry come and eat.  This year, we are here. Next year may we be on unoccupied land.  This year we are not free because not all people are free.  Next year, may all be free.” [Adapted from the Schechter Haggadah]

Community Member:

In the world today there are many who are so pressed-down that they have not even this bread of oppression to eat. We remember people in Palestine, at home, and all over the world where capitalism and imperialism have caused poverty and starvation. There are so many who are hungry and cannot come and eat with us tonight. Therefore we say to them:

We read together:

“we set aside this bread as a token that we owe you righteousness and justice, and we will fulfill it.”  To ourselves we say: not by bread alone but by all that is brought forth by the mouth of Adonai, lives the human; share your bread with the hungry, says our tradition. [Love and Justice in Times of War pg. 40, originally from the Cut-and-Paste Haggadah plagiarized by Lee Winkleman and The Shalom Seders: Three Haggadot compiled by New Jewish Agenda]

The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. The tradition that the youngest person asks the questions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. The rabbis who created the set format for the seder gave us the Four Questions to help break the ice in case no one had their own questions. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. If everyone at your seder is around the same age, perhaps the person with the least seder experience can ask them – or everyone can sing them all together.

מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילות

Ma nishtana halaila hazeh mikol haleilot?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכלין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה  הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלּוֹ מצה  

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin chameitz u-matzah. Halaila hazeh kulo matzah.

On all other nights we eat both leavened bread and matzah.
Tonight we only eat matzah.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin shi’ar yirakot haleila hazeh maror.

On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables,
but tonight we eat bitter herbs.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין אָֽנוּ מַטְבִּילִין אֲפִילוּ פַּֽעַם אחָת  הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה שְׁתֵּי פְעמים

Shebichol haleilot ain anu matbilin afilu pa-am echat. Halaila hazeh shtei fi-amim.

On all other nights we aren’t expected to dip our vegetables one time.
Tonight we do it twice.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵּין יוֹשְׁבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִּין.  :הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלָּֽנוּ מְסֻבין

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin bein yoshvin uvein m’subin. Halaila hazeh kulanu m’subin.

On all other nights we eat either sitting normally or reclining.
Tonight we recline.

Edited Version Of An Article from Jewish Boston

Leader will ask a question then we will discuss before moving on to the next one

1. What are examples of Jewish community activism and support?

2. How is the targetting of marganilised people currently affecting you? 

3. How can we advocate for ourselves and others?

4. How can we prevent future generations from being victims of discrimination? 

The Four Queer/Trans Jews Adapted from “the Four Daughters” by Tamara Cohen, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell and Ronnie Horn. Adapted and used with loving gratitude.

The queer/trans Jew is in search of a meaningful, holy past through our texts, traditions, and people. Ma heh omereh? What do they say?

“Why didn’t the Torah count, or acknowledge women and trans people among the ‘600,000 men on foot, aside from children,’ who came out of Egypt? And why did Moses say at Sinai, ‘Go not near a woman,’ addressing only men, as if preparation for Revelation was not meant for us, as well?”

Because we know that Jewish memory is essential to our identity, we teach them that history is made up by those who tell the tale. If the original Torah did not name and count us as women, trans people and those whose gender we do not know the words for now, it is up to us to fill the empty spaces left in our holy texts. We have the power to tell our own story, take our own census and create our own values. Jewish history is meant for us as well.

And the queer/trans Jew who wants to erase our differences and assimilate? Ma heh omereh? What do they say?

“Why do we keep pushing these questions into every text? Why make us so noticable? So visible? Why are these issues so important to you? Don’t you want to blend in?”

They say: “To you,” instead of “not to me”. They forget the struggles of our ancestors, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Perhaps we’ve been here at some point or another too, what did we need to find the beauty in our divergence? Invite them to our seder tables. Let them see the pleasure and joy at living outside of cis-heteronormativity, the wonder of appreciating queer and trans bodies for all of our diversity and divergence. The blessings of our resistance.

And the queer/trans Jew who does not know that we have a place at the table? Ma heh omereh? What do they say?

“What is this?”

Because they don’t yet know that their question is, in itself, a part of the seder tradition, show them that the Haggadah is a conversation about liberation, and their insights and questions belong here, in our texts and seder plates. Their wonder and curiosity, their frustration and confusion, in equal parts belong right here, nestled between maror and charoset.

And the queer/trans Jew who asks no questions? Who is scared to exist? Isolated from themselves and others?

We must say to them, “Your questions, when they come and in whatever form, will liberate you from Egypt. This is how it is and how it has always been with your queer and Jewish ancestors. For every moment we choose to survive, to look towards unanswered truths, we move a half-step closer to liberation. Even with no questions, you have a seat at our table, you deserve to know the fullness of your ancestors, of Shifra and Puah, of Joseph, of Ruth and Naomi and Judith, of Marsha, Sylvia, Leslie, and so many more who lived both named and unnamed in their truth and power. Come to the seder table with us, you will always have a seat.”

*The hebrew used in this text is in the style of Lior Gross and Eyal Rivlin of the Nonbinary Hebrew Project*

At this point in the Seder, we tell the story of Pesach in order.  The story has a few main characters: Moses and Miriam, who are siblings, and the Pharoahs, the rulers of Mitzrayim.

This story starts in a way that is horrifyingly relevant to our time - specifically to the horrors perpetrated on children crossing the United States’s southern border:  

(1)A long time ago and today, our ancestors came to Mitzrayim fleeing famine and death.  One of them, Joseph, earned the trust of the ruler of Mitzrayim, the Pharaoh, and earned his people safety in Mitzrayim, where they prospered.  Eventually, the ruling class came to be threatened by the Jews’ prosperity and enslaved them.  Then, the Pharaoh instituted a genocidal order - that half of the Jewish children be killed.

(2)One child, named Moses, was saved by their mother, who put them in a basket and sent them away down a river.  Moses’s sister, Miriam, who was a prophet, predicted that Moses would become a leader who would help their people.

(3)Moses was found and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, and they grew up unaware that they were a Jew.  They grew up as a member of the same class that was enslaving their people, raised as a brother of the boy who would become the next Pharaoh.  One day, Moses saw an overseer beating a slave.  Enraged, they killed the overseer and fled Mitzrayim into the desert.

(4)Past the desert, Moses found a new community, where they married and became a shepherd.  One day, while working with their sheep, they came upon a bush which burned without burning up.  And they heard a voice, saying to them what they knew to be true—that the people enslaved in Mitzrayim were their own people, that they should return to them, and together they would find a way to be free.

(5)The Jews of Mitzrayim were already debating how they would resist.  But when Moses returned and came out as a Jew they had a representative who could negotiate with Pharaoh.  They formed a committee and met twice a week for two months.  They debated questions of violence and non-violence.  The debated questions of leadership: had Moses taken too much power? They tried rotational leadership, so that one person would not have a distorted role in history.  They were all working hard for their liberation!

(5)Though all of the Jews of Mitzrayim were working hard for liberation, Moses had an “in” with the new Pharaoh, who had been raised as Moses’s brother.  Armed with the best speech the committee could prepare and several support people, Moses proposed that Pharaoh free the Jews and the other people enslaved by Mitzrayim.  Pharaoh said “no” and the peaceful negotiation was ended. 

(6) Then, Miriam spoke: “In sadness we must proceed with our plans.  Pharaoh, do you hear us? Great suffering will come to the land of Mitzrayim.  We’d rather our freedom be gained without hurting the people of this land.  One plague at a time we will bring you, and each time we will say: “let my people go!”

Pharaoh didn’t listen. Adonai brought ten plagues on Mitzrayim.  We recite these plagues now, removing a drop of grape juice from our glasses with each plague.  We recognize that the suffering of others diminishes our joy.

We read together:

Community Member:

The last plague, the slaying of the first born requires more explanation.  Adonai sent the Angel of Death to kill the first born of every family of Mitzrayim.  The Jews were told to mark the doorposts of their houses with the blood of a lamb, so that the angel would “pass over” their houses.  This is the source of the name of the holiday, and the origin of the commandment to sacrifice a land on pesach, a commandment now embodied by the beet on our seder plate.  

(8) As his people mourned the loss of their children, Pharaoh ordered the Jews to leave Mitzrayim.  And they did so very quickly.  They baked bread for the journey but did not have enough time for it to rise.  This is the reason we eat Matzah on pesach.  

(9) Pharaoh, however, had a change of heart.  He sent his army to re-capture the fleeing slaves.  When the Jews reached the red sea, they saw the army of Mitzrayim behind them.  Trapped, they turned on Moses for bringing them to this impasse. But, it is said that one man, Nachshon, took a risk and walked into the sea.  As he walked into the sea he said: 

We read together:

“Who is like you in the heavens Adonai, who is like you, transcendent in holiness”.

“Mi camokha ba-elim adonai, Mi camoka nedar ba-kodesh”

Community Member:

The waters split and Moses and their people crossed to freedom.  When the last of those escaping had left the sea, the waters closed and drowned the army of Pharaoh. We can never forget the price that the people of Mitzrayim paid for our freedom. 

The Pharaoh of the Passover story is not just a cruel king who happened to live in a certain country. The Pharaoh that our ancestors pictured, each and every year, for century after century, was for them every tyrant, every cruel and heartless ruler who ever enslaved the people of their or another country. And this is why Passover means the emancipation of all people in the world from the tyranny of kings, oppressors and tyrants. The first emancipation was only a foreshadowing of all the emancipations to follow, and a reminder that the time will come when right will conquer might, and all people will live in trust and peace. [Love and Justice in Times of War Haggadah (this and last bullet point), taken from Silverman Family Haggadah, compiled by Deirdre, Mark, and Dara Silverman]

We have told a story - one of many stories - about ancestors moving towards liberation. We invite you now to share any (brief) personal or familial stories of moving towards liberation that you want to make part of our Pesach space as well.

Community Member:

In this song, we say to Adonai that if they had only performed one of the three great acts of the pesach story: the liberation of the Jews from Mitzrayim, the writing of the Torah, and the establishment of Shabbat, the day of rest from which we have just emerged, than “Dayenu” - “It would have been enough”

We sing together

Community Member:

"What does this mean, "It would have been enough"? Surely no one of these would indeed have been enough for us. Dayenu means to celebrate each step toward freedom as if it were enough, then to start out on the next step. It means that if we reject each step because it is not the whole liberation, we will never be able to achieve the whole liberation. It means to sing each verse as if it were the whole song—and then sing the next verse.” [ This text and the poem that follows are from JFREJ BLM Haggadah, p. 5-6]

But because each step is not the whole liberation, we must also remember to sing the next verse. 

Leader:

KB Frazier’s reworking of the Dayenu poem addresses us, rather than G-d. It calls us to greater action for justice, saying “lo dayeinu” (it would not have been enough) in recognition of the work still unfinished. 

Content Warning: The poem includes discussion of anti-Black racism and descriptions of police violence.

We read together:

Explaining the Seder Plate

Leader:

Rabban Gamliel would say: Anyone who does not mention these three things on Passover does not fulfill their obligation, and these are they: the Passover offering, the matzah, and the bitter herbs.

We read the questions together, and individual community members read the asnwers:

What does the Passover offering represent? 

The lamb shank, which is represented today by a beet, represents the strong hand and outstretched arm, through which we move together towards freedom.  It also represents the sacrifice originally associated with the celebration of pesach at the holy temple in Jerusalem.

What does the matzah represent?

The nourishment we can make happen, even when it seems like nothing is there, when we are moving from the narrowest of places into openness, hope, and freedom.  It is the bread of freedom and the bread of affliction - it is the bread the slaves ate as they left Mitzrayim.  It is unleavened because it did not have time to rise.

What do the bitter herbs represent?

The lettuce and horseradish represent the bitterness of oppression in Mitzrayim, for us, and for all others who made Exodus with our ancestors.

The Charoset, the sweet paste in front of you, is a symbol of slavery, representing the mortar that the enslaved used when they were forced to build buildings and monuments in Mitzrayim.[ This was re-phrased based on the JFREJ Mixed-Multitudes Haggadah.]

The salt water represents the tears of the enslaved.

The Karpas (Parsley), and Beitzah (Egg) represent spring and renewal, the season of this holiday.

We also have two items on our seder plate which are not traditional.  The first is an olive, evocative of the olive trees of Palestine, and representing the global plagues of imperialism and land theft.  The second, an orange, has been around for about a few decades already and has a complicated history.[ The text surrounding the olive and orange were adapted from the Velveteen Rabbi, the Love and Justice in Times of War Haggadah, and the JFREJ Mixed Multitudes Haggadah]

We have already blessed the herbs at the beginning of the seder.

We now bless the charoset, the olive, and the orange [The hebrew text below comes from the Chabad website.]

:

Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam borei p’ri ha etz. 

 Blessed are you Adonai our g-d, ruler of the universe, who created the fruit of the tree

We now bless the egg and the meat: 

Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam shehakol ni’hiyeh b’dvaro.  

Blessed are you Adonai our g-d, ruler of the universe, by whose word all things came to be.

We will say the blessing over the matzah soon.

We now bless the second cup of wine.

A Blessing For Washing Hands During a Pandemic

By Trisha Arlin

As we wash our hands
We pray,
Blessed is the Soul of the Universe,
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
May our breaths continue
And our health and the health of all
Be preserved
In this time of sickness and fear of sickness.
Holy Wholeness,
We take as much responsibility for this as we can
By observing the obligation to wash our hands
Thoroughly:
For as long as it takes to say this prayer.
Amen

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה הָ׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדַיִם

Barukh atah adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al netilat yadayim

Blessed are you, our God, ruler of the universe, who sanctified us with God's commandments and instructed us on washing hands 

Community Member:

When the Israelites were fleeing Mitzrayim, they grabbed what they could, including their unleavened dough, and it baked on their backs as they fled. This matzah is what gets us by in the hardest of times. Everyone who has fled a difficult or violent situation, who has fought until stretched to the edges for justice and liberation, who has worked tirelessly but there is still not enough money to get by, knows how miraculous it is when out of seemingly nothing, there is dinner on the table. Matzah is not the bread of affliction: it is the sustaining bread of life and liberation. Matzah is the miracle of sustenance and life when you thought you had lost everything.[Adapted from JFREJ Mixed Multitudes Haggadah, p. 16]

[Velveteen Rabbi]

Together we are going to write a group poem. Each person is invited to write one word or one sentence in the Zoom chat answering the question: What have you liberated yourself from? If you'd like a further prompt try to include one image and one sensory detail.  

ברוּךְ אַתָּה יְיַָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מרוֹר 

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to eat bitter herbs.

Leader:

Now, we make a sandwich of Matzah, Maror (horseradish), and Charoset.  In eating this sandwich, we recall the sage Hillel. He said by eating this sandwich, we would taste the bitterness of slavery mixed with the sweetness of freedom. This practice suggests that part of the challenge of living is to taste freedom even in the midst of oppression, and to be ever conscious of the oppression of others even when we feel that we are free. [ From the Love and Justice in Times of War Haggadah, p. 64]

We read together:

Let's eat!

It is traditional at this point in the Seder for the children to search for the half piece of Matzah we broke off at the beginning of the meal. This is supposed to serve as dessert.  In lieu of this, we will be playing a game!

 https://subalterngames.com/colossal_afikomen_adventure.html

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

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

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַזָּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בְּטוּבוֹ, בְּחֵן, בְּחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים. הוּא נוֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכָל בָּשָׂר כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ. וּבְטוּבוֹ הַגָּדוֹל תָּמִיד לֹא חָסַר לָנוּ, וְאַל יֶחְסַר לָנוּ מָזוֹן לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד, בַּעֲבוּר שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל, כִּי הוּא אֵל זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לַכּל וּמֵטִיב לַכּל וּמֵכִין מָזוֹן לְכָל בְּרִיּוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, הַזָּן אֶת הַכֹּל.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, hazan et ha-olam kulo betuvo, bechein, bechesed uv-rachamim. Hu notein lechem lechol basar ki leolam chasdo. Uv-tuvo hagadol tamid lo chasar lanu, ve-al yechsar lanu mazon leolam va-ed, ba-avur shemo hagadol, ki hu Eil zan um-farneis lakol u-meitiv lakol u-meichin mazon lechol beriyotav asher bara. Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who, in goodness, provides sustenance for the entire world with grace, kindness and mercy. With everlasting kindness, God gives food to all flesh. Because of this great everlasting goodness, we do not lack anything now, nor will we lack any food forevermore. God’s name is great, for it is God who provides nourishment and sustenance for all, does good to all, and prepares food for all creation. Blessed is God, who provides food for all.

The story has been told of a miraculous well of living water which had

accompanied the Jewish people since the world was spoken into being.

The well comes and goes, as it is needed, and as we remember, forget,

and remember again how to call it to us. In the time of the exodus from

Mitzrayim, the well came to Miriam, in honor of her courage and action,

and stayed with the Jews as they wandered the desert. Upon Miriam’s

death, the well again disappeared.

On our table tonight, we have two extra cups, one of wine and one of water.

Reader

It is the women of our story who make its unfolding possible. Shifrah and

Puah, the midwives who disobey Pharaoh's order to kill all newborn boys;

Yocheved and Miriam, the mother and sister of Moses; Pharaoh's

daughter who rescues Moses from the Nile. Pharaoh pays little mind to

the women, yet it is their daring actions that began it all. It is because of

them that we are here tonight; it is because of them that we are able to

thank God for our freedom, just as Miriam led us in song to God after we

crossed through the parted waters.

Group

With this ritual of Miriam’s cup of water, we honor all Jewish women. We

commit ourselves to transforming all of our cultures into loving,

welcoming spaces for people of all genders.

Excerpted from :Invisible The Story of Modern Day Slavery A Social Justice Haggadah What you make of liberation - That is the trick. Can you, unshackled, set someone else free?

The seder tradition involves pouring a cup for the Hebrew prophet Elijah and another for Miriam. Elijah was a farmer who arose to challenge the ruling elite in the middle east thousands of years ago. Elijah declared that he would return once each generation in the guise of someone poor or oppressed, coming to people’s doors to see how he would be treated. Eventually, he would declare the coming of the Messiah. We fill a cup with “wine” to invite Elijah to our table. For millennia, Jews have opened the door for Elijah, inviting him join their seders, hoping that he would bring with him a messiah to save the world. Yet the tasks of saving the world - once ascribed to prophets, messiahs and gods - must be taken up by us

 

(Machor Congregation)

Even though we aren't together in person we're still going to welcome Elijah together. If you are willing and able to we're going to go to our own door ways, open the door and recite this blessing together: 

אֵלִיָהוּ הַנָבִיא, אֵלִיָהוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּי, אֵלִיָהוּ הַגִלְעָדִי בִּמְהֵרָה יָבוֹא אֵלֵינוּ עִם מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָוִד

Eliyahu Hanavie, Eliyahu Hatishbi, Elyahu Hagiladi, Bimherah Yavo Elenu Im Mashiach Ben David.

Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Giladite, May he soon come to us, with Mashiach the son of David.

Leader:
Let us all refill our cups.

Leader picks up cup for all to see. This is the cup of hope.

Everyone:

"L' Tiqqun Olam!"

All drink the fourth cup.

Hallelujah 

Now, I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah

CHORUS: And the women dancing with their timbrels  
Followed Miriam as she sang her song  
Sing a song to the One whom we've exalted.  
Miriam and the women danced and danced  
the whole night long.

And Miriam was a weaver of unique variety.
The tapestry she wove was one which sang our history.
With every thread and every strand
she crafted her delight.
A woman touched with spirit, she dances
toward the light.

CHORUS

As Miriam stood upon the shores and gazed across the sea,
The wonder of this miracle she soon came to believe.
Whoever thought the sea would part with an outstretched hand,
And we would pass to freedom, and march to the promised land.

CHORUS

And Miriam the Prophet took her timbrel in her hand,
And all the women followed her just as she had planned.
And Miriam raised her voice with song.
She sang with praise and might,
We've just lived through a miracle, we're going to dance tonight!

CHORUS

It’s traditional to conclude the seder by saying next year in Jerusalem. This is a phrase that in the literal sense carries a heaviness that is difficult to swallow. It's impossible to say it without considering the current reality of Isreal and Palestine. What does Next Year In Jerusalem make you think of? How do you think it can be reframed? As we leave this seder what is one thing you hope we bring with us?