Tonight, we remember the old story of liberation on the ancient Israelites from Slavery in Egypt, a great struggle for freedom and dignity. We remember that the struggle for human freedom never stops. We remember all people, Jews and non-Jews, who are still struggling for their freedom.

The word “Seder” means order. The fourteen steps help us organize the evening’s celebration. It is thought that the grand nature of the ceremony may have been modeled after a Roman feast.

The Seder officially begins with a physical act: lighting the candles. In Jewish tradition, lighting candles and saying a blessing over them marks a time of transition, from the day that is ending to the one that is beginning, from ordinary time to sacred time. Lighting the candles is an important part of our Passover celebration because their flickering light reminds us of the importance of keeping the fragile flame of freedom alive in the world. As we light the festival candles, we acknowledge that as they brighten our Passover table, goodthoughts, good words, and good deeds brighten our days.

הָעולֹםָ , אֲשׁרֶ קִדּשְׁנָֽוּ בְּמצִוְתֹּיָו ,וְצִוָנֽוּ לְהדַ לְִיק נֵר שֶׁל יוֹ ם טבוֹ ` היֵֽנוּ ,מֶלֽ ֶ h אַתּהָ ,יְי אֱ ` בָּרוּ

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, whose presence fills the Universe, who has sanctified us with laws and commanded us to light the festival lights.
___________________________

Miriam's Cup

Miriam, sister of Moses, plays an important role in the Exodus story. It is said that a well followed the Jews as they wandered through the desert until the time of Miriam's death, a gift from God for her optimism. We fill Miriam's Cup with water from our own glasses to honor the contributions of women in the Torah.

Zot Kos Miryam, kos mayim hayim. Zeikher l'yitziat Mitztrayim.

This is the Cup of Miriam, the cup of living waters. Let us remember the Exodus from Egypt. These are the living waters, God's gift to Miriam, which gave new life to Israel as we struggled with ourselves in the wilderness. Blessed are You God, who brings us from the narrows into the wilderness, sustains us with endless possibilities, and enables us to reach a new place.

Drinking the First Cup of Wine

It is customary to recline to the left while drinking the wine and eating the matzah. This custom of reclining while eating in a leisurely fashion imitates the manner of ancient royalty. The Hebrew slaves ate quickly, standing or squatting on the ground. Until we know the ways we were enslaved, we can never be free. We drink this first cup of wine in honor of awareness.

The Rabbis decreed that a ritual wash be done without a blessing, before eating vegetables.

We wash our hands in preparation for the Seder. It is both a physical and a spiritual cleansing. We are in a sense, washing away the last spiritual crumbs of hametz, leaven, in preparation for our first taste of matzah, unleavened bread. We wash away our individual past, so we can relive our collective past.

Karpas (Parsley) represents spring and new growth, rebirth and the beginning of new life. We dip the karpas into salt water to remind us of the sweat and tears of the Israelite slaves.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri ha’adamah.

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, whose presence fills the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

There are three ceremonial matzot. The middle matzah is now broken in two. The larger piece is called the Afikomen, from the Greek word that means dessert. The Afikomen is hidden to be found later and eaten after dinner.

Why three matzahs you may ask?

One explanation for three is that they represent the classifications of Jews; the Kohen's (priests), the Levi's (assistants to the priests) and Yisrael (the people of Israel). Another interpretation is that the two matzahs represent the two loaves of challah (braided bread) we place on the Shabbat and holiday table. The third matzah represents the bread of poor people. Or yet another interpretation is that the three matzahs recall the meal Abraham asked Sarah to prepare for the three angels who visited Abraham as told in Genesis.

Uncover and lift the ceremonial matzot.

We recite together this call to Passover:

This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate Passover with us.

Now we are here; next year may we be in the land of Israel.

Now we are slaves; next year may we all be free!

The Ceremonial matzahs are covered. The second cup of wine is poured.

Traditionally the youngest person able to do so recites the "Four Questions".

מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילות

Ma nishtana halaila hazeh mikol haleilot?

• שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכלין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלּוֹ מצה

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

• שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר

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

• 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.

• 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.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

1. On all other nights we can eat bread and matzah. Tonight we only eat matzah.

2. On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables. Tonight we must eat bitter herbs (maror).

3. On all other nights we do not dip our vegetables even once. Tonight we dip twice.

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

The Four Zoomers
Source: Wendy Sims

The Torah Speaks of Four Kinds of People Who Use Zoom:
The Wise; The Wicked; The Simple; The One Who Does Not Know How to “Mute”
The Wise Person says : “I’ll handle the Admin Feature Controls and Chat Rooms, and forward the Cloud Recording Transcript after the call.”
The Wicked Person says : “Since I have unlimited duration, I scheduled the meeting for six hours—as it says in the Haggadah, whoever prolongs the telling of the story, harei zeh ‘shubach, is praiseworthy.”
The Simple Person says : “Hello? Am I on? I can hear you but I can’t see you.”
[Jerusalem Talmud reads here: “I can see you, but I can’t hear you.”]
The One Who Does Not Know How to Mute says : “How should I know where you put the keys? I’m stuck on this stupid Zoom call with these idiots.”
To the Wise Person you should offer all of the Zoom Pro Optional Add-On Plans.
To the Wicked Person you should say: “Had you been in charge, we would still be in Egypt.”
To the Simple Person you should say: “Try the call-in number instead.”
To the One Who Does Not Know How to Mute you should say: “Why should this night be different from all other nights?”

Sent to Sammy by Mel in 1997

A Jewish man was waiting to be knighted by the Queen of England. He was supposed to kneel and recite a sentence in Latin. Comes his turn, he kneels, the Queen taps him on the shoulders with the sword...and in the panic of excitement he forgets the Latin line. Thinking quickly, he recites the only other line he knows in a foreign language (which he remembers from the Passover Seder): "Mah nishtana ha-lailah ha-zeh mi-kol ha-leilot." The puzzled Queen turns to her advisors and asks, "Why is this knight different from all other knights?"

— from Aish Hatorahs Newsletter

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. the practice of Pesach changed. Sacrifices and festival offerings were replaced with symbolic elements.

The ceremonial matzot are now uncovered so they remain in view as a symbol of the story of Exodus.

What is the slavery from which Israel escaped? The Talmud presents two views. The rabbinic sage Samuel argues that the escape is from physical slavery. The rabbinic sage Rav believes that it was idolatry and spritual degradation that we escaped. It is hardly accidental that the Haggadah here gives both answers. There can never be complete spiritual freedom without physical freedom, and we cannot maintain physical freedom without spiritual discipline and clarity of mind. Thus we have not fully gone forth from Egypt when we have attained freedom. Our journey is complete only when we have a community that reinforces our ability to pursue justice and that acts out of concern for what has ultimate importance.

—David Teutsch (edited)

The Ceremonial Matzahs are now covered.

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. There are many explanations for this custom. They could represent the four corners of the earth, for freedom must live everywhere; or the four seasons of the year, for freedom must last through all the season; or the four matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel.

A full cup of wine symbolizes complete happiness. The triumph of Passover is diminsihed by the sacrifice of many human lives when the ten plagues were visited upon the people of Egypt. In the ancient story the plagues that befell the Egyptians resulted from the decisions of tyrants, but the greatest suffering occurred among those who had no choice but to follow. It is fitting that we mourn their loss of life, and express our sorrow over their suffering. We cannot take joy in the suffering of others. Therefore, let us diminish the wine in our cups as we recall the ten plaques that befell the Egyptian people.We pour out a drop of wine for each of the plagues as we recite them.

As each plague is named dip a finger into your wine glass, then touch your plate or napkin to remove the drop.

These are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

Blood | dam | דָּם

Frogs | tzfardeiya |  צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ

Lice | kinim | כִּנִּים

Beasts | arov | עָרוֹב

Cattle disease | dever | דֶּֽבֶר

Boils | sh’chin | שְׁחִין

Hail | barad | בָּרָד

Locusts | arbeh | אַרְבֶּה

Darkness | choshech | חֹֽשֶׁךְ

Death of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot | מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

The Egyptians needed ten plagues because after each one they were able to come up with excuses and explanations rather than change their behavior. Could we be making the same mistakes? Make up your own list. What are the plagues in your life? What are the plagues in our world today? What behaviors do we need to change to fix them? 

Dy-ay-nu — It Would Have Been Enough For Us

We have many reasons to be grateful tonight: for freedom and dignity, friendship and family, prosperity and health. Any one of these would have been enough — Dy-ay-nu!!

We now wash our hands to celebrate our crossing the sea, our rebirth as a free people. We recite a blessing, for our hands are free to perform acts of holiness, to eat matzah, the symbol of liberation.

In this moment of celebration, may this water, symbolically drawn from Miriam's well, cleanse us of all the wounds and pain of Egypt. For even as we remember the past, we are called to strive for a healing future.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָיִּם.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kidshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al netilat yadayim.

We bless the spirit of the world, who has made us holy with mitzvot and commanded us to wash our hands

Our Seder Obligation

Rabbi Gamliel (grandson of Hillel) would say: "Those who have not explained three things during the seder have not fulfilled their obligation. These are matzah (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs) and the pesah (paschal lamb) offering.

The Seder Plate

Shank Bone: Signifies the paschal lamb which the Israelites sacrified to mark the doorposts of their homes with blood. This was the sign for the Angel of Death to pass over their houses during the tenth plague.

Maror - Bitter Herb (horseradish): is to remind us of the time of our slavery.  We force ourselves to taste pain so that we may more readily value pleasure.

Baytsah - Egg: is the egg of life. Baytsah symbolizes the fragility and interdependence of life.

Charoset is a mixture of fruits, nuts and wine that symbolizes the clay and mortar the Israelites used to make bricks for Pharoah’s cities of Pithom and Ramses. It is sweet to show that in the bitter time of slavery the Israelites hoped for the sweetness of freedom.

Orange: You will not find an orange included in any ancient Haggadah. It is a newer tradition. It serves as a statement of inclusivity.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.

We praise God, whose presence fills the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה

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

We praise God, whose presence fills the universe, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to eat matzah.

We now do the second dipping. The first dipping was the Karpas (parsley) in salt water. Now we dip a piece of bitter herb (horseradish or lettuce) into the charoset. Mixing the bitterness of slavery with the sweetness of hope and freedom. We do not lean while eating the bitter herbs. We are remembering the bitterness of slavery, not the joy of freedom.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מָרוֹר.

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al achilat maror.

Praised are you, Adonai, Lord our God, whose presence fills the universe, who has taught us the way of holiness through commandments, commanding us to eat the bitter herb.

Eat a sandwich of Matzah and horseradish. Then have a "Hillel Sandwich" of matzah with horseradish and charoset.

Hillel, a great scholar of his time created a sandwich of matzah, maror (horseradish) and the paschal lamb. Hillel lived during the Second Temple when animal sacrifices were still made. Now we replace the lamb with the charoset. It is a tasty combination!

Eating the Afikoman
Contributed by Eve Berry

When some of us were children, this moment was the high point of the Seder. This was the time we would search for (and always find) the Afikoman, a portion of the middle matzah that had been hidden at the beginning of the Seder. We knew that the Seder could not be completed until the afikoman had been found and redeemed with gifts so that everyone could be given a piece to
nibble for dessert.

Even as children, we knew that it wasn't possible to find everything that was missing in life. As much as we prized the gift we received for our bargaining, it was the hunt that we really loved, running through the rooms and turning everything upside-down.

The older we get, the harder the search becomes. We aren't always sure now what we are seeking, what the afikoman means to us, which dessert will bring us a sense of completion and satisfaction. Unlike during our childhood search, there are now fewer loving and reliable coaches in the next room giving us clues. There are no guarantees that we will find what we are looking for. But this we know: it is still the search that is important - the looking, the running and the turning everything upside down.

The Third Cup of Wine

Fill Elijah's Cup

We remember the heroism of those who fought against facism and tyranny in the forests and the cities of Europe. We were slaves in Eygpt and we were slaves in facist Europe. We drink the third cup of wine to those who were taken from us and to those who fought for freedom and life. Let us be true to their memory by being ever vigilant to the cause of peace and freedom in our land and throughout the world.

Kiddush (the blessing over wine) |  kadeish  | קַדֵּשׁ  

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן:

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

Blessed are you, Eternal our God, sovereign of all world, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Fill the fourth cup. We stand as the door is opened for Elijah.

We open our doors and our heart to welcome Elijah the Prophet to our home. Our hopes have long been centered around Elijah since legends suggest that he will herald in a time of complete human freedom. But he will come only when people have prepared the way for him. This simply means that we, the all, are Elijah. We must liberate ourselves from prejudice and injustice. We must truly listen to each other for better understanding. We need to remember our goal of creating a world where all people will be free, just as we were liberated from slavery in ancient Egypt.

The Fourth Cup of Wine

Like no other creature, the most significant growth for a human being takes place inwardly. We grow as we achieve new insights, new knowledge, new goals. Let us raise our glass to signify our gratitude for life, and for the joy of knowing inner growth, which gives human life its meaning.

Kiddush (the blessing over wine) |  kadeish  | קַדֵּשׁ  

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן:

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

Praised are you, Lord our God, whose presence fills the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Though it comes at the end of the seder, this moment also marks a beginning. We are beginning the next season with a renewed awareness of the freedoms we enjoy and the obstacles we must still confront. Having retold stories of the Jewish people, recalled historic movements of liberation, and reflected on the struggles people still face for freedom and equality, we are ready to embark on a year that we hope will bring positive change in the world and freedom to people everywhere.

Our seder is over, according to Jewish tradition and law. From Zoom, to a small gathering, to an Easter/Passover combo during construction. We hope for continued health and healing to all the people of the world. As we say…

לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָׁלָֽיִם

L’shana haba-ah biy’rushalayim

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!