We were slaves in Egypt, now we are free. Let’s have a Seder! What’s on the Seder plate? Egg, herbs, bone, greens, charoset Let’s drink some wine. Why is this night different? Why is this child different? Ten plagues on the Egyptians. Enough already – Dayeinu! Drink wine again. Matzah, Maror, Hillel sandwich, let’s eat! Where’s the Afikoman? Thanks for the food! Drink some more Wine. Open the door for Elijah! Drink some wine – last one. Thanking and singing. Next year in Jerusalem!

As we light the candles and welcome the glow of Passover into our homes, we pray that all those suffering around the world find light in the darkness.

We pray that our experience tonight helps us to ignite the spark of justice within each of us.

We pray that we have the strength to carry forth this light into the world, creating a beautiful and bold flame that inspires others to work by our sides to pursue freedom and justice for all people.

Jewish celebrations usually include wine as a symbol of joy.

Wine sanctifies an occasion and makes it holy.

During the Passover Seder we drink four cups of wine, why four?

In the Book of Exodus, God convinced the Jews to leave Egypt using four statements:

I shall take you out
I shall rescue you
I shall redeem you
I shall bring you

We toast each of these statements with a cup of wine.

Pour and raise your first cup of wine/grape juice. This cup is dedicated to the renewal of spring, to the renewal of ourselves.

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.

Drink your first cup of wine/grape juice!

Too often during our daily lives we don’t stop and take the moment to prepare for whatever it is we’re about to do. Let's pause as we wash our hands to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together. 

In ancient times our people were farmers and shepherds. In this festive season, we are meant to feel a connection with the food we eat from the land and to remember that we are surrounded by blessings and miracles no less majestic than those our ancestors witnessed thousands of years ago. Spring reminds us that we are again given a chance for renewal; a new chance to create peace and goodness in our world. We dip karpas — parsley — to symbolize this renewal. The salt water symbolizes the bitter tears shed by our ancestors in slavery. 

(Each person takes greens, dips them in salt water and recites the following):

We praise You, Adonai, Sovereign of Life, Who creates the fruit of the earth.

We read in the Torah: “It is commanded that you should eat unleavened bread and for seven days there shall be no leavened bread seen with you. And you shall tell your children in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of that which God did for me when I came forth out of Egypt for with a strong hand has God brought you out of Egypt.’ You shall keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

On Sabbaths and holidays, we traditionally have two loaves of bread, a symbol of the double portion of “manna from heaven.” On Passover, we have three matzot on the table; the third matzoh is the “bread of affliction” reminding us of our enslavement in Egypt. We now take the middle of the three matzot and break it in two. By breaking “bread” we signify hospitality and invite all who are hungry to join us. The smaller piece of matzoh is replaced between the other two matzot. The larger piece is wrapped in a napkin — symbolic of our ancestors wrapping their dough in their garments when they departed Egypt — and set aside as the “afikomen” to be eaten after the meal.

Together we say the words which join us with our people and with all who are in need. All recite these words: Behold the Matzoh, bread of poverty and affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy share the hope of this Passover celebration. Next year may all men and women be free.

(The wine glasses are filled)

Why is this night different from all other nights?

On all other nights, we eat either leavened bread or matzoh; why, on this night, do we eat only matzoh?

We eat matzoh because when our ancestors were told by Pharaoh that they could leave Egypt, they had no time to allow their bread to rise, so they baked hurriedly, without leavening. 

On all other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs; why, on this night, do we especially eat bitter herbs?

At the Seder, we eat bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness our ancestors experienced when they were oppressed as slaves.

On all other nights, we do not dip herbs at all; why, on this night, do we dip twice?

At the Seder table, we dip food twice; once in salt water to remind us of the tears shed in slavery and again in haroset, to remind us that there is sweetness even in bitter times. 

On all other nights, we eat in an ordinary manner; why, tonight, do we recline and dine with a special ceremony?

In ancient times, slaves ate hurriedly, standing or squatting on the ground. Symbolically, as a sign of freedom, we lean and relax as we partake of wine and symbolic food

The Torah speaks of four types of children: one is wise, one is wicked, one is simple, and one does not know how to ask.

The Wise One asks: "What is the meaning of the laws and traditions God has commanded?" (Deuteronomy 6:20) You should teach him all the traditions of Passover, even to the last detail. 

The Wicked One asks: "What does this ritual mean to you?" (Exodus 12:26) By using the expression "to you" he excludes himself from his people and denies God. Shake his arrogance and say to him: "It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt..." (Exodus 13:8) "For me" and not for him -- for had he been in Egypt, he would not have been freed.

The Simple One asks: "What is all this?" You should tell him: "It was with a mighty hand that the Lord took us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." 

As for the One Who Does Not Know How To Ask, you should open the discussion for him, as it is written: "And you shall explain to your child on that day, 'It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt." (Exodus 13:8)

The Torah says we are to speak these words before God and say, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt and sojourned there. With few in number, he became there a great and populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and afflicted us and imposed hard labor upon us. And we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers and God heard our cry and saw our affliction and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great signs and wonders.”

We will now recount the Passover story. As we read, we will go around the table with each person taking a turn to read a paragraph out loud:

Our patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah went to the land of Canaan, where he became the founder of “a great nation.” God tells Abraham, “Know this for certain, that your descendants will be strangers in a strange land, and be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But know that in the end I shall bring judgment on the oppressors.”

Abraham’s grandson, Jacob and his family went down to Egypt during a time of famine throughout the land. In Egypt, Jacob and the Israelites lived and prospered until a new Pharaoh arose who said, “Behold the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Let us then deal shrewdly with them, lest they become more powerful, and in the event of war, join our enemies in fighting against us and gain control over the region.”

The Egyptians set taskmasters over the Israelites with forced labor and made them build cities for Pharaoh. The Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites with harsh labor but the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and the Egyptians came to despise them. Pharaoh ordered, “Every Hebrew boy that is born shall be thrown in the Nile River and drowned.”

God remembered the covenant that he made with Abraham and Sarah and called to Moses, telling him to appear before Pharaoh and demand that the Hebrew people be released from bondage. But Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites. Nine times Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh, and each time that Pharaoh refused Moses’ request, God sent a plague to Egypt.

After the ninth plague, Moses summoned the elders of Israel and told them to have their families mark their door posts and lintels with the blood of a lamb saying, “none of you shall go out of his house until the morning for God will pass through to smite the first born of the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, God will pass over your doors.”

It is written in the Torah that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh during Moses’ pleas. Finally when God brought down the tenth plague upon them — the death of the first-born of all the Egyptians — a great cry went up throughout Egypt, and Pharaoh allowed Moses to take his people out of the land and deliver them to a new land.

It is written: “And it shall come to pass, when you come to the land which God will give you, according to His promise, that you shall keep this service to commemorate the Exodus. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say to you, “What mean you by this service?” you shall say, it is the sacrifice of God's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt.

As Moses and the Israelites were fleeing Egypt, Pharaoh’s armies pursued them as they were encamped by the sea. Moses held out his hand over the sea and the Lord drove back the sea, allowing the Israelites to pass, but drowned the Egyptians.

There is a Midrash that tells of God rebuking His angels for rejoicing as the Egyptians were drowning, saying, “Are these not my children also?” We now pour ten drops of wine to symbolize the ten plagues upon Egypt. A full cup of wine is the symbol of complete joy. Though we celebrate our freedom, our cup cannot be filled because our freedom did not come without a cost. Each drop of wine that we pour out of our cups diminishes our joy.

With your finger or spoon, lessen your cup of wine with each of the plagues mentioned, but do not drink

Blood as we read “All the waters that were in the river were turned to blood”

Frogs as we read “And the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt”

Lice as we read “All the dust of the land became lice throughout all of Egypt”

Swarms as we read “There came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt.”

Pestilence as we read “All the cattle of Egypt died.”

Boils as we read “And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with pains upon man, and upon beast.”

Hail as we read “And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and God sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and God rained hail upon the land of Egypt.”

Locusts as we read “And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and God brought an East wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the East wind brought the locusts.”

Darkness as we read “And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.”

The death of the Egyptian first-born as we read “And it came to pass, that at midnight God smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt."

Leader: Had He brought us out from Egypt And not judged them.

All: Dayenu!

Had He judged them And not judged their idols.

All: Dayenu!

Had He judged their idols And not slain their first-born.

All: Dayenu!

Had He slain their first-born And not given us their property.

All: Dayenu!

Had He given us their property And not divided the sea for us.

All: Dayenu!

Had He divided the sea for us And not brought us through on dry ground.

All: Dayenu!

Had He brought us through on dry ground And not drowned our oppressors.

All: Dayenu!

Had He drowned our oppressors And not helped us forty years in the desert.

All: Dayenu!

Had He helped us forty years in the desert And not fed us manna.

All: Dayenu!

Had He fed us manna And not given us the Sabbath.

All: Dayenu!

Had He given us the Sabbath And not brought us to Mount Sinai.

All: Dayenu!

Had He brought us to Mount Sinai And not given us the Torah.

All: Dayenu!

Had He given us the Torah And not brought us into the Land of Israel.

All: Dayenu!

Had He brought us to the Land of Israel And not built us the Holy Temple.

All: Dayenu!

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS PESACH?

This roasted shank bone is the symbol of the Pesach lamb. Each year at Passover, the Israelites would gather at the Temple to commemorate the Exodus from slavery. Each family would bring a lamb as an offering, to remember the time when our ancestors were spared the fate of the Egyptians. The Pesach was a reminder that God passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Originally, one of the four questions asked at the Seder was not, “Why do we recline?” but “Why do we eat only roasted meat?” After the Temple was destroyed, sacrifices were abandoned and so was the question about eating only roasted meat at the Seder.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MATZOH?

Matzoh is a symbol of the simple bread of poverty. The matzoh reminds us of the great haste in which the Israelites fled from Egypt. As we read in the Torah: “They baked unleavened cakes of the dough since they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay.”

In ancient times, the Israelites ate simple foods. For one week each year the matzoh becomes the symbol of those days when people had little, reminding us that our lives are about much more than the material things we have or own.

We are commanded to eat matzoh on the first night of Passover and to rid ourselves of chometz — all bread and leavened food products made from fermented wheat, barley, rye, oats and spelt — for the entire holiday. Though we are prohibited from eating these fermented grains during Passover, we are also commanded to eat Matzoh — flour and water baked so quickly that it does not ferment or rise — at the Seder.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MAROR?

We eat the maror, or bitter herbs, to remind ourselves that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our people. As we read: “And they made their lives bitter with hard labor at mortar and brick and in all sorts of drudgery in the field; and they ruthlessly imposed all the tasks upon them.” 

As we eat the bitter herbs, we are reminded to remove any bitterness from our own lives, for bitterness will kill even sooner than death. If we become used to bitterness in our lives, it is very hard to ever leave it behind. 

THE CUP OF DELIVERANCE - The Second Cup of Wine

Our wine glasses are raised as we recite the following: We raise our cups as we recall the second promise of liberation to the people of Israel. Let us glorify God who performed these miracles for our ancestors and for us. Let us rejoice at the wonder of our deliverance from bondage to freedom, from servitude to redemption. Hallelujah. We praise God who has delivered us and our ancestors from Egypt and brought us here this night to eat matzoh and maror. Our God and God of our ancestors, help us celebrate future holidays and festivals in peace and in joy.

Praised be thou, O Lord Our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine!

All drink the entire second cup of wine

RACHATZ - Washing the Hands Before we eat, let us wash our hands and say together:

We praise You God who hallows our lives with commandments and has granted us the privilege of your blessings of food after the washing of the hands.

A pitcher of water with basin and towel is again passed around to all guests

MOTZI - A Blessing for Bread

We are now coming to the Seder meal.

As we ordinarily begin with the breaking of bread, we begin tonight with the breaking of matzoh. We recite two blessings; first the regular blessing for bread, then a special one for matzoh.

The upper and middle piece of the three matzot are broken and distributed among the group as we recite together 

ALL: We praise You, God, who brings forth bread from the earth.

MATZOH - A Special Blessing for Matzoh

We praise You, God, who hallows our lives with commandments, and enjoins us to partake in eating matzoh.

Each participant eats a portion of the two matzot

MAROR - A Blessing for the Bitter Herbs We now dip our food for a second time. Each of us will take a bit of the maror, the bitter herb, and dip it into the haroset — a mixture of chopped apples, nuts, wines and spices. We acknowledge that life is bittersweet. The sweet taste of haroset symbolizes that no matter how bitter and dark the present appears, we should look forward to better days. As we remember our ancestors, this is a time to be appreciative of everything we have; a time to be grateful for all the gifts we have been given.

All recite the following together:

We praise God who hallows our lives with commandments, and enjoins us to eat the bitter herbs.

Each participant eats the bitter herbs along with the sweet haroset.

Korech כּוֹרֵךְ

זֵכֶר לְמִקְדָּשׁ כְּהִלֵּל. כֵּן עָשָׂה הִלֵּל בִּזְמַן שבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיָה קַיָים: הָיָה כּוֹרֵךְ מַצָּה וּמָרוֹר וְאוֹכֵל בְּיַחַד, לְקַיֵים מַה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ.

Zeicher l'mikdash k'hileil. Kein asah hileil bizman shebeit hamikdash hayah kayam. Hayah koreich pesach, matzah, u-maror v'ocheil b'yachad. L'kayeim mah shene-emar. “Al matzot um'rorim yochlu-hu.”

Eating matzah, maror and haroset this way reminds us of how, in the days of the Temple, Hillel would do so, making a sandwich of the Pashal lamb, matzah and maror, in order to observe the law “You shall eat it (the Pesach sacrifice) on matzah and maror.”

It is customary to begin the Passover meal with hard-boiled eggs flavored with salt water. The egg is symbolic of new life, and of hope; the salt water, a symbol of tears. Eggs, unlike other foods, harden when they are cooked, symbolic of our faith being tempered and hardened by the forces of our history.

Shulchan Orech  שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ

Now is time to enjoy the festival meal and participate in lively discussion. It is permitted to drink wine between the second and third cups.

Tzafun

צָפוּן

After the meal, take the Afikoman and divide it among all the guests at the Seder table.

It is forbidden to drink or eat anything (except the remaining two ritual cups of wine) after eating  the Afikoman.

BAREKH - The Blessing After the Meal

Traditionally, a series of prayers and blessings after eating are now recited in Hebrew.

Together we say:

We have eaten this Passover meal as a free people and we give thanks to God for his many blessings. Preserve us in life, sustain us with good and honorable work and make us worthy. Bless this home, this table, and all assembled here; may all our loved ones share our blessings. 

THE CUP OF REDEMPTION - The Third Cup of Wine

Fill the third cup of wine Together we take up the third cup of wine, now recalling the third divine promise to the people of Israel: “And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.”

We now drink the third cup of wine

HALLEL THE CUP OF ACCEPTANCE - The Fourth Cup of Wine

Hallel is a recitation in Hebrew of Psalms. This is the time to once again give thanks. It is a time of singing and of praise. We are to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might and to diligently teach our children the Torah commandments, speaking of them daily and keeping them close to our minds and close to our hearts. Just as the fringes on our prayer shawls are meant to remind us of our bond and are gathered up and held together, we are reminded that our Jewish identity should not be kept on the fringes of our lives, but brought close to our hearts, enveloping all that we do.

As our Seder comes to an end, we drink the fourth cup of wine. This cup recalls our covenant with God and the tasks that await us as a people called to service.

All drink the fourth cup of wine

NIRTZAH

Our Seder now ends.

Together we say, “Next year in Jerusalem. Next year may all men and women everywhere be free!”