“ Chametz represents our inner demons, our own interior puffiness, the same puffiness that makes bread rise. So we search our homes for everything that’s leavened, and that should be paralleled by a spiritual search for the puffy stuff in our own lives. What are our behaviors that we think need to be cleansed out? Write down 10 things about their lives to say, 'This is the chametz of my life. This is the puffy stuff. This is the stuff that has to go.' And then safely burn the piece of paper as a spiritaul ritual of burning the chametz, this way you’re also purging those things out of your life as well.”

-Rabbi Rachel Sabath, PBS Religion and Ethics 

Why is this Passover Different From All Others? (Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, 2023)

[At this point in the seder the leader points to a small Israeli flag on the table or seder plate. Order one online here; print this one; or have kids/adults color this one here and add it to your seder table!]

On all other Passover Seder nights, we end the Seder by singing “Next Year in Jerusalem.” 

This year, we begin our Seder by reading from Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Why? Because this year we know how precarious Israel’s democracy is and how important it is that basic freedoms are protected for all its citizens. 

On all other Passover Seder nights since 1948, we celebrated the sovereignty of the Jewish-Democratic State and all the light, wisdom, creativity, and security it brings to the world. 

This year, we celebrate Israel’s 75th year as a Jewish-Democratic State deeply concerned that the basic rights of its citizens are being threatened by its own government. 

On all other Passover nights, we’ve celebrated Israel’s existence. This year, we rededicate ourselves to ensuring that the State of Israel upholds its foundational commitments of its Declaration of Independence to offer all its citizens “freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.” 

On all other Passover nights, we deepen our commitment to our Jewish identity and to the Jewish people– past, present, and future. This year, we also pledge to work together with Israeli citizens and the global Jewish community to ensure that the State of Israel upholds its basic ethical commitments, which we’ve celebrated for 75 years, “to ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.” This year, we must speak out and help ensure that it remains true to its commitment to “guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions….” 

On all other years we read only from the Haggadah, on this Passover, we begin our Seder by reading from Israel’s Declaration of Independence:

“ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books. 

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom. 

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood….

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations….

WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. 

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East. 

WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel. 

PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE ‘ROCK OF ISRAEL,’ WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY,1948).”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KKU_EdCAimb3g7bU3Ogbcbyql01J42an/view?usp=sharing

Rav Kook says each of us took something from that experience that the world needs before it can be fully redeemed.  Our father Abraham knew well how to argue with God, but he didn't argue when told his descendants would be slaves for 400 years.  We needed to live through the affliction, and come out onh the other side, in order to empower others to do the same.  We remind ourselves, each year, of our history and our responsibility. 

We are commanded not to oppress the alien in our midst.  That alone requires much intention.  But, like God and our neighbor, the Torah commands we love the alien, the stranger, the undocumented farmworker or nanny.  Why?  Because we were aliens in the Land of Mitzrayim.  The Torah is explicit:  our experience in Egypt demand us to empathize with those who are in similar states of vulnerability.  That's our contribution to redemption.

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!

By Rabbi Warren Stone, Washington, D.C.

Following is reading you can use during the seder at the time parsley or another green is dipped into salt water. You might also write your own!

If the Earth Could Speak, It Would Speak with Passion.

As you dip the beauty of greens into the water of tears, please hear my cry. Can’t you see that I am slowly dying? My forests are being clear cut, diminished. My diverse and wondrous creatures -- birds of the sky and beasts of the fields -- small and large are threatened with extinction in your lifetimes. My splendid, colorful floral and fauna are diminishing in kind. My tropical places are disappearing before us, and my oceans are warming. Don’t you see that my climate is changing, bringing floods and heat, more extreme cycles of cold and warm, all affecting you and all our Creation? It doesn’t have to be! You, all of you, can make a difference in simple ways. You, all of you, can help reverse this sorrowful trend.

May these waters into which you dip the greens become healing waters to sooth and restore. As you dip, quietly make this promise:

Yes, I can help protect our wondrous natural places. Yes, I can try to use fewer of our precious resources and to replant and sustain more. I can do my part to protect our forests, our oceans and waters. I can work to protect the survival of creatures of all kinds. Yes, I will seek new forms of sustainable energy in my home and in my work, turning toward the sun, the wind, the waters. I make this promise to strive to live gently upon this Earth of ours for the good of all coming generations.

Yachatz

The Torah (Deuteronomy 16:3) calls Matzah "Lechem Oni", which is commonly translated as "Bread of Affliction", but means, more literally, "poor person's bread" or "peasant bread." For our ancestors, bread was the staff of life, symbolic of all food. One name for Passover is "The Festival of Matzah", but it might also be called "The Festival of Simple Food". Part of the great genius of this holiday is the way in which the simple peasant food of our slave past was transformed into the food of our redemption. How might Matzah as simple food redeem us now?

One way is our own personal health. Many of the serious diseases in our society have now been linked to over consumption of animal foods and processed foods of all sorts. In the past decade, medical authorities have begun to recommend less animal food and more whole grains and fresh vegetables.

A second way is by sharing food with the hungry. What do Matzah/simple food and hunger have to do with one another? If we all ate more simply, there would be more for others. This is an important lesson for the modern world and especially for us in America. More than 70% of the grain grown in the US goes to feed livestock. The livestock flesh, in turn, will feed far fewer people than the feed that went into it. If all the grain grown for livestock were consumed directly by people, it would feed five times as many people as it does when fed to animals.

A third way is that eating simple, fresh food grown by local farmers who practice sustainable farming methods reduces pollution for fertilizers and pesticides which threaten the health of humans, other species, and whole ecosystems.

Is this not the fast that I have chosen? To loose the chains of wickedness, to undo the bonds of oppression, and to let the oppressed go free...Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry?

-Isaiah 58:6-7

“The moment of crisis, of rupture. Things fall apart—all seems broken and beyond repair. Yet our faith lives on-the faith that destruction will eventually lead to progress and renewal; sometimes things must be broken in order that they may be rebuilt. In the darkest of times, we must recall the greater process at hand.  Already at Yachatz, we await Afikoman.  At the moment of crisis, as the ‘bread of affliction’ is broken in two, we recognize this rupture as a stage in the redemption process, and we anticipate eating the matza of freedom.”

Rabbi Joe Kanofsky (2023)

• At the four questions, invite anyone at the table to ask any question they have about the seder and the holiday. If no one knows the answer, what a great challenge for later! 

• At the four questions, ask the children what is the best question they’ve ever asked in school.

FOR DISCUSSION Look again at the Four Sons, for the simplicity of the account is deceptive.

What makes the Wise One wise? If he's wise, why must he ask a question?

Who is this Wicked One? Why is he at the table, instead of staying home on Seder night? What is his wickedness? Why does the text say, "were he in Egypt, he would not have been freed?" Is cynicism a form of slavery? What is the motivation for his cynicism? How do you suppose he became wicked? What turns children against the values of their parents?

Is the Simple One's simplicity a reflection of innocence and wonder, or indifference and apathy? Is there really ever such thing as an "innocent bystander' in life? Can one claim to be an "innocent bystander" to poverty, war, slavery, genocide?

Have you ever been "The One Who Does Not Know How To Ask?" So thoroughly confused, baffled, or overwhelmed by life that you couldn't even form the question?

Which one of these is you, now, in your life? Are you the Wise, the Wicked, the Simple, or the Silent?

Said the parents to their children,

“From your bondage you’ll cut loose,

You will eat your fill of matzah,

you will drink four cups of juice.”

Now these parents had four children,

yes their kids they numbered four,

One was wise and one was wicked,

one was simple and a bore.

And the fourth was sweet and winsome,

was so young and also small,

While the other asked the questions,

this one could not speak at all.

Said the wise one to the parents,

“Would you please explain the laws...

Of the customs of the Seder,

will you please explain the cause?”

And the parents proudly answered,

“’Cause our forebears ate in speed,

Ate the Pesach lamb ’ere midnight,

and from slavery were freed.

“So we follow their example,

and ’ere midnight we must eat

The afikoman (O so tasty!)

which will be our final treat.”

Then did sneer the child so wicked,

“What does all this mean to you?”

And the parents’ voice was bitter,

as their grief and anger grew.

“If yourself you don’t consider

as a child of Yisrael,

Then for you this has no meaning,

you could be a slave as well.”

Then the simple child said simply,

“What is this?” And quietly,

The good parents told their offspring.

“We were freed from slavery.”

But the youngest child was silent,

and just could not ask at all,

but with eyes all bright with wonder,

listened to the details all.

Now dear children heed this lesson,

and remember evermore,

What the parents told their children,

told their kids that numbered four.

Every Seder tells a story that belongs to you and me,

You and I were slaves in Egypt.

Now we’re blessed with liberty.

(Traditional spiritual)

When Israel was in Egypt land

Let My People go

Oppressed so hard they could not stand

Let My People go.

Go down, Moses

Way down in Egypt land

Tell old Pharaoh

To Let My People go.

Taken near Israel, this is what I imagine was the view while wandering through the desert.

Remembering the ten plagues that God brought upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites, we have the opportunity now to recognize that the world is not yet free of adversity and struggle. This is especially true for refugees and asylum seekers. After you pour out a drop of wine for each of the ten plagues that Egypt suffered, we invite you to then pour out drops of wine for ten modern plagues facing refugee communities worldwide and in the United States. After you have finished reciting the plagues, choose a few of the expanded descriptions to read aloud.

VIOLENCE

Most refugees initially flee home because of violence that may include sexual and gender-based violence, abduction, or torture. The violence grows as the conflicts escalate. Unfortunately, many refugees become victims of violence once again in their countries of first asylum. A 2013 study found that close to 80% of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) living in Kampala, Uganda had experienced sexual and gender-based violence either in the DRC or in Uganda.

DANGEROUS JOURNEYS

Forced to flee their home due to violence and persecution, refugees may make the dangerous journey to safety on foot, by boat, in the back of crowded vans, or riding on the top of train cars. Over the last several years, the United States has seen record numbers of unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America. Many of these children have survived unimaginably arduous journeys, surviving abduction, abuse, and rape. Erminia was just 15 years old when she came to the United States from El Salvador in 2013. After her shoes fell apart while she walked through the Texas desert, she spent three days and two nights walking in only her socks. “There were so many thorns,” she recalls, “and I had to walk without shoes. The entire desert.”15

LACK OF ACCESS TO EDUCATION

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees affirms that the right to education applies to refugees. However, research shows that refugee children face far greater language barriers and experience more discrimination in school settings than the rest of the population.16 Muna, age 17 in 2016, a Syrian refugee living in Jordan, who dropped out of school, said, “We can’t get educated at the cost of our self-respect.”17

XENOPHOBIA

Just as a 1939 poll from the American Institute of Public Opinion found that more than 60% of Americans opposed bringing Jewish refugees to the United States in the wake of World War II, today we still see heightened xenophobia against refugees. This fear can manifest through workplace discrimination, bias attacks against Muslim refugees, anti-refugee legislation such as the American SAFE Act of 2015 (H.R. 4038) which passed the House but was thankfully defeated in the Senate, and the various Executive Orders issued in 2017 and 2018 to limit refugees’ ability to come to the United States.

 Dayenu: A Jewish Template for Gratitude: 

We don’t realize how lucky we are until we speak our blessings in detail. Dayenu is not merely a reflection on Passover, but a template for true thanks.

Imagine for a moment a thank-you note where instead of the usual clichés you had a note in the form of Dayenu, outlining several details of appreciation. Had the person done only one it would have been enough.

Now imagine receiving such a note — highly personal, thoughtful and unique. It might the thank-you note you actually save.

Dayenu suggests this very formula when thanking God. It is our detailed thank-you note to God — not only for saving us from the terrors of Egypt, but for giving us the instruments and experiences to form a life of Jewish meaning. It’s a wonder that we don’t recite it every day. But at our seder tables, we might take a moment after this jubilant song to turn to those at the table and, in detail, describe how blessed we are in their presence.

Dr. Erica Brown 

 Excerpted from: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/dayenu-a-jewish-template-for-gratitude/

It's almost time to eat! Before we chow down, let's fill that third glass of wine and give thanks for the meal we're about to consume.

On Passover, this becomes something like an extended toast to the forces that brought us together:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

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

Group says: We praise force of the world, that created the fruit of the vine, that sustains the world.

[Everyone: Drink the third glass of wine.]

Now, LET'S EAT!

Finding and Eating the Afikoman

In hiding and seeking the afikoman, we reunite the two parts separated at the beginning of the seder. At this moment, we have the opportunity to discover lost parts of ourselves, to become reconciled with relatives who have become distant and to find wholeness in aspects of Judaism which may not have been part of our lives. Finding that which is hidden is a powerful message when we feel loss and lost. Within our loss, we find ways of healing the broken part of our lives.

בְּרִיךְ רַחֲמָנָא, מַלְכָּא דְעַלְמָא, מָרֵיהּ דְּהַאי פִּיתָּא

Brich Rachamana, Malka d'alma, marey d'hai pita.

You are the Source of Life for all that is, and Your blessing flows through me.

(Words: Aramaic from Talmud, English by Rabbi Shefa Gold)

Empty whatever wine remains in the wine glasses into the empty bowls (see page ) then pour some water from the pitcher that has stood on the table into everyone’s wine glass.

We have escaped bondage and crossed the sea. We enter the arid land before us, made hesitant by generations of servitude—mixed with our recent struggle, and yet heady in our new freedom. We have thirsted for freedom, but now we thirst for water. As with so many people in the world who do not have water, we face bitterness and quarreling. Our ancient texts tell us that Moses was able to turn the bitter into sweetness and bring forth water. But many disputes over water remain. Further, we are told that Miriam, the midwife of our liberation has stood ready, waiting to sustain us in the time ahead as we come to grips with our tasks and responsibilities. Our Sages spoke of Miriam’s Well, created in the twilight of creation’s week. It now lies hidden in the sea of Galilee for Elijah to restore to us. Ishmael received water from it as “the well of living and seeing”; Rebecca drew from it when she greeted Eliezer; the well first appeared to our people when Moses struck the rock on Miriam’s account at the place of bitterness in Sinai—and it travelled with us throughout the desert years. Its waters, we are told, taste of old wine and new wine, of milk and of honey. This is the well of the Ancestors of the world: Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebecca, Jacob & Leah and Rachel dug it; the leaders of olden times have searched for it; the heads of the people, the lawgivers of Israel, Moses, Aaron and Miriam, have caused it to flow with their staves. In the desert we received it as a gift and thereafter it followed us on all our wanderings: to lofty mountains and deep valleys. Not until we came to the boundary of Moab did it disappear because we squandered our freedom by not fulfilling our responsibilities. Now, as we begin a new season of renewal, may these cleansing, refreshing waters, reminiscent of Miriam’s well, recall for us a time of purity of purpose and help us focus on the tasks ahead.

All drink the water from Miriam’s well.

Nirtzah  marks the conclusion of the seder. Our bellies are full, we have had several glasses of wine, we have told stories and sung songs, and now it is time for the evening to come to a close. At the end of the seder, we honor the tradition of declaring, “Next year in Jerusalem!”

For some people, the recitation of this phrase expresses the anticipation of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Messiah. For others, it is an affirmation of hope and of connectedness with  Klal Yisrael, the whole of the Jewish community. Still others yearn for peace in Israel and for all those living in the Diaspora.

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. We are looking forward to the time that we gather together again. 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.

In  The Leader's Guide to the Family Participation Haggadah: A Different Night, Rabbi David Hartman writes: “Passover is the night for reckless dreams; for visions about what a human being can be, what society can be, what people can be, what history may become.”

What can  we  do to fulfill our reckless dreams? What will be our legacy for future generations?

Our seder is over, according to Jewish tradition and law. As we had the pleasure to gather for a seder this year, we hope to once again have the opportunity in the years to come. We pray that God brings health and healing to Israel and all the people of the world, especially those impacted by natural tragedy and war. As we say…

לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָׁלָֽיִם

L’shana haba-ah biy’rushalayim

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!

On the Second Night of Pesach only, we begin Sefirat HaOmer, which means Counting the Omer.

One stands when counting the omer, and begins by reciting the following blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֺתָיו
וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר

Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'Olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tizivanu al sefirat ha'omer.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments and commanded us to count the omer.

הַיּוֹם יוֹם אֶחָד לָעֹמֶר

Hayom yom echad la'omer

Today is the first day of the omer.
 

Explanation from myJewishlearning.com :

The omer refers to the forty-nine day period between the second night of Passover (Pesach) and the holiday of Shavuot. This period marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, Jews would bring the first sheaves to the Temple as a means of thanking God for the harvest. The word omer literally means "sheaf" and refers to these early offerings.

The Torah itself dictates the counting of the seven weeks following Pesach:

"You shall count from the eve of the second day of Pesach, when an omer of grain is to be brought as an offering, seven complete weeks. The day after the seventh week of your counting will make fifty days, and you shall present a new meal offering to God (Lev 23:15-16)."

In its biblical context, this counting appears only to connect the first grain offering to the offering made at the peak of the harvest. As the holiday of Shavuot became associated with the giving of the Torah, and not only with a celebration of agricultural bounty, the omer period began to symbolize the thematic link between Peach and Shavuot.

While Pesach celebrates the initial liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, Shavuot marks the culmination of the process of liberation, when the Jews became an autonomous community with their own laws and standards. Counting up to Shavuot reminds us of this process of moving from a slave mentality to a more liberated one.

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 strand and every thread she crafted her delight,

A woman touched with spirit she dances toward the light.

Chorus

When 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 in song

She sang with praise and might,

We’ve just lived through a miracle,

we’re going to dance tonight.

Eliyahu and Miriam

We open the door and invite Eliyahu and Miriam into our homes. To show how truly free we are, we send our youngest to open the door. 

Elijah the prophet - may we create a world where everyone experiences redemption and freedom, growth and possibility. Let all who are hungry be fed, let all who are bereaved be comforted, let all who suffer find release.

Miriam the prophet - may we support a world in which our resources are shared widely, where water scarcity is turned into abundance, where we do not turn away from anyone in need.

אֵלִיָהוּ הַנָבִיא, אֵלִיָהוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּי
אֵלִיָהוּ אֵלִיָהוּאֵלִיָהוּהַגִלְעָדִי
בִּמְהֵרָה בימינויָבוֹא אֵלֵינוּ
עִם מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָוִד -עִם מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָוִד

Eliyahu Hanavi, Eliyahu Hatishbi,
Eliyahu Eliyahu EliyahuHagiladi,
Bimherah beyamenu Yavo Elenu
Im Mashiach Ben David.

Elijah the Prophet, Elijahthe Tishbite,
Elijah the Giladite,
Soon may he bring us redemption.

מִרִיַם הַנְבִיאה עז וזִמְרָה בְיָדָה
מִרִיַם תִרְקד אִתָנוּ לְהגדיל זמרת עולם
מִרִיַם תִרְקד אִתָנוּ לְתַקֵן אֶת הֵעולַם
בִמְהֵרַה בְיָמֵנוּ הִיא תְבִיאֵנוּ
אֶל מֵי הַיְשוּעָה, אֶל מֵי הַיְשוּאָה

Miriam haneviyah oz vezimra beyada,
Miriam tirkod itanu lehagdil zimrat olam
Miriam tirkod itanu letakein et haolam
Bimherah beyamenu hee teviyenu
El mey hayeshu'a, el mey hayeshu'a

Miriam the prophet, strength and song in her hand
Miriam, dance with usto increase the song of the world.
Miriam, dance with us to repair the world
Soon may she bring us to the waters of redemption

(Hebrew lyrics by R'Leila Gal Berner)