Pesach is a time of inclusion.

On seder night, there are two moments where we metaphorically open our doors and invite others in. One is at the opening of the Magid portion of the seder, when we say, “All who are hungry come and eat.” There is a beautiful message here: we were once slaves; poor and hungry, and we remember our redemption by sharing what we have with others.

The other, comes towards the end of the seder, when we have the custom of pouring a fifth cup of wine, which is for Elijah the Prophet. This is a statement of faith, a statement that says that although we are a free people, our redemption is not yet complete, and we believe that it will come.

From the most downtrodden to the most celebrated, the message is clear: everyone is welcome and everyone is necessary. Why is it that we go out of our way to include all at our seder table? Perhaps it is because when we make room for others, we have the opportunity to make room for ourselves as well. In fact, the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:5) teaches us that:

בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים
In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they left Egypt (Mishnah - Pesahim 10:5)

The seder presents us with the obligation of identifying with the generation that left Egypt and internalizing that experience. And through that internalization, we come to feel the redemption as if it was our own as well too - לראות את עצמו. Further, we are reminded on more than one occasion that we were 'strangers in Egypt'. Remembering this fact as if we were in that position should help us empathise with those who are in the same position in our individual lives, communities and in the world. This can provide us with the springboard to make a resolution to support and include those in our individual and communal lives who most need it. Hopefully we can join together this time next year in the knowledge that we have done something positive in this area. Pesach Sameach.

וְגֵר לֹא תוֹנֶה וְלֹא תִלְחָצֶנּוּ כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָים

"You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt." 

Shemot: 22:20

The four cups of this wine this year shall represent four freedoms that asylum seekers and refugees worldwide are fighting for:

1. Freedom to be at home

2. Freedom from indefinite and unjust detention

3. Freedom to live with family

4. Freedom to live free of oppression or persecution

The First Cup:

After leaving slavery, oppression and genocide in Egypt, the ancient Hebrews wandered the desert for forty years looking for a home to call our own. Today, hundreds of thousands of people, from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, Iraq and many other places are currently still wandering, either internally displaced in their own countries, or having fled to Europe and elsewhere. This year, we drink the first cup to those still striving for a home of their own. 
 

                                  בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

                                  Baruch atah adonei, eloheinu melech ha'olam, boreii p'ree hagefen

                                  We praise God, ruler of everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

                                       בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

                                       Baruch atah Adonei, eloheinu melech ha'olam, she-hecheyanu vekiymanu ve'hegiyanu lazman hazeh

                                      We praise God, ruler of everything, who has kept us alive, raised us up, and bought us to this happy                                                 moment.  

Alternative blessing:

We drink this cup to remember those for who the story of the Jewish exodus in the desert is a daily reality, in hope that they find their salvation as we found ours. 

Water is refreshing, cleansing, and clear, so it’s easy to understand why so many cultures and religions use water for symbolic purification. We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, we’ll wash again with a blessing, preparing us for the meal, which Judaism thinks of as a ritual in itself. (The Jewish obsession with food is older than you thought!)

To wash your hands, you don’t need soap, but you do need a cup to pour water over your hands. Pour water on each of your hands three times, alternating between your hands. If the people around your table don’t want to get up to walk all the way over to the sink, you could pass a pitcher and a bowl around so everyone can wash at their seats… just be careful not to spill!

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 to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together tonight. Go around the table and share one hope or expectation you have for tonight's seder.

On normal festival or Shabbat nights, we drink a single cup of wine. At the Passover Seder, we drink four cups of wine. People have come up with many reasons for this difference.

Four Empires

Some argue that the four cups symbolize the four empires that oppressed the Jewish people in ancient times. We remember these four empires because all types of tyranny must pass away before the world is free. [attributed to Rabbi Eugene Horowitz]

Four Corners

The four cups can also represent the four corners of the earth. If freedom is limited to just one spot, or just your home, then true freedom has not been realized. Freedom must reign everywhere.

Four Seasons

The four cups can also stand for the four seasons of the year. We cannot simply speak of and think about freedom today, or when it is threatened. Freedom must be in our minds and guarded at all times.

Four Promises

יְיָ promised the Jews in Exodus:

1. I will free you from the labor of the Egyptians
2. And deliver you from their bondage.
3. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
4. And I will take you to be my people, and I will be your G-d.

Passover is a celebration of the fulfillment of these promises. It is also a reminder that freedom is our responsibility, not just in the past and for ourselves, but for All people, in ALL places, and for ALL time.

Q1. What have you done/changed since last Pesach to do more for humanity?

Q2. You're a Jewish refugee. You're leaving your country. What 5 things would you take with you and why?

Q3. If you met with Israeli's leaders today, what would you ask for to make Israel your promised land?

Q4. What one thing would you add to the seder plate and why?

The Ballad of the Four Sons

(to the tune of "Clementine")

Said the father to his children, "At the seder you will dine,

You will eat your fill of matzoh, you will drink four cups of

wine."

Now this father had no daughters, but his sons they numbered four.

One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore.

And the fourth was sweet and winsome, he was young and he was small.

While his brothers asked the questions he could scarcely speak at all.

Said the wise one to his father, "Would you please explain the laws

and the customs of the seder, will you please explain the cause?"

And the father proudly answered, "As our fathers ate in speed,

Ate the paschal lamb 'ere midnight, and from slavery were freed."

So we follow their example, and 'ere midnight must complete

All the seder and we should not, after 12 remain to eat.

Then did sneer the son so wicked, "What does all this mean to you?"

And the father's voice was bitter, as his grief and anger grew.

"If you don't yourself consider, a son of Israel,

Then for you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well."

Then the simple son said simply, "What is this," and quietly

The good father told his offspring, "We were freed from slavery."

But the youngest son was silent, for he could not ask at all.

His eyes were bright with wonder as his father told him all.

My dear children, heed the lesson and remember ever more

What the father told his children told his sons that numbered four.

We have now told the story of Passover…but wait! We’re not quite done. There are still some symbols on our seder plate we haven’t talked about yet. Rabban Gamliel would say that whoever didn’t explain the shank bone, matzah, and marror (or bitter herbs) hasn’t done Passover justice.

The shank bone represents the Pesach, the special lamb sacrifice made in the days of the Temple for the Passover holiday. It is called the pesach, from the Hebrew word meaning “to pass over,” because God passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt when visiting plagues upon our oppressors.

The matzah reminds us that when our ancestors were finally free to leave Egypt, there was no time to pack or prepare. Our ancestors grabbed whatever dough was made and set out on their journey, letting their dough bake into matzah as they fled.

The bitter herbs provide a visceral reminder of the bitterness of slavery, the life of hard labor our ancestors experienced in Egypt.

Inside the envelopes are famous quotes from celebrities around the world.

In groups, discuss all the quotes...

Then pick 1 or 2 and link them to either the Pesach story or the Pesach Seder. Explain your reasoning!

10. You are singing Dayaynu, he is singing Lady Gaga

9. Invokes "Tonight I am free man" when asked politely to not lick the charoset from the bowl

8. He’s suddenly reading the Hagadah in a Australian accent (G’day Karpas Vegemite)

7. He's treating horseradish and parsley as if they were bar snacks.

6. He adds “tomorrow’s hangover “ to the list of plagues

5. When you refill his cup, he says make it a double

4. After dripping wine for the plagues, he slurps your plate

3. He kamikaze shots the third cup.

2. During benching he asks “when do we eat?”

1. Passover to him means is to be passed out before Nirtzah

The Four Cups of the Seder are structurally connected to the four verbal performances this evening:

(1) Kiddush, sanctifying the holiday (2) Maggid, the storytelling (3) Birkat HaMazon, completing the Pesach meal; and (4) Hallel, completing the festival Psalms.

The Talmud connects the Four Cups to God's Four Promises to Israel: "Tell the children of Israel: I am Adonai! I will take them out... I will rescue them… I will redeem them… and I will marry them taking them as my people and I will be their God" (Exodus 6:6-7, Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1).

However, two 16th C. mystic rabbis identify the Four Cups with the Four Matriarchs of Israel. The Maharal of Prague (famous for the legend of Golem) and Rav Isaiah Horowitz of Tsfat explain:

(1) The Cup of Kiddush stands for Sarah who was the mother of a community of converts, believers by choice.

(2) The Cup of Maggid is for Rebecca who knew how to mother both Esav and Jacob, two opposed natures.

(3) The Cup of the Blessing after Eating represents Rachel whose son Joseph provided the whole family of Jacob with bread in a time of great famine.

(4) The Cup of Hallel (Praise) is for Leah who came to realize that the pursuit of the impossible, Jacob's love, must give way to appreciation of what one has. When her fourth child was born, Judah, she praised God: " This time I will thank God " (Genesis 29:35).