In the Occupy movement, on Wall Street most dramatically, some people grabbed hold of the concept and realities of imbalances of wealth and infused already present economic concerns with worries about the divisive nature of our economic systems taken for granted for some time. To "Occupy" the Jewish holiday of Passover, is, here, to symbolically claim our right to imbue it with the freedom to question the older meanings of the journeys of Exodus and freedom in general.

The story, according to Judaism and the Haggadah in particular, is to be both repeated each year in a specific order, and, as Jews, we are considered obligated to re-experience as much as we can what it felt to be slaves as the Jews were under the grip of the Egyptians with their Pharaoh. And of course to appreciate the freedom they won -- and were granted -- and we continue to cherish.

So "Occupy" Passover is to do what many of us have already started to do, in taking the holiday with its glorious food and the mood of the gorgeous tables filled with what we have known as the most delicious of foods, and improvising the rest by sharing diverse concepts of freedom. The idea of Passover is that the issues of slavery and freedom are for all of us: my idea is if that is so, we need to confront the slavery not only in the most obviously brutalized parts of the world, but in ourselves as well.

We have become so used to seeing ourselves as free, and for so many of us as seeing ourselves in the freest nation on earth, that we can become allergic to even considering the ways in which we ourselves are controlled by prejudice and superstition. My favorite way of approaching Passover, getting back to the beginning, has for years been to write an alternative Haggadah that takes into account the notion of our becoming free, rather than to assume we already are.

"Occupying" Passover would involve, perhaps, subjecting ourselves to questions about our own lives, our own ways of living or avoiding freedom. On this small planet of ours, as far as I'm concerned, any version of reality which involves exclusionism needs to be amended. We need to look to the likes of Joseph Campbell who knew we needed ways to celebrate which could unite us. And I suppose part of any true exodus, would be to search for those ways.

“What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.” 

Leader: On this night of remembrance, we look at how God delivered us from oppression. We were once slaves in Egypt and God heard us and saved us from our enslavement. Just as God freed us in Egypt, so too can He free us now from the many chains that bond us. Let us be free from the oppressions of this world, and fight the stigmas of what it means to be beautiful. Let us learn how the Exodus story applies to our lives today.

(Raise the cup of wine)

Group: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p'ri hagafen.

Group: Praised are you, Adonai, our God, sovereign of the universe, who has created the

fruit of the vine.

Praised art Thou, Lord God, King of the Universe: who chose us from all peoples, and exalted us above all tongues, and hallowed us by Thy commandments. Thou didst give us, Lord God, in Thy love, anniversaries for rejoicing, festivals and seasons for happiness: this feast of Passover, the anniversary of our freedom, in love, a holy convocation, as a memorial of our departure from Egypt. For us didst thou choose, and us didst Thou hallow of all peoples: and Thou gavest us as heritage Thy holy seasons in love and in favor, in joy and in gladness. Praised art Thou, Lord Hallower of the Sabbath and Israel and the festive seasons.

Praised art Thou, Lord God, King of the Universe, who didst preserve us and sustain us and enable us to reach this season.

 (Drink the first cup of wine)

The first hand-washing of the seder is unusual. The rabbis point out that even a child would wonder at least two things: why do we wash without a blessing and why do we bother to wash when we will not be eating our meal for some time. They suggest that we wash our hands here in order to raise questions. Questions, both of wonder and of despair, are crucial to our time at the seder and, really, our growth as human beings. We have permission to ask questions, even of God, when we see and experience suffering. One person will symbolically wash their hands for all of us seated here.  

Each person takes the water jug and washes the hands of the person next to them.

Leader: As we wash, let us remember to be servants of one another, yet know that we are worthy to have our hands washed by others.

Karpas (parsley that is dipped in salt water during the seder) kavannah (spiritual focus)--time for spring awakening, new directions--renewal and bursting forth of new ideas.

We take this time to honor others who travel with us from other faiths and cultural traditions. We acknowledge the fact that they bring a new perspective to our lives and a legacy of their own that enriches ours. We are grateful for the growth that we have experienced because they are in our lives.

As a plant bursts forth with new energy to bloom, so too we recognize that at this time of Jewish history we are blossoming in different ways. As the garden needs tending, so, too, do our relationships with spouses, in-laws and families of other traditions. Weeding out all that is not necessary and loving, we make room for fresh insight and respect. Welcome those who sit around this table for the first time or the twentieth, bringing new understanding to our discussion.

Traditionally we have interpreted the salt water used for dipping as the tears of our ancestors. Perhaps this year as we dip the greens into the salt water, we will understand it as the tears of the earth.  In the Exodus story the liberation begins when God hears the cry of the Hebrew slaves, let us hear and taste the cry of the earth. .   This moment requires that we hear the cry of the earth itself

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 needy come and celebrate the 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 be free.

We break the matzah as we broke the chains of slavery, and as we break chains which bind us today. We will no more be fooled by movements which free only some of us, in which our so - called “freedom” rests upon the  enslavement or embitterment of others.

Traditionally, seders require three matzot. Why three?   Three are our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Three  are the segments of the people Israel, Kohen, Levi and Yisrael.  The three matzot could even represent thesis, antithesis and synthesis: the two opposites in any polarized situation, and the solution which bridges them.

Ha lachma anya—this is the bread of affliction.

At the seder we begin as slaves. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, which leaves us hungry and longing for redemption. It reminds us of a time when we couldn’t control what food was available to us, but ate what we could out of necessity. The matzah enables us to taste slavery— to imagine what it means to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives.

But, while we will soon enjoy a large meal and end the seder night as free people, 963 million people around the world can not leave the affliction of hunger behind. Each day, 25,000 adults and children die from hunger and malnutrition. In fact, a child dies every six seconds because he or she is starving.  Let us awaken to their cries and declare:

Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol—let all who are hungry, come and eat.

As we sit at our seder and contemplate our people’s transition from slavery to freedom, let us hope for a time when all who are hungry will eat as free people:

Let all people gain autonomy over their sources of sustenance.

Let local farms flourish and local economies strengthen.

Let exploitation of natural resources cease so that the land may nourish its inhabitants.

Let communities bolster themselves against the destruction wrought by flood and drought.

Let our world leaders recognize food as a basic human right and implement policies and programs that put an end to world hunger.

The Passover seder inspires us to take action and commit ourselves to working toward these and other sustainable changes. As the seder guides us from scarcity to plenty, let us empower others on their paths to sustenance.

Hashata avdei—this year we are still slaves.  Leshanah haba’ah b’nei chorin—next year we will be free people.

This year, hunger and malnutrition are still the greatest risks to good health around the world. Next year, may the bread of affliction be simply a symbol, and may all people enjoy the bread of plenty, the  bread of freedom.

A Tunisian custom is to say “This is how God split the Red Sea” and then break the middle matzah. 

Israelis of Yeminite origin wrap the afikomen in a napkin and places it over his shoulder throughout the chanting of the Hagaddah, symbolizing both the liberation from Egypt, and more recently, the rescue of the Jews of Yemen in Operation Magic Carpet in 1948. 

Discuss why we hide one half of the matzah. Perhaps because redemption is not complete…our people may have been redeemed from Egypt, but there are still many people that need to be found and rescued. Perhaps because God is sometimes hidden in our world. Perhaps to symbolize an oppressed mentality, where someone who does not know from where his next meal will come hides some for later. 

Has anyone at your seder ever felt broken? 

Maggid means retelling the story of the exodus from Egypt.

In every generation, we must see ourselves as if we personally were liberated from Egypt. We gather tonight to tell the ancient story of a people's liberation from Egyptian slavery. This is the story of our origins as a people. It is from these events that we gain our ethics, our vision of history, our dreams for the future. We gather tonight, as two hundred generations of Jewish families have before us, to retell the timeless tale.

Yet our tradition requires that on Seder night, we do more than just tell the story. We must live the story. Tonight, we will re-experience the liberation from Egypt. We will remember how our family suffered as slaves; we will feel the exhilaration of redemption. We must re-taste the bitterness of slavery and must rejoice over our newfound freedom. We annually return to Egypt in order to be freed. We remember slavery in order to deepen our commitment to end all suffering; we recreate our liberation in order to reinforce our commitment to universal freedom.

Raise the tray with the matzot and say:

This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry, let him come and eat; whoever is in need, let him come and conduct the Seder of Passover. This year [we are] here; next year in the land of Israel. This year [we are] slaves; next year [we will be] free people.

The tray with the matzot is moved aside, and the second cup is poured.

(Do not drink it yet).

Each Pesach, the four questions asked by the youngest child are exactly the same. Why do we aks them year after year? Because as we grow and change, our questions take on new meanings, and the answers to them differ. Because as we grow and change, we understand that there is no one right answer. Because as we grow and change, a different one among us may be asking the questions for the first time.

To ask questions is to acknowledge first and foremost that we do not live in isolation, that we need each other. To ask questions is to signal our desire to grow. By admitting what we do not know, we take the first steps toward greater knowledge and learning. To ask questions is to signify our freedom.

Fill the second cup.

מַה נִּשְּׁתַּנָה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת?

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה - כּוּלוֹ מַצָּה.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת, - הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין אֶנוּ מַטְבִּילִין אֲפִילוּ פַּעַם אֶחָת, - הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים.

Mah nishtanah halaylah hazeh mikol haleilot?

Sheb’chol haleilot anu och’lin chameitz umatzah, halaylah hazeh kulo matzah.

Sheb’chol haleilot anu och’lin sh’ar y’rakot, halaylah hazeh maror.

Sheb’chol haleilot ein anu matbilin afilu pa’am echat, halaylah hazeh sh’tei f’amim.

Leader: We cannot eat the Seder meal until the story of Passover is told. This next section is called 'Maggid', which means 'Narrator', or 'Preacher'. In it we explore the reasons for the Passover holiday, culminating in a retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypyt. We begin with a question:

Reader: Why is this night different from all other nights?

Reader: Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?

Leader: Matzoh reminds us that when the Jews were fleeing slavery in Egypt, they had no time to wait for their bread to rise, and so took them out of their ovens while they were still flat.

Reader: Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?

Leader: We eat only Maror, a bitter herb, to remind us of the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors endured while in Egypt.

Reader: Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?

Leader:  We dip twice - Karpas in salt water, and Maror in Charoset. The first dip, green vegetables in salt water, symbolizes the replacing of tears with gratefulness, and the second dip, Maror in Charoset, symbolizes sweetening the burden of bitterness and suffering to lessen its pain.

Reader: Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?

Leader: We recline at the Seder table because in ancient times, a person who reclined at a meal symbolized a free person, free from slavery, and so we recline in our chairs at the Passover Seder table to remind ourselves of the glory of freedom.

By a fitting answer to the questions of each of the four types of the sons of Israel, does the Torah explain the meaning of this night's celebration.

The wise son eager to learn asks earnestly: "What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances, which the Lord our God hath commanded us?" To him thou shalt say: "This service is held in order to worship the Lord our God, that it may be well with us all the days of our life".

The wicked son inquires in a mocking spirit: "What mean ye by this service?" As he says ye and not we, he excludes himself from the household of Israel. Therefore thou shouldst turn on him and say: "It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt". For me and not for him, for had he been there, he would not have been found worthy of being redeemed.

The simple son indifferently asks: "What is this?" To him thou shalt say: "By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage".

And for the son who is unable to inquire, thou shalt explain the whole story of the Passover; as it is said: "And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying 'It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt'".

Sefer Shemot illustrated through LEGOs

Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hey-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam, Ha-motzi le-chem min ha-a-retz.Praised are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings bread from out of the earth.Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hey-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam, A-sher ki-d’-sha-nu b’-mitz-vo-tav, v’-tzi-va-nu Al a-chilat ma-tzah.

Praised are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through Your commandments, and commands us to eat matzah.

At the point of Motzi matzah one should have three matzot on the Seder plate. The top matzah and the bottom matzah is full, and the middle matzah is the matzah that was broken for the procedure of Yachatz larger piece of the broken matzah is off the table hidden away to be used later for the Afikoman, and the smaller piece is in between the two full pieces. It is a positive commandment to eat matzah on the Seder night. To fulfill one's obligation, one must eat a correct measure described as the size of an olive.

At this point we fulfill the mitzvah to eat matzah on the night of passover. Each person should have two thirds of a piece of matzah on their plate; half a piece of matzah if hand baked matzah is used. The leader of the seder lifts all three matzahs from the seder plate and recites a blessing.

Usually we only say one blessing over bread, but why do we say two this time?