Tonight we come together to celebrate Passover, the holiday of freedom.  We will eat a great meal together, enjoy (at least) four glasses of wine, and tell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

The name Passover comes from the final plague, which was the killing of the firstborn sons. Moses told the Jews to sacrifice a lamb for each family and spread its blood on the doorposts of their house. (As lambs were considered sacred by Egyptians, this was a public test of faith). God passed over the marked Jewish houses, and killed the firstborn male child in every Egyptian household.

The Seder is the central observance of Passover. Seder means “order”, because we go through 14 steps as we retell the Exodus story. Those steps are:

קַדֵּשׁKiddush (the blessing over wine) | kadeish |

וּרְחַץRitual hand-washing in preparation for the seder | urchatz |

כַּרְפַּסDipping a green vegetable in salt water| karpas |

יַחַץBreaking the middle matzah | yachatz |

מַגִּידTelling the story of Passover | magid |

רָחְצָהRitual hand-washing in preparation for the meal | rachtza |

מוֹצִיא מַצָּהThe blessing over the meal and matzah | motzi matzah |

מָרוֹרDipping the bitter herb in sweet charoset | maror |

כּוֹרֵךְEating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb | koreich |

שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְEating the meal! | shulchan oreich |

צָפוּןFinding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon |

בָּרֵךְSaying grace after the meal and inviting Elijah the Prophet | bareich |

הַלֵּלSinging songs that praise God | hallel |

נִרְצָהEnding the seder and thinking about the future | nirtzah |

The Seder is designed to give each of us the experience of going from slavery to freedom. So as well tell the Exodus story, reflect on the meaning of freedom. Think about how Jews and others before us have suffered and triumphed over oppression and persecution; how slavery exists around the world even today; about how we can free ourselves of the things in our own lives that oppress us. Most importantly, reflect on how much we have to be grateful for tonight as we sit around the table together as free people.

Kadesh – blessing over 1^st cup of wine

Like almost every Jewish holiday and ritual, we begin the Passover Seder by saying a blessing over grape juice, otherwise known as "Kadesh."  While we only recite a blessing over one cup of grape juice at this point in the seder, we actually recite blessings over four cups of grape juice throughout the entire seder.   These four cups represent the four promises made by God to Moses during the Book of Exodus, for God promised Moses and the Israelites that he would (1) Take them out of Egypt, (2) Free them from slavery, (3) Redeem them as a people, and (4) Take them into the land of Israel.   Each time we recite a blessing over grape juice, we are recalling the promises that God made to the Israelites, while our thanking God for giving these special days on the Jewish calendar for us to celebrate.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָפֶן.

Ba-ruch a-tah, A-do-nai,E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam,bo-rei p'ri ha-ga-fen.  (Amen) Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen)

Urchatz – Ritual washing of hands

According to the Jewish law we are obligated to wash our hands before we partake in the Karpas or dipping the vegetables in salt water. We do not say a blessing at this point in the service while washing our hands.

"Why do we wash our hands at this point in this Seder?" the Talmud asks. "Because it is an unusual activity which prompts the children to ask questions." The very name Haggadah means "telling," for the goal of the Seder is to arouse curious questions, and provide satisfying answers.

Karpas (Parsley in salt water)

During the seder, we will eat certain foods in certain ways to remind us of the Exodus story and to help us to imagine what it would have felt like to be an Israelite escaping from Egypt all that time ago.

Now, we will dip parsley in salt water.

The salt water represents the bitter tears shed by our ancestors as slaves in Egypt.

The karpas - which can be any green vegetable - represents spring. In Israel, Passover is a Spring festival, and Spring is the season of hope and renewal.

While our ancestors in Egypt suffered terribly as slaves and shed many tears, the Exodus story is one of new beginnings and reminds us of the opportunity of renewal and rebirth in all of our lives. Even where there is tremendous sadness, there is always the opportunity for new and better beginnings. 

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה                                                     

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-adamah.

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

Yachatz (Breaking the middle Matzah)

Ha lachma anya – This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

We will now each take a piece of matzah and break it into two. I will take one half of my matzah and hide it (the Afikoman). The Afikoman will be found at the end of the Seder.

Before you break your piece of matzah, take a moment to think about what the breaking represents.

The Pesach story begins in a broken world, amidst slavery and oppression. The sound of the breaking matzah sends us into that fractured existence, only to become whole again when we find the broken half, the Afikoman, at the end of the Seder. At this point, the matzah will be transformed – it will cease to be the bread of affliction and it will become the bread of hope, courage, faith and possibility.

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:

הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָאדְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח.הָשַׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַׁתָּא עַבְדֵי,לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין.

Ha lachma anya di achalu avhatana b’ara d’mitzrayim. Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichol, kol ditzrich yeitei v’yifsach. Hashata hacha, l’shanah habaah b’ara d’Yisrael. Hashata avdei, l’shanah habaah b’nei chorin.

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).

The telling of the Pesach story is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. It’s tradition that the youngest person in the family asks the questions. The rabbis who created the set format for the Seder gave us the Mah Nishtanah, or Four Questions, to help break the ice in case no one had their own questions. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life.

מַה נִּשְּׁתַּנָה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹתשֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹתאָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה,

-הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּהכּוּלוֹ מַצָּה.שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹתאָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת,

 - הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּהמָרוֹר.שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין אֶנוּ מַטְבִּילִין אֲפִילוּ פַּעַם אֶחָת,

- הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּהשְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים.שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹתאָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵּין יוֹשְׁבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִּין,

 - הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּהכֻּלָנו מְסֻבִּין

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?

Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlim bein yoshvin uvein m’subin,

-halailah hazeh kulanu m’subin?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

1.     Why on all other nights we eat both leavened bread and matzah, and tonight we only eat matzah?

2.     On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but tonight why do we only eat bitter herbs?

3.     On all other nights we aren’t expected to dip our vegetables at all. Why, tonight, do we do it twice?

4.     On all other nights we eat either sitting normally or reclining. Why do we sit reclining tonight?

Answer 1: We were slaves in Egypt. Our ancestor in flight from Egypt did not have time to let the dough rise. With not a moment to spare they snatched up the dough they had prepared and fled. But the hot sun beat as they carried the dough along with them and baked it into the flat unleavened bread we call matzah.

Answer 2: The first time we dip our greens to taste the brine of enslavement. We also dip to remind ourselves of all life and growth, of earth and sea, which gives us sustenance and comes to life again in the springtime.

Answer 3: The second time we dip the maror into the charoset. The charoset reminds us of the mortar that our ancestors mixed as slaves in Egypt. But our charoset is made of fruit and nuts, to show us that our ancestors were able to withstand the bitterness of slavery because it was sweetened by the hope of freedom.

Answer 4: Slaves were not allowed to rest, not even while they ate. Since our ancestors were freed from slavery, we recline to remind ourselves that we, like our ancestors, can overcome bondage in our own time. We also recline to remind ourselves that rest and rejuvenation are vital to continuing our struggles. We should take pleasure in reclining, even as we share our difficult history.

There are four children – one wise, one scornful, one simple, and one innocent.

The wise child is intellectually curious. She asks – “What is the meaning of the laws and observances which God has commanded you?”

In response we explain the observances of Pesach in detail.

The scornful child is intentionally vague and haughty. He asks – “What does this service mean to you?”

The child says “to you” and does not feel part of our observances. We tell him that, by excluding herself, he would not have been redeemed had he been in Egypt. We ask him to listen closely and become part of our traditions and learn what the Seder means.

The simple child asks – “What is this ceremony about?” We say, “We are remembering a time long ago when we were forced to work as slaves. God made us a free people and we are celebrating our freedom.” We hope that by observing the Seder year after year, she will come to appreciate the message of Pesach.

The innocent child doesn’t think to question. To him we say, “Every year we remember how we were brought out of slavery to freedom.”

Some rabbis remind us that there is also a fifth child... the one who is not at this table. This is the person who should be with us, but is not... and we mark her absence.

At the end of the biblical book of Genesis, Joseph brings his family to Egypt. Over the following centuries, the descendants of Joseph's family (the Hebrews) become so numerous that when a new king comes to power he fears what might happen if the Hebrews decide to rise against the Egyptians. He decides that the best way to avoid this situation is to enslave them. According to tradition, these enslaved Hebrews are the ancestors of modern day Jews.

Despite pharaoh's attempt to subdue the Hebrews they continue to have many children. As their numbers grow, pharaoh comes up with another plan: he will send soldiers to kill all newborn male babies who were born to Hebrew mothers. This is where the story of Moses begins.

In order to save Moses from the grisly fate pharaoh has decreed, his mother and sister put him in a basket and set it afloat on the river. Their hope is that the basket will float to safety and whomever finds the baby will adopt him as their own. His sister, Miriam, follows along as the basket floats away. Eventually it is discovered by none other than pharaoh's daughter. She saves Moses and raises him as her own, so that a Hebrew child is raised as a prince of Egypt.

When Moses grows up he kills an Egyptian guard when he sees him beating a Hebrew slave. Then Moses flees for his life, heading into the desert. In the desert he joins the family of Jethro, a Midian priest, by marrying Jethro's daughter and having children with her. He becomes a shepherd for Jethro's flock and one day, while out tending the sheep, Moses meets God in the wilderness. The voice of God calls out to him from a burning bush and Moses answers: "Hineini!" ("Here I am!" in Hebrew.)

God tells Moses that he has been chosen to free the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Moses is not sure he can carry out this command. But God reassures Moses that he will have help in the form of God's aide and his brother, Aaron.

Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham, the first person to have the idea that maybe all those little statues his contemporaries worshiped as gods were just statues. The idea of one God, invisible and all-powerful, inspired him to leave his family and begin a new people in Canaan, the land that would one day bear his grandson Jacob’s adopted name, Israel.

God had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise came with a frightening vision of the troubles along the way: “Your descendants will dwell for a time in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years; however, I will punish the nation that enslaved them, and afterwards they shall leave with great wealth."

Raise the glass of wine and say:

וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ וְלָֽנוּ.

V’hi she-amda l’avoteinu v’lanu.

This promise has sustained our ancestors and us.

For not only one enemy has risen against us to annihilate us, but in every generation there are those who rise against us. But God saves us from those who seek to harm us.

The glass of wine is put down.

At the end of the biblical book of Genesis, Joseph brings his family to Egypt. Over the following centuries, the descendants of Joseph's family (the Hebrews) become so numerous that when a new king comes to power he fears what might happen if the Hebrews decide to rise against the Egyptians. He decides that the best way to avoid this situation is to enslave them. According to tradition, these enslaved Hebrews are the ancestors of modern day Jews.

Despite pharaoh's attempt to subdue the Hebrews they continue to have many children. As their numbers grow, pharaoh comes up with another plan: he will send soldiers to kill all newborn male babies who were born to Hebrew mothers. This is where the story of Moses begins.

In order to save Moses from the grisly fate pharaoh has decreed, his mother and sister put him in a basket and set it afloat on the river. Their hope is that the basket will float to safety and whomever finds the baby will adopt him as their own. His sister, Miriam, follows along as the basket floats away. Eventually it is discovered by none other than pharaoh's daughter. She saves Moses and raises him as her own, so that a Hebrew child is raised as a prince of Egypt.

The Passover story is most often associated with the leadership of Moses, but in fact the cycle of protest that culminated in the Exodus from Egypt began with the courageous acts of two women who disobeyed Pharaoh’s decree to murder all Hebrew male babies born in Egypt. These women, Shifra and Puah, practiced a bold and noteworthy profession—midwifery. It was their commitment to preserving human life and their skills as midwives that provided the safe and secret delivery of Hebrew baby boys. That the biblical text actually mentions Shifra and Puah by name suggests the ultimate importance of their role in the liberation of the Israelites.

When Moses grows up he kills an Egyptian guard when he sees him beating a Hebrew slave. Then Moses flees for his life, heading into the desert. In the desert he joins the family of Jethro, a Midian priest, by marrying Jethro's daughter and having children with her. He becomes a shepherd for Jethro's flock and one day, while out tending the sheep, Moses meets God in the wilderness. The voice of God calls out to him from a burning bush and Moses answers: "Hineini!" ("Here I am!" in Hebrew.)

God tells Moses that he has been chosen to free the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Moses is not sure he can carry out this command. But God reassures Moses that he will have help in the form of God's aide and his brother, Aaron.

One day when Moses was taking care of his sheep, he saw a burning bush and heard a voive coming from the bush. It was the mighty voice of God. God told Moses to go back to Egypt and free the Jewish Slaves from cruel Pharaoh.

So Moses listened to God an he returned to Egypt and demanded that pharaoh release the Hebrews from bondage. Pharaoh refused! As a result God sends ten plagues upon Egypt. Pharaoh promised to free the Jewish slaves, but then he refused again when the plagues subsided.

1. Blood - The waters of Egypt are turned to blood. All the fish die and water becomes unusable.

2. Frogs - Hordes of frogs swarm the land of Egypt.

3. Lice - Masses of gnats or lice invade Egyptian homes and plague the Egyptian people.

4. Wild Animals - Wild animals invade Egyptian homes and lands, causing destruction and wrecking havoc.

5. Blight - Egyptian livestock is struck down with disease.

6. Boils - The Egyptian people are plagued by painful boils that cover their bodies.

7. Hail - Severe weather destroys Egyptian crops and beats down upon them.

8. Locusts - Locusts swarm Egypt and eat any remaining crops and food.

9. Darkness - Darkness covers the land of Egypt for three days.

10. Death of the Firstborn - The firstborn of every Egyptian family is killed. Even the firstborn of Egyptian animals die.

The tenth plague is where the Jewish holiday of Passover derives its name, because while the Angel of Death visited Egypt it "passed over" Hebrew homes, which had been marked with lambs blood on the doorposts.

The Jewish slaves were not affected by any of the plagues. It was the last, and the most fierce plague, the slaying of the first born, that finally made the Pharoah surrender, and allow the Jewish people to leave Egypt.

However, the Egyptians soon chased after the Jewish slaves on horseback and nearly caught up with them when the Jews were stranded at the Red Sea. At that point, Moses was commanded by God to lift up his staff, and the waters parted. The slaves safely passed through the sea, and the pursuing Egyptian army was drowned. The Jewish people were free!!!!!

Moses told the Jewish people to celebrate Pesach every year to remember that once they were slaves in Egypt, and now they are free. That is why we celebrate Pesach today.

As we recite each of the Ten Plagues, we dip out a drop of wine from our wine cup. When human beings suffer, even evil human beings, our joy cannot be complete.A full cup is the symbol of complete joy. Though we celebrate the triumph of our sacred cause, our happiness cannot be complete so long as others had to be sacrificed for its sake. We shall, therefore, diminish the wine in our cups as we recall the plagues visited upon the Egyptians, to give expression to our sorrow over the losses which each plague exacted.

We now recite the list of the ten ancient plagues, pouring off wine as each one is mentioned.Each additional drop of wine we now pour out of our cups is hope and prayer that people will cast out the plagues that today threaten everyone everywhere they are found, beginning in our own heartsGod brought Ten Plagues upon the Egyptians, and they were:

Blood - Dam ... Frogs - Tzefardeah ... Lice  - Kinim ... Beasts - Arov ... Blight - Dver ... Boils - Sh'himHail - Barad ... Locusts  - Arbeh . .. Darkness - Hoshekh ... Death of the Firstborn - Macat B'khorot.