Welcome to my seder! When I invited most of you I described a Passover seder as part religious service/part meal/part dinner party. It is the traditional Passover meal that includes reading, drinking 4 cups of wine, telling stories, eating special foods, singing, and other traditions. The word seder literally means "order", as the service follows a specific order, dictated by the  Haggadah  (literally meaning "the telling"). The Haggadah is the book we use during the seder that is filled with questions, answers, stories, songs, and prayers. 

The holiday of Passover lasts 8 nights and we are commanded to have seders on the first two nights. The seder is supposed to take place with everyone in a reclining position. This is because slaves ate hurriedly; the affluent and free were able to recline on cushions. On Passover, rich and poor are indistinguishable and all are free and thus privileged to recline. 

The spirit of Judaism is alive in question asking, so if anyone has any questions throughout the night please speak up!

The seder officially begins with a physical act: lighting the candles. In Jewish tradition, lighting candles and saying a blessing over them marks a time of transition, from the day that is ending to the one that is beginning, from ordinary time to sacred time. Lighting the candles is an important part of our Passover celebration because their flickering light reminds us of the importance of keeping the fragile flame of freedom alive in the world.

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.

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with laws and commanded us to light the festival lights.

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.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, she-hechiyanu v’key’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who has kept us alive, raised us up, and brought us to this happy moment.

We drink the first glass of wine!

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.

To wash your hands, you don’t need soap, but you do need a cup to pour water over your hands. Pour water over each of your hands, two times on your dominant hand and once on your non-dominant hand. 

Our hands can be vehicles for creation or destruction. We cleanse our hands and dedicate them to working for good in the world. 

Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration.

We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter. Most families use a green vegetable, such as parsley or celery, but some families from Eastern Europe have a tradition of using a boiled potato since greens were hard to come by at Passover time. Whatever symbol of spring and sustenance we’re using, we now dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves. Before we eat it, we recite a short blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

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

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruits of the earth.

As we dip the karpas into the salt water, we see the tears of all who suffer injustice mingling with our hopes for life, rebirth and new possibilities for justice. 

There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal… and win a prize.

We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from Egypt. As slaves, they had faced many false starts before finally being let go. When the word of their freedom came, they took whatever dough they had and ran with it before it had the chance to rise, leaving it looking something like matzah. 

Uncover and hold up the three pieces of matzah and say:

This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, come and eat; all who are needy, come and celebrate Passover with us. This year we are slaves; next year we will be free.

We break the matzah in two, reflecting the deep brokenness in our world and our commitment to repair it. 

Pour the second glass of wine for everyone.

The Haggadah doesn’t tell the story of Passover in a linear fashion. Instead, we get an impressionistic collection of songs, images, and stories of both the Exodus from Egypt and from Passover celebrations through the centuries. Some say that this keeps the focus on the role that every member of the community has in bringing about positive change.

The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. The tradition that the youngest person asks the questions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. The rabbis who created the set format for the seder gave us the 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 נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילות

Ma nishtana halaila hazeh mikol haleilot?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכלין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה  הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלּוֹ מצה  

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin chameitz u-matzah. Halaila hazeh kulo matzah.

On all other nights we eat both leavened bread and matzah.
Tonight we only eat matzah.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin shi’ar yirakot haleila hazeh maror.

On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables,
but tonight we eat bitter herbs.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין אָֽנוּ מַטְבִּילִין אֲפִילוּ פַּֽעַם אחָת  הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה שְׁתֵּי פְעמים

Shebichol haleilot ain anu matbilin afilu pa-am echat. Halaila hazeh shtei fi-amim.

On all other nights we aren’t expected to dip our vegetables one time.
Tonight we do it twice.

שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָֽנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵּין יוֹשְׁבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִּין.  :הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלָּֽנוּ מְסֻבין

Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin bein yoshvin uvein m’subin. Halaila hazeh kulanu m’subin.

On all other nights we eat either sitting normally or reclining.
Tonight we recline.

As we tell the story of Pesach, we think about it from all angles. Our Haggadah speaks of four different types of children who might react differently to the Passover Seder. It is our job to make our story accessible to all the members of our community, so we think about how we might best reach each type of child: 

What does the wise child say?

The wise child asks, “What are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments we learn through the Passover story?"

Discuss with that child the order and meaning of the Seder, and teach this child the rules of observing the holiday of Passover.

What does the thoughtless child say?

The thoughtless child asks, "What does this service mean to you? What is the point?"

By using the word “you” and not “us,” the child is not including him or herself in the community. Because he takes himself out of the community and misses the point, say to this child: “This service helps  us  remember and learn from  our  people’s journey to freedom.”

The simple child asks, "What is this?"

To this child, answer plainly: “This is the story of the ancient Jewish people's journey to freedom.”

What about the child who doesn’t know how to ask a question?

Help this child by telling the story of when the Jews went forth from Egypt.

Some say that The Four Children is a metaphor for the four different attitudes toward tradition, toward belonging and toward being active or passive in the face of injustice. Some say it is about stages of life, from childhood, through adolescence and into adulthood (and, potentially, back again toward old age).

In the spirit of telling the story of Exodus, and different attitudes that one might take to one's communal and global responsibilities, let us think about our relationship to our own traditions, the people from whom or the place from which we come and the events taking place there.

The Passover story is from the Biblical book of Exodus, which discusses the ancient Hebrews’ enslavement in Egypt and how they were freed. It’s the central story of the Torah and reflects some of the biggest themes in Jewish history: oppression and the longing for freedom; the sense that Jews are resilient people who will survive adversity; and the contrast between living in what’s called the “diaspora” and living in a Jewish homeland. Those themes, and their contemporary resonance, are a big part of the Passover holiday today.

The Passover story begins when the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, starts worrying that the Jews living in Egypt will outnumber his own people. The Egyptians' way of dealing with their "Jewish Problem" is to enslave the Jews. They are all forced into backbreaking labor, compelled to build cities of treasure houses for Pharaoh. But still, the Jews continue to multiply, to Pharaoh's eyes, at an ever frightening pace. To put a stop to this, Pharaoh summons the Jewish midwives, Shifra and Puah, and commands them to kill all Jewish newborn males. This, he is certain, will put an end to the propagation of this race. When the midwives defy his order, he commands that they cast all the newborn males into the Nile—his stargazers had predicted that the savior of the Jews would die through water—and Pharaoh hopes his plan will ensure an early death for any potential Jewish leader.

A Jewish woman Jocheved gives birth to a son. Because he is born three months early, she is able to conceal him for that amount of time. When she can no longer hide him, she builds a small water-proof cradle and puts her child on the brink of the Nile. The child's sister, Miriam, hides among the brush to watch the child. Pharaoh's daughter comes to bathe in the river when she sees the floating cradle. When she opens it and sees the weeping baby, she realizes that this is a Jewish child, but her compassion is aroused and she resolves to take the baby home. She names him Moses "he who was drawn from the water." Miriam approaches the princess and offers to find a wet-nurse for the baby. When Pharaoh's daughter accepts, Miriam brings her Jocheved, whom Pharaoh's daughter hires to nurse and care for the child. When Moses grows older, he is returned to the palace, where Pharaoh's daughter raises him like a son.

As a young man, Moses leaves the palace and discovers the hardship of his brethren. He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and kills the Egyptian. Moses is forced to flee and becomes a shepard in a neighboring city. As Moses is shepherding his flock, he comes upon a burning bush, in which God appears to him and instructs him to go to Pharaoh and demand: "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me." Moses objects, citing a speech defect he acquired while in the palace, and so Moses' brother, Aaron, is appointed to serve as his spokesman. In Egypt, Moses and Aaron assemble the Jewish elders to tell them that the time of their redemption has come. The people believe; but Pharaoh refuses to let them go and even intensifies their suffering. 

Moses and Aaron repeatedly come before Pharaoh to demand, "Let My people go." Pharaoh repeatedly refuses. 

Moses warns him that God will smite Egypt. Pharaoh remains impervious. God begins to send a series of plagues upon the Egyptians. In the throes of each plague, Pharaoh promises to let the Jews go; but he takes it back the moment the affliction is removed.

1) The waters of the Nile turn to blood
2) Swarms of frogs overrun the land
3) Lice infest all men and beasts.
4) Hordes of wild animals invade the cities
5) A pestilence kills the domestic animals
6) Painful boils afflict the Egyptians
7) Fire and ice combine to descend from the skies as a devastating hail

The people of Egypt have suffered too much. They beg Pharaoh to let the Jews go. When Moses comes to warn Pharaoh of the eighth plague, Pharaoh says: You say that you want to go serve your G‑d? I'll let the men go, as long as the women and children stay behind. No, says Moses, we must all go, men women and children, cattle and herds. Pharaoh once again refuses.

The next plagues descends upon Egypt.
8) A swarm of locusts devours all the crops and greenery
9) A thick, palpable darkness envelops the land

The Jews are instructed to bring a "Passover offering" to God: a lamb or kid is to be slaughtered and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of every Jewish home, so that God should pass over these homes. 

Then God brings the tenth plague upon Egypt,
10) All the firstborn of Egypt are killed

The death of the firstborn finally breaks Pharaoh's resistance and he literally begs the Jews to leave his land. Following God's command, they hastily depart; so hastily that there is no time for their dough to rise, and the only provisions they take along are unleavened. 

Soon after allowing the Jews to depart from Egypt, Pharaoh chases after them to force their return, and the Jews find themselves trapped between Pharaoh's armies and the sea. God tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits to allow the Jews to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Although the end of this story is one full of Jews singing and rejoicing their newfound freedom, we still remember the Egyptians who died in the sea, and the loss of all first born Egyptians.

As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. We regret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering, for we are all human beings. We pour out a drop of wine for each of the plagues as we recite them. This year, as these drops spread across our plates, let us turn our hearts toward the millions of people around the world still suffering today’s plagues of hatred, prejudice, baseless violence, and war.

These are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

Blood | dam | דָּם  We comfort and mourn those whose blood has been spilled.

Frogs | tzfardeiya |  צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ  We protest the proliferation of violence.

Lice | kinim | כִּנִּים  We stop infestations of hatred and fear.

Beasts | arov | עָרוֹב   We appeal to all people to act with humanity.

Cattle disease | dever | דֶּֽבֶר  We overcome the sickness of racism and bigotry.

Boils | sh’chin | שְׁחִין  We tend to those who suffer from disease.

Hail | barad | בָּרָד  We respond to storms and disasters that claim lives.

Locusts | arbeh | אַרְבֶּה  We fill the air with voices for change.

Darkness | choshech | חֹֽשֶׁךְ  We bring light to those who live in the shadows.

Death of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot | מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת  We inspire the next generation to carry on the struggle for a better world. 

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. 

Karpas- A green vegetable, usually parsely represents the initial flourishing of the Jews in Egypt before slavery. They also symbolize the new Spring. Right around Passover the first buds emerge, and we look forward to the warmth and sense of possibility that accompany the beginning of spring.

Charoset- A mixture of fruits, wine, honey, and nuts symbolizes the mortar that the Jewish slaves used to construct buildings for Pharaoh. The name itself comes from the Hebrew word cheres or clay.

Matzah- The unleavened bread of affliction 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 on their backs as they fled.

Maror- Bitter herbs provide a visceral reminder of the bitterness of slavery, the life of hard labor our ancestors experienced in Egypt. Today, most Jews use horseradish as maror. We mix maror into charoset in order to associate the bitterness of slavery with the work that caused so much of this bitterness. 

Hazeret-  A second bitter herb, often a bitter lettuce, such as romaine, or a root, such as chicory. Like life in Egypt, these lettuces and roots taste sweet when one first bites into them, but then become bitter as one eats more. 

Zeroah-  A roasted lamb shank bone that symbolizes the lamb that Jews sacrificed as the special Passover offering. The zeroa does not play an active role in the seder, but serves as a visual reminder of the sacrifice that the Jews offered immediately before leaving Egypt. Vegetarians often substitute a roasted beet, because the red of the beet resembles the blood of the sacrifice.

Beitzah- A roasted or hard-boiled egg that symbolizes the hagigah sacrifice, which would be offered on every holiday (including Passover) when the Temple stood. The roundness of the egg also represents the cycle of life — even in the most painful of times, there is always hope for a new beginning.

Many contemporary Jews add additional items to the seder plate to symbolize modern liberation struggles. The most common new item is an orange, which honors the role of women and LGBTQ+ people in Jewish life. A famous story is that a man once scoffed at the idea of a woman being a rabbi and said "A woman on the bimah (the podium on which people stand to read from the Torah) is like an orange on a seder plate". We now place an orange in the center of the seder plate to signify the inclusion of these marginalized communities, as well as celebrating the fruitfulness that they bring to Jewish life. 

The plagues and our subsequent redemption from Egypt reminds us that many little things had to happen for us to be free. Had God but done any one of these kindnesses, it would have been enough – dayeinu. Dayenu also reminds us that each of our lives is the cumulative result of many blessings, small and large. 

As one person reads all that was done, we respond "Dayenu".

If God had taken us out of Egypt and had not killed their firstborn- DAYENU

If God had killed their firstborn and had not split the Sea for us- DAYENU

If God had split the Sea for us and had not taken us through it on dry land- DAYENU

If God had taken us through it on dry land and had not pushed down our enemies in sea- DAYENU

If God had pushed down our enemies in the Sea and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years- DAYENU

If God had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years and had not fed us the manna- DAYENU

If God had fed us the manna and had not given us the Shabbat- DAYENU

If God had given us the Shabbat and had not brought us close to Mount Sinai- DAYENU

If God had brought us close to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah- DAYENU

If God had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel- DAYENU

If God had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the temple- DAYENU

אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָֽנוּ מִמִּצְרַֽיִם, דַּיֵּנוּ

Ilu hotzi- hotzianu, Hotzianu mi-mitzrayim Hotzianu mi-mitzrayim, Dayeinu

If God had only taken us out of Egypt, that would have been enough!

אִלּוּ נָתַן לָֽנוּ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה, דַּיֵּנוּ

Ilu natan natan lanu, natan lanu et ha-Torah, Natan lanu et ha-Torah , Dayeinu

If God had only given us the Torah, that would have been enough.

As we now transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again wash our hands to prepare ourselves. In Judaism, a good meal together with friends and family is itself a sacred act, so we prepare for it just as we prepared for our holiday ritual, recalling the way ancient priests once prepared for service in the Temple.

Some people distinguish between washing to prepare for prayer and washing to prepare for food by changing the way they pour water on their hands. For washing before food, pour water three times on your right hand and then three times on your left hand.

After you have poured the water over your hands, recite this short blessing.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ  עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to wash our hands.

The blessing over the meal and matzah | motzi matzah | מוֹצִיא מַצָּה

The familiar hamotzi blessing marks the formal start of the meal. Because we are using matzah instead of bread, we add a blessing celebrating this mitzvah.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who brings bread from the land.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat matzah.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to eat matzah.

Distribute and eat the top and middle matzah for everyone to eat.

Dipping the bitter herb in sweet charoset | maror  |מָרוֹר   

  In creating a holiday about the joy of freedom, we turn the story of our bitter history into a sweet celebration. We recognize this by dipping our bitter herbs into the sweet charoset. We don’t totally eradicate the taste of the bitter with the taste of the sweet… but doesn’t the sweet mean more when it’s layered over the bitterness?

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מרוֹר

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to eat bitter herbs.

Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb |  koreich  | כּוֹרֵךְ

In the time of the second Temple in Jerusalem, the sage Hillel ate the matzah, maror and the Passover Sacrifice—Korban Pesach—together. This combination of tastes and flavors encompasses the full evolution from slavery to freedom. The maror is the bitterness of persecution. The matzah is the bread baked on the Israelites’ backs as they fled. The lamb is a symbol of their redemption. Tonight, the korech sandwich represents the bitter and sweet that coexist in our world, and our responsibility to tip the scales toward sweetness, justice and redemption.

Eating the meal! |  shulchan oreich  | שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ

As we enjoy the Passover meal, we honor all those who struggled so that we could be free tonight—and all who still persevere in the pursuit of justice worldwide. Enjoy the meal and remember we still have some of the seder left- including 2 more glasses of wine!

Finding and eating the Afikomen |  tzafoon  | צָפוּן

The playfulness of finding the afikomen reminds us that we balance our solemn memories of slavery with a joyous celebration of freedom. As we eat the afikomen, our last taste of matzah for the evening, we are grateful for moments of silliness and happiness in our lives. We allow also for the lingering taste of the bread of affliction in our mouths inspire us to never cease our hunger for freedom.

Refill everyone’s wine glass.

We now say grace after the meal, thanking God for the food we’ve eaten. On Passover, this becomes something like an extended toast to life, culminating with drinking our third glass of wine for the evening. We express gratitude for all of the bounty in our lives—from the food that sustains us to the precious freedoms we enjoy today. Go around the seder table and have everyone share something in their life that is boutiful, something their cup is overflowing with.

The Third Glass of Wine

The blessing over the meal is immediately followed by another blessing over the wine:

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 the third glass of wine!

Praise | hallel | הַלֵּל

This is the time set aside for singing. Some of us might sing traditional prayers from the Book of Psalms. Others take this moment for favorites like Chad Gadya & Who Knows One. To celebrate the theme of freedom, we might sing songs from the civil rights movement. We’re at least three glasses of wine into the night, so just roll with whatever comes to you.

Fourth Glass of Wine

As we come to the end of the seder, we drink one more glass of wine. With this final cup, we give thanks for the experience of celebrating Passover together, for the traditions that help inform our daily lives and guide our actions and aspirations.

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 the fourth and final glass of wine! 

The Cup of Elijah

As we refill our wine glasses one last time and reflect on the seder, we also open the front door to invite the prophet Elijah to join our seder.

In the Torah, Elijah was a fierce defender of God to a disbelieving people. At the end of his life, rather than dying, he was whisked away to heaven. Tradition holds that he will return in advance of messianic days to herald a new era of peace, so we set a place for Elijah at many joyous, hopeful Jewish occasions, such as a baby’s naming and the Passover seder. We also add a cup of water for the prophet Miriam (Moses' sister), who sustained the Israelites during their years in the desert by calling forth a flowing well to quench their thirst. At this seder we are raising a cup of water as a symbol of the redemption that women have brought through the generations. We remember the women of the Passover story who often go unamed, Jocheved, Miriam, the Pharoh's daughter, and we remember the countless women who were written out of history.

We all sing  Eliahu HaNavi.  

אֵלִיָּֽהוּ הַנָּבִיא, אֵלִיָּֽהוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּיאֵלִיָּֽהוּ, אֵלִיָּֽהוּ,אֵלִיָּֽהוּ הַגִּלְעָדִי

בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵֽנוּ יָבוֹא אֵלֵֽינוּ

עִם מָשִֽׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד

עִם מָשִֽׁיחַ בֶּן דָּוִד

Eliyahu hanavi
Eliyahu hatishbi
Eliyahu, Eliyahu, Eliyahu hagiladi
Bimheirah b’yameinu, yavo eileinu
Im mashiach ben-David,
Im mashiach ben-David

Elijah the prophet, the returning, the man of Gilad:
return to us speedily,
in our days with the messiah,
son of David.

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!” Some people also say "Next year in a just world".

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/Palestine 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. As we say...

לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָׁלָֽיִם

L’shana haba-ah biy’rushalayim

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!

Chad Gadya

חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא

דְזַבִּין אַבָּא בִּתְרֵי זוּזֵי

חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא

Chad gadya, chad gadya

Dizabin abah bitrei zuzei

Chad gadya, chad gadya.

One little goat, one little goat:

Which my father brought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The cat came and ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The dog came and bit the cat

That ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The stick came and beat the dog

That bit the cat that ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The fire came and burned the stick

That beat the dog that bit the cat

That ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The water came and extinguished the

Fire that burned the stick

That beat the dog that bit the cat

That ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The ox came and drank the water

That extinguished the fire

That burned the stick that beat the dog That bit the cat that ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The butcher came and killed the ox,

That drank the water

That extinguished the fire

That burned the stick that beat the dog That bit the cat that ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The angle of death came and slew

The butcher who killed the ox,

That drank the water

That extinguished the fire

That burned the stick that beat the dog That bit the cat that ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.

One little goat, one little goat:

The Holy One, Blessed Be He came and

Smote the angle of death who slew

The butcher who killed the ox,

That drank the water

That extinguished the fire

That burned the stick that beat the dog That bit the cat that ate the goat,

Which my father bought for two zuzim.