Meredith:  So, we start our 2020 Passover Seder with the candle lighting.  Lighting the candles is the opening act for all holidays.   There are many symbolisms, like burning faith that might flicker and waiver, but never stops burning.  During this sacred holiday of  Pesach, which is Hebrew for Passover, we retell the story of how we were enslaved in Egypt so that we do not forget what our suffering was like.  
(Thank people for coming)

(Meredith lights all the candles)

Transliteration of the first blessing:
Ba-ruch A-tah A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech ha-olam a-sher ki-deshanu be-mitz-vo-tav ve-tzvi-va-nu le-had-lik ner shel Yom Tov.

Translation:
Blessed are You, L‑rd, our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to kindle the light of the holiday.

Transliteration of the second blessing:
Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam she-he-che-ya-nu ve-ki-yi-ma-nu ve-hi-gi-ya-nu liz-man ha-zeh.

Translation:
Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Candy:
We start with the wine.  Everyone's favorite part of the Seder. 

Everyone raise your glass as we dedicate the first cup.

Spring is the season of new growth and new life.
Every living thing must either grow, or die; growth is a sign and a condition of life.

Human beings are perhaps unique among the Earth's inhabitants. Our most significant growth takes place inwardly.
We grow as we achieve new insights, new knowledge, new goals.

Let us raise our cups to signify our gratitude for life,
and for the joy of knowing inner growth, which gives human life its meaning. Together, with raised cups, let us say: 

Baruch atah Adonai eloheinu melech haolum, borei pri hagaphen.
 

Joel:
Not to be confused with....

Washing your hands, for most people, is a mundane and normal thing to do.  It requires little to no thought, and can almost be automatic.  So what's so special about something everyone does all the time?  Well, like all good things when one has access to it all the time one begins to take it for granted.  When you feel the refreshing water flow over your hands take a second to appreciate something you might never have thought twice of: Clean running water.  Appreciation and remembrance are central themes to Passover, as we retell the story of how our ancestors were freed by G-d from the evils of slavery. We retell these times of bondage so that we can remember what it was like to live without freedom.  Remembering what Egypt was like helps us to better apriciate life now and all its blessings.  Everyone, you may wash your hands!

Gordon: Karpas are the fresh vegetable or herb on the Seder plate.  It reminds us of Spring, when things grow back and come back to life after a long, hard winter (notice I gave Mr. Gordon this part - John).  This symbolizes the Passover Story.   Egypt was Winter, freedom was Spring, and slavery was Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Good always comes back and all hard times end.

Joel:
(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 here; next year we will be in Israel. This year we are slaves; next year we will be free.

(Break the middle matzah and hide it anywhere on the first floor except the bathroom.  Kids go to the basement.)

John:

The Magid means a priest or rabbi who is in charge of telling religious stories.  In this context it means to tell the story of Passover.  You will notice that Moses has very little spotlight.  The reason for this is quite obvious when your forced to either watch or participate in the NAPS Christmas Pageant for 6 and you leave feeling nauseous, temporarily blinded, and kind of strange that the most fun part of 5th grade was singing about Jesus for 45 minutes.  At least there wasn't a pole in the middle of the stage.

     Though seriously Moses isn't praised because it was G-d who performed these miracles not Moses.  Humans are humans not G-ds.  But the pageants songs though... 

Brooks: The Seder is a series of questions and answers. We teach each other about the exodus, the miracles that happened, and how we remember it.  These questions are the icebreakers to help get the conversation started.  The youngest child represents our curiosity reminds us of how everyone must be involved in the Seder.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

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

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

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

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

Rick: Similar to the four questions, the questions and answers to the four sons help give us new perspectives on the story of the Exodus and how we can explain it to our children.  The four sons are the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the son who does not no how to ask a question (it has a better ring to it in Hebrew).

What does the wise child say?

The wise child asks,   What are the testimonies and laws which God commanded you?

You must teach this child the rules of observing the holiday of Passover.

What does the wicked child say?

The wicked child asks,   What does this service mean to you?

To you and not to himself! Because he takes himself out of the community and misses the point, set this child’s teeth on edge and say to him: “It is because of what God did for me in taking me out of Egypt.” Me, not him. Had that child been there, he would have been left behind.

What does the simple child say?

The simple child asks,   What is this?

To this child, answer plainly: “With a strong hand God took us out of Egypt, where we were slaves.”

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

Help this child ask.

Start telling the story:

“It is because of what God did for me in taking me out of Egypt.”

Which of these do you see yourself in?  Which do you see others in?

Abby: 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, but do not drink after, and say:

וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ וְלָֽנוּ

note to self: put in transliteration for Abby

All say: 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.

In the years our ancestors lived in Egypt, our numbers grew, and soon the family of Jacob became the People of Israel. Pharaoh and the leaders of Egypt grew alarmed by this great nation growing within their borders, so they enslaved us. We were forced to perform hard labor, perhaps even building pyramids. The Egyptians feared that even as slaves, the Israelites might grow strong and rebel. So Pharaoh decreed that Israelite baby boys should be drowned, to prevent the Israelites from overthrowing those who had enslaved them.

But God heard the cries of the Israelites. And God brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with great awe, miraculous signs and wonders. God brought us out not by angel or messenger, but through God’s own intervention. 

As we perform the ancient ritual of reenacting the ten plagues through a are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

Blood | dam | דָּם

Frogs | צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ

Lice | כִּנִּים

Beasts | עָרוֹב

Cattle disease | דֶּֽבֶר

Boils | שְׁחִין

Hail | בָּרָד

Locusts | אַרְבֶּה

Darkness | חֹֽשֶׁךְ

Death of the Firstborn | מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

 The final plague, while harsh was what G-d had to do to convince the wicked Pharaoh to free the Israelites.

He Killed Those Sons Of Jerks!!!!

    I am not a big fan of the Pharaoh since if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have half as many missing assignments in History Class.

( Although I guess with all of that empty space in the lesson plan Mrs. Clarke would have to extend the Ancient China lesson so...)

As all good term papers do, we start with the main idea:

ּעֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ הָיִינו. עַתָּה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין  

Avadim hayinu hayinu. Ata b’nei chorin.

We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now we are free.

We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. Had God not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, then even today we and our children and our grandchildren would still be slaves. Even if we were all wise, knowledgeable scholars and Torah experts, we would still be obligated to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt.

Liana: There are a few things on the Seder plate that we haven't yet explained.

The shank bone represents the Pesach, the lamb sacrifice made in the days of the Temple to honor the Passover sacrifice. Pesach comes from the Hebrew word "to pass over,” because God passed over the houses of our ancestors.  We think it's hard find the Shank bone, imagine slaughtering a lamb on the deck.

The matzah reminds us how suddenly our freedom came, 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 remind us of the bitterness of slavery, which no person should be subjected to, Jewish or not.

What else in our lives can we relate these to?  What other groups or people have expirienced similar hardships?

Meredith:

B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim.

In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt.

The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too along with them. That’s why the Torah says “God brought us out from there in order to lead us to and give us the land promised to our ancestors.”

---

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who redeemed us and our ancestors from Egypt, enabling us to reach this night and eat matzah and bitter herbs. May we continue to reach future holidays in peace and happiness.

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 second glass of wine!

Abby: Everybody's favorite song.  Dayenu.  Dayenu loosely means it would have been enough.  G-d has done all these great things.  But wait: there's more! 
 

If He had brought us out of Egypt.
2) If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians.
3) If He had executed justice upon their gods.
4) If He had slain their first-born.
5) If He had given to us their health and wealth.

We now wash our hands for the second time.  This time in preparation for our feast.  Unless you want the 11th plague (covid 19)  you better wash for 20 seconds and scrub under the nails.  When everyone finishes we return for the blessing.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶך הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָיִּם.

Blessed are You ETERNAL our God, Master of time and space, who has sanctified us with commandments and instructed us regarding lifting up our hands.

John:

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.

Thank you lord for making us eat matzah only one day a year.  I mean Dad's sandwiches taste like a whole Italian coldcut plater next to this.

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

As we have turned this bitter story into a sweet celebration, we mix our sweet charoset with the with the bitter maror.  In both cases sweetness does not eradicate the bitter but the combo adds something.  

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.

Back in the time of the temple the most important ritual was the slaughtering of the Peschal lamb, representative of the Passover sacrifice.  The great sage Hillel made a matzah and lamb sandwich; so he was clearly a preetty smart dude.  To honor his sandwich making genius we make a sandwich with the matzah and maror.

Well this part's a little interesting.  I guess Zoom didn't think that they'd be sponsoring Seders!  Huh?  Well this is up to the IT staff to figure out!  Let's Feast!

It's time to find the Afikomen.

Remember Dad hid it anywhere in:

- The main floor excluding the bathroom

- after 5 minutes Dad can give the kids a hint

Note: Brooks is the reining champion

Fill the glasses with wine.

Thank you Mom and Dad for that delicious meal and we now say grace after eating:

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, whose goodness sustains the world. You are the origin of love and compassion, the source of bread for all. Thanks to You, we need never lack for food; You provide food enough for everyone. We praise God, source of food for everyone.

You may drink the third glass!  

Abby and John = grape juice gang

This is a time traditionally set aside for singing Passover songs but Let's face it:

Passover songs make literally no sense and can seem pretty pointless.  The only half good one is "Chad Gad ya" sung to the tune of Hot Crossed Buns.  To be honest I myself don't understand how a Passover song can have nothing to do Passover.  

        So in the spirit of making Passover more meaningful for all.  A game!  I call it Would You Rather Passover Edition! (By the way I didn't come up with it)

Would you rather?

• Eat only maror the rest of your life OR drink only saltwater?
• Be covered from head to toe in boils OR covered from head to toe in lice?
• Recline whenever you eat OR dip everything you eat?
• Die from extreme Marror Heart Burn or from Matzah Choking?
• Still be in Eygpt OR still be in school 100 hours a week?
• Drink 4 cups of maror juice OR 10 drops of blood
• Live always in darkness but be rich OR live always in light but be poor?
• Have a 9 hour seder with gourmet food at end OR a 1 hour seder with just OK food?
• Have the 4 sons as your children OR have an only child that is wise?

The Cup of Elijah

We now refill our wine glasses one last time and open the front door to invite the prophet Elijah to join our seder.

In the Bible, 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 bris and the Passover seder.

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.

Miriam's cup is a new object added to the Seder.  Miriam was Moses's sister and rescued him from his basket in the Nile.  The scripture says, "I redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam" as she was there equal.  The Midrash says that, "just as Moses lead the men and taught them Torah, Miriam lead the women and taught them Torah, too."  As Elijah represents the future, Miriam symbolizes the past.  Miriam's cup is filled with water to honor Miriam's well.  Miriam would prophesize were the well would appear next in the desert so that the Israelites always had water to drink. 

The Nirztah marks the conclusion of the Seder.  We have full bellies, drunk 4 grasses of wine (but no one has to drive so it's all good), played "Would You Rather", and enjoyed a multi media presentation of the 10 plagues.  This Seder has been brought to you by Zoom.  Sign up now for a premium account.  Try it out for free for the first month!  Before we end, we'll go around and each person say what your favorite part of the Seder was.

Thank you all for coming and have a blessed Passover!!

In a moment, our Seder will be complete. However, we remember that working against oppression in the world is our never-ending responsibility. We recommit ourselves to the vision of a world filled with peace and justice for all. We work for a world where "nation shall not lift-up sword against nation nor study war anymore." We work for a world where people are not treated differently because of their race, their religion, their gender, their age, their marital status, their skin color, the people they love, their profession or their politics. We work for a world that affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every person on our planet and assures basic human rights for everyone, everywhere. Like Nachshon standing at the shore of the Red Sea, we are not waiting for a miracle but rather proceeding with faith that G-d will support us and give us the strength and resolve to work together to heal the world.

We close our Seder by saying, "L'Shanah Haba'ah B'Yerushalyim", which means "Next Year in Jerusalem." For centuries, this declaration expressed the Jewish people's goal to return to our homeland. Even after the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, these words still resonate with us. We all have our own personal aspirations and dreams that we are striving for. As we conclude our Seder, may we have the strength and the will to continue working toward our personal Jerusalem and toward a world where all people will live in shalom -- peace, safety and freedom.