The seder begins when we light the candles. This marks a transition, from ordinary time to sacred time. As we light the candles, we say a blessing. 

Everyone together: Blessed are you, God, who has made us holy with your word and asks us to light these candles.

This seder has been designed a little differently. It is not intended to be historically or religiously accurate, but rather to allow us to enjoy the Passover ritual in the minimum amount of time possible.

What’s on the table? There a number of special items on the table tonight. Here is a brief summary:

Maror – A bitter herb (horseradish) symbolizing the pain of slavery.

Charoset – A mixture of apples and nuts that represents the mortar used by Jewish slaves to build bricks.

Karpas – A green vegetable (parsley) that recalls the bounty of springtime.

Zeroah – A roasted lamb shankbone that commemorates the sacrifice made at the temple the night the ancient Jews fled Egypt.

Beitzah – A roasted egg representing a second sacrifice that was brought to the temple, as well as the cycle of life.  

Chazeret - A second bitter herb (romaine lettuce) that also symbolizing the bitterness of slavery.

Orange - Signifies full inclusion in modern day Judaism (women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+)

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Matzah

Matzah is the unleavened bread we eat to remember that when the Jews fled Egypt, they didn’t have time to let their dough rise into bread.

Elijah’s Cup

A glass of wine left untouched in honor of the Prophet Elijah, who, according to tradition, will arrive one day as an unknown guest to herald the advent of the Messiah.

Miriam’s Cup

A glass of water is placed next to Elijah’s cup. Miriam was the sister of Moses and a prophetess in her own right. After the exodus when the Israelites wandered through the desert legend says that a well of water followed Miriam. We honor Miriam’s role in the story of the Jewish people as we honor all women, who nurture their families just as Miriam helped sustain the Israelites.

Tonight we will drink four ceremonial glasses of wine, symoblizing the four stages of the path to liberation: (1) Becoming aware of oppression, (2) Opposing oppression, (3) Imagining alternatives, (4) Accepting personal and communal responsibility to act.

This will be our first official glass as part of our seder. But first, we say the Kiddush blessing.

Everyone together: We praise you, God, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Everyone together: We praise you, God, who has given us life, raised us up, and brought us to this happy moment.

Water is a symbol of purification in Judaism. We will wash our hands twice during our seder. Get up and go to the bathroom to wash your hands (for 20 seconds!).

Take a piece of parsley (representing our joy at the dawning of spring after a long, cold winter) and dip it in salt water (a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves). Before we eat it, we recite a short blessing.

Everyone together: We praise God, creator of the fruit of the earth.

Pass this section to the youngest person at the table.

These are the Four Questions. (There is actually one main question with four subsidiary questions.)

Why is this night different from all other nights?

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

Why do we eat all kinds of vegetables on all other nights, but only bitter herbs tonight?

Why do we not dip our vegetables at all on other nights, but dip them twice tonight?

Why do we eat sitting normally or reclining on all other nights, but only reclinging tonight?

Everyone together: We were slaves. Now we are free.

Jewish tradition tells of four daughters with unique ways of understanding Passover: the wise daughter, the wicked daughter, the simple daughter, and the silent daughter. I will read their questions, and we will answer them together.

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The wise daughter asks, “What are the laws that God has given us?” She is inquisitive, caring, and eager to learn.

Everyone together: “We must teach her the rules of Passover.”

The wicked daughter asks, “What does this service mean to you?” By using the word you and not us, this daughter is not including herself in the community. She is detached, suspicious, and challenging.

Everyone together: “This service helps US remember and learn from OUR people’s journey to freedom.”

The simple daughter asks, “What is happening?” She does not understand why we are here.

Everyone together: “We are telling the story of the ancient Israelites journey to freedom.”

The silent daughter does not know how to ask a question. She is quiet, searching for the right words, listening in silence.

Everyone together: “We help this daughter by telling the story of Exodus.”

Abraham was the first person to acknowledge a monotheistic God. God promised that his family would become a great nation, but they would suffer a lot before that happened. Generations later, Abraham’s descendents lived as slaves in Egypt, where the Pharaoh ordered that Jewish baby boys be drowned in the Nile.

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Moses was supposed to be drowned, but a kind woman saved him, and he was adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the palace. One day, Moses saw an Egyptian overseer beating a Jewish slave. He killed the Egyptian and was forced to flee to the desert, where a burning bush told him to lead the Jews to freedom. 

When Pharaoh refused to free the Jews, God sent down ten plagues to convince him. 

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Blood (dam)

Frogs (tzfardeiya)

Lice (kinim)

Beasts (arov)

Cattle disease (dever)

Boils (sh’chin)

Hail (barad)

Locusts (arbeh)

Darkness (choshech)

Death of the Firstborn (makat b’chorot)

The plagues and escape from Egypt are an example of the compassion of God. We say the word “dayeinu” to express the feeling that if God had done any one of these many kindnesses, it would have been enough. 

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

Everyone together: If God had only given us the Torah, that would have been enough!

Dayeinu also reminds us that each of our lives is the cumulative result of many blessings, small and large.

As we transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again wash our hands to prepare ourselves. Get up and go to the bathroom again to rinse your hands. This time, we say the following blessing.

Everyone together: We praise God, who makes us holy through obligations, asking us to wash our hands.

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

Everyone together: We praise God, who brings bread from the land.

Everyone together: We praise God, who made us holy through obligations, asking us to eat matzah.

Break apart the top and middle matzah for everyone to eat.

Dip the bitter herb into the sweet charoset.

Everyone together: We praise God, who made us holy by asking us to eat bitter herbs.

Make a sandwich of the remaining matzah and bitter herbs. (Include charoset if you like.)

Time to eat! The seder will continue afterwards.

Now that our meal is over, we give thanks. May the source of peace grant peace to us, and to the entire world. Amen.

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Finish your glass of wine. 

Now we open the front door to invite the prophet Elijah to join our seder, and pour a bit of water out of our drinking glasses into Miriam's cup.

Finish your 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.

Nirtzah marks the conclusion of the seder. Traditionally, we conclude with the blessing "Next year in Jerusalem!" 

Everyone together: Next year in Jerusalem!