Take Me Out To The Seder

Take me out to the Seder! Take me out with the crowd!

Feed me on matzah and chicken legs,

I don't care for the hard-boiled eggs.

And its root, root, root for Elijah

That he will soon reappear.

And let's hope, hope, hope that we'll meet Once again next year!

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Take me out to the Seder! Take me out with the crowd!

Read the Haggadah and don't skip a word.

Please hold your talking, we want to be heard.

And lets, root, root, root for the leader

That he will finish his spiel

So we can nosh, nosh, nosh and by-gosh Let's eat the meal!!!

Passover is meant to be loud, joyous and fun. Singing many songs is a way to get into that ruach (spirit). Ariel (and anyone else who knows the melody) teaches it to all at the table. 

.הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב וּמַה נָּעִים שֶׁבֶת אָחִים גַּם יַחַד

Hine(y) ma tov u'ma-nayim

Shevet ach-im gam ya-chad. 

How good and pleasant it is for siblings to be here together. 

God uses four expressions of redemption in describing our exodus from Egypt and our birth as a nation I will take you out... I will save you... I will redeem you... I will take you as a nation…

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We drink a glass of wine to celebrate each expression of God's redemption. Focus on each one as you drain each cup.

Lift the first glass of wine

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָפֶן

Baruch atah Adonai Elohenu Melech ha-olam, borey p'ree ha-gaphen.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine

Drink the first cup

This night's not like other nights,

So we stop and wonder WHY?

Why dip veggies once and twice?

Salt water does not taste nice!

This night's not like other nights,

So we stop and wonder WHY?

Answer: Salt water reminds us of how we were sad in Egypt before we were free. Veggies like parsley, celery and potatoes and hard boiled eggs all remind us of spring and new good things. We dip these happy things in salt water because we remember being sad even when we are now free.

Remove the parsley/potato from the Seder plate and share it out (do not replace it after). Children can dip in salt-water or ketchup or other preferred dipping sauce.

Take a piece of the karpas, dip it into salt-water, and recite the following blessing:

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri ha’adamah.

Blessed are You, Lord, our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

We are free, but we remember when we were slaves. We are whole, but we bring to mind those who are broken. The middle matzah is broken, but it is the larger part which is hidden. Because the future will be greater than the past, and tomorrow’s Passover nobler than yesterday’s exodus. The prospects for the dreamed future are overwhelming to the point of making us mute. So it is in silence, without blessing, that we break and hide the matzah and long for its recovery and our redemption. 

Said the father to his children, "At the seder you will dine,

You will eat your fill of matzoh, you will drink four cups of wine."

Now this father had no daughters, but his sons they numbered four.

One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore.

And the fourth was sweet and winsome, he was young and he was small.

While his brothers asked the questions he could scarcely speak at all.

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Said the wise one to his father, "Would you please explain the laws?

Of the customs of the seder, will you please explain the cause?"

And the father proudly answered, "As our fathers ate in speed,

Ate the paschal lamb 'ere midnight, and from slavery were freed."

So we follow their example, and 'ere midnight must complete

All the seder and we should not, after 12 remain to eat.

*

Then did sneer the son so wicked, "What does all this mean to you?"

And the father's voice was bitter, as his grief and anger grew.

"If you yourself don't consider, a son of Israel,

Then for you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well."

Then the simple son said simply, "What is this," and quietly

The good father told his offspring, "We were freed from slavery."

*

But the youngest son was silent, for he could not ask at all.

His bright eyes were bright with wonder as his father told him all.

My dear children, heed the lesson and remember ever more

What the father told his children told his sons that numbered four.