HAGGADAH FOR FAMILY SEDER – Abigail Pogrebin 2015 *Only the seder leader needs a copy of this haggadah.

* All questions are in blue font , all prayers and readings in red with double astericks .

*Create your own additional handout from the sections in red , adding the Hebrew if you wish (easily found on Google) -- so guests can recite those together or you can assign them. Make sure you have:

1. Seder plate (with roasted egg, parsley, haroset, maror, lamb shank)2. Matzoh plate with three matzot and matzoh cover3. Bowl(s) of freshly peeled horseradish, haroset, parsley4. One wine glass, bowl of salt water and one long scallion at each place setting5. Bowl of hardboiled eggs in fridge

_________________________________________________________________________SEDER BEGINS HERE:

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes that “Judaism is a religion of questions” and “teaching the young to ask questions is an essential feature of Pesach.”

Dr. Ron Wolfson of American Jewish University writes, “There is a view that we are not obliged to tell the Haggadah unless a question is asked…Can there be any doubt as to the importance of questions at the Seder?”

That’s what we’re going to do tonight: ask questions.  

Many steps of the seder are there to prompt questions from the children at the table: why is this strange thing happening – washing hands twice, dipping a vegetable into salt water? Wolfson writes, “By not explaining, the Seder forces us to explain.” We are making our own haggadah -- built on questions. All the questions are in blue type and you can choose to ask them, skip them, or revise them.

There are no right answers. “Haggadah” means what? [“The telling,” “The legend.”]

Each of us is a haggadah – a storyteller.  

The word “seder” means what?  Order.  

We will keep to the order of the seder even though we might tell the story in a new way.

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This particular book (hold up the haggadah) is not the point and we should not be slave to it. YOU are the storytellers.  Jonathan Safran Foer writes: “A new Haggadah is made every year. Like all Haggadahs before it, this one hopes to be replaced.”   Why does the haggadah itself represent survival? It’s not just pleasant to set a gorgeous table; it’s crucial to tonight’s ritual.  Why do the rabbis say that the special dishes and napkins represent freedom? The Passover week lasts 7 days in Israel. How many days everywhere else? (8) Why the difference? [Scholars believe that Jews outside of Israel could not be certain if their local calendars fully conformed to practice of the Temple at Jerusalem, so they added an extra day.] The Seder is supposed to start as soon after nightfall as possible to make sure the kids can participate.   Why is it so important that the kids are awake and alert for the seder?

Originally, the seder meal was eaten first – before the seder itself, but the rabbis switched the order.  Why do you think?  [To keep the children’s attention as they anticipated the meal.] THE COMMANDMENT IN EXODUS (13:8) IS TO “TELL YOUR CHILDREN”.... (Exodus 13:8) Why are children the most important audience?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes, “Teach your children the history of freedom if you want them never to lose it.”   What do you think he meant? Most people want to forget the bad things that happen to them in their lives.  Why do Jews choose to re-live slavery every year?

What might happen -- or what would be the downside -- if we chose to skip a year, or never to tell this story ever again?

Rabbi Sacks also wrote this about Passover: “To be a Jew is to know that the task of memory is more important than history.”  What would you think he means? We don’t read the Passover story to ourselves – We read it out loud with our families.  Why do you think it’s important to read it out loud instead of privately? One Haggadah points out that there is no audience when we tell the Passover story at the table: “The story is to be told as if each of us were involved.” What does that

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mean – “as if each of us were involved”?

Why is the Passover story such an important story even for people who aren’t Jewish? So many times in the seder we’re told to be good to the stranger because we were strangers. How do you explain why so many have trouble really giving time and attention to someone we don’t know?

How would you define the stranger? (Someone who has a different religion? A different race? A different political outlook or point of view?)

Please take a silent moment to think for yourselves: when in the last year have you welcomed or helped the stranger? (Someone you do not know well or even at all.) It can be an individual stranger, or multiple strangers by helping an organization that helps others. If your honest answer is that you haven’t, can you commit to changing that in the coming year?

We usually talk about the Exodus as a moment where Jews were saved.  But many also see it as a moment where Jews fought back and took their own fate into their hands.  Do you see both?

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising began on April 19th in 1943.  That day happened to coincide with which holiday?  [Passover.]  Why do you think that’s no accident? THE SEDER PLATE:

The roasted egg (betzah) has two meanings – a symbol of the Passover sacrifices that were once brought to the Holy Temple and the continuity of life. How is the egg a sign of continuity? Which food on the seder plate represents spring and why? (Karpas, parsley.) What does the bitter herb symbolize on the seder plate? (The bitterness of slavery.) [FOR A YOUNG KID ESPECIALLY:] We eat the bitter herb because it tastes bad and reminds us of our struggles.  What food do you absolutely hate that you would suggest we put on the seder plate in the future to remember slavery? What does the charoset represent on the seder plate? (The mortar of the bricks that the slaves had to lug and stack to build the pyramids.) What does the shank bone symbolize on the seder plate?  It represents the lamb (Paschal) which was sacrificed on the eve of the Exodus to spread blood on the door lintels.  (The “korban Pesach” means the “Pesach sacrifice.”)

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What does “pesach” mean literally?   (To pass over, pass through, to spare) Which prophet is supposed to arrive and drink from the goblet in the middle of the table later? (Elijah) Elijah is thought to be present at two celebrations in every home: Can anybody name which two?  (Every seder and every bris.) Why is there an orange on the seder plate? (Because a rabbi once said that “a woman belongs on the bimah like an orange belongs on the seder plate.”) Why is the matzah flat?  [It represents the dough that didn’t have time to rise in the desert after the Israelites escaped Egypt.] Why is matzah considered “the bread of affliction” but also “the bread of freedom”?   What does the salt water represent? [The tears of suffering.]  Why would we dip a sign of spring -- karpas – into the salt water?  (Help: It represents that the sweetness of life and rebirth carries a reminder that freedom was hard-won, that there were tears, that we could lose it again.) Why is it important to invoke tears when we’re supposed to be celebrating? (Because we suffered and because freedom came at a cost – the cost of Egyptian suffering.) Name the other time during the seder when we drop symbolic tears? (The drops of wine we drop on the rim of the plate during the naming of the plagues are said to be tears we shed for the Egyptians’ suffering.) Please explain Miriam’s cup that’s in the middle of the table. (Miriam’s water-well followed the Israelites in the desert and kept them hydrated; she also led the freed Israelites in song and dance once they’d crossed the Red Sea.) In Roman times, when the Hebrew Bible was actually written, the servants and slaves had to stand while their masters ate dinner.   How does that explain why we “recline” – or sit back tonight?

Why do we recline to the left? (The majority of people were right-handed, so leaning left frees the right hand for eating and drinking.)

Our Haggadah says that Egypt is not just one physical place.  The Exodus was not just one moment in time.   What does that mean? Can you name a Pharaoh-like leader in the world today?

Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, and Nelson Mandela have been called Moses

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figures. Is there a living Moses figure today?

When a medallion was created in the 18th century to celebrate the American Revolution, the illustration that was chosen was of Jews passing through the Red Sea. Why do you think that was the image? Our Haggadah says, “We step into this story” not just because it’s our story but the story of all people who have experienced oppression and liberation. Please name another people besides the Jews who have experienced oppression and liberation?

It’s been said that: “Wherever we live, in whatever country, at whatever time, it is Egypt someplace for someone.”  Can you mention someone who is living in their own Egypt right now?

OPTIONAL EXERCISE: You have two index cards under your plates and a pen at your place setting. On one side of the index card I want you to write a way in which you feel you are not free. On the opposite side, please write a way in which you feel free. (Ask if anyone wants to share what they wrote --but not everyone, or it will go on too long.) Keep that card under your plate for now. [Later, you can ask your guests to self-address envelopes and explain that you’ll send these answers to them next year, a few days before Passover, to see if their answers still resonate.]

OPTIONAL GAME FOR KIDS : Put the 15 seder steps in the right order: Kids take turns selecting one of the 15 Seder Steps (each written on a separate index card) and tacking or taping the card he/she thinks goes next on a poster board or wall. (Adults can help.)

1. Kadesh = wine blessing2. Urchatz = handwashing3. Karpas = vegetable dipped in salt water4. Yachatz = break the matzoh5. Maggid = Tell the story (includes 4 Qs, the Exodus story, 2nd cup of wine)6. Rachtza = second handwashing 7. Motzi = blessing over eating bread 8. Matzah = blessing over eating matzah9. Maror = bitter herb10. Korech = matzah sandwich (matzah & maror)11. Shulchan Orech = the meal12. Tzafun = dessert (Afikomen)13. Berach = grace after meal14. Hallel = fill Elijah’s cup, drink 4th cup, open door for Elijah15. Nirtzah = accepted (God has accepted our prayers after seder’s complete)

CANDLELIGHTING – [For really young kids, buy the wooden or stuffed seder sets sold online so they can also complete all the seder steps with safe toy-versions.]

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Why are the candles that we light tonight a symbol of the fragility of freedom? Why is adding or creating light meaningful? **RECITE CANDLE BLESSING– (Consider just having the children recite it): Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu lechadlik ner shel [Shabbat ve] yom tov

IN ENGLISH: Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who has made us holy with your mitzvoth and commanded us to kindle the [Shabbat and] festival lights. ADD A PRIVATE PRAYER – Cover your eyes and think about the year that’s elapsed since the last seder, what you really are grateful for. **WE HAVE COME TO THE SHECHECHIANU – Its purpose is to give thanks for bringing us to this moment. Let’s hold hands and sing or recite it even though it might feel cheesy and awkward.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, shehechehyanu, v'kiy'manu, v'higianu laz'man hazeh.

Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all: for giving us life, sustaining us, and enabling us to reach this season.

Why do you think some rabbis believe that the Israelites held hands as they crossed the Red Sea? (Help: It’s been said they probably held hands, in part, out of fear; to steady themselves because the bottom of the sea-bed was mushy once the water parted.)   Why sometimes is it good for family and friends to actually hold hands even if it makes us uncomfortable, to connect more closely than just sitting side by side?

FIRST CUP OF WINE – THIS IS A CUP FOR AWARENESS OF OPPRESSION AND INJUSTICE (FILL YOUR CUPS)

The four cups are never explained in the Haggadah but they are meant to remind us of four promises God made to us: [discuss if you like]1. “I will bring you out…” 2. “I will deliver you…”3. “I will redeem you…”4. “I will take you…” [Exodus 6:6-7]   

There was a fifth promise one verse later: “I will bring you into the land which I promised….”

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That’s why a fifth cup – for Elijah -- was introduced by the rabbis but is never drunk: it’s the symbol of waiting for the Messiah, which Elijah will announce when it occurs.

Why might it be powerful to have four symbols – four glasses of wine – that celebrate God’s redemption and the fifth reminding us we’re not yet fully redeemed – we’re still waiting for the Messiah, for a world that’s fully-healed without suffering? The rabbis said that even the poor are supposed to drink four cups of wine tonight. Why is that important? **BLESSING FOR WINE (Said in unison)Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam borey peri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who creates the fruit of the vine. DRINK         **[IF IT’S SAT NIGHT: ADD HAVDAHLAH BLESSING – Google it.]

[For young kids especially:] We’ve already been waiting to eat something for a while.  Is that just to torture us or do you think there’s a point in making us feel hungry at the seder?

According to the Talmud, in the time of the Temple, there was a law that required hands to be washed before dipping food into liquid. Why do you think some rabbis argue that we no longer need to wash before dipping today? [There’s no more Temple, with its purity requirements.]

How does water represent freedom in the Exodus story? (Help if needed: Moses in the Nile, the first plague -- water was turned to blood, the Red Sea, Miriam’s well that fed the Israelites in the desert)        The first stirrings of freedom were from the midwives – Shifra & Puah.   Why?  What did they refuse to do? (They refused Pharaoh’s order to drown every Israelite boy in the Nile.)  Why would you say that Shifra and Puah are considered the first examples of civil disobedience? Who watched to make sure her brother floated to safety? (Moses’ sister, Miriam)

IT’S TIME FOR THE FIRST HAND WASHING AND THE KARPAS AND WE SHOULD NOT TALK AT ALL BETWEEN THE TWO BECAUSE THEY’RE CONSIDERED ONE ACT – (Use a pitcher, basin & towel at the table. Pour water from the pitcher 3x over right hand, then 3x over left. Maybe have a kid do the symbolic washing of his/her hands or yours. Notice that there is no blessing for the first washing, only

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the second.)

KARPAS: VEG IN SALT WATER**Leader: “…We taste in this fresh vegetable all the potential in nature and in ourselves…[but] We do not taste the vegetable alone. We dip into salt water…” **BLESSING OVER VEG: RECITE TOGETHER AS YOU DIP INTO SALT WATER:  Baruch attah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha-olam / borei peri ha’adamah.

Praised are You, Adonai, Our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.   [Q. What does adamah mean?  “The fruit of the earth.”]

EAT IT!

You know we “dip twice” at the seder. We just dipped the first (karpas into salt water); What’s going to be the second dip later? (Maror in haroset.)

BREAKING THE MIDDLE MATZAH – Ask a kid to break the middle matzah in the pile of three at the middle of the table. [Smaller kids can “break” the wooden one.] Why do we break the middle matzah?  Why not leave it whole?   What could brokenness symbolize tonight? The breaking of the matzah has been said to represent:-       the breaking of the shackles of slavery,-       the parting of the Red Sea,-       the breaking of the tablets at Sinai.  Which explanation resonates with you or do you want to think of a new one?

Rabbi Art Green reminds us that the Talmud says both the broken tablets (smashed by Moses) and the whole tablets were placed into the Ark of the Covenant – the Tabernacle – which was carried in the desert. Why do you think we preserved the broken pieces with the whole version? Why do the Jewish people keep and honor what’s broken?

Why do we wrap the matzah in a silk or satin cloth?  [1. To remember that it was wrapped in the desert to protect it from manna, sand and dust. 2. So that the matzah is not “embarrassed” by all the attention given to the wine.]

Which half of the divided middle matzah becomes the afikomen? [The larger half.]

The smaller half is returned to its place and considered the bread of affliction (“lechem oni”). Why might it be appropriate that the smaller broken piece symbolizes affliction – need or suffering? (It’s diminished, there’s less.)

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There is no prayer before breaking the matzah.   It’s a silent act. Why might that be?

One haggadah says that as long as the rights of others are violated, none of us can be truly whole.   How do you react to that teaching? Rabbi David Ingber once said that every child is a whole matzah and only through maturity-- only through breaking – do they grow up.   He said, “To become a human being is to come apart at times...”  How does that idea sit with you – the idea that growing up means moments when we break? Keeping that theme of silence – the absence of prayer, I’ll ask you to be totally silent. Close your eyes. Please answer this just to yourself but be as honest as you can. When have you felt broken?   [Let the silence happen.]  Now think of someone who helped bring you out of that broken place – who helped make you whole again.  

We break the middle matzah now and create the afikomen, but we don’t eat it till when?  (After dinner) Why do you think we bother to break it now and put it aside if we’re not eating it till later?    Why might it be important to know something is there, but be unable to have it? (Because a key to freedom is to anticipate the future and make it happen.) _____________________ TIME FOR THE MAGGID: PLAY “SPEED MAGGID”!

SPEED MAGGID: Set a timer, call out questions for the kids at the table to shout answers. Try to maintain some order but it will be fun chaos. Record your time and try to break it next year. (Correct answers are in parentheses.)

(“Maggid” means story. We’re supposed to recount the Passover story at each seder.)____________________Go!

THE TORAH IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE FIVE BOOKS OF_________? (MOSES)

IN WHICH OF THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES DOES THE PASSOVER STORY APPEAR? (EXODUS)

WHAT IS THE HEBREW WORD FOR EXODUS? (SHEMOT)

AT THE START OF THE STORY, PHAROAH LOOKS AROUND AND SEES TOO MANY ISRAELITES POPULATING EGYPT, SO HE ISSUES WHAT DECREE? (KILL THE ISRAELITES SONS)

THERE ARE TWO MIDWIVES WHO REFUSE TO CARRY OUT THAT ORDER – WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? (SHIFRA AND PUAH)

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WHAT IS THE NAME OF MOSES’ MOM? (YOCHEVED)

WHAT IS THE NAME OF MOSES’ SISTER? (MIRIAM)

MOSES’ BROTHER? (AARON)

AFTER MOSES HAS BEEN ALIVE FOR 3 MONTHS AND HIS MOM DOESN’T FEEL SHE CAN HIDE HIM ANYMORE, WHAT DOES SHE DO WITH HIM?

(PUTS HIM IN A BASKET DOWN THE NILE)

WHO WATCHES OVER HIM BASKET AND MAKES SURE HE GETS DOWN THE NILE SAFELY? (MIRIAM)

WHO FINDS MOSES AND PULLS HIM OUT OF THE BASKET -- PHAROAH’S WIFE OR DAUGHTER? (DAUGHTER)

WHAT DOES MOSES’ NAME MEAN? (DRAWN OUT OF THE WATER)

WHEN BABY MOSES IS CRYING IN PHAROAH’S DAUGHTER’S ARMS, WHO SUGGESTS THAT THERE’S A JEWISH NURSEMAID WHO COULD FEED HIM? (MIRIAM)

WHO DOES MIRIAM RECOMMEND? (MOSES’S MOM, YOCHEVED)

SO MOSES IS ESSENTIALLY ADOPTED BY PHAROAH AND GROWS UP IN THE EGYPTIAN COURT. DID HE KNOW GROWING UP THAT HE WAS A JEW? (NO!)

WE HAVE TO MAKE A QUICK DETOUR FOR ONE TALMUDIC STORY ABOUT MOSES, WHICH WE ALL HEARD GROWING UP: BABY MOSES IS SITTING ON PHAROAH’S LAP AND REACHES FOR PHAROAH’S CROWN. PHAROAH WORRIES THIS MEANS HE’S GOING TO STEAL THE THRONE SOME DAY AND SAYS, ‘I GUESS I HAVE TO KILL HIM.’ ONE OF THE KING’S COUNSELORS SUGGESTS A TEST: PUT OUT A LUMP OF GOLD AND A LUMP OF HOT COAL IN FRONT OF MOSES AND SEE WHICH HE CHOOSES. WHICH DOES HE REACH FOR? (THE COAL)

WHAT DOES MOSES DO WITH HIS FINGERS WHEN WHEN HE PULLS THEM AWAY FROM THE HOT COAL? (Touches his tongue, burns it.)

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT HIS SPEECH FOREVER? (He has a stutter.)

WHAT DOES MOSES SAY LATER WHEN HE TELLS GOD HE’S NOT THE RIGHT GUY TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT? (“I am slow of speech and tongue”)

OKAY: WE’RE BACK IN EGYPT NOW, MOSES IS OLDER AND HE’S WATCHING THE ISRAELITE SLAVES BUILDING THE PYRAMIDS IN TERRIBLE HEAT WITHOUT MUCH FOOD OR WATER AND HE’S DISTURBED BY WHAT HE SEES. WHEN AN EGYPTIAN STARTS BEATING A SLAVE, MOSES IS FURIOUS AND WHAT DOES HE DO? (KILLS THE EGYPTIAN)

MOSES KNOWS HE’S COMMITTED A MURDER, SO WHAT DOES HE DO OUT OF FEAR? (RUNS AWAY)

HE RUNS AWAY AND GETS A NEW JOB – WHAT IS IT? (SHEPHERD.)

WHILE HE’S SHEPHERDING HE MEETS A WOMAN AND MARRIES HER – WHAT IS HER NAME? (ZIPPORAH)

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WAS SHE JEWISH? (NO!)

EXTRA CREDIT: WHAT’S HER DAD’S NAME? (YITRO)

ONE DAY MOSES IS IN THE FIELDS, AND GOD APPEARS TO HIM? IN WHAT FORM? (BURNING BUSH)

THE BUSH IS IN FLAMES -- BUT DOES IT BURN UP? (NO!)

WHEN GOD CALLS OUT MOSES’ NAME, WHAT IS THE FAMOUS LINE THAT MOSES ANSWERS? (“HERE I AM” – “HINEINI”)

WHEN MOSES STARTS APPROACHING THE BUSH, WHAT DOES GOD’S VOICE INSTRUCT HIM TO REMOVE FROM WHAT HE’S WEARING? (SANDALS)

WHY? (BECAUSE IT’S SACRED GROUND)

WHAT TASK DOES GOD INSTRUCT MOSES TO DO? (SAVE HIS PEOPLE, THE ISRAELITES.)

HOW DOES MOSES RESPOND TO THAT ASSIGNMENT? (NO THANKS)

WHAT DOES MOSES TELL GOD IS THE REASON HE’S NOT THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB? (He’s slow of speech, doesn’t think the Israelites will listen to him.)

WHEN MOSES TELLS GOD THAT “THE ISRAELITES WON’T BELIEVE THAT I SPEAK FOR YOU,” GOD GIVES MOSES HIS NEW POWERS. WHAT WAS ONE OF THE TRICKS? (TURNS A STAFF INTO A SERPENT, TURNS WATER INTO BLOOD)

MOSES FINALLY GOES BACK TO EGYPT AND TELLS PHAROAH TO DO WHAT? (“LET MY PEOPLE GO.”)

DOES PHAROAH SAY OKAY? (NO!)

SO GOD SENDS TEN PLAGUES. WHAT IS THE FIRST? (BLOOD) SECOND? (FROGS) WHAT IS THE NINTH? (DARKNESS)

DURING THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS, SOME PEOPLE COULD STILL SEE – WHICH PEOPLE? (THE JEWS)

THE PLAGUES KEEP GETTING WORSE AND WORSE, AND AFTER EACH ONE, PHAROAH AT FIRST SAYS, “OKAY – I’LL LET YOUR PEOPLE GO,” BUT THEN HE CHANGES HIS MIND. WHO MAKES HIM CHANGE HIS MIND AND “HARDENS HIS HEART”? (GOD)

WHAT DOES GOD RESORT TO AS THE WORST PLAGUE? (KILLING OF THE FIRST BORN)

WHO GAVE THAT SAME DECREE EARLIER AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR STORY? (PHARAOH)

HOW DOES GOD KNOW TO SKIP THE HOUSES OF JEWS? (THEY SMEARED LAMB’S BLOOD ON THEIR DOOR FRAMES)

WHY DOES THAT RELATE TO THE NAME OF THIS HOLIDAY? (GOD KNEW TO “PASS OVER” THE ISRAELITE HOMES)

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WHEN THE JEWS FOLLOW MOSES AND RUN AWAY INTO THE DESERT, WHAT DO THEY EAT THERE? (MATZOH)

HOW MANY MINUTES IS THE MAXIMUM YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BAKE MATZOH? (18)

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE BODY OF WATER THAT THE ISRAELITS REACH? (RED SEA)

EXTRA CREDIT: WHAT’S ANOTHER NAME FOR IT? (SEA OF REEDS)

WHEN THE ISRAELITES GET TO THE SEA AND ARE HESITANT TO CROSS IT, WHO IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO ENTER FIRST? (NACHSHON)

WHAT DOES NACHSHON MEAN? (DARING)

ONCE THE ISRAELITES GET SAFELY ACROSS, WHAT HAPPENS TO PHAROAH’S ARMY WHICH IS COMING UP BEHIND THEM – DO THEY GET ACROSS TOO? (NO – THEY GET SWALLOWED UP IN THE SEA THAT CLOSES OVER THEM)

WHAT DOES MIRIAM DO ONCE THE ISRAELITES ARE SAFELY ACROSS? (SHE LEADS THEM IN DANCE)

WHY DOES GOD ADMONISH THE ISRAELITES FOR DANCING? (BECAUSE THEY’RE CELEBRATING THE DEATH OF THE EGYPTIANS, WHO ARE ALSO GOD’S CREATION)

ONCE THEY ISRAELITES ARE IN THE DESERT, HOW MANY YEARS DO THEY WANDER? (40 YEARS)

WHILE THEY WALK IN THE DESERT, GOD GOES AHEAD OF THEM AND APPEARS BY DAY IN A PILLAR OF WHAT?_______ (CLOUD)

TO GUIDE THEIR WAY AND AT NIGHT, HE APPEARS IN A PILLAR OF WHAT?_________(FIRE)

WHO FEEDS THEM WATER IN THE DESERT FROM HER SPECIAL WELLS THAT TRAVEL WITH THEM? (MIRIAM)

WHEN THEY GET TO MOUNT SINAI, WHAT DOES MOSES GO UP TO THE TOP TO RECEIVE FROM GOD? (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS)

WHEN HE COMES DOWN, HE DISCOVERS HIS PEOPLE HAVE DOUBTED THAT HE WOULD EVER RETURN AND THEY WENT BACK TO WORSHIPPING IDOLS. WHAT DID THEY BUILD? (GOLDEN CALF)

WHO HELPED THEM BUILD IT? (AARON)

WHAT DOES MOSES DO WITH THE 10 COMMANDMENTS WHEN HE SEES THE GOLDEN CALF? (HE SMASHES THE TABLETS)

SO NOW MOSES IS EMPTY-HANDED – NO TABLETS. WHAT DOES HE DO? (GOES BACK UP TO GET ANOTHER SET)

MOSES MAKES THE ISRAELITES GRIND UP THE GOLDEN CALF, MIX IT WITH WATER AND DO WHAT WITH IT? (DRINK IT)

NAME ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

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WHAT DOES THE WORD SEDER MEAN? (ORDER)

WHAT DOES HAGGADAH MEAN? (THE TELLING)

WHO IS THE FAMOUS JEW WHO CELEBRATED A SEDER NOW KNOWN AS “THE LAST SUPPER”? (JESUS)

THAT’S SPEED MAGGID! CONGRATULATIONS.________________________________________________________________

When Moses was told by God to free the Israelites, he said he didn’t want the job. Do you think there might be something trustworthy or admirable about a leader who is reluctant to lead?

I’d ask you all to think to yourselves about a moment when you felt self-doubt -- when you hesitated to take something on or let fear stop you from doing something. When have you said, ‘I can’t do this,’ I’m not strong enough, smart enough, fast enough, talented enough, funny enough, brave enough…? Share if you’re willing. The Exodus story has Moses playing the leading role, but the traditional Haggadah mentions him only once.  Why did the rabbis intentionally downplay Moses’ role in redemption when they wrote the Haggadah? [They wanted to emphasize that it was God who brought us out of slavery, not Moses, Pharaoh or any human being.] Why has the burning bush -- which was on fire, but never consumed by the fire -- become a symbol for Jewish survival?  [It has been said we’ve been literally burned by our enemies but never consumed; we endure.] Miriam helped save her baby brother, Moses, by watching him go safely down the river.  Aaron helped his brother, Moses, speak to the Israelites. What does this tell us about siblings in the Passover story?

Pharaoh’s daughter plays a pivotal role in the Exodus story. [She takes Moses out of the water, raises him as her own.] Why do you think it’s significant that our so-called “enemy” plays a key part in our liberation?

Rabbi Sacks says that Pharaoh’s daughter “created the precedent” for the so-called “righteous gentiles” who saved Jewish lives during the Nazi years and are honored at Yad Vashem. What’s your response to that? In the Passover story, Moses splits the Red Sea in half and tells the Hebrews to walk through.  Do you think you would have walked into the water before it split, just because Moses told you to trust that God would protect you?

When the Israelites get safely across the Red Sea and the Egyptian army drowns in their wake, God scolds the Jews for dancing: “The work of My hands is drowning in the sea, and you want to sing?” Why doesn’t God approve of this celebration? Some

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people invoked this scene when Osama bin Laden was killed and some Americans danced in the streets. Do you see a parallel?

Nachshon is the Israelite who stepped into the Red Sea before it had even parted; that’s how much he trusted in Moses and God. Nachshon’s name means ‘adventurous,’ daring. Why does he play such an important symbolic role in this story?

It’s amazing to think that the generation who escaped Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and wandered in the desert for 40 years did not get to taste the Promised Land. Because they doubted God, they were kept from entering Israel. [Do you think that was fair?]

UNCOVER THE MATZAH:**READ TOGETHER: “This is the bread of our poverty, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and celebrate Pesach. Now we are here – next year in the land of Israel. Now we are slaves. Next year we will be free.” “This is the bread of our poverty”:  Are we in this room in poverty?  No.  Then why do we recite that? “Let all who are hungry come and eat.”  Do we really mean that?   What would we do if every hungry person took that seriously and showed up at our doorstep?….  So why do we say it if we don’t mean it?  (We symbolically include all who are starving.)

Why do you think the haggadah separates out “all who are hungry” and “all who are in need”? What’s the difference? [“All who are in need” might be those who are lonely or who are wanting in ways other than for food.]

[For an adult audience only:] Who do we open the door for at the end of the seder? [The prophet Elijah.]  It actually used to be that the door was opened at the beginning of the seder, when we talked about “all who are hungry, come and eat,” and it was left open for the duration of the seder.  But during the 18th and 19th centuries, this practice felt dangerous because unfriendly authorities would spy on seders especially at the start to find evidence of the infamous blood libel.  (Jews were accused of murdering Christian children and using their blood to bake matzoh.) So to be safe, Jews waited till later in the night, when the authorities had gone home, to open the door for Elijah. “Now we are slaves.  Next year we will be free.” Are we really slaves here in this room?  Then why do we call ourselves slaves?  

Rabbi Art Green points out that the Haggadah has us saying two contradictory

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things: 1. “We were slaves and now we’re free.” 2. “Now we are slaves. Next year we will be free.”

He says we live in the tension between the two. How can both be true?

The Statue of Liberty’s poem has been tied to the Exodus story.  It was written by Emma Lazarus, a Jew, in 1883.  It reads,  “Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  Whey would you say the Statue of Liberty has been linked to the Passover story? There is always a moment in the seder when we’re bored, hungry or impatient. Why might that be part of its very purpose?

THE FOUR QUESTIONS – The rabbis tell us that one reason we ask the four questions is because just being able to ask symbolizes freedom.  How does being able to ask or challenge represent liberty? Why do we assign the children to ask the four questions? **ONE OR ALL KIDS SING HEBREW TOGETHER: Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? mikol haleilot?Sheb'khol haleilot anu okhlin hametz umatzah; hametz umatzah; halailah hazeh, kuloh matzah.halailah hazeh, kuloh matzah.Sheb'khol haleilot anu okhlin sh'ar y'rakot; sh'ar y'rakot; halailah hazeh, maror, maror.halailah hazeh, maror, maror.Sheb'khol haleilot ein anu matbilin afilu pa'am ehat; afilu pa'am ehathalailah hazeh, shtei f'amim.halailah hazeh, shtei f'amim.Sheb'khol haleilot anu okhlin bein yoshvin uvein m'subin; bein yoshvin uvein m'subin;halailah hazeh, kulanu m'subin.halailah hazeh, kulanu m'subin.

**TWO KIDS ALTERNATE AFTER LEADER ASKS THE FIRST QUESTION IN ENGLISH:

“Why is this night different from all other nights?”

On all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread. Why on this night do we only eat matzah?

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On all other nights we eat various kinds of vegetables. Why on this night do we at bitter herbs?

On all other nights we need not dip our vegetables even once. Why on this night do we dip them twice?

On all other nights we eat either sitting up or reclining. Why on this night do we eat reclining? We ask again and again: “Why is this night different?” Why does it need to be different? Jews have been excluded and persecuted for being different but they also have chosen to be different, to do things differently. Talk about the ways in which Jews have chosen separation and also how they’ve been separated against their will.

**LEADER OR TABLE READS: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. The Eternal One our God brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Had God not taken our ancestors out of Egypt, then we and our children and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. And even if all of us were wise scholars, all of us were sages, all of us were experienced in the ways of the world, all knowledgeable in Torah, it would still be our responsibility to tell about the Exodus from Egypt. Whoever expands upon the story of the Exodus from Egypt is worthy of praise.” Re-read that last line. Why is it praiseworthy to “expand upon the story of the Exodus from Egypt”? Why is expanding – or “elaborating,” as some haggadahs put it -- upon the story a good thing to do?

THE FOUR CHILDREN

WISE CHILD**Leader or someone reads: “What does the wise child ask? ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, laws, and rules that the Eternal One our God has commanded us?’ You should tell this child all the laws of the Pesach down to the last detail, saying that nothing should be eaten after the afikomen.”

What is that question about?  What’s wise about that question?

**Leader or someone reads: “What does it mean to be a wise child? It means to be fully engaged in the community, to know the limits of your understanding, to be able to search for the answers to that which you do not know.”

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WICKED CHILD**Leader reads: “What does the wicked child ask? ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’ To you and not to this child. Since this child withdraws from the community and denies God’s role in the Exodus, challenge the child by replying, ‘This is done because of what the Eternal One did for me when I went out of Egypt.’ For me and not for you. Had you been there you would not have been redeemed.”

Why is that a wicked question:  “What does this ritual mean to you?”(Because the wicked child withdraws from the community.)  Why is that bad – to choose to stand apart? When have you “removed yourself” from your community?

The rabbis say that the wicked child would not have been redeemed – would not have been freed from Egypt – if he or she had been there at the moment when the Israelites escaped.  Do you think that’s fair?

SIMPLE CHILD What does “simple” mean to you?**Leader or someone reads: “What does the simple child ask? ‘What is this?’ You shall say to that child, ‘It was with a mighty hand that the Eternal One brought us out of Egyptian bondage.” (Ex 13:14)

THE CHILD WHO DOES NOT KNOW ENOUGH TO ASK **Leader or someone reads: “To the child who does not know enough to ask, you should begin as it is written, ‘You shall explain to your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Eternal One did for me when I went free from Egypt.’”

The rabbis suggest this child may not known enough to ask because he is uneducated, because he is mute, or because he is shy. Leader reads: “Because at different times in our lives we are wise and wicked, simple and silent, these four children represent the different aspects of our selves. We hear their voices and their questions as we tell the story of the Exodus.”

Some have said the four children represent four approaches to religious life: 1. Those who have already studied and want to know more. (Wise)2. Those who grasp a basic knowledge but miss the true meaning. (Simple.)3. Those who don’t know how to ask a religious question. (Don’t know to ask.)4. And those who set themselves apart from the community. (Wicked.)

If you want to take the time now, tell us when you have been one or all of these children.

       **THE PLAGUES   - RECITE THEM TOGETHER – DROP WINE WITH PINKIES ON YOUR PLATES:

HEBREW:

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Dam (BLOOD)Tzefarde’a, (FROGS)Kinim, (LICE)Arov (BEASTS)Dever (CATTLE PLAGUE)Shechin (BOILS)Barad, (HAIL)Arbeh, (LOCUSTS)Choshech, (DARKNESS) Makat Bechorot (DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN)

Why do the rabbis say these drops are not just the plagues but our tears? (Because we mourn the death of the Egyptians killed in service of our escape.) You know that it is God who hardens Pharaoh’s heart just when Pharaoh might have been ready to free them after each plague.   Why do you think God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and then later punishes him for being hard?

One of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah says:  “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land” [Exodus 23:8]  Isn’t that surprising, that God would command us not to hate the Egyptians who enslaved us? Can you imagine that commandment applying to the Nazis? Which do you think is the worst plague, aside from the last one? The plagues get tougher as they go along, right?  Hail is worse than boils, lice is worse than frogs, etc....So what is the second-to-worst plague, the ninth? (Darkness.)  Why do you think darkness is so terrible?   Imagine living in total darkness.   The commentators explain that all too often we do not appreciate what we have until we lose it.   Why does darkness make us appreciate the light?        As it happens, Pharaoh was a firstborn son himself.  Why do you think that might figure into why God chooses the 10th plague? You recall that before Moses was born, Pharaoh had decreed all Hebrew male children to be drowned in the Nile.  Do you think that justifies God’s decision to kill the Egyptians’ first-born sons in the final plague?

The night before the Israelites left Egypt, they were told to mark their doorposts with lamb’s blood.  On Chanukah, we’re told to put our menorahs in the windows and mezuzahs on our door frames.  We’re supposed to announce that we’re Jews – publicly and fearlessly.  Why would you say that’s part of our identity – and sometimes challenging in itself: to say, ‘I’m Jewish’ in a way that’s visible?  

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Why do you think even some Jews feel uncomfortable with the public-ness of Judaism today -- the yarmulkes or clothing that delineates difference? To be immune from the last plague, Jews are told to make a special sign on their doors to let God know to pass over them.  But they didn’t have to do that for the other nine plagues, which they also got a pass on.  Why do we have an assignment for the last plague – why did we have to participate in some way in the final act that would set us free? (We had to participate in our deliverance.) The Torah says that the Israelites “had faith” in God only after God executed the tenth plague.  Then they had the necessary awe to follow Moses.  What does that tell you about faith? To date, is there any historical proof that the Exodus happened? [No.]  How does that sit with you? One Haggadah says, “When we recall the story of our oppression, we resolve to fight oppressions everywhere.” Why is it hard for so many of us to think we can do anything about oppression? Do you think it’s fair to say that we are sometimes the Egyptians of the Passover story – because we stand by while others suffer? In 1964, what major American leader quoted “Let My People Go” in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize?  (MLK) **“LET MY PEOPLE GO” – SING TOGETHER – HAVE ON SONGSHEETSWhen Israel was in Egypt LandLet my people go.Oppressed so hard they could not stand,Let my people go.

CHORUS: Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt Land,Tell ol’ PharaohLet my people go.

Thus said the Lord, bold Moses said, Let my people go.If not I’ll smite your first-born dead.Let my people go. CHORUS AGAIN

How does the sentence, “Let my people go…” actually end in the actual bible if you finish it?  [“Let my people go so that they may worship me.”]  Why do you think the

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second part is always left off when we recite that powerful phrase today? One Haggadah talks about how most of us turn away from things that make us uncomfortable because it’s hard for us to see people struggling up close, to imagine their suffering, to feel helpless to fix it.   I hope we have a few brave folks who can share one example of suffering that you find yourself turning away from – either averting your eyes, or not wanting to read about it or know about it.

MIRIAM’S CUP – ASK A YOUNG CHILD TO LIFT IT UP HIGH:   **Leader or someone reads: “Then Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the Eternal One, for god has triumphed gloriously; horse and driver God has hurled into the sea.” [Exodus 15:20-21]

DAYENU – DISTRIBUTE SCALLIONS!

In the Persian Jewish tradition, during the chorus only, they use scallions to “beat” their neighbors at the table (props signifying the egyptians whips) – so you are free to whip the person sitting next to you – whip them hard, but only during the chorus!! (I suggest two verses for time, but it’s up to you.) One rabbi in our Haggadah says that “Dayenu” is really about gratitude.  We were taken out of Egypt, and that would have been enough.  The Red Sea was parted and that would have been enough.  Then everyone crossed the Red Sea safely: that was enough.  Then in the desert, we were fed and protected: that would have been enough.   But the Israelites still complained.   In our lives today, do you think we’re oriented more towards what we feel is wrong instead of right?  Do we focus on what we’re missing – what we’re lacking or dissatisfied about – instead of how lucky we are? SECOND CUP – CELEBRATION OF REDEMPTION FROM EGYPT (FILL CUPS) **Leader or someone reads: Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who has redeemed us and our ancestors from Egypt, and has enabled us to reach this night in order to eat matzah and maror. **Leader or someone reads: “We continue the process of liberation as we drink the second cup of wine. We have experienced the awareness of degradation that compelled the Israelites to resist enslavement. We drink this second cup of in honor of redemption, even as we acknowledge the continuing struggle and the unknown road through the desert.” **RECITE BLESSING TOGETHER: Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam borey peri hagafen. [Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, soverign of all worlds,

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who creates the fruit of the vine.] DRINK

When the Jews got out of Egypt and saw the Egyptian army coming after them, they asked Moses, ‘Why did you save us?  This situation is worse.’  They asked the same question later when they suffered hardships in the desert; they said to Moses, ‘We were better off in Egypt.’  Can you sympathize with this state of mind:  that it’s better to live a slave than die free if freedom is hard at first? It’s been said that, “It took one day to get the Jews out of Egypt.  It took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Jews.”  What do you think that means? Frederick Douglas, the 19th Century abolitionist, said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” What does that mean to you?

Do you believe that struggle is necessary to appreciate the end of struggle?  In other words, that maybe we had to be slaves to appreciate freedom? SECOND HAND WASHING: Leader leaves the room to wash (wink-wink) so kids can hide afikomen. 

By this point we’ve left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.  So now we’re washing our hands to celebrate our rebirth as a people.    

We’re going to go right from the handwashing blessing to the matzah blessing. There is supposed to be silence between them because they’re considered one act. A ritual is not done until the blessing and the act are completed. Distribute pieces of matzah.

When we get to the motzi and matzah blessings: Notice how the first blessing praises God who brings forth bread from the earth, and the second praises God who sanctifies us through commandments and commands us to eat matzoh.

**Leader returns -- or someone else reads Hebrew blessing --while kids pantomime washing hands or actually do it with small pitchers and bowls: [Remember, we did not do a blessing for the first hand-washing but we do for the second.] Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al netilat yadayim.

ENGLISH: Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who has made us holy with your mitzvot and commanded us to wash our hands.

MOTZI BLESSING:  Barukh attah Adonai/ Eloheinu melekh ha-olam/ hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.

Praised are You, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the

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earth.  

MATZAH BLESSING:  Barukh attah Adonai/ Eloheinu melekh ha-olam/ asher kidshanu bemitzvotav / vetzivanu / al akhilat matzah.  

Praised are You, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us through commandments and commanded us to partake of matzah.

EAT MATZAH

Dr. Ron Wolfson of Hebrew College writes that the Hasidim talked of Passover as “a time to become a ‘matzah-person’ to bring ourselves back to radical simplicity, to get rid of that which is bloated or inflated.” What does that mean to you – to be a “matzah-person”?

We cover the Torah scroll with velvet sleeves. We cover the challah before Kiddush on Friday nights.  We cover the matzoh on the seder table.  What do you think could be the point of covering a ritual symbol?  [To give our full attention to the object when it’s uncovered.  Also there is a midrash of “not embarrassing” the object under consideration; a kind of modesty.] **Leader or someone reads: “Rabban Gamliel would say: ‘Those who have not explained three things during the seder have not fulfilled their obligations. These are matzah, maror, and the pesach offering.’”

Do you think we’ve explained these three things? Have we fulfilled our obligation?

**Leader or someone reads: “Matzah: Why do we eat it? In order to remind ourselves that even before the dough of our ancestors could become leavened bread, the Holy One was revealed to the people and redeemed them, as it is written: ‘And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had taken out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, since they had been driven out of Egypt and they could not delay; nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.’” [Ex 12:39]

NOTE: The top two matzot (including the remaining half from middle matzah) stand for the double portion of manna brought by God to the Israelites on the day before Shabbat so they wouldn’t have to gather food on the day of rest. (Ex 16:22-30). That’s why we have two portions of bread on Shabbat (2 challahs) and festivals.

NOTE: Some commentators said the three matzot represent the three classes of Jews:  Kohanim (High Priests), Levi’im (Priests), and Yisraelim (Israelites -- commoners.) We eat the matzoh before the bitter herb.  Why do you think it makes sense to eat the symbol of freedom before the symbol of oppression?   

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MAROR MOMENT!   **Leader or someone reads: “Maror: Why do we eat it? To remind ourselves that the Egyptians made life bitter for our ancestors in Egpt, as it is written, ‘Ruthlessly, they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks, and with all sorts of tasks in the field.’” [Exodus 1:14] RECITE BLESSING AND EAT MAROR ALONE: **Barukh attah Adonai/ Eloheinu melekh ha-olam/ asher kidshanu bemitzvotav/vitzivanu al akhilat maror.

Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who has made us holy with mitzvoth and commanded us to eat maror. We’re supposed to taste enough maror that a tear springs from our eye.  Why should we feel physical discomfort at the seder?

MAROR AND HAROSET MOMENT:  This is the second dipping referred to in the Four Questions  (“Why do we dip twice?”)

Why do you think the rabbis wanted a moment where maror and haroset are mixed together?   [maror = bitterness of slavery is tempered somewhat by dipping maror into sweet haroset, which symbolizes both the mortar of slavery’s bricks, but also the promise of future redemption.]

Note: There is no blessing for haroset because it’s considered an integral part of the maror.

Why do you think we do not recline while eating maror?  (It’s a symbol of slavery and slaves to do not recline while eating.)

INSTRUCTION:   DIP SOME MAROR INTO THE HAROSET , SHAKE OFF EXCESS, RECITE THE SAME BLESSING WITHOUT RECLINING:

**Barukh attah Adonai/ Eloheinu melekh ha-olam/ asher kidshanu bemitzvotav/vitzivanu al akhilat maror.  HILLEL SANDWICH: PUT MATZOH WITH MARORIn ancient times, Hillel ate the three symbolic foods (lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs) together so that each mouthful contained all three. Thus the symbols of slavery and of liberation were intermingled. Now that we do not have the Paschal lamb because there are no more Temple sacrifices, we eat just the matzah and horse-radish in a "Hillel sandwich".

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INSTRUCTIONS:  Distribute pieces of the bottom ceremonial matzah or the matzoh piled on the table.  Put maror between two pieces of matzah.  Some add haroset because it’s believed to be part of maror.  

**Leader or someone reads: “As a reminder of the sacrificial system in the Temple in Jerusalem, we observe the practice of Hillel. In the days when the Temple was still standing, Hillel would make a sandwich with matzah and maror and eat it, in order to fulfill the verse, ‘They shall eat it with matzot and maror.’” [Numbers 9:11]

Why is it important that the haroset not overwhelm the taste of the maror when you put them together?

Passover seems to hold two ideas so close: that humans can suffer and that they can rejoice.   (Think of the bitter herb paired with the haroset.)  How is that like our lives –where we have to hold hurt and celebration at the same time?

**Leader or someone reads: “Why did our ancestors eat the pesach offering during the time of the Temple? As a reminder that the Holy One protected the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is written: ‘You shall say, It is the pesach sacrifice to the Eternal One, because God passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when God smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses.’” [Exodus 12:27] NO BLESSING: JUST EAT THE SANDWICH*********************************************************************

MEAL BEGINS HERE !! Eat hard-cooked eggs dipped in salt water.  

SEDER CONTINUES HERE AFTER THE MEAL: tktk

WHERE IS THE AFIKOMEN ? – The leader needs it to continue and to finish the seder. Ask the kids where it is. Bargain to get it back.

Afikomen means “dessert” or refers to revelry after Roman banquets.

The Afikomen was understood by the Rabbis to be a symbol of the paschal sacrifice -- a substitute for the sacrifice we can no longer eat because the Temple is gone. The Greek meaning of “Afikomen” can be understood as “that which is coming,” not just dessert; some translate it as “he who is coming.” Who is coming? [Discuss idea of a messiah coming if you like.] According to Jewish tradition, Messiah will come at Passover to bring a redemption similar to the redemption brought through Moses. This is why a place is left at the table for Elijah, the forerunner of Messiah (Malachi 4:5)

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After we eat the Afikomen, we’re not supposed to put anything else in our mouths. Why should it be the last thing we taste?

EAT THE AFIKOMEN WHILE RECLINING - THERE IS NO BLESSINGCan you list the things we’ve done that required no blessing? (First handwashing, breaking the middle matzoh, eating sandwich of matzoh and maror, Afikomen.) THIRD CUP: **Leader or someone reads: We dedicated the first cup of wine to awareness – the first step taken in the journey toward liberation. We drank the second cup in celebration of the redemption from Egypt. We now drink this third cup in gratitude for all the gifts we have been given.         KIDS: name one gift for which they’ve been grateful this past year **LIFT THE CUP AND RECITE: Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam borey peri hagafen. [Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who creates the fruit of the vine.] DRINK Abraham Joshua Heschel said: “In a free society, where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, all are responsible.” How does the Passover story tell us to feel responsible? Since Obama has been in the White House, he’s held a seder every year.  Why do you think he chose to observe a holiday that wasn’t his?  MIRIAM’S CUP Kids, please point to Miriam’s cup. Name one thing that Miriam did that was important in this story?  [She helped save Moses, she led the dancing after the Red Sea crossing, she fed the Israelites in the desert with her well.]

While Elijah is about improving the world in the future, Miriam is about taking care of the world right now. **EVERYONE RECITE THE BLESSING: [give them a chance to hear it first]Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam shehakol niyeh bidvaro

Praised are you, Eternal One our God, soverign of all worlds, who creates all things.

Think about the night before the Jews left Egypt.  They’d marked their doors and they waited.  Do you think many of them slept?  Had they been allowed to pack?  Do you think they were sure they were going to make it out alive?  Do you think they opened their doors that night to anyone?   But we open our doors tonight, don’t we?  Why?  Who are we opening our doors to?

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Kids, Please point to Elijah’s cup. ELIJAH: Who was – or is – Elijah? What does he represent?  [He is considered the forerunner of the Messiah.  He was the outstanding religious leader of his time and the only character in the bible who doesn’t die. He was carried to heaven in a chariot pulled by horses of fire. (Kings 2:1-11)  The later prophet, Malachi, links him to the Messianic age.] Why do you think we have to open the door for Elijah if he’s a prophet and prophets are supposedly everywhere? [We have to take part in improving the world.]

Some families have adopted a new custom where every participant pours a few drops of his/her own wine into Elijah’s cup. What do you think that symbolizes? [Redemption needs every one of us. ADD THIS CUSTOM IF YOU LIKE IT.] Rabbi Art Green reminds, “The Messiah will only come when we have done most of the work.” What does that mean – that we have to do most of the work?

Elijah’s arrival suggests that there will be a better, more improved world some day. One Haggadah says the lesson of Passover is that: “The way things are is not the way things have to be.”  Why should we be thinking about the Messianic age -- an improved world -- during the seder? SONGS! PRINT OUT SONG SHEETS FOR ANY SONGS YOU USUALLY SING

**SONG: Eliyahu Hanavi (“Elijah the Prophet”) Eliyahu hanavi Eliyahu hatishbi, Eliyahu hagil'adi - Bim'hera yavoh eleinu, im mashiach ben David. (x2) **SONG: Adir HuAdir hu, adir hu, yivneh veyto bekarovBimheyrah bimheyrah beyameynu bekarovEl beney, el beney beney veytcha bekarov **SONG: Had Gadya –

It’s been said that in “Had Gadya,” each object symbolizes one of Israel’s enemies through the years.  Israel (the only kid) is purchased by the father (Adonai), for two zuzim (the two tablets of the Law) and is subjected to peoples who supplant each other as Israel’s foes: Assyria (the cat), Babylon (the dog), Persia Greece (the fire),

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Rome (the water), the Saracens (the ox), the Crusaders (the shohet), and the Ottomans (the angel of death).  But, in the end, the Holy One saves the Jewish people.

There is a prayer that many leave out in our seders today because it makes Jews so uncomfortable and seems to contradict the seder ethos of freedom and compassion. It’s called the Shfoch Chamatcha -- “Pour out thy wrath” and it basically exhorts God to take revenge upon the nations that have mistreated the Jewish people:  **Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, upon the governments which do not call upon Your name. For they have devoured Jacob [Jacob = Jewish people] and desolated his home (Psalms 79:6-7). Pour out Your wrath on them; may Your blazing anger overtake them (Psalms 69:25). Pursue them from under the heavens of the Lord (Lamentations 3:66)

How do you react to the idea that this used to be part of traditional seders and in some cases, still is?

It was compiled and added to the Haggadah during the Middle Ages as a response to the massacres of the Crusades (beginning in 1096), and to the persecution of the Jews during the time of Easter (which usually coincides with Passover). “Throughout the ages, the Jews, who had no recourse to violence, vented their indignation by sublimating and spiritualizing their desire for vengeance.” -Roi Ben-Yehuda

FOURTH CUP AND CONCLUSION: **Leader or someone reads: “Awareness, redemption, and gratitude accompanied our first three cups. This fourth cup is the cup of hope: Hope that next year we will all be free, that next year children and parents, neighbors and nations will turn their hearts to one another. Hope that next year Jerusalem will be a city of peace.”

**WINE BLESSING TOGETHER: Baruch atah adonay eloheynu melech ha’olam borey peri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Eternal One our God, sovereign of all worlds, who creates the fruit of the vine. **OPTIONAL – INCLUDE ON SONG SHEETS: Primo Levi poem: “Passover” – each takes a line

Tell me: how is this night differentFrom all other nights?How, tell me, is this PassoverDifferent from other Passovers?

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Light the lamp, open the door wideSo the pilgrim can come in,Gentile or Jew;Under the rags perhaps the prophet is concealed.Let him enter and sit down with us;Let him listen, drink, sing and celebrate Passover;Let him consume the bread of affliction,The Paschal Lamb, sweet mortar and bitter herbs.This is the night of differencesIn which you lean your elbow on the table,Since the forbidden becomes prescribed,Evil is translated into good.We will spend the night recountingFar-off events full of wonder,And because of all the wineThe mountains will skip like rams.Tonight they exchange questions:The wise, the godless, the simple-minded and the child.And time reverses its course,Today flowing back into yesterday,Like a river enclosed at its mouth.Each of us has been a slave in Egypt,Soaked straw and clay with sweat,And crossed the sea dry-footed.You too, stranger.This year in fear and shame,Next year in virtue and in justice.- Primo Levi, Holocaust Survivor, Passover 1982

**Adults over age 20 read :   Now our seder is completedEvery requirement is fulfilled.**People under age 20 read : Just as we have been privileged to observe it this yearmay we continue to do so in years to come. **ALL TOGETHER: LESHANAH HABAHAH BIRUSHALAYIM! Next year in Jerusalem!

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