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COMPANION TO THE HAGGADAH

A MODERN ENGLISH SEDER

Charles Finn 1988 - Fifth Edition...l998 DTP by Ken Finn

The traditional Haggadah describes the Custom of "searching for leaven" on the preceding evening.

PREPARATION OF THE TABLE Essentials include: Three matzos separated by the folds of an enclosing napkin. An extra, and often "special" goblets filled with wine .. the "Cup of Elijah".

Bernard Picart (1663 – 1733) ‘Searching for leavened bread, Passover eve’.

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Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and commanded us to kindle the (Sabbath and ) Festival lights.

THE SEDER PLATE Containing: A roasted egg Bitter herbs (e.g. horseradish) Charoseth. A roasted lamb-bone Green herbs (parsley, cress) A bowl of salt water. A bowl of water and a towel available for the host's ritual hand-washing. A pillow, if not for all, then essentially for the host, to demonstrate the tradition of ‘leaning’ during the meal.

FILL THE FIRST CUP OF WINE - The strict rule is that the measure should be about one and a half times the volume of an egg, no larger, so as to preclude drunkenness ... the entire contents could then be consumed each time. ON FRIDAY (SABBATH EVE) START HERE The Bible tells us .. "It was evening and then morning of the sixth day, Heaven, Earth and all of creation were complete, and God rested on the seventh day, and made the seventh day holy, the Sabbath. ON OTHER NIGHTS START ..... Blessed art thou, our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine. Blessed art thou, our God ,who has chosen us from among the nations to first receive his commandments, the Sabbath, the special days of solemn prayer and the Festivals for celebration, today the festival of unleavened bread in memory of our freedom from slavery in Egypt. ALL SAY “AMEN”

All say: Amen.

The mistress of the house kindles the lights, then says:

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Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe who has ensured that we have survived to enjoy this special day

Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe who created the fruit oh the Earth

ALL recite the blessing for wine..

DRINK THE FIRST CUP OF WINE Washing The Hands ( The Leader washes his hands but does NOT say the blessing. ) GREENS The host distributes some greens to each guest, and this is dipped into salt-water. (The greens may be symbolic of Spring, and we temper the joy of this Spring Festival with the salt water to remind us of the tears shed by our ancestors during slavery.) ALL say the blessing for vegetables, then eat the "greens in salt-water"

All say: Amen

Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe who created the fruit of the vine

Amen

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Why is this night different from all other nights ? On other nights we eat bread or Matzah, on this night only Matzah. On other nights we eat any herbs, but on this night only bitter herbs. On other nights we don’t ‘dip’ our food, but tonight we dip twice. On other nights we eat sitting or leaning, tonight we all lean.

(Divide the middle of the three Matzos and ensure that part is hidden for the ‘Afikomen’ )

It is at this point, for some reason not obvious, that many editions have the heading.....

HAGGADAH - The Service of the Passover

The host displays the special plate to the company and recites:

"This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in Egypt We now welcome any hungry person to eat with us let any poor person feel free to celebrate Passover with us. This year we are in bondage ,in exile. We hope that next year we will celebrate Passover in freedom, in Israel. We celebrate Passover as one united People. Though we ourselves may today be free... We are commanded that, in order to make the story clear even to the youngest children, we must conduct the service as if "WE OURSELVES" were liberated from the slavery in Egypt. In the same spirit we remember ,especially at this Festival ,the many thousands of Jews who are still "in bondage", even in great peril, elsewhere in the World. We therefore continue to pray that "next year we may ALL be free to celebrate Passover in freedom, in the Land of Israel. )

FILL THE SECOND CUP OF WINE

THE FOUR QUESTIONS The youngest of the company who is able will recite the four questions.

5THE WHOLE COMPANY RESPOND " Because we were the slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and God liberated us, with a "mighty hand and an outstretched arm". Had he not done so, then we ,our children, and our children's children would still be slaves in Egypt. Therefore no matter how wise we are, or expert in our Law, tradition and history, it is still our duty to recite this story each year; and everyone who has recited the story is considered to have performed a "good deed".

A tale is told of five famous Rabbis , Eliezer, Joshua, Elazar, Akibar and Tarfon..... Who , so engrossed in their Seder Service that they continued all night, until their pupils came to remind them that it was time to go to morning prayer. The Haggadah tell us how we should explain the service according to the intelligence and character of our various children. To the WISE son who asks sensible questions we give a detailed explanation. The WICKED son says "what do YOU mean by all this?" .. as if it has nothing to do with him. We are told to reply " I celebrate because God liberated ME from Egypt" and that the wicked son would not have been worthy of liberation The SIMPLE son asks "What is all this?" Tell him that God liberated all of us from slavery in Egypt. What of "HE WHO IS NOT ABLE TO ASK" .The Haggadah is perhaps referring to the very backward or mentally handicapped, or perhaps an infant unable yet to ask questions. We are told to tell even such a child the whole story.

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God heard our prayers and delivered us HIMSELF, not by a "messenger or angel" but HIMSELF.

THE STORY CONTINUES......

NOTE

The Seder service in some form or other has certainly been held since Biblical Times. However our present text is mainly Medieval in form, although obviously evolved from earlier texts. The Haggadah therefore contains long passages of theological discussion of a medieval style in which the ancient writings are searched for "hidden meaning" and "symbolic messages" and the finest details of possible interpretation are discussed much as

European theologian were debating on "how many angels could dance on the head of a pin”. For example, should the Seder be recited by day or night? If God's arm carried ten plagues to Egypt then did (quoting elsewhere in the Bible) "Gods hand" ,having five fingers, carry fifty or a hundred plagues ?

Originally our ancestors worshipped idols, but God revealed himself to us, and ensured that our Patriarch Abraham prospered and had a large family. However God also knew that Abraham's descendants would emigrate to Egypt, would be there for four hundred years, as aliens. At first we prospered but later the Egyptians became jealous and enslaved us and treated us with the great cruelty and harshness.

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THE RECITATION OF THE TEN PLAGUES The Bible tells us how God inflicted plagues of increasing severity on to the Egyptians until they agreed to release the Children of Israel from their slavery. THE COMPANY RECITES THE LIST OF PLAGUES This is done whilst "dipping out" a minute droplet of wine from one's cup, with a fingertip, as each plague is recited. All recite These are the plagues that were brought by God upon the Egyptians:

BLOOD, FROGS, VERMIN, WILD BEASTS, DISEASE, BOILS, HAILSTORHS, LOCUSTS, DARKNESS AND THE SLAYING OF THE FIRST-BORN.

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THE ‘LIST’ OF GOD'S BOUNTIES Recite: God has blessed us with many favours. Any single one of these would have been sufficient.

How many are the favours that God bestowed on us !! He liberated us from Egypt, brought Judgement on the Egyptians and their false Gods, slew their first-born, gave us their riches, divided the sea for us so that we could pass through in safety, drowned our pursuing enemies, fed us for forty years, even with Manna, gave us the Sabbath, led us to Mount Sinai and gave us the Law, led us to Israel, there to build the Temple, where we could pray for forgiveness for all our sins. (Until its destruction, the Temple in Jerusalem was the site of animal sacrifice, on the occasion of religious Festivals.)

DISPLAY THE MATZOHS Recite: Why do we eat Matzoh at Passover? It is to remind us that when we fled from Egypt bread was prepared for the journey, but there was no time to allow the dough to rise, and so the bread was unleavened, that is to say, flat like these matzohs.

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Why do we eat these bitter herbs? This is to remind us how bitter were the lives of our ancestors while they were slaves in Egypt. The Bible commands us to remember The Passover and recount it, as if we ourselves were amongst those liberated.

PSALM 113 Praise God forever, from sunrise to sunset, and above all things. Who is like unto Thee O Lord ? You look down from Heaven, to raise up the poor, to move the beggar from the rubbish-tip to the Palaces of Royalty.

HALLEL (The special hymn of praise)

Lift the cup of wine and say: "Therefore we praise God who performed these miracles, took us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to festivity, Sing for God a new hymn. HALLELUJAH !! "

PSALM 114 The descendants of Jacob fled from Egypt to the security of Judea, to rule over the Land of Israel. The sea witnessed this and fled, the River Jordan rolled back, the mountains skipped like rams and the hills danced like lambs! Sea, river, hills, what frightened you? You trembled in the presence of God, the God who can turn rock or flint into water.

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Blessed art Thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings bread from the earth.

Let us bless God who freed us and our ancestors from Egypt, and brought us to this night in safety, to celebrate Passover with our Matzoh and bitter herbs. Let us pray: God, bring us safely to all the festivals and Holy Days to come, so we may continue to pray for your peace, the coming of your Kingdom and our redemption. All say the blessing for wine: "Blessed art Thou O Lord our God who created the fruit of the vine" DRINK THE SECOND CUP OF WINE The host will wash his hands, this time saying the blessing:

SAYING GRACE , AND EATING THE MATZOH The host gives each person a piece of the uppermost of the three pieces All recite:

The matzoh is eaten

Blessed art Thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with thy commandments, and commanded us to wash our hands.

Blessed art Thou O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with thy commandments and commanded Matzoh.

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Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us with thy Commandments and Commanded us to eat bitter herbs.

Bernard Picart (1663 – 1733) Sephardi Seder

BITTER HERBS Each receives a piece, dipped in charoseth and says the following blessing:

The bitter herbs are eaten.

“THUS DID HILLEL” Hillel, perhaps the greatest of all the Rabbis was born at about 70 BCE. He felt that two slightly different interpretations could be made of the commandment to "eat matzoh and bitter herbs", to eat them separately, or together. Therefore to be certain of obeying God's will he taught that we should do both. The Haggadah says: ‘Thus did Hillel during the time when the Temple still stood. He took the Matzoh and bitter herbs and ate them together, so as to fulfil the commandment "With matzoh and bitter herbs they shall eat it’. For each person the host makes a sandwich of matzoh and bitter herbs

The sandwich is eaten.

The meal is served

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NOTE: The traditional first course is a hard-boiled egg served with salt-water. The egg is a universal symbol of Spring, and salt water is often said to represent the tears of the Jews during their slavery in Egypt. The charoseth is said to have once been a popular condiment and here it is used to represent the mortar used in the work of brick-making and building during the slavery.

AFTER THE MEAL The host distributes a piece of the middle matzoh to everyone, and hides a piece of it for the ‘afikomen’. The tradition is that nothing further is eaten. FILL THE THIRD CUP OF WINE

GRACE AFTER THE MEAL Leader Ladies and Gentlemen, let us say Grace . All Blessed be the name of the Lord, forever. Leader Praise God, whose bounty we have eaten. All Blessed be God by whose goodness we live. Leader Blessed is God who sustains the whole world, we pray you will not leave us in want,

for you sustain the whole world. We thank you for delivering us from slavery, for giving us the Law and for life itself.

All For all these things we thank you and, having eaten, we say Grace as

commanded. ( On the Sabbath add: ‘keep us strong on this special Sabbath and save us from all worry and trouble on this Sabbath’) We pray for the coming of the Messiah, who will be descended from your servant King David. Grant us life and peace, on this day of Passover, keep us in your thoughts, pity and help us. Keep safe the Land of Zion and the city of Jerusalem

(The traditional Haggadah then includes a Passage where God is invoked to punish and destroy all people and ‘kingdoms’ who do not acknowledge him) THE THIRD CUP OF WINE All repeat the blessing: Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who created the fruit of the vine" DRINK THE THIRD CUP OF WINE FILL THE FOURTH CUP OF WINE ( The Haggadah continues with a continuation of ‘Hallel’, the prayer of praise, including Psalms 115 to 118.)

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‘Jerusalem Views’ by Cherniak, artist and architect. He was among the first to be imprisoned for Zionism in the USSR, 1925-1928, then emigrating to Palestine in 1929. These postcards were published in Jerusalem in 1931 and given by the artist to the editor in 1981.

Reader: We thank God, All respond: For his mercy endures for ever. He performs wonders, For his mercy endures for ever.

He made Heaven and Earth, For his mercy endures for ever. The Sun, Stars and Moon, For his mercy endures for ever. Smote the Egyptians, For his mercy endures for ever. He saved us from them, divided the sea for us, but drowned the pursuing Egyptians. He guided us to Israel, gave us that Land, For his mercy endures for ever. We all give thanks to God, For his mercy endures for ever.

( The Haggadah continues with further repetitions of similar Praise and Prayer.) ALL say the blessing for wine: Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe who created the fruit of the vine. DRINK THE FOURTH CUP OF WINE All say: We have celebrated Passover correctly, according to Law and custom. God grant that we celebrate it again, in due course …

may we celebrate next year in Jerusalem !

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One kid, one kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

One Kid Chad Gadya (One Kid), in outward seeming a childish lilt, has been interpreted as the history of successive empires that devastate and swallow one another (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, etc. ) The ‘kid’, bottom-most and most injured of all, is, of course, the people of Israel. The killing of the Angel of Death marks the day when the Kingdom of the Almighty will he established on earth: then, too, Israel will live in perfect redemption in the Promised Land.

And the cat came and ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the dog came and bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the stick came and beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the fire came and burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the water came and quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the ox came and drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the slaughterer came and slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the Angel of Death came and slew the slaughterer that slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

And the Holy One, blessed is He, came and killed the Angel of Death that slew the slaughterer that slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stack that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the kid that father bought for two zuzim. One kid, one kid.

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One Kid