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Holy One of Blessing, It is hard to leave Egypt, the narrow places that keep us from being free. We need courage. We need each other. Remind us what we learn in Talmud: we were redeemed because of the righteousness of the women. Bless us with the strength of Shifra and Puah… midwives who risked their lives to save the lives of innocent babies. Bless us with the confidence of Yocheved who put her infant son Moses in a basket on...

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To the tune of "Louie, Louie"CHORUS:Pharaoh, PharaohOh baby!  Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!Singin' Pharaoh, PharaohOh baby! Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!A burnin' bush told me just the other daythat I should come over here and stay.Gotta get my people outta Pharaoh's handsGotta lead my people to the Promised Land.CHORUSThe Nile turned to blood! There were darkened black skies!Gnats and frogs! There were locusts and flies!The first born died, causing Egypt to grieve,Finally Pharaoh said, "Y'all...

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If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg. Why? Because each of us is an egg, a unique soul enclosed in a fragile egg. Each of us is confronting a high wall. The high wall is the system which forces us to do the things we would not ordinarily see fit to do as individuals...

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There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal… and win a prize. We eat matzah in memory of the...

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Dipping the bitter herb in sweet charoset | maror  |מָרוֹר      In creating a holiday about the joy of freedom, we turn the story of our bitter history into a sweet celebration. We recognize this by dipping our bitter herbs into the sweet charoset. We don’t totally eradicate the taste of the bitter with the taste of the sweet… but doesn’t the sweet mean more when it’s layered over the bitterness? בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל...

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The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. The tradition that the youngest person asks the questions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. The rabbis who created the set format for the seder gave us the Four Questions to help break the ice in case no one had their own questions. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. If everyone at your seder is around...

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Break the middle matzah on the matzah plate. We break the matzah and hide one part (the Afikomen). We recognize that justice is not linear.  However, we are committed to tikkun (the healing and repair of the world). We are fragmented, imperfect, wounded healers, who do the healing as we simultaneously work on ourselves. The Bread of Affliction Raise the middle matzah so that everyone can see it and say: This is the bread of affliction. Let everyone who is hungry...

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Korech:  Mixing the Bitter and the SweetOne of my favorite moments of the seder comes just before dinner is served.  It is called Korech.  It is also known as the Hillel sandwich.  It is the moment when we eat maror (the bitter herbs) and the charoset (the sweet apple and nut mixture) on a piece of matzah.  What a strange custom to eat something so bitter and something so sweet all in one bite.  I can taste it now, just thinking...

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EVERY JEWISH FAMILY produces a unique version of the Passover seder—the big ritual meal of traditional foods, served after and amid liturgy, storytelling, and song. We’re all surprised at each other’s customs: You eat lamb? You don’t sing “Chad Gad Ya”? And yet, virtually every seder does share a few common elements. Matzoh crumbs all over the floor. Wine stains on the tablecloth. A seder plate containing the traditional symbols of the holiday: a roasted shank bone and hardboiled egg, recalling...

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Ufros Aleinu Sukkat, Sukkat Sh'lomecha Ufros Aleinu Sukkat, Sukkat Sh'lomecha Spirit of the Universe, spread over us your canopy of Peace.

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The following alternative kiddush was written by Marcia Falk, a prominent Jewish feminist liturgist. Her blessings avoid the problem of God’s gender because they do not reference God as a person-like being. In addition, they locate the power of blessing with the people ("Let us bless" rather than with God’s inherent blessedness ("Blessed are you") N’vareykh et Eyn Hahayim matzmihat p’ri hagefen. Let us bless the Source of Life that ripens the fruit on the vine.

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If we had just been freed from Mitzrayim, it would have been enough, but the Source provided more; if we had just received shabbat, it would have been enough but the Source provided more; it we had just received Torah, it would have been enough, but the Source provided more. When we look out this broken world, and all the work necessary heal it, how do we know when WE have done enough, and when WE should provide more of our...

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Have you praised and reflected on the blessing of the meal? Then you may drink the third cup.