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Continuity with the Future: Seders and Climate Change  Joelle Novey, Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA) From the Shalom Center's "Purim to Pesach" Project  “In every generation one must look upon herself as if she personally came out of Egypt.” On Pesach, we are told to feel as if we personally went free from Egypt, Mitzrayim, and the rituals of the seder help us cultivate that “memory” in many ways. We eat not only the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate in...

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Four Cups of Wine  Each Passover, we join together to drink four cups of wine to represent the promises of freedom that God made to the Israelites in Egypt. This Passover we will make four new promises: to protect, adapt, conserve and mitigate. As we welcome Elijah for a fifth cup of wine, we will also welcome a commitment to climate action, in order to promote justice and health for our earth and all of its inhabitants.  As we begin our...

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As the water washes over our hands, we call to mind the promise we made when drinking our first cup of wine. Let us now focus on our individual water usage, and how we can make our water consumption more sustainable. Let us call to mind the importance of water to all life and be more aware of the amount of water we use daily.  For more information on the environmental justice, please visit rac.org/enviro .  For all Religious Action Center...

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If the Earth Could Speak, It Would Speak with Passion  By Rabbi Warren Stone, Temple Emanuel, Kensington, MD As you dip the beauty of greens into the water of tears, please hear my cry. Can’t you see that I am slowly dying? My forests are being clear cut, diminished. My diverse and wondrous creatures -- birds of the sky and beasts of the fields -- small and large are threatened with extinction in your lifetimes. My splendid, colorful floral and fauna...

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The breaking of the middle matzah is a reminder of the fractures and breaks in our environment and world. It is a time to think about the current state of the environment and the communities that are disproportionately impacted by the environmental issues. How are we impacted by the changing climate, and how have we contributed to the rise of sea level?  We take the larger half of the broken matzah to hide, and it becomes the afikomen. It is no...

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At this point in the seder we retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. As you retell the story using your Haggadah, you can use this companion as a resource to consider the environmental perspective on the following sections.  Honi Ha-M'agel Sleeps for Seventy Years  A long time ago, there lived a wise man named Honi Ha-M’agel. One spring day, while on a walk, he noticed a very old man planting a carob tree. Honi asked, “Excuse me sir, but...

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At this point in the seder, we traditionally call on our youngest member to pose the Four Questions. These questions remind us to reflect on the very process of questioning and remembering why it is we do things as we have done them for so long. We take stock of the status quo, of our daily habits and rituals. As our youngest leads us in this process of reflection, we must look back into ourselves to question our own habits. In...

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We often talk at the seder about the Four Children: the Wise, Wicked, Simple, and the One Who Does Not Know How to Ask. We see a little of ourselves in each child as we discuss their place in the seder and how we explain to them the story of Passover. Do we tell them that we were there together at Sinai, including them in our legacy, or do we exclude them and criticize their apathy? This year, as we consider...

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We dip our finger in our wine and place one drop on our napkin for each plague, to diminish our joy with the memory of the sorrow of our enemies. This year, as we remember the plagues cast upon the Egyptians, we also remember 10 modern plagues, that have befallen the entire human race. We take one drop out of our cup of wine for each plague, because our joy is diminished as humankind suffers.  From the Religious Action Center’s “10...

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From COEJL’s “Preparing for Passover: Readings for the Seder Table” Stewart Vile Tahl, COEJL One of Passover’s lessons is learned to distinguish between more and enough. Dayenu means “it would have been enough for us.” Often, enjoying more wealth and comfort stimulates our desire for more – more attention, more comforts, more money, more, and more, and more. Passover and the Haggadah teach us to be mindful of what our real needs are, of what constitutes “enough.” What constitutes enough for...

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After washing our hands for the second time, and calling to mind the importance of water, we say:  ָבּרוּךְ ַא ָתה יי, ֱאלֹ ֵהינוּ ֶמ ֶלךְ ָהעוֹ ָלם, ֲא ֶשר ִק ְד ָשנוּ ְבּ ִמ ְצווֹ ָתיו, ְו ִצ ָוּנוּ ַעל ְנִטיַלת ָיָדִים.  Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al nitilat yadayim. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and Commaned Us to Wash Our Hands For...

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Together, we recite:  ָבּרוּךְ ַא ָתה יי, ֱאלֹ ֵהינוּ ֶמ ֶלךְ ָהעוֹ ָלם, ַהמּוֹ ִציא ֶלֶחם ִמן ָהָאֶרץ.  Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min haaretz Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.  As we bless the matzah we thank God for bringing forth bread from the earth and commanding us to eat matzah. Although we verbally thank God for giving us the tools to sustain ourselves, we must...

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The bitter herbs serve to remind us of how the Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites in servitude. When we eat the bitter herbs, we share in that bitterness of oppression. We must remember that slavery still exists all across the globe. When you go to the grocery store, where does your food come from? Who picked the sugar cane for your cookie, or the coffee bean for your morning coffee? We are reminded that people still face the bitterness...

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The great sage Hillel provided us with the tradition of constructing the Hillel sandwich, combining the bitterness of the maror with the sweetness of the charoset between the fortitude of the two pieces of matzah--the symbol of freedom. Through this ritual, we think about mortar and brick. We think of the Israelites traveling through the desert with no homes, no place to land and build up their strong communities, and only the matzah as a reminder of their freedom. It is...

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“An Invitation to a Plant-Based Meal”  Adam Gorod, Jewish Veg. D.C.  Our food choices during the Exodus were so much simpler. We could subsist on manna alone. Free of animal products, manna was a bread from heaven with a taste like coriander seed. Today the options—even during Passover—are more varied. Any number of Kosher-for-Passover items sit in the curated displays of many supermarkets at the arrival of spring. These options, however, make one fact unavoidable: we are now, at all seasons,...

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After the meal we recite this blessing to thank God for the food we have eaten.  ָ בּ ר וּ ךְ ַ א ָ ת ה ְ י ָ י ַ ה ָ ז ן ֶ א ת ַ ה ֹכ ל .  Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol.  We praise You, O God, Source of food for all who live.  { GREENING TIP }  The average person uses 350-500 plastic bags per year. Reduced your waste by switching to reusable...

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Jewish tradition teaches us that “even those things that you regard as completely superfluous to Creation – such as fleas, gnats and flies – even they were included in Creation; and God’s purpose is carried through everything” (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 10:7). Today, we continue to be entrusted with protecting all of the creatures that share our earth and the natural resources of our earth.  Together, we recite:  ָבּרוּךְ ַא ָתה יי, ֱאל ֵהינוּ ֶמ ֶלךְ ָהעו ָלם, בּו ֵרא ְפ ִרי...

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ָבּרוּךְ ַאָתה יי ֱאלֹ ֵהינוּ ֶמֶלךְ ָהעוָלם. ֲא ֶשר ִקְד ָשנוּ ְבּ ִמ ְצוָתיו ְו ִצָוּנוּ ִלְקרא ֶאת ַה ַהֵלל.  Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu likro et haHallel. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and ordained that we should read the Hallel.  Psalm 135  הוֹדוּ ַליהָוה ִכי-טוֹב: ִכי ְלעוֹ ָלם ַח ְסדוֹ.  Hodu l’Adonai ki tov: ki l’olam chasdo.  Praise Adonai, for Adonai is good,...

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Alongside the traditional items on the Seder Plate, try some of these modern additions. Following Operation Solomon, the Ethiopian Jews who arrived in Israel were unable to digest much substantial food. Thus, Israel's doctors fed the new immigrants simple boiled potatoes and rice, until their systems could take more food. To commemorate this at the Seder, you may choose to eat small red potatoes, alongside the parsley, for Karpas. Announce to those present that this is in remembrance of the wondrous...

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While our tradition applies specific meaning to the four cups of wine found within the Passover seder, many modern Haggadot have begun to reinterpret the original four cups. The four cups are derived from four expressions of redemption found in Exodus 6:6-7: “I will bring you out;” “I will deliver you;” “I will redeem you;” and “I will take you.” Due to the positive, redemptive focus of each phrase, each cup could come to represent current groups that need to be...

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This reading takes place near the beginning of the Seder in the yachatz section. It provides the primary textual inspiration for feeding the hungry during Passover, as well as calling for an end to slavery, which continues to exist around the world in various forms. It also prompts us to join together with members of the African American community for communal Seders recognizing our common experience of slavery. This passage inspires many of the social justice programs created around the observance...