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אַדִיר בִּמְלוּכָה, בָּחוּר כַּהֲלָכָה, גְּדוּדָיו יֹאמְרוּ לוֹ  לְךָ וּלְךָ, לְךָ כִּי לְךָ, לְךָ אַף לְךָ, לְךָ יי הַמַּמְלָכָה, כִּי לוֹ נָאֵֶה, כִּי לוֹ יָאֶה.  דָּגוּל בִּמְלוּכָה, הָדוּר כַּהֲלָכָה, וָתִיקָיו יֹאמְרוּ לוֹ:  לְךָ וּלְךָ, לְךָ כִּי לְךָ, לְךָ אַף לְךָ, לְךָ יי הַמַּמְלָכָה, כִּי לוֹ נָאֵֶה, כִּי לוֹ יָאֶה.  זַכַּאי בִּמְלוּכָה, חָסִין כַּהֲלָכָה טַפְסְרָיו יֹאמְרוּ לוֹ:  לְךָ וּלְךָ, לְךָ כִּי לְךָ, לְךָ אַף לְךָ, לְךָ יי הַמַּמְלָכָה, כִּי לוֹ נָאֵֶה, כִּי לוֹ יָאֶה.  יָחִיד בִּמְלוּכָה, כַּבִּיר כַּהֲלָכָה לִמוּדָיו יֹאמְרוּ לוֹ:  לְךָ וּלְךָ,...

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Every year at the end of the Seder we say "Next Year in Jerusalem!"  But that can't mean physically. It would get overcrowded. Some of us do not have the means to get there. Some of us are too old or young or sick to travel.  No. Not physically. Mentally. We need to open our minds and hearts to a level where we can accept who we are as people on every level. These traditions we have were around for thousands...

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Caged Bird BY MAYA ANGELOU A free bird leaps  on the back of the wind    and floats downstream    till the current ends  and dips his wing  in the orange sun rays  and dares to claim the sky.  But a bird that stalks  down his narrow cage  can seldom see through  his bars of rage  his wings are clipped and    his feet are tied  so he opens his throat to sing.  The caged bird sings    with a fearful trill    of things unknown   ...

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The Afikomen is a piece of Matzah that is broken then hidden somewhere in the house for the kids to find. The tradition is that the seder cannot be completed without the Afikomen and when the kids do find it they are supposed to hold it for ransom. We have been doing this for generations. No wonder Bugsy Siegel built Las Vegas...  --Elena Jawitz 

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1) Blood: unidentified stains on the T  2) Frogs: Tinder dates who don't look like their pictures (in a bad way) 3) Bugs: people with beady eyes who try talk to you on the T 4) Wild Animals: misogynistic coworkers  5) Pestilence: people who try to talk to you about Ebola  6) Boils: Allergies  7) Hail: Downpours of snow every Monday until the T shuts down  8) Locust: Rabid fans of the Big Bang Theory  9) Darkness: That feeling before you...

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I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free. -Rosa Parks Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. -George Orwell Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. -JFK If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary. -Malcolm X

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The only thing that makes me bitter regarding herbs is that my favorite ones are all illegal. --Elena Jawitz 

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Being a Jewish prophet is a pretty sweet deal. You don't have to deliver presents or hide eggs and you get wine just for showing up.  --Elena Jawitz 

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I would like to end the Seder with a lesson. We have had a fun journey. Hopefully lots of laughs. But I will end by talking about one of my favorite historical figures of all time. Abba Kovner. I am 90% sure this guy was the inspiration for Magneto in the X-men.  Abba Kovner was one of the lucky Jews who managed to escape Nazi-occupied Vilnus before being sent off to a concentration camp. But he refused to stand idly by...

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Oh GodI am almost afraid to look over my shoulderTo see how far I’ve comeThe expanse seems impossibly wideAnd yetHere I amDancingSinging Your NameSurrounded by love and familyBreathing hope in and outI raise my eyes to the horizon and it feels so closeI am giddy with reliefYour sea is calm now at our backsThe line of the brown rocksFrom which we leaptOnly hours agoSeems a distant memoryThis moment is all joy and wonderWe sing and we singCircles within circles of men...

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I feel like if Passover happened now instead of back then the Egyptians would have us make movies instead of pyramids. Like there would be a pharaoh with a whip yelling "Faster Spielberg! Jaws isn't going to make itself!"  --Elena Jawitz 

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Fill the cups with wine; open door; all rise... Elijah the Prophet Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. -Malachi 4:5 Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah from Gilead, May he come quickly, In our days, with the Messiah son of David. Eh-lee-ya-hu ha-na-vee, Eh-lee-ya-hu ha-tish-bee, Eh-lee-ya-hu ha-gi-la-dee, Bim-hey-ra Ya-vo e-ley-nu Im-ma-shi-ach ben Da-vid. Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah from Gilead, May he come quickly,...

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SHANA HABA B’ YERUSHALAYIM NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!

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I feel like the four questions is the most important part of the seder. Because Judaism is the only religion built on a foundation of questions. We are always encouraged to ask questions and it is so embedded in our culture that it becomes our learning process that we go on to do amazing things. I now invite each of you right here at this table to think of a question. It could be about Passover. It could be about life...

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by Emma Lazarus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled...

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The Four Cups of the Seder are structurally connected to the four verbal performances this evening: (1) Kiddush, sanctifying the holiday (2) Maggid, the storytelling (3) Birkat HaMazon, completing the Pesach meal; and (4) Hallel, completing the festival Psalms. The Talmud connects the Four Cups to God's Four Promises to Israel: "Tell the children of Israel: I am Adonai! I will take them out... I will rescue them… I will redeem them… and I will marry them taking them as my...

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In this part of the seder you dip greens in salt water. It is salt water because we can remember the tears of the jews while they were slaves.

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I feel like if Passover happened now instead of back then the Egyptians would have us make movies instead of pyramids. Like there would be a pharaoh with a whip yelling "Faster Spielberg! Jaws isn't going to make itself!"  --Elena Jawitz 

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1. Hannah Senesh was a Hungarian Jew, one of 37 Jews who lived in the British Mandate for Palestine (now Israel), who were trained by the British army to parachute into Yugoslavia during the Second World War in order to help save the Jews of Hungary, who were about to be deported to the German death camp at Auschwitz. 2. Senesh was arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned and tortured, but she refused to reveal details of her mission and was...

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Every year at the end of the Seder we say "Next Year in Jerusalem!"  But that can't mean physically. It would get overcrowded. Some of us do not have the means to get there. Some of us are too old or young or sick to travel.  No. Not physically. Mentally. We need to open our minds and hearts to a level where we can accept who we are as people on every level. These traditions we have were around for thousands...