---

The traditional Haggadah lists ten plagues that afflicted the Egyptians. We live in a very different world, but Passover is a good time to remember that, even after our liberation from slavery in Egypt, there are still many challenges for us to meet. Here are ten “modern plagues”: Inequity - Access to affordable housing, quality healthcare, nutritious food, good schools, and higher education is far from equal. The disparity between rich and poor is growing, and opportunities for upward mobility are...

---

Our hands were touched by this water earlier during tonight's seder, but this time is different. This is a deeper step than that. This act of washing our hands is accompanied by a blessing, for in this moment we feel our People's story more viscerally, having just retold it during Maggid. Now, having re-experienced the majesty of the Jewish journey from degradation to dignity, we raise our hands in holiness, remembering once again that our liberation is bound up in everyone...

---

It is told: Rabbi Eleazar, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon gathered together in the town of B'nei B'rak.  They were so engaged in their discussion of the Exodus from Egypt, which continued throughout the night, that they were startled when their disciples interrupted them: " Raboteinu,  Our Teachers!   Higia z'man:  The time has come to recite the morning  Sh'ma!" We are the heirs of these teachers.  Like them, we come together tonight to discuss Exodus...

---

We all know about Passover, that holiday when we Jews whip out our flat, cracker-like matzah, talk about the massive exodus from Egypt, and drink a whole lot of Manischewitz wine. As it happens, though, there are a few other things you might want to know about Passover! Here are some facts about the holiday that you probably never knew:Passover is an oldie. Judaism celebrates a lot of holidays. Some are fairly recent, such as Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, founded...

---

Is it a Schwab family tradition that each stance is read in a single breath.  Enjoy!  Who knows one? I know one. One is our God in Heaven and Earth Who knows two? I know two. Two are the tablets of the covenant One is our God in Heaven and Earth Who knows three? I know three. Three are the patriarchs Two are the tablets of the covenant One is our God in Heaven and Earth Who knows four? I know...

---

Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham, the first person to have the idea that maybe all those little statues his contemporaries worshiped as gods were just statues. The idea of one God, invisible and all-powerful, inspired him to leave his family and begin a new people in Canaan, the land that would one day bear his grandson Jacob’s adopted name, Israel. God had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise...

---

All read the third line of each stanza in unison Unto God let praise be brought For the wonders He hath wrought—   At the solemn hour of midnight. All the earth was sunk in night When God said "Let there be light!"   Thus the day was formed from midnight. So was primal man redeemed When the light of reason gleamed   Through the darkness of the midnight. To the Patriarch, God revealed The true faith, so long concealed   By the darkness of...

---

Ask virtually anyone: “Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Passover seder?” and the response is likely to be “Of course!” Yet, Jesus could not have known what a “seder” was, let alone have modeled his Last Supper after one. The elements of even the primitive seder originated decades after he died. The Gospels date Jesus’ ministry to the period of Pontius Pilate, Roman prefect of Judea from 26 C.E. to early 37 C.E. Jesus’ year of death is unknown; scholars settle on...

---

I do believe, with all my heart, In the natural Goodness of Man. Despite the blood and destruction, Brought by one man, trying to be God, In the Goodness of Man, I do believe. I do believe, with all my heart, That God gave man the blessing and the curse. Man can select the curse of envy, hatred and prejudices, Or the blessing of love, harmony and beauty. Despite the painful curses of the past, In the blessing of the Creator,...

---

So let’s bring Dayeinu into the present tonight. We have a vision, we take it to heart, and we work hard to make it happen. We are grateful, and yet what miracles and accomplishments would be sufficient (Dayeinu) in today’s world for us to be truly satisfied? 1. When all workers of the world receive just compensation and respect for their labors, enjoy safe, healthy and secure working conditions and can take pride in their work. . . Dayeinu 2. When...

---

Do you have Ashkenazi roots? Do you trace your family back to the Mediterranean or Poland? If you do, you might have a Sephardic background. In either case, for most of us these terms have lost their significance in today's "melting pot" North American society. Nevertheless, there still seems to be some debate about what you may or may not eat on Passover. Let me see if I can clarify this for you (or complicate your menu for your seder). On ...

---

If He had brought us out from Egypt,and had not carried out judgments against them, Dayenu. If He had carried out judgments against them,and not against their idols, Dayenu. If He had destroyed their idols,and had not smitten their first-born, Dayenu. If He had smitten their first-born,and had not given us their wealth, Dayenu. If He had given us their wealth,and had not split the sea for us, Dayenu. If He had split the sea for us,and had not taken us...

---

All read the third line of each stanza in unison Unto God let praise be brought For the wonders He hath wrought—   At the solemn hour of midnight. All the earth was sunk in night When God said "Let there be light!"   Thus the day was formed from midnight. So was primal man redeemed When the light of reason gleamed   Through the darkness of the midnight. To the Patriarch, God revealed The true faith, so long concealed   By the darkness of...