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The Voice of a Sexual Assault Survivor What I do remember is waking up the next morning in a strange room, alone, cold, mostly naked and confused. In a panic I got my clothes together. My heart sank into my stomach as I looked down at the blood-stained sheets. I was so frightened I didn’t know what to do. I was hurriedly “pushed” out the door by the guy who lived in the room. Not much was said. The Voice of...

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The Paschal Lamb reminds us that the Holy One, praised be God, passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. The Matzah is to remind us that before the dough our ancestors prepared for bread had time to rise, God revealed the might, power and presence of God unto them and redeemed them. The Bitter Herbs are to remind us that the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. In gratitude for the miracles which God has performed...

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6. I wasn't one of the six million who died in the Shoah, I wasn't even among the survivors. And I wasn't one of the six hundred thousand who went out of Egypt. I came to the Promised Land by sea.  No, I was not in that number, though I still have the fire and the smoke within me, pillars of fire and pillars of smoke that guide me by night and by day. I still have inside me the mad...

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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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This song was written to be part of Fiddler on the Roof, but was cut from the show before it made its Broadway debut for being too slow, and comic at a moment in the show when the people of Anatevka are experiencing tragedy. It imagines a world in which the Messiah is coming, but lost, and worried about us. Words and music by Sheldon Harnick When Messiah comes he will say to us, “I apologize that I took so long.”...

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This is a compilation of ideas to help the seder be fun and engaging for the entire family.    Fun ideas for preparing the Passover table: 1. Include a Tzedakka box on the table. Have everyone put money in the tzedakah box before eating. 2. Yemenite Jews line the edge of the table all around with leaves of Romaine lettuce. The lettuce is then used for Maror.  3. Use maps of Egypt, Israel, and the Sinai desert as place mats.  4. Put...

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1. What do you consider your “promised land,” or heaven on earth? 2. In Hebrew, the word for Egypt is “Mitzraim,” which literally means “narrow place.” What is one way that you wish for our society to be more open? 3. Moses is considered one of the greatest leaders in our history — he is described as being smart, courageous, selfless and kind. Which of today’s leaders inspires you in a similar way? 4. Miriam was a prophetess and the sister...

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Alla fyller på nytt sina vinglas. Ledaren säger: Vi läser Ps 126. "En vallfartssång. När Herren vände Sions öde, då var allt som om vi drömde: vi skrattade, vi sjöng av glädje, och jublet steg från våra läppar. En av gästerna fortsätter: Då sade man bland folken: Herren har gjort stora ting med dem! Ja, Herren gjorde stora ting med oss, och därför var vi glada. Herre, vänd vårt öde, liksom du ger liv åt bäckarna i Negev. Nästa gäst fortsätter:...

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The Passover Haggadah recounts ten plagues that afflicted Egyptian society. In our tradition, Passover is the season in which we imagine our own lives within the story and the story within our lives. Accordingly, we turn our thoughts to the many plagues affecting our society today. Our journey from slavery to redemption is ongoing, demanding the work of our hearts and hands. Here are ten “modern plagues”:   Homelessness In any given year, about 3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness,...

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By Rabbi Tamara Cohen We sit down for our seders this year at a powerful cultural moment when the voices of women and girls are rising – the collective activism of #metoo, Emma Gonzales’s six minutes of silence and 11-year-old African American Naomi Wadler’s speech at the March for Our Lives, and even the truth telling of Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. All this makes the absence of women’s voices in the Passover Haggadah more glaring. Thirty years ago,...

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Just about everybody experiences the sense of being foreign sometime in their lives. Most of the adults at this table have immigrated from a foreign country. But even if you have lived in the same city your entire life, as an adult you no longer live in the same neighborhood you lived in when you were growing up. Your home is defined not only by place but also by time. People have changed; circumstances have changed. As a foreigner in that...

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Why Is This Night Different? Each one of us is obligated to consider ourselves as coming out of Egypt. Here are some questions for our individual journey of liberation.... - What in my life do I experience as "Egypt" this year? - In what ways have I been set free? - Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, means a "narrow place." How could my "narrow place" function as a place for growth? - In what ways could I confront and express...

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The seder ritual seems to have it backward: One would think that we should eat the maror first, just as the bitter slavery preceded the liberation. But in truth, our chronology is not so simple. We need to have tasted freedom to really understand oppression. Maybe the lingering aftertaste of the matza can help see us through suffering and oppression. So it is, that the love we shared with our loved ones sustains us through the bitterness of their passing.

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If society provided compassionate caregivers and did not provide medication, Dayenu. If society provided medication and did not provide comprehensive health coverage, Dayenu. If society provided enough group homes and did not eliminate ignorance, Dayenu. If society elimnated ignorance and did not allocate resources for research, Dayenu. If society allocated resources for research and did not provide family and community support, Dayenu. If society provided family and community support and did not love us for us for who we are, Dayenu....