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The meal is served!

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You can look at the four sons as four generations of Jews in America today. The first generation of eastern European Jewry who emigrated to America at the turn of the century are represented by THE WISE SON. This is the Jew who grew up with a strong connection to the Jewish way of life. His commitment to Judaism is unshakable. HIS SON, THE SECOND GENERATION, is represented in the Wicked Son. This is the rebel who wants to succeed in...

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What do these words mean? We are slaves because yesterday our people were in slavery and memory makes yesterday real for us. We are slaves because today there are still people in chains around the world and no one can be truly free while others are in chains. We are slaves because freedom means more than broken chains. Where there is poverty and hunger and homelessness, there is no freedom; where there is prejudice and bigotry and discrimination, there is no...

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Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam, hazan et ha’olam kulo b’tuvo b’chen b’chesed w’rachamin. Hu noten lechem l’chol basar ki l’olam chasdo. Uv’tuvo hagadol tamid lo chasar lanu v’al yech’sar lanu mason l’olam va’ed. Ba’avur sh’mo hagadol ki hu zan um’farnes lakol umetiv lakol umechin mazon l’chol b’riyotav asher bara. Baruch Atah Adonai hazan et hakol. We praise God, Spirit of Everything, whose goodness sustains the world. You are the origin of love and compassion, the source of bread for all,...

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MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND ABRAHAM J. HESCHEL LEADER Prejudice is like a monster which has many heads, an evil which requires many efforts to overcome. One head sends forth poison against the people of a different race, another against the people of a different religion or culture. Thus the evil of prejudice is indivisible. GROUP Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are...

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(to the tune of “Louie, Louie”) Pharaoh, Pharaoh Oh baby! Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Singin' Pharaoh, Pharaoh Oh baby! Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! A burnin' bush told me just the other day that I should come over here and stay Gotta get my people outta Pharaoh's hands Gotta lead my people to the Promised Land The Nile turned to blood! There were darkened black skies! Gnats and frogs! There were locusts and flies!...

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As we tell the story, we think about it from all angles. Our tradition speaks of four different types of children who react individually to the Passover Seder. It is our job to make our story accessible to all the members of our community: WHAT DOES THE WISE CHILD SAY? The wise child asks, What are the testimonies and laws which God commanded you? You must teach this child the rules of observing the holiday of Passover. WHAT DOES THE WICKED...

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NARRATOR 1 (10 LINES)NARRATOR 2 (13 LINES)PHARAOH (15 LINES)SLAVE (2 LINES)HERALD (1 LINE)MOSES (8 LINES)GOD (7 LINES)PHARAOH’S SON (2 LINES)AARON (12 LINES)SHEEP (2 LINES)YOCHEVED (1 LINE)PRINCESS (4 LINES)PRINCESS’S ATTENDANT (4 LINES)MIRIAM (4 LINES) NARRATOR 1: The story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt has been told thousands of times. It’s a reminder to the Jewish people that once we were slaves in Egypt, but now we are free. And so, this year, as in years before, generation upon generation, we...

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THE BITTER HERB Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror. Blessed are You, Spirit of the universe who commands us to eat bitter herbs.

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DIPPING A GREEN VEGETABLE IN SALT WATER Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. We now take a vegetable, representing spring, and dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves. Before we eat it, we recite...

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Cleaning and cooking and so many dishes Out with the chametz, no pasta, no knishes Fish that's gefillted, horseradish that stings These are a few of our Passover things. Matzo and karpas and chopped up charoset Shankbones and kiddish and Yiddish neurosis Tante who kvetches and uncle who sings These are a few of our Passover things. Motzi and maror and trouble with Pharaohs Famines and locusts and slaves with wheelbarrows Matzah balls floating and eggshell that cling These are a...

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CHAD GADYA, CHAD GADYA dizabin aba bitrei zuzei, chad gadya, chad gadya. Va'ata shunra, ve'achla legadya dizabin aba bitrei zuzei, chad gadya, chad gadya. An only kid! An only kid My father bought for two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then came the cat and ate the kid My father bought For two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then came the dog And bit the cat That ate the kid My father bought For two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then...

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So let’s bring Dayeinu into the present. We are grateful, and yet what miracles and accomplishments would be suffcient (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 governments end the escalating production of devastating weapons, secure in the knowledge that they will not be necessary....

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THESE WORDS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO DIED Because they had no love and felt alone in the world Because they were afraid to be alone and tried to stick it out Because they could not ask Because they were shunned Because they were sick and their bodies could not resist the disease Because they played it safe Because they had no connection Because they had no faith Because they felt they did not belong and wanted to die THESE WORDS...

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Pack Nothing. Bring only your determination to serve and your willingness to be free. Don’t wait for the bread to rise. Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing, be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind - fear, silence, submission. Do not take time to explain to the neighbors.Tell only a few trusted friends and family members. Then begin quickly, before you have time to sink back into the old slavery....

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You can look at the four sons as four generations of Jews in America today. The first generation of eastern European Jewry who emigrated to America at the turn of the century are represented by THE WISE SON. This is the Jew who grew up with a strong connection to the Jewish way of life. His commitment to Judaism is unshakable. HIS SON, THE SECOND GENERATION, is represented in the Wicked Son. This is the rebel who wants to succeed in...