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(Particpant) As we prepare for our Seder, we wash our hands.We will wash our hands twice tonight; once without a blessing and once with. This act serves to symbolically purify ourselves for the ceremony we are about to begin.

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(LEADER) Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham. God had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise came with a frightening vision of the troubles along the way: “Your descendants will dwell for a time in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years; however, I will punish the nation that enslaved them, and afterwards they shall leave with great wealth."...

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(Participant) As we remember the plagues God sent to help our people, we pour out a drop of wine for each of the plagues. Dip a finger or a spoon into your wine glass for a drop for each plague. (ALL)  Blood: All the water turned to blood. Fish died in the rivers, and every Egyptian suffered terrible thirst. Frogs:  Every inch of land was covered with frogs. They entered houses and bedrooms. Lice: Lice infested every Egyptian's home. Man and...

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(LEADER) The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. Traditionally, the youngest person at the seder asks four questions. These questions will be answered through our telling of the Passover story. (Youngest Participant) Why is this night different from all other nights? 1. On all other nights we eat both leavened bread and matzah. Tonight we eat only matzah. Why? 2. On all other nights we eat all kinds of...

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(Participant) As we tell the story, we think about it from all angles. Our tradition speaks of four different types of children who might react differently to the Passover seder. It is our job to make our story accessible to all the members of our community, so we think about how we might best reach each type of child. (Participant) The wise child asks, What are the laws that God commanded us? This child understands that God has given us commandments...

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(Participant) As we now transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again wash our hands to prepare ourselves. This time, we say a blessing. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who made us holy through obligations and commanded us to wash our hands.

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(Participant) We now refill our wine glasses one last time and open the front door to invite the prophet Elijah to join our seder. In the Torah, Elijah was a fierce defender of God to a disbelieving people. At the end of his life, rather than dying, he was whisked away to heaven. Tradition holds that he will return to herald a new era of peace, so we set a place for Elijah in the hopes that he will find us...

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(Participant) We have answered the four traditional questions, but there are still more questions to be answered. There are other special foods on our Seder plate: a bone (z'roa), a roasted egg (beitsah), and an orange (tappuz). Why are they here? (Participant) Z'ROA - SHANKBONE OR BEET Z'ROA can mean a shankbone - the bone of a forelimb  This lamb's bone is the symbol of the ancient shepherd's festival of Pesah or Passover. It was celebrated at the time of the...

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(Participant) Our seder starts with the first cup of wine. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן (ALL) Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who created the fruit of the vine. (Participant) We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who chose us from all peoples and languages, and sanctified us with commandments, and lovingly gave to us special times for happiness, holidays and this time of celebrating...

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(Leader) Before dinner is served, we must remember our slavery and celebrate our freedom. We do the by mixing the sweet charoset with the bitter maror to remind us of the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom. We must never forget that while we are free, not everyone enjoys the same freedom. [Everyone places charoset and maror on matzoh and eats]

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(LEADER) Our Passover meal is called a seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, because we go through 14 specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. As we eat tonight, we remember the suffering our ancestors endured, the journey they took to be free, and we rejoice in our freedom today.

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(Participant) It is now time to begin eating. Before we do, we say a blessing for our food. בְָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings bread from the land. (Participant) We share the middle matzah among us. This symbolizes that no man is better than another. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ...

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(Participant) We now take a minute to explain the symbols on our seder plate. The shank bone represents the Pesach, the special lamb sacrifice made in the days of the Temple for the Passover holiday. The holiday is called the pesach, from the Hebrew word meaning “to pass over,” because God passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt when visiting plagues upon our oppressors. (Participant) The matzah reminds us that when our ancestors were finally free to leave Egypt,...

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(Leader)It is now time for the second cup of wine. But first, we recite a prayer that reminds us that we are connected to our ancestors. בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם (ALL) B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim. In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt. (Participant)The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too...

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(Participant) As we come to the end of the seder, we drink one more glass of wine. With this final cup, we give thanks for the experience of celebrating Passover together, for the traditions that help inform our daily lives and guide our actions and aspirations. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who created the fruit of the vine....

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(LEADER) The playfulness of finding the afikomen reminds us that we balance our solemn memories of slavery with a joyous celebration of freedom. The meal cannot continue until the afikomen is found. Once it is brought to the leader, we split it up and enjoy it together. As we eat the afikomen, our last taste of matzah for the evening, we are grateful for moments of silliness and happiness in our lives.

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Time to eat!

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(Participant)There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. We wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal… and win a prize. (Participant)We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight...

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(Participant) As we now transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again wash our hands to prepare ourselves. This time, we say a blessing. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָֽיִם Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who made us holy through obligations and commanded us to wash our hands.

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(Participant) It is now time to begin eating. Before we do, we say a blessing for our food. בְָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. Blessed art Thou, Eternal our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings bread from the land. (Participant) We share the middle matzah among us. This symbolizes that no man is better than another. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ...

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(Leader)It is now time for the second cup of wine. But first, we recite a prayer that reminds us that we are connected to our ancestors. בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם (ALL) B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim. In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt. (Participant)The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too...