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The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. The tradition that the youngest person asks the questions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. The rabbis who created the set format for the seder gave us the Four Questions to help break the ice in case no one had their own questions. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. If everyone at your seder is around...

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By: Rabbi Ari Weiss As we approach Berach and reflect and give thanks to God for the meal we recently consumed, let us pause for a moment and reflect on what a Jewish meal is. Having a meal according to the Jewish tradition is much richer and more complex then just consuming food. As William H. Gass [1]  has noted, as animals we desire only nourishment. However, in the process of eating, other things happen. The desire to have food is...

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The Passover Seder is one of the most recognized and widely practiced of Jewish rituals, yet had our ancestors visited one of these modern-day celebrations, they would be baffled. Not only does our modern Seder wildly diverge from the Passover of old: during antiquity itself the holiday underwent radical changes. As the centralized Israelite state took shape about 3,000 years ago, the religion of the people varied from place to place and took variegated forms, hints of which we can see...

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How is this night different from other nights?  On other nights we are not obligated to ask the questions of what separates us from redemption.  Tonight we are so obligated.1)  Why are women not yet universally recognized as being created in the divine image?2)  Why are Israelis still living in a state of war?3)  Why are millions of people still suffering from hunger?4)  Why are there still dictators who prevent the voices of their people from being heard?Like the traditional Four...

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At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time?WHAT DOES THE ACTIVIST CHILD ASK?“The Torah tells me, ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ but how can I pursue justice?”Empower him always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak...

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Remember the days of old:consider the years of many generations (Deut. 32:7) Every year, hundreds of giant sea turtles swim hundreds of miles from their homes near Brazil to a tiny island in the Atlantic Ocean in order to find their mates.  For years, scientists tried to understand how the turtles could find their way every time, from so far away. It was a tiny island, and even airplanes sometimes had trouble finding it.  What do you think it was??  Once...

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It’s been a crazy week. The world with all its worries and bothers is still clamoring for your attention. The first step is to forget all that. Leave it behind. Enter into a timeless space, where you, your great-grandparents and Moses   all coincide. The beginning of all journeys is separation. You’ve got to leave somewhere to go somewhere else. It is also the first step towards freedom: You ignore the voice of Pharaoh inside that mocks you, saying, “Who are you...

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This is the time set aside for singing. Some of us might sing traditional prayers from the Book of Psalms. Others take this moment for favorites like Chad Gadya & Who Knows One. All of these options are below. To celebrate the theme of freedom, we might sing songs from the civil rights movement. Or perhaps your crazy Uncle Frank has some parody lyrics about Passover to the tunes from a musical. Or maybe the Maccabeats put out a new song...

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All night long we have been reliving the story of the Exodus, striving to awaken our present consciousness to redemption. Moments ago the wave of the past finally broke over us, sweeping away the boundary between then and now as we burst into the praises of Hallel. Redemption was transformed from a story about our ancestors into the here and now and given life through our song. But in the midst of our excitement, a question arises. The past is gone...

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야핫츠 (yachatz) – 맛자 조각내기  Contributed by Jewish Boston 식탁위에 세 개의 맛자가 쌓여 있습니다. 우리는 이제 두 번째 맛자를 잡고 가운데를 반으로 나눕니다. 주인은 큰 쪽 조각들을 싸서, 저녁식사 하는 동안 그것을 숨깁니다. 이 조각은 아피코멘(afikomen), 그리스어로 후식이라는 의미입니다. 손님들이 저녁 식사를 마무리하기 위해 아피코멘을 찾을 예정이며, 상을 받게 될 것입니다. 우리는 이집트에서 탈출한 선조를 기념하며 맛자를 먹습니다. 노예였던 선조들은 해방되기 전에 많은 그릇된 출발에 직면했습니다. 그래서 자유라는 단어를 들을 때 가지고 있던 반죽이 어떤 것이든지 간에 그 반죽을 부풀기...

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Be patient. Expand your sense of the possible. Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that. Understand humility. Foster dignity. Endure. 10 of the 25 "Principles of Adult Behavior" , by John Perry Barlow.

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A word about God: everyone has his or her own understanding of what God is. For some people, there is no God, while for others, God is an integral part of their lives. While we may not agree on a singular concept of God, we share a common desire for goodness to prevail in the world. And this is the meaning of tonight:  freedom winning out over slavery, good prevailing over evil. Please consider the source of benevolence in your life,...

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A Tunisian custom is to say “This is how God split the Red Sea” and then break the middle matzah.  Israelis of Yeminite origin wrap the afikomen in a napkin and places it over his shoulder throughout the chanting of the Hagaddah, symbolizing both the liberation from Egypt, and more recently, the rescue of the Jews of Yemen in Operation Magic Carpet in 1948.  Discuss why we hide one half of the matzah. Perhaps because redemption is not complete…our people may...

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Make the song “Who Knows One?” into a trivia game. Try to name the 3 fathers of Israel (hint: A…, I…, J…), the 4 mothers (S…, R…, R…, L…) the five books of the Torah (G…, E…, L…, N…, D…), the twelve tribes? With the song Chad Gadya, “Just One Kid,” sing it like Old MacDonald, and make the appropriate sounds for each verse. -Next Year in Jerusalem! Sing the Israeli National Anthem. Kids can use kazoos. Next Year in Jerusalem!...

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At the four questions, invite anyone at the table to ask any question they have about the seder and the holiday. If no one knows the answer, what a great challenge for later!  At the four questions, ask the children what is the best question they’ve ever asked in school.