---

Find the afikoman and distribute it to all who are seated at the table. When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, it was customary to make an offering of a paschal lamb at this season. Now we eat the afikoman in memory of the offering. Tzafun means “hidden,” and the afikoman is usually hidden for children to find. Why end the meal thus? Because we want the dinner to end with the taste of slavery/freedom in our mouths—thus the taste of...

---

We come together from our separate lives, each of us bringing our concerns, our preoccupations, our hopes, and our dreams. We are not yet fully present: The traffic, the last-minute cooking, the final details still cling to us. Our bodies hold the rush of the past few hours.It is now time to let go of these pressures and really arrive at this seder. We do this by meditating together. Make yourself comfortable, you can close your eyes if you wish. Now...

---

Chad Gadya חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא דְזַבִּין אַבָּא בִּתְרֵי זוּזֵי חַד גַּדְיָא, חַד גַּדְיָא Chad gadya, chad gadya Dizabin abah bitrei zuzei Chad gadya, chad gadya. One little goat, one little goat: Which my father brought for two zuzim. One little goat, one little goat: The cat came and ate the goat, Which my father bought for two zuzim. One little goat, one little goat: The dog came and bit the cat That ate the goat, Which my father bought for...

---

One of most beloved songs in the Passover seder is "Dayenu". A few of us will read the stanzas one at a time, and the everyone else will respond, "Dayenu" – meaning, “it would have been enough”.How many times do we forget to pause and notice that where we are is exactly where we ought to be? Dayenu is a reminder to never forget all the miracles in our lives. When we stand and wait impatiently for the next one to...

---

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה.Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri ha’adamah.Blessed are You, Lord, our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

---

My name is ____________________ , and my favorite Passover food is  ______________________________ .

---

A) Some of the questions people are really asking as they participate in a seder: 1. How many more hours until we eat? 2. Why on this night do some of us traditionally eat balls of reconstituted fish parts? 3. Will G-d strike me down if I get up to go to the bathroom during the maggid? 4. Why on this night do said fish balls always have slice of carrot on top, and is it true that jelled broth is...

---

Eating the meal! | shulchan oreich | שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ Enjoy! But don’t forget when you’re done we’ve got a little more seder to go, including the final two cups of wine!

---

Said the parents to their children, “From your bondage you’ll cut loose, You will eat your fill of matzah, you will drink four cups of juice.” Now these parents had four children, yes their kids they numbered four, One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore. And the fourth was sweet and winsome, was so young and also small, While the other asked the questions, this one could not speak at all. Said the wise one...

---

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם 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. The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too along with them. That’s why the Torah says “God brought us out from there in order to lead us to and give us the land promised to...

---

ALL: We raise our cups in remembrance. Remember all the people we have touched. Remember all the gardens we have tended and the battles we have won. Remember all the steps we have taken and the decisions we have made. Remember our friends and allies. Remember all that is good and rejoice. We think, on this night of reflection and remembrance, as we celebrate together, the liberation from Egypt. Remember the liberation of each and all of us. L'CHAIM! (Drink wine)

---

EVERY JEWISH FAMILY produces a unique version of the Passover seder—the big ritual meal of traditional foods, served after and amid liturgy, storytelling, and song. We’re all surprised at each other’s customs: You eat lamb? You don’t sing “Chad Gad Ya”? And yet, virtually every seder does share a few common elements. Matzoh crumbs all over the floor. Wine stains on the tablecloth. A seder plate containing the traditional symbols of the holiday: a roasted shank bone and hardboiled egg, recalling...

---

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four? Some say the cups represent our matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery. Another interpretation is that the cups represent the Four Worlds: physicality, emotions, thought, and essence. Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you to be...

---

While the word seder literally means order, for our family it has another special meaning, it also means memories.  Each year of our lives we have sat at our family's seder table, building a treasure chest  of memories rich with tradition, love, and yiddishkeit, from which we draw each day of our lives.  As children we sat at the table of our parents and as we became parents, we set the table for our children.  \We thank everyone here for joining...

---

Here are some occurances at the annual Obama White House seder:*An the annual reading of the Emancipation Proclamation right before Elijah sneaks in.*The President has a vocal impersonation of Pharaoh.*the Secret Service always knows where the afikomen is hidden. “It’s no different than you hiding it at your grandmother’s house, except there’s a Secret Service person watching you stash it away. And the house is a bit bigger,”*The group uses the Maxwell House Haggadah, serves Manischewitz wine and shmura matzo, and...

---

I have taken in the light that quickened eye and leaf. May my brain be bright with praise of what I eat, in the brief blaze of motion and of thought. May I be worthy of my meat.-Wendell Berry

---

Passover celebrates freedom, exemplified in the story of our Exodus from Egypt. Thatstory leads our entry into Israel—not exactly a simple redemption tale. Especially notnow, as Israelis and Palestinians continue to fight for their mutual Promised Land, andto shed blood in pursuit of its ownership.In light of that situation, some of us may have complicated feelings about identifyingwith Israel. But “Israel” doesn’t refer only to the Land. “Israel” is the name which wasgiven to Jacob after he spent the night wrestling...

---

1. Wherever you live, it is probably Mitzrayim.2. There is a better place, a promised land.3. The way to this promised land is through the wilderness -- there is no way to get there except by joining together and marching.

---

Questions are not only welcome during the course of the evening but are vital totonight’s journey. Our obligation at this seder involves traveling from slavery tofreedom, prodding ourselves from apathy to action, encouraging thetransformationof silence into speech, and providing a space where all different levels of belief andtradition can co-exist safely. Because leaving Mitzrayim--the narrow places, theplaces that oppress us—is a personal as well as a communal passage, yourparticipation and thoughts are welcome and encouraged. We remember that questioning itself is...

---

Some scholars believe there are four kinds of parents as well.The Wise Parent is an utter bore. "Listen closely, because you are younger than I am," says the Wise Parent, "and I will go on and on about Jewish history, based on some foggy memories of my own religious upbringing, as well as an article in a Jewish journal I have recently skimmed." The Wise Parent must be faced with a small smile of dim interest.The Wicked Parent tries to cram...