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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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Refill everyone’s wine glass. (Participant) We now say grace after the meal, thanking God for the food we’ve eaten. On Passover, this becomes something like an extended toast to God, culminating with drinking our third glass of wine for the evening: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן (ALL) Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine. Drink the third glass of wine!

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Time to eat!

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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)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) 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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(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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(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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(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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(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) Nirtzah marks the conclusion of the seder. Our bellies are full, we have had several glasses of wine, we have told stories, and now it is time for the evening to come to a close. At the end of the seder, we honor the tradition of declaring, “Next year in Jerusalem!” For some people, the recitation of this phrase expresses the anticipation of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Messiah. For others, it is an affirmation...

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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) The plagues and our subsequent redemption from Egypt are but one example of the care God has shown for us in our history. Had God but done any one of these kindnesses, it would have been enough – dayeinu. Dayeinu also reminds us that each of our lives is the cumulative result of many blessings, small and large. אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָֽנוּ מִמִּצְרַֽיִם, דַּיֵּנוּ (ALL) Ilu hotzi- hotzianu, Hotzianu mi-mitzrayim Hotzianu mi-mitzrayim, Dayeinu If God had only taken us out of Egypt,...

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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 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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(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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(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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(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)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) 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...