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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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What's on the Table Contributed by Geoff Chesman The Seder Plate We place a Seder Plate at our table as a reminder to discuss certain aspects of the Passover story. Each item has its own significance. Maror – The bitter herb. This symbolizes the harshness of lives of the Jews in Egypt. Charoset – A delicious mix of sweet wine, apples, cinnamon and nuts that resembles the mortar used as bricks of the many buildings the Jewish slaves built in Egypt...

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We wash our hands again now before we eat (yes, finally we’re nearly there!). But why? Why do we not wash our feet like our Middle Eastern ancestors did? Because our hands are the instruments with which we work in the world. It is our hands that plant and write, that caress and create – and our hands which strike and smash, poison and pain. We wash our hands not to absolve ourselves of responsibility but to affirm the need to...

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יי זְכָרָנוּ יְבָרֵךְ. יְבָרֵךְ אֶת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, יְבָרֵךְ אֶת בֵּית אַהֲרֹ. יְבָרֵךְ יִרְאֵי יי, הַקְּטַנִים עִם הַגְּדֹלִים. יֹסֵף יי עֲלֵיכֶם, עֲלֵיכֶם וְעַל בְּנֵיכֶם. בְּרוּכִים אַתֶּם לַיי, עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ. הַשָּׁמַיִם שָׁמַיִם לַיי,וְהָאָרֶץ נָתַן לִבְנֵי אָדָם. לֹא הַמֵּתִים יְהַלְלוּיָהּ ,וְלֹא כָּל יֹרדֵי דוּמָה. וַאֲנַחְנוּ נְבָרֵךְ יָהּ, מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם, הַלְלוּיָה Adonai z'charanu y'vareich, y'vareich et beit yisra-el, y'vareich et beit aharon. Y'vareich yirei Adonai, hak'tanim im hag'doleem. Yoseif Adonai aleichem, aleichem v'al b'neichem. B'rucheem atem l'Adonai, oseih shamayeem va-aretz. Hashamayeem shamayeem l'Adonai,...

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Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a 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. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration. We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter, and dip it into...

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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 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: What does the wise child say? The wise child asks, What are the testimonies and laws which God commanded you? You must teach...

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HALLELUYAH Halleluyah, Halleluyah, betsil'tselay shama. Halleluyah, Halleluyah, betsil'tselay tru'ah. Kol han'shamah, tehalel'yah; Halleluyah, Halleluyah.

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Matzah is literally free of all additives, externalities and superficial good looks -- it is bread without the hot air.  It represents the bare essentials.Everything we pursue in life can be divided into necessities and luxuries.  To the extent that a luxury becomes a necessity we lose an element of our freedom by being enslaved to a false need.Jewish thought teaches that we should not submit to peer pressure, viewing ourselves as competing with others.  It is far better to focus...

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One little goat, one little goat. That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a cat and ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a dog and bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came a stick and beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim,Chad gadya, chad gadya. Then came fire...

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As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering, for we are all human beings made in the image of God. We pour out a drop of wine for each of the plagues as we recite them.  Blood | dam | דָּם Frogs | tzfardeiya | צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ Lice | kinim | כִּנִּים Beasts | arov | עָרוֹב Cattle disease | dever | דֶּֽבֶר Boils | sh’chin | שְׁחִין Hail...

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We dedicate the four cups of wine to important or inspirational women in our lives - individually or as a community - who have worked towards redemption and freedom in their own ways. Please take a minute to think about who you would like to dedicate each of the four cups to. __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________