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The blessing over the meal is immediately followed by another blessing over the wine: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן 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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Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham, the first person to have the idea that maybe all those little statues his contemporaries worshiped as gods were just statues. The idea of one God, invisible and all-powerful, inspired him to leave his family and begin a new people in Canaan, the land that would one day bear his grandson Jacob’s adopted name, Israel. God had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise...

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The story of the Exodus has been told to us by our parents, just as their parents told them. We now repeat the story in hopes that this will pass on to the next generation. The ancient Hebrews came to Egypt from their land to get provisions during a famine. They became a favored group in Egypt and prospered and multiplied there. Legend tells us that our ancestor Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, became valuable to Pharaoh...

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ויְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם הַשִּׁשִּׁי. וַיְכֻלּוּ הַשָׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאַָם. וַיְכַל אֱלֹקִים בַּיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה. וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אוֹתוֹ כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר בֶָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָפֶן Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ...

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A recent study by the psychologist Arthur Aron (and others) explores whether personal connection between two strangers can be accelerated by having them ask each other a specific series of 36 personal questions. We've selected four of them here to serve as our Four Questions to meet new friends. In order to get to know each other a little better, select a question from the list below and ask your neighbor: Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would...

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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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The Ballad of the Four Sons (to the tune of "Clementine")written by Ben Aronin in 1948 Said the father to the children "At the Seder you will dine, You will eat your fill of matzoh, You will drink four cups of wine." Now this father had no daughters, But his sons they numbered four, One was wise, and one was wicked, One was simple and a bore. And the fourth was sweet and winsome, He was young and he was small,...

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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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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 all good term papers do, we start with the main idea: ּעֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ הָיִינו. עַתָּה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין   Avadim hayinu hayinu. Ata b’nei chorin. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now we are free. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. Had God not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, then even today we and our children and our grandchildren would still be slaves. Even if we...

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Throughout our Seder, we pour four cups, remembering the gift of freedom that our ancestors received centuries ago and four promises fulfilled. The first cup as God said, "I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians." The second as God said, "And I will deliver you from their bondage." The third as God said, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm with great judgements." The fourth because God said, "I will take you to be My People." We...

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Who knows one? I know one! One is Hashem, one is Hashem, one is Hashem in the Heavens and the Earth. Who knows two? I know two! Two are the tablets that Moses brought. And one is Hashem. . . . Who knows three? I know three! Three are the papas, and two are the tablets that Moses brought. And one is Hashem. . . . Four are the mamas. . . . Five are the books of the (clap) Torah....