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Why is there no orange on our Seder plate?      In the early 1980s, while speaking at Oberlin College Hillel, Susannah Heschel was introduced to an early feminist Haggadah that suggested adding a crust of bread on the Seder plate, as a sign of solidarity with Jewish lesbians (there's as much room for a lesbian in Judaism as there is for a crust of bread on the seder plate). Heschel felt that to put bread on the Seder plate would be to...

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The Plagues happened at the same time as a massive volcano eruption. The volcano Santorini sent ash in to the air effecting the surrounding area. The ash is found in Cairo and the Nile River, proven by testing the composition of the ash. This volcanic eruption happened between 1500-1650BC while the Plagues happened between 1400-1550BC. So it fits there. 1st Plague. River ran red LIKE blood. But there is a common algae plume called the Red Tide. This makes the river,...

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We start the seder by noticing what is out of the ordinary and then investigating its meaning further. How is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights, we depend on the exploitation of invisible others for our food, clothing, homes, and more. Tonight, we listen to the stories of those who suffer to create the goods we use. We commit to working toward the human rights of all workers. On all other nights, we have allowed human...

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By Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder  alternadox.netLater on we will do ' rachtzah '─the washing over the matzah . Now we are doing ' urchatz ', which amounts to washing before eating a vegetable.  This is not something we do every day.To explain, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, first chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, writes of dividing life into two categories: the goal, and everything else.  We set goals for ourselves and set out to reach them.  Everything we do that helps...

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O ur hands are the primary tools to interact with our environment. They generally obey our emotions: Love, fear, compassion, the urge to win, to be appreciated, to express ourselves, to dominate. Our emotions, in turn, reflect our mental state. But, too often, each faculty of our psyche sits in its cell, exiled from one another. The mind sees one way, the heart feels another and our interface with the world ends up one messy tzimmes. Water represents the healing power...

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The First Cup: We drink to Ending Racism and Poverty, and Birthing Racial and Economic Justice We begin with the teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King 50 years ago, on the evening before his death. He came to Memphis, Tennessee to support the striking sanitation workers of the city, and he spoke to a gathered crowd: “The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers....

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“Gentrification: “It’s not about race...” by Lindsay Foster Thomas, posted on the York and Fig blog on January 6, 2015. There’s no doubt about it. I am a gentrifier. So, why don’t I feel like one? Maybe no one really does, but if I may be honest, I think it’s because I’m African-American. Does that mean I get some kind of free pass to gentrify without it weighing on my conscience? Not even a little bit. I think about it a...

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The Wicked Child I read the haggadah backwards this year The sea opens, the ancient Israelites slide back to Egypt like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk Freedom to slavery That’s the real story One minute you’re dancing hallelujah, shaking your hips to the j-j-jangle of the prophetesses’ tambourines, the next you’re knee deep in brown muck in the basement of some minor pyramid The angel of death comes back to life two zuzim are refunded. When armies emerge from the sea...

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1          Muffin bottoms 2          Phusilli Pharaoh 3          The Kavorka 4          Frozen tofu yogurt 5          BBO (Beyond BO) 6          Regifting 7          Poisoned envelopes 8          The English Patient                                                             9          Jambalaya 10       The Killing of the first Bubble Boy Rabbi David gave them acronyms: MuBoPhuPhaKa                         FroToYoBBO `           `           RePeEP JamKifiBuBo

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Each year, Jews across the world join with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers to celebrate the holiday of Passover. But why? What is behind this tradition? Seder means “order.” The ordered rituals and symbols of the Passover seder help us to tell the story of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. (Leader holds up the Seder Plate and briefly explains the ritual items and what they symbolize.) For today’s seder we choose to recognize that while the Jewish people...

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Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melekh ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu lirdof tzedek Brucha Yah Shechinah, eloheinu Malkat ha-olam, asher kid’shatnu b’mitzvotayha vitzivatnu lirdof tzedek Blessed is the Source, who shows us paths to holiness, and commands us to pursue justice. 

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Passover combines the celebration of an event from 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, in this case parsely, to represent our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter. Whatever symbol of spring and...

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URCHATZ  The Leader of the Seder only, now washes his/her hands from an ewer into a bowl held by another celebrant, wiping them dry on a hand towel. We have accepted the need for leadership, we wash the leaders's hands. This small, formal act of service is a symbol of our recognition of their leadership. This is an ancient Jewish ritual in and of itself.  At this point in the Seder, washing the hands has a specific purpose other than to...

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Door standers Manspreaders We are delayed in the station because of train traffic ahead of us Pole leaners Loud talkers Mouth noises No bikes at this location  

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Leader: Let us say grace. Company: Let us bless Him of whose bounty we have partaken and through whose goodness we live. Leader: Praised art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who sustainest the world with goodness, with grace, and with infinite mercy. Thou givest food unto every creature, for Thy mercy endureth for ever. Company: Through Thy great goodness, food has not failed us. May it never fail us at any time, for the sake of Thy...