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A HEBREW LESSON ON THE ROOT-WORD S-D-RHow is the festival meal of Passover different from the meal eaten at other holiday celebrations? For one thing, the Passover repast is consumed in the context of a scripted dramatic arrangement, a (seder), from the Hebrew verb (le-sadder), "to arrange." There are, to be sure, similar arrangements in Jewish ritual and textual life. The daily prayer book, which contains a sort of script for the performance of devotional texts, is called a (siddur). One...

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Passover is a holiday of community and remembrance. As we reflect on the Jewish Exodus, we hold space for those fleeing persecution, violence, and unstable living conditions today. We acknowledge the ground beneath our feet as occupied Native territory, and mourn the construction of walls built to separate families from one another. This meal is held in memory of not only the Jewish people who were freed from enslavement, but all those who have been marginalized and made to feel unsafe...

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Hinei Mah tov u-ma nayim                               הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב וּמַה נָּעִים Shevet achim gam yachad                                      שֶׁבֶת אָחִים גַּם יַחַד Behold how good and how pleasant it is for people to dwell together.

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מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל. מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל. Mipi El, Mipi El, Y'vorach Yisrael. Mipi El, Mipi El, Y'vorach Yisrael. אֵין אַדִּיר כַּה', וְאֵין בָּרוּךְ כְּבֶן עַמְרָם.  אֵין גְדוֹלָה כַּתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין דּוֹרְשָׁהּ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.  Ein Adir ka'Adonai, V'ein Baruch k'ven Amram.  Ein G'dolah ka'Torah, V'ein Dorsha k'Yisrael. מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל.  מִפִּי אֵל, מִפִּי אֵל, יִבוֹרַךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל. Mipi El, Mipi El, Y'vorach Yisrael. Mipi El, Mipi El, Y'vorach Yisrael. אֵין הָדוּר כַּה', וְאֵין וָתִיק כְּבֶן עַמְרָם. ...

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Child labor in cocoa fields has been documented in the following countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, (leading supplier, accounting for around 40% of production) Guinea and Nigeria.Hundreds of thousands of children work in cocoa fields, and many of them are exposed to hazardous conditions, where they:- Spray pesticides and apply fertilizers without protective gear- Use sharp tools, like machetesSustain injuries from transporting heavy loads beyond permissible weight- Do strenuous work like felling trees, and clearing and burning vegetationThese children are treated...

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The Passover Seder is one of the most recognized and widely practiced of Jewish rituals, yet had our ancestors visited one of these modern-day celebrations, they would be baffled. Not only does our modern Seder wildly diverge from the Passover of old: during antiquity itself the holiday underwent radical changes. As the centralized Israelite state took shape about 3,000 years ago, the religion of the people varied from place to place and took variegated forms, hints of which we can see...

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Leader: Let us all refill our cups. Leader picks up cup for all to see. This is the cup of hope. The seder tradition involves pouring a cup for the Hebrew prophet Elijah. For millennia, Jews opened the door for him, inviting him join their seders, hoping that he would bring with him a messiah to save the world. Yet the tasks of saving the world - once ascribed to prophets, messiahs and gods - must be taken up by us...

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Leader: God brought ten plagues upon the Egyptian people as part of the Israelites’ journey to freedom. Tonight we read ten modern plagues that result from unfair, inequitable, and excessive practices in the criminal justice system. As we read each plague we remove a drop of wine from our glasses to symbolize our anguish at the suffering these plagues have caused. Recite together:  The concentration of police drug enforcement resources in poor communities of color  The forfeiture laws and...

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In our Jewish Mexican family, we honor more than just the struggle of our ancestors journey from mitsrayim to liberdad but also the gifts they gave us and the tools to survive any conditions and to always make it delicious. We have a Chile on our seder plate to honor the abuelas, the bisabuelas, the chignonas, the curandras, and other femme Moshes, Miriams, Tziporahs and Aarons in our lives who taught us who we are, how to be, integridad (integrity) and...

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Egypt, no sleet or snow for sure, not even rain or the usually hail.Nourished only from an ancient wide stream,On which women secretly shared the boy of redemption.Our Seder recalls the signs and marvels, the plagues, the costly victory.We will honor our timeless bread and play with sweet mortar; taste bitterness and tears. We drink past our fill.God will split their sea.Egypt will give chase and drown.The tragedy and the victory mixed like a Hillel sandwich.Yet, we open with an even...

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Should we worry about what the price of our food means for the people around us? Does raising the cost of staples by making them into something rarefied and unique add variety to our lives or does it separate us from people who eat to sustain themselves? The Dinner Party Download: The Value of Four-Dollar Toast February 14, 2014 Brendan Francis Newnam:When did the San Francisco toast trend begin? John Birdsall:Really about a year ago, when a place called The Mill...

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Games: Repeats from previous years but let's stay sharp! Would you Rather? Eat only maror the rest of your life OR drink only saltwater? Be covered from head to toe in boils OR covered from head to toe in lice? Recline whenever you eat OR dip everything you eat? Die from extreme Marror Heart Burn or from Matzah Choking? Hit the Dog OR Bite the Cat? Still be in Eygpt OR still be in school 100 hours a week? Drink 4...

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Caged Bird BY MAYA ANGELOU A free bird leaps  on the back of the wind    and floats downstream    till the current ends  and dips his wing  in the orange sun rays  and dares to claim the sky.  But a bird that stalks  down his narrow cage  can seldom see through  his bars of rage  his wings are clipped and    his feet are tied  so he opens his throat to sing.  The caged bird sings    with a fearful trill    of things unknown   ...

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بالهنا و الشفاءבתיאבון!Bon profit! Dobar tek!Smakelijk eten!Hyvää ruokahalua!食飯Bon appétit!Guten appetit!Καλή όρεξη!Jó étvágyat!Buon appetito!잘먹겠습니다Gero apetito!Пријатно јадењеСайхан хооллооройПриятного аппетита¡Buen provechoขอให้เจริญอาหาร!Afiyet olsun!

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If He had brought us out from Egypt אִלּוּ הוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִםand had not carried out judgments against them וְלֹא עָשָׂה בָּהֶם שְׁפָטִים— Dayenu, it would have been enough דַּיֵּנוּIf He had carried out judgments against them אִלּוּ עָשָׂה בָּהֶם שְׁפָטִיםand not against their idols וְלֹא עָשָׂה בֵּאלֹהֵיהֶם— Dayenu, it would have been enough דַּיֵּנוּIf He had destroyed their idols אִלּוּ עָשָׂה בֵּאלֹהֵיהֶםand had not smitten their first-born וְלֹא הָרַג אֶת בְּכוֹרֵיהֶם— Dayenu, it would have been enough דַּיֵּנוּIf He had smitten...

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One of most beloved songs in the Passover seder is "Dayenu". The stanzas are read one at a time, and the participants 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 appear, we are missing the...