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Psalm 136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods.His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords:His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders,His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens,His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters,His love endures forever. who made the great lights—His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day,His love endures...

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Fourth Glass of Wine 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. While we revel in celebration of our community, this cup reminds us that The Redemption is not yet complete. The fourth cup recalls us to our covenant  with the Eternal One, to the tasks that still await us as a people called to holy service, to a...

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We have eaten our Passover meal as free people. Let us give thanks to the source of all life and freedom. Let us say grace, 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: We praise God, Ruler of Everything, whose goodness sustains the world. You are the origin of love and compassion, the source of bread for all. Thanks to...

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Why do we eat maror? Tradition says that this bitter herb is to remind us of the bitterness of our slavery. We force ourselves to taste pain so that we may more readily value pleasure. All take a taste of maror on a piece of matzah. ברוּךְ אַתָּה יְיַָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מרוֹר: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror. Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the...

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Eating the meal! | shulchan oreich | שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ Enjoy! But don’t forget when you’re done we’ve got a little more seder to go, including the final two cups of wine!

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We have now told the story of Passover…but wait! We’re not quite done. There are still some symbols on our seder plate we haven’t talked about yet. Rabban Gamliel would say that whoever didn’t explain the shank bone, matzah, and marror (or bitter herbs) hasn’t done Passover justice. The shank bone represents the Pesach, the special lamb sacrifice made in the days of the Temple for the Passover holiday. It is called the pesach, from the Hebrew word meaning “to pass...

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1) On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice! Slavery : The salt water into which we dip the  karpas  (potato, onion, or other vegetable) represents the tears we cried while in Egypt. Similarly, the  charoset  (fruit-nut paste) into which the bitter herbs are dipped reminds us of the cement we used to create the bricks in Egypt. Freedom : Dipping food is considered a luxury; a sign of freedom -- as opposed...

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Leader: Searching and finding the matzah is a symbol of a child growing up. It is tradition for the children to search for and find the afikomen, and when they do, they are given a reward by the adults. The act of leaving the table and searching for the matzah represents the Israelites coming out of Egypt, and the finding of the afikomen represents giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Searching for the afikomen is also a very spiritual part...

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Slaves eat quickly, stopping neither to wash nor to reflect. Tonight, we are free. We wash and we express our reverence for the blessings that are ours. Pass a bowl of water, a small cup and a towel around the table. Everyone pours three cupfuls over their fingers. There is no blessing over this washing.

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בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim. In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt. The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too along with them. That’s why the Torah says “God brought us out from there in order to lead us to and give us the land promised to...

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The Cup of Elijah 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 Bible, 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 in advance of messianic days to herald a new era of peace, so we set a place for Elijah...

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Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb | koreich | כּוֹרֵךְ When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the biggest ritual of them all was eating the lamb offered as the pesach or Passover sacrifice. The great sage Hillel would put the meat in a sandwich made of matzah, along with some of the bitter herbs. While we do not make sacrifices any more – and, in fact, some Jews have a custom of purposely avoiding lamb during the seder so...

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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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Symbolic food on the seder plate are as follows: Maror: Bitter herbs symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery the Hebrews endured in Egypt. Charoset: A sweet mixture representing the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to build the storehouses or pyramids of Egypt. Karpas: A symbol of the Hebrew people, who were vibrant and grew in great number while in Egypt. We dip this into the salt water, representative of tears, to mirror the pain they felt as slaves....

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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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As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. We regret 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. Dip a finger or a spoon into your wine glass for a drop for each plague. These are the ten plagues which God brought down...

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Psalm 136 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods.His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords:His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders,His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens,His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters,His love endures forever. who made the great lights—His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day,His love endures...

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Psalm 126 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes,Lord, like streams in the Neg ev. Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out...