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Leader: Tonight, we celebrate the Passover holiday, one of the major festivals of Judaism. The long history of the Jews is one of contrasts — freedom and slavery, joy and pain, power and helplessness. The celebration of Passover reflects these contrasts. Tonight as we celebrate our freedom, we remember the slavery of our ancestors, and reflect upon the fact that many people are not yet free.Leader: Each generation changes — our ideas, our needs, our dreams, our celebrations. In this way,...

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Leader: Before we can partake of the Seder meal, we must discuss the Mitzvot, the primary symbols of Passover.Leader: The first mitzvah is Zeroa, traditionally a roasted shank bone of the lamb, which reminds us of the sacrifice made by the Hebrews on the night of the tenth plague. On our seder plate, we have not a bone, but a beet, whose color reminds us of the blood, without the enslavement or suffering of animals.\Leader: The next is the Matzoh, by...

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Leader: The Twelve Tribes of Israel — Jacob's sons and their families — came into Egypt. And though in time Joseph and all of his generation died, the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, until the land was filled with them.Reader: There came to power in Egypt a new king who had never heard of Joseph. He said unto his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Let us deal wisely...

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Leader: We now partake of the bitter herbs, of which there are two symbols on the seder plate, the maror and the chazeret. Take a small amount of horseradish and eat it on a leaf of lettuce. All:  Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al a'chilat maror. (Blessed art thou, the LORD our God, King of the Universe, who hath santified us and commanded us to eat bitter herbs) Eat the maror and chazeret.

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Leader: Ha lachma anya — this is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover with us.  Now we are here; next year may we be in the Land of Israel. Now we are slaves; next year may we be free.Leader: The matzoh is symbol of both our slavery and our freedom. The Passover story begins with slavery,...

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Leader: We are now ready to eat the seder meal! In some Jewish traditions, we begin by eating eggs and salt water. The egg on the seder plate, Beitzah, has many meanings. It is a symbol of Spring and rebirth. It is also historically a symbol of mourning, and represents the fall of the great Temple in Jerusalem. There are also some who say it represents the Jewish people, for the more it is boiled, the harder it gets.Leader: There are...

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Leader: We come now to the first element of the Seder Plate: Karpas, the green vegetable.Reader: The Karpas is a symbol of the Spring. It represents the reawakening of life and reminds us that beneath the snow, the earth is not dead, but dormant. It signifies the life-sustaining crops of our ancestors, and with this blessing, we make favorable their growth.Reader: The parsley is also historically symbolic of the biblical herb, ezov. It was this plant the Hebrews used to sprinkle...

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Leader: The word seder means "order", and the Passover ritual follows a very specific order. Throughout the meal, we drink four glasses of wine — a symbol of the four promises made to Moses about the liberation of the Jewish people. In the book of Exodus it is written that God told Moses: Leader: I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched...

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The Leader passes around one of the sheets of matzoh. Each participant takes a small piece. All:  Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al a'chilat matzoh. (Blessed art thou, the LORD our God, King of the Universe, who hath santified us and commanded us to eat matzoh) All eat their matzoh.

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Leader: Now we partake of the Charoset, which symbolizes the mortar with which our enslaved ancestors worked. Though the labor was bitter, it was made bearable by the sweetness of hope. We now include charoset with the maror and matzoh to soften the bitterness of suffering. Create a "Hillel sandwich", matzoh with both maror and charoset, and eat it.

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Leader: We cannot eat the Seder meal until the story of Passover is told. This next section is called 'Maggid', which means 'Narrator', or 'Preacher'. In it we explore the reasons for the Passover holiday, culminating in a retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypyt. We begin with a question:Reader: Why is this night different from all other nights?Reader: Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this...

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Leader: We now partake of the bitter herbs, of which there are two symbols on the seder plate, the maror and the chazeret. Take a small amount of horseradish and eat it on a leaf of lettuce. All:  Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al a'chilat maror. (Blessed art thou, the LORD our God, King of the Universe, who hath santified us and commanded us to eat bitter herbs) Eat the maror and chazeret.

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Leader: The Twelve Tribes of Israel — Jacob's sons and their families — came into Egypt. And though in time Joseph and all of his generation died, the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, until the land was filled with them.Reader: There came to power in Egypt a new king who had never heard of Joseph. He said unto his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Let us deal wisely...

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Leader: Ha lachma anya — this is the bread of affliction, which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover with us.  Now we are here; next year may we be in the Land of Israel. Now we are slaves; next year may we be free.Leader: The matzoh is symbol of both our slavery and our freedom. The Passover story begins with slavery,...