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Repair the World and Be’chol Lashon invite you to explore how the Jewish community, a multiracial and multiethnic people, can examine our past and present journeys from Exodus to freedom. Ask guests to read the questions aloud and share their own Passover traditions! Question: Why do Jews from Gibraltar sprinkle a little bit of brick dust into their charoset? Answer: To remind them of the bricks that the Israelite slaves were forced to make. Question: What do Hungarian Jews place on...

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Among the traditional practices at the seder is the recounting of the Ten Plagues that God visited upon Egypt. It is customary to remove a drop of wine from our cups as we mention each of the afflictions.  While these plagues fell only upon the enemies of the ancient Israelites, we do not celebrate the suffering of others, even that of our foes.  Since wine is a symbol of joy, we each remove ten drops from our cups.    In adapting this...

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“If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving." -James Baldwin

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According to the Kabbalah, the book that represents Jewish Mysticism, every Jew is composite of two distinct souls. The first soul is the   Nefesh HaBehamit   which animates the body. This soul is complete with an infrastructure of powers ranging from pleasure and will to intellect and emotions. The second soul is the   Nefesh Elokit. This soul is described by Job as “a part of G‑d,” and exists both before its descent into the body and after the ascent from the body. ...

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Our hands were touched by this water earlier during tonight's seder, but this time is different. This is a deeper step than that. This act of washing our hands is accompanied by a blessing, for in this moment we feel our People's story more viscerally, having just retold it during Maggid. Now, having re-experienced the majesty of the Jewish journey from degradation to dignity, we raise our hands in holiness, remembering once again that our liberation is bound up in everyone...

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Every year at the end of the Seder we say "Next Year in Jerusalem!"  But that can't mean physically. It would get overcrowded. Some of us do not have the means to get there. Some of us are too old or young or sick to travel.  No. Not physically. Mentally. We need to open our minds and hearts to a level where we can accept who we are as people on every level. These traditions we have were around for thousands...

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When we break the Matzah in half, we are symbolizing the split of the red sea. When we break the Matzah, we symbolize the hope that we can eat. When the red sea split, it symbolized the permission; yes you may pass, after hearing the word NO NO NO. During the Seder we get bored and we ask “When can we eat” and until this breaking of the Matzah, we get told NO NO NO. It is hope that there is...

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Throughout our history, violence and persecution have driven the Jewish people to wander in search of a safe place to call home. We are a refugee people. At the Passover Seder, we gather to retell the story of our original wandering and the freedom we found. But we do not just retell the story. We are commanded to imagine ourselves as though we, personally, went forth from Egypt – to imagine the experience of being victimized because of who we are,...

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The first words in the creation of the universe out of the unformed, void and dark earth were God’s “Let there be light." Therein lies the hope and faith of Judaism and the obligation of our people: to make the light of justice, compassion, and knowledge penetrate the darkness of our time till the prophecy be fulfilled, ‘that wickedness vanish like smoke and the earth shall be filled with knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea’ (Isaiah 11:9).  Baruch...

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Before you begin the Seder, either walk with your guests to the front door or have one guest rise from the table and walk to the front door. There, place a pair of shoes on the doorstep and read the words below. Leader: The heart of the Passover Seder tells the story of the Jewish people’s exodus from slavery in Egypt. During the retelling of this story, we say the words, “ (Arami oved avi).” This phrase is sometimes translated as...

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Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, is also interpreted to mean “narrow places.” At Passover, we celebrate being released from the restrictions that limit us and make our lives smaller. We are not fully free as long as we are kept down by attitudes and conditions that are unjust. Many Jews assume that “real Jews” look a certain way and have one path to Judaism — being born Jewish. When confronted with Jews who don’t fit these stereotypes, even well-meaning Jews...

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The Hebrew word “Kiddush” means sanctification. But it is not the wine we sanctify. Instead, the wine is a symbol of the sanctity, the preciousness, and the sweetness of this moment. Held together by sacred bonds of family, friendship, peoplehood, we share this table tonight with one another and with all the generations who have come before us. Let us rise, and sanctify this singular moment. Baruch ata Adonai, Elohaynoo melech ha-olam, boray pree ha-gafen. Baruch atah Adonai, Elohynoo melech ha-...

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Maror Now take a kezayit (the volume of one olive) of the maror. Dip it into the Charoset, but not so much that the bitter taste is neutralized. Recite the following blessing and then eat the maror (without reclining): Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al achilat maror. Praised are you, Adonai, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has taught us the way of holiness through commandments, commanding us to eat the bitter herb.

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The Talmud connects the Four Cups to God's Four Promises to Israel: "Tell the children of Israel: I am Adonai! I will takethem out... I will rescue them… I will redeem them… and I will marry them taking them as my people and I will be their God" However, two 16th C. mystic rabbis identify the Four Cups with the Four Matriarchs of Israel.  (1) The Cup of Kiddush stands for Sarah who was the mother of a community of converts,...