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The problem is all inside your head God said to me The answer is easy if you Take it logically I'd like to help you in your struggle To be free There must be fifty ways To leave your PharaohHe said it's easy as throwingDown your staffI’m sure that Pharaoh and hisCourt will get a laughBut I'll repeat myself Entirely on your behalfThere must be fifty ways To leave your Pharaoh  Fifty ways to leave your Pharaoh Just turn water to...

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בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה.Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri ha’adamah.Blessed are You, Lord, our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

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You may be wondering why this Haggadah claims to be written by you. The answer is that parts of tonight’s service will be uniquely yours. The written Haggadah is our road map, but what we see along the way will be based on who we are. Judaism has evolved into a tradition without high priest, sage, or ultimate leader. It is the joy and responsibility of every Jew to engage with the tradition. Because of this, our seder has no leader...

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While the word seder literally means order, for our family it has another special meaning, it also means memories.  Each year of our lives we have sat at our family's seder table, building a treasure chest  of memories rich with tradition, love, and yiddishkeit, from which we draw each day of our lives.  As children we sat at the table of our parents and as we became parents, we set the table for our children.  \We thank everyone here for joining...

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Water is refreshing, cleansing, and clear, so it’s easy to understand why so many cultures and religions use water for symbolic purification. We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, we’ll wash again with a blessing, preparing us for the meal, which Judaism thinks of as a ritual in itself. (The Jewish obsession with food is older than you thought!) To wash your...

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Some scholars believe there are four kinds of parents as well.The Wise Parent is an utter bore. "Listen closely, because you are younger than I am," says the Wise Parent, "and I will go on and on about Jewish history, based on some foggy memories of my own religious upbringing, as well as an article in a Jewish journal I have recently skimmed." The Wise Parent must be faced with a small smile of dim interest.The Wicked Parent tries to cram...

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I have taken in the light that quickened eye and leaf. May my brain be bright with praise of what I eat, in the brief blaze of motion and of thought. May I be worthy of my meat.-Wendell Berry

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"Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the...

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Said the parents to their children, “From your bondage you’ll cut loose, You will eat your fill of matzah, you will drink four cups of juice.” Now these parents had four children, yes their kids they numbered four, One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore. And the fourth was sweet and winsome, was so young and also small, While the other asked the questions, this one could not speak at all. Said the wise one...

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EVERY JEWISH FAMILY produces a unique version of the Passover seder—the big ritual meal of traditional foods, served after and amid liturgy, storytelling, and song. We’re all surprised at each other’s customs: You eat lamb? You don’t sing “Chad Gad Ya”? And yet, virtually every seder does share a few common elements. Matzoh crumbs all over the floor. Wine stains on the tablecloth. A seder plate containing the traditional symbols of the holiday: a roasted shank bone and hardboiled egg, recalling...

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Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four? Some say the cups represent our matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery. Another interpretation is that the cups represent the Four Worlds: physicality, emotions, thought, and essence. Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you to be...

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1. Wherever you live, it is probably Mitzrayim.2. There is a better place, a promised land.3. The way to this promised land is through the wilderness -- there is no way to get there except by joining together and marching.

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As we now transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again wash our hands to prepare ourselves. In Judaism, a good meal together with friends and family is itself a sacred act, so we prepare for it just as we prepared for our holiday ritual, recalling the way ancient priests once prepared for service in the Temple. Some people distinguish between washing to prepare for prayer and washing to prepare for food by...

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Refill everyone’s wine glass. We now say grace after the meal, 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 You, we need never lack for food; You provide food enough for everyone. We...

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Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four? Some say the cups represent our matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery. Another interpretation is that the cups represent the Four Worlds: physicality, emotions, thought, and essence. Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you to be...

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A cup to Ourselves, to all of us who are at this seder tonight, to the present moment. We must love ourselves, for we are holy, and we have been created out of all that is. Let us take this moment to honor our bodies, our lives, and our communities. Let us honor all the things that have made us who we are––the pain and the pleasure. Let us savor our bodies in all their uniqueness: our skin and our bones,...

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I have taken in the light that quickened eye and leaf. May my brain be bright with praise of what I eat, in the brief blaze of motion and of thought. May I be worthy of my meat.-Wendell Berry