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As all good term papers do, we start with the main idea: ּעֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ הָיִינו. עַתָּה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין   Avadim hayinu hayinu. Ata b’nei chorin. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now we are free. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God took us from there with a strong hand and outstretched arm. Had God not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, then even today we and our children and our grandchildren would still be slaves. Even if we...

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Ilu hotzi hotzi'anu hotzi'anu mi'mitzrayim Hotzi'anu mi'mitzrayim dayenu Dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu Dayenu, dayenu! Ilu natan natan lanu natan lanu et ha'shabbat Natan lanu et ha'shabbat dayenu Dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu Dayenu, dayenu! Ilu natan natan lanu natan lanu et ha'torah Natan lanu et ha'torah dayenu Dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu dai-dai-yeinu Dayenu, dayenu! Translation: If God had only brought us out of Egypt it would have been enough! If God had only given us the Sabbath it would have been enough! If God had only...

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Even as we celebrate our freedom, our happiness is not complete. We remember the suffering of the Egyptians, who are also God's children. We celebrate our freedom, but we do not rejoice in their suffering. We spill a drop of our wine as we name of each of the plagues. Blood | dam | דָּם Frogs | tzfardeiya | צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ Lice | kinim | כִּנִּים Beasts | arov | עָרוֹב Cattle disease | dever | דֶּֽבֶר Boils | sh’chin | שְׁחִין...

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My Angry Self – Violent and oppressive things are happening to me, the people I love and people I don’t even know. Why can’t we make the people in power hurt the way we are all hurting?Expressing our anger, releasing our anger, knowing and claiming our anger is an important step in the process of liberation, but hatred and violence can never overcome hatred and violence. Only love and compassion can transform our world. My Ashamed Self – I’m so ashamed...

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Finding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon | צָפוּן The playfulness of finding the afikomen reminds us that we balance our solemn memories of slavery with a joyous celebration of freedom. As we eat the afikomen, our last taste of matzah for the evening, we are grateful for moments of silliness and happiness in our lives.

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There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal… and win a prize. We eat matzah in memory of the...

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Every year we sit down for the Passover seder to commemorate our Exodus from Egypt. While we were fortunate to have this opportunity, even if it was after many years, there are still those in the world that have not yet had their exodus from oppression. Many people are underpaid and work under inhumane conditions. As we sit here tonight, let us reflect on how we may provide those in need with their exodus, just as God did when we were...

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The Seder concludes with an exclamation of hope: Next year in Jerusalem! Like every Jewish teaching, this statement is best understood on multiple levels. Most obviously, it is the dream of our ancestors, living in exile, to someday return home. We honor the resilience of the generations of Jews who survived and preserved our traditions against all odds. Yet like all great teachings, ours has been distorted and misused. How many Palestinian people have been displaced, mistreated, tortured and killed, with...

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Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melekh ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu lirdof tzedek Brucha Yah Shechinah, eloheinu Malkat ha-olam, asher kid’shatnu b’mitzvotayha vitzivatnu lirdof tzedek Blessed is the Source, who shows us paths to holiness, and commands us to pursue justice. 

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Rachel Naomi Remen, physician and author, shared this story as she heard it from her grandfather, an Orthodox rabbi. In the beginning there was only the holy darkness, the Ein Sof (No End), the source of life. And then, in the course of history, at a moment in time, this world, the world of a thousand thousand things, emerged from the heart of the holy darkness as a great ray of light. And then, perhaps because this is a Jewish story,...

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The seder officially begins with a physical act: lighting the candles.  In Jewish tradition, lighting candles and saying a blessing over them marks a time of transition, from the day that is ending to the one that is beginning, from ordinary time to sacred time.  Lighting the candles is an important part of our Passover celebration because their flickering light reminds us of the importance of keeping the fragile flame of freedom alive in the world. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech...

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Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration. We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter. Most families use a...

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Who can share an answer to the Four Questions? On all other nights we eat bread or matzah. Why on this night do we eat only matzah? On all other nights we eat any kind of vegetable. Why on this night do we eat only maror? On all other nights we do not even dip once. Why on this night do we dip twice? On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining. Why on this night do we recline?

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There's a Sefardic custom -- Iraqi or Afghani, by most accounts -- of asking these three questions at the start of the seder: either to one participant who's shouldered a pack and is orbiting the table, or each person to the person sitting beside them. Who are you? I am Yisrael. Where are you coming from? I am coming from Mitzrayim. Where are you going? I am going to Yerushalayim. Who are you? I'm Yisrael. I'm a God-wrestler. I'm someone who...

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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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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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Who can share an answer to the Four Questions? On all other nights we eat bread or matzah. Why on this night do we eat only matzah? On all other nights we eat any kind of vegetable. Why on this night do we eat only maror? On all other nights we do not even dip once. Why on this night do we dip twice? On all other nights we eat sitting or reclining. Why on this night do we recline?

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Humanity manifests itself in brotherhood most frequently in “dark times.” This kind of humanity actually becomes inevitable when the times become so extremely dark for certain groups of people that it is no longer up to them, their insight or choice, to withdraw from the world. Humanity in the form of fraternity invariably appears historically among persecuted peoples and enslaved groups. ... This kind of humanity is the great privilege of pariah peoples; it is the advantage that the pariahs of...

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Passover is a holiday built around foods as puns and symbols. Every item on the Seder plate and the Passover table has a meaning. Who knows the meaning of these things? Maror - Bitter herb Charoset - Fruit & nut paste Karpas - Green vegetable Zeroah - Shankbone Beitzah - Egg Orange Matzah Elijah's Cup Miriam's Cup