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The half matzo, which was hidden earlier, now needs to be found before we can finish the Seder!

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Pack Nothing. Bring only your determination to serve and your willingness to be free. Don’t wait for the bread to rise. Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing, be ready to move at a moment’s notice. Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind - fear, silence, submission. Do not take time to explain to the neighbors.Tell only a few trusted friends and family members. Then begin quickly, before you have time to sink back into the old slavery....

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May you grant my family and all Israel a good and long life. Remember us with blessings and kindness. Give me the opportunity to raise my children and grandchildren to be truly wise and people of truth. Please hear my prayer at this time. Regard me as a worthy descendant of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, and let my candles never be extinguished. Let the light of Your face shine upon us. Amen.

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THE BITTER HERB Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror. Blessed are You, Spirit of the universe who commands us to eat bitter herbs.

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They marched us down the length of Pozohony Street, toward the Margaret Bridge and that was when we understood they were bringing us to the edge of the Danube, where they would shoot us and leave us to die under the ice. When we arrived at the foot of the bridge, a Soviet reconnaissance aircraft appeared out of nowhere over our heads. The death march stopped, and there was a moment of chaos while the Nazi guards sought refuge in the...

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THESE WORDS ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO DIED Because they had no love and felt alone in the world Because they were afraid to be alone and tried to stick it out Because they could not ask Because they were shunned Because they were sick and their bodies could not resist the disease Because they played it safe Because they had no connection Because they had no faith Because they felt they did not belong and wanted to die THESE WORDS...

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It’s time to wash hands again, but this time with the blessing. It’s customary not to speak at all between washing your hands and saying the blessings over the matzo: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al n’tilat yadayim. We praise God, Spirit of Everything, who commands us to wash our hands.

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DIPPING A GREEN VEGETABLE IN SALT WATER Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with 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. We now take a vegetable, representing spring, and dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves. Before we eat it, we recite...

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EATING THE MATZO Raise the matzo and recite two blessings: the regular bread blessing and then one specifically mentioning the mitzvah of eating matzo at Passover. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. We praise God, Spirit of everything who brings bread from the land. Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat matzah. Blessed are You, Spirit of everything who commands us to eat matzo.

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(to the tune of “Louie, Louie”) Pharaoh, Pharaoh Oh baby! Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Singin' Pharaoh, Pharaoh Oh baby! Let my people go! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! A burnin' bush told me just the other day that I should come over here and stay Gotta get my people outta Pharaoh's hands Gotta lead my people to the Promised Land The Nile turned to blood! There were darkened black skies! Gnats and frogs! There were locusts and flies!...

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BREAKING THE MIDDLE MATZO There are three pieces of matzo stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzo into two pieces. One piece is called the Afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. The Afikomen is hidden and must be found before the Seder can be finished. We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from Egypt. As slaves, they had faced many false starts before finally being let go. So when the word of their freedom...

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RITUAL HAND-WASHING IN PREPARATION FOR THE SEDER Water is refreshing, cleansing, and clear, so it’s easy to understand why so many cultures and religions use water for symbolic purification. Washing hands can take place twice during our Seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then later, with a blessing, preparing us for the meal.

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So let’s bring Dayeinu into the present. We are grateful, and yet what miracles and accomplishments would be suffcient (Dayeinu) in today’s world for us to be truly satisfied? 1. When all workers of the world receive just compensation and respect for their labors, enjoy safe, healthy and secure working conditions and can take pride in their work. . . DAYEINU 2. When governments end the escalating production of devastating weapons, secure in the knowledge that they will not be necessary....

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CHAD GADYA, CHAD GADYA dizabin aba bitrei zuzei, chad gadya, chad gadya. Va'ata shunra, ve'achla legadya dizabin aba bitrei zuzei, chad gadya, chad gadya. An only kid! An only kid My father bought for two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then came the cat and ate the kid My father bought For two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then came the dog And bit the cat That ate the kid My father bought For two zuzim Chad gadya, Chad gadya Then...

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AS WE BEGIN TONIGHT’S SEDER, let’s take a moment to be thankful for being together. We make a small community of storytellers. But, why this story again? Most of us already know the story of Passover. The answer is that we are not merely telling, or in tonight’s case, singing a story. We are being called to the act of empathy. Not only to hear the story of the Exodus but to feel as if we too were being set free....

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Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha’olam, hazan et ha’olam kulo b’tuvo b’chen b’chesed w’rachamin. Hu noten lechem l’chol basar ki l’olam chasdo. Uv’tuvo hagadol tamid lo chasar lanu v’al yech’sar lanu mason l’olam va’ed. Ba’avur sh’mo hagadol ki hu zan um’farnes lakol umetiv lakol umechin mazon l’chol b’riyotav asher bara. Baruch Atah Adonai hazan et hakol. We praise God, Spirit of Everything, whose goodness sustains the world. You are the origin of love and compassion, the source of bread for all,...

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IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH One of most beloved songs in the Passover Seder is "Dayeinu". Dayeinu commemorates a long list of miraculous things God did, any one of which would have been pretty amazing just by itself. For example, “Had God only taken us out of Egypt but not punished the Egyptians – it would have been enough.” Dayeinu, translated liberally, means, “Thank you, God, for overdoing it.” Dayeinu is a reminder to never forget all the miracles in our...