Ten Plagues
Leader: Let us all fill our cups with wine.Tonight we drink four cups of the fruit of the vine. There are many explanations for this custom. They represent, some have said, the four corners of the earth, for freedom must live everywhere; the four seasons of the year, for freedom's cycle must last through all the seasons; or the four matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel.
A full cup of wine symbolizes complete happiness. The triumph of Passover, when we escaped from slavery in Egypt, is diminished by the sacrifice of many human lives when ten plagues were visited upon the people of Egypt. In the ancient story, the plagues that befell the Egyptians resulted from the decisions of tyrants, but the greatest suffering occurred among those who had no choice but to follow. It is fitting that we mourn their loss of life, and express our sorrow over their suffering. For as Jews and as Humanists we cannot take joy in the suffering of others. Therefore, let us diminish the wine in our cups as we recall the ten plagues that befell the Egyptian people.
The Talmud (Megillah 10b) tells us that as the Egyptians were flailing about in the sea, the angels want to sing Halleluyah for Israel’s redemption, but God rebuked them: “How can you sing My praises when My children are drowning?!”
The book of Proverbs cautions us: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. “ (24:17) We reduce the jubilation we might have felt over our rescue by removing from our cup of joyous wine a drop of joy untasted for each plague suffered by our oppressors.
As each plague is named, everyone dips a finger in wine and then touches a plate to remove the drop.
Blood | dam |דָּם
Frogs | tzfardeiya |צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ
Lice | kinim |כִּנִּים
Beasts | arov |עָרוֹב
Cattle disease | dever |דֶּֽבֶר
Boils | sh’chin |שְׁחִין
Hail | barad |בָּרָד
Locusts | arbeh |אַרְבֶּה
Darkness | choshech |חֹֽשֶׁךְ
Slaying of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot |מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת
In the same spirit, our celebration today is also shadowed by our awareness of continuing sorrow and oppression in all parts of the world. Ancient plagues are mirrored in modern tragedies.
We are a world people, living in many lands and among many nations. The power of science has shrunk our planet and has made all of us the children of one human family. We are all victims together of enormous social problems.We share in their effects and in the responsibility to overcome them.
As the pain of others diminishes our joys, let us once more diminish the wine of our festival as we repeat the names of these modern plagues:
Hunger
War
Crime
Disease
Racism
Abuse
Poverty
Discrimination
Destruction of the Environment
Indifference to Human Suffering
Let us sing a song expressing our hope for a better world
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