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URCHATZ  The Leader of the Seder only, now washes his/her hands from an ewer into a bowl held by another celebrant, wiping them dry on a hand towel. We have accepted the need for leadership, we wash the leaders's hands. This small, formal act of service is a symbol of our recognition of their leadership. This is an ancient Jewish ritual in and of itself.  At this point in the Seder, washing the hands has a specific purpose other than to...

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At Passover each year, we read the story of our ancestors’ pursuit of liberation from oppression. When confronting this history, how do we answer our children or our contacts when they ask us how to pursue justice in our time? WHAT DOES THE REVOLUTIONARY CHILD ASK? “The Torah tells me, ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue,’ but how can I pursue justice?” Empower him always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the mute, for...

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Imagine you are standing on the bank of the sea of reeds and you look forward and all you see is water. Suddenly, you look behind you and you see the Egyptian army quickly approaching you. The Israelites pled to Moses and Moses spoke to God. God told Moses, raise your staff over the water and I will split the seas. So Moses did, and nothing happened. Suddenly a man named Nachshon started walking into the water.  The water was up...

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I'm in hour three of cleaning my kitchen and there's still no end in sight.Crouching on my kitchen floor, refrigerator door open, food stuffs spoiling around me, I wonderIs this what the Israelites did? Did they throw out their moldy jars of pasta sauce and shriveled vegetables, so rotten I'm not sure what some of the things once were?I have taken my kitchen apart in a rather manic fashion.  Pots to scour sit on the countertops, cabinet doors are open, their...

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By Rabbi Tamara Cohen We sit down for our seders this year at a powerful cultural moment when the voices of women and girls are rising – the collective activism of #metoo, Emma Gonzales’s six minutes of silence and 11-year-old African American Naomi Wadler’s speech at the March for Our Lives, and even the truth telling of Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. All this makes the absence of women’s voices in the Passover Haggadah more glaring. Thirty years ago,...

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The Four QuestionsWhy is it onlyon Passover nightwe never know howto do anything right?We don't eat our mealsin the regular ways,the ways that we doon all other days.'Cause on all other nightswe may eatall kinds of wonderfulgood bready treats,like big purple pizzathat tastes like a pickle,crumbly crackersand pink pumpernickel,sassafras sandwichand tiger on rye,fifty felafels in pita,fresh-fried,with peanut-butterand tangerine saucespread onto each sideup-and-down, then across,and toasted whole-wheat breadwith liver and ducks,and crumpets and dumplings,and bagels and lox,and doughnuts with one holeand doughnuts...

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The First Cup: We drink to Ending Racism and Poverty, and Birthing Racial and Economic Justice We begin with the teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King 50 years ago, on the evening before his death. He came to Memphis, Tennessee to support the striking sanitation workers of the city, and he spoke to a gathered crowd: “The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers....

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This symbolic washing of the hands recalls the story of Miriam's Well. Legend tells us that this well followed Miriam, sister of Moses, through the desert, sustaining the Jews in their wanderings. Filled with mayim chayim, waters of life, the well was a source of strength and renewal to all who drew from it. One drink from its waters was said to alert the heart, mind and soul, and make the meaning of Torah become alive. In Hebrew, urchatz means “washing”...

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We all carry around ideas and images of reality, frequently garnered from other people or from courses we have taken, books we have read, or from television, the radio, newspapers, the culture in general, which give us pictures of how things are and what is occurring. As a result, we often see our thoughts, or someone else's, instead of seeing what is right in front of us or inside of us. Often, we don't even bother to look or check how...

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Shabbat Candles May the festival lights we now kindle, Inspire us to use our powers To heal and not to harm, To help and not to hinder, To bless and not to curse, To serve You, O God of freedom.

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There have been many suggestions as to Judaism's most fundamental concept.  Here's my candidate:  In each and every generation, each of us must see ourselves as if we left Mitzrayim.Rav Kook says each of us took something from that experience that the world needs before it can be fully redeemed.  Our father Abraham knew well how to argue with God, but he didn't argue when told his descendants would be slaves for 400 years.  We needed to live through the affliction,...

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The Partisan Song (or Partizaner Lid) is the name of a Yiddish song considered one of the chief anthems of Shoah survivors. The lyrics of the song were written in 1943 by Hirsh Glick, a young Jewish inmate of the Vilna Ghetto. The title means "Never Say", and derives from the first line of the song, "Never say that you have reached the final road." During World War II, "Zog Nit Keynmol" was adopted by a number of Jewish partisan groups...

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Three pieces of unleavened bread represent the food that the Israelites took with them when they fled Egypt. They did not have time to let their bread rise and matzah has become a symbolic food eaten during the entire week of Passover in remembrance of our ancestors. The breaking of bread together stands for community. On Passover we say that all who are hungry may come and eat. This embodies the tradition of hospitality that dates back to the days of...

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Almighty God, I have known fear and I have known comfort.  And here, in this moment, my eyes are wide open ; my heart is wide open.  With each step, my heart pounds and I can feel my lips stretching into a smile.  The sounds of the sea are all around and the sounds of children laughing, playing, running.  You are here and everywhere.  Between me and this miracle,   in my heart, in the winged ones above us, and in the...