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עוד יבוא שלום עלינו  עוד יבוא שלום עלינו  עוד יבוא שלום עלינו  ועל כולם!  סלאאם, עלינו ועל כל העולם  סלאאם סלאאם  סלאאם, עלינו ועל כל העולם  סלאאם סלאאם Od yavo' shalom aleinu  Od yavo' shalom aleinu  Od yavo' shalom aleinu  Ve al kulam  Salaam  Aleinu ve al kol ha olam,  Salaam, Salaam  Salaam  Aleinu ve al kol ha olam,  Salaam, Salaam Translation: Peace will soon be upon us and on everyone.​  Peace upon us and upon the whole world   

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This is the full text of the traditional blessing after meals. It is long and in Hebrew. Jess thinks it is beautiful and fun to sing it out loud, and would love if you would join her, humming along or clapping if you don't know the words. Alternatively, take a brief nap and we'll be back shortly. שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת: בְּשׁוּב יהוה אֶת־שִׁיבַת צִיּוֹן הָיִ֫ינוּ כְּחֹלְמִים. אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק פִּינוּ וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה, אָז יֹאמְרוּ בַגּוֹיִם, הִגְדִּיל יְיָ לַעֲשׂוֹת עִם אֵלֶּה. הִגְדִּיל יְיָ...

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Our eating of maror and talking about slavery might [...] carry with it a lesson about the negative power of shame. I don’t like sharing my stories of pain or difficulty. They often feel like stories of failure. It often feels like my pain is a result of my inadequacy in managing my life or lack of success. If I were a better person, more capable, wiser, more powerful, my story would be all about happiness. Sadness becomes associated with failure....

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In Hamotzi we say blessed are you Hashem who brings bread from the ground. The obvious question is why do we say bread from the ground? After all doesn’t Hashem only provide the Wheat? The answer is that by stating the beracha as such we are saying we are a partner to Hashem being that we are a part of him and by leaving our individual work out of the picture we can see ourselves as a part of G-d. To...

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The Torah speaks of four types of children: one is wise, one is wicked, one is simple, and one does not know how to ask. The Wise One asks: "What is the meaning of the laws and traditions God has commanded?" You should teach him all the traditions of Passover, even to the last detail. The Wicked One asks: "What does this ritual mean to you?" By using the expression "to you" he excludes himself from his people and denies God....

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We start our Seder, as we start every holiday, with blessings and setting our intention. Who are we? Why are we here? Take a moment and consider one thing that you are bringing to this table. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ One to three volunteers should read the blessings: the first sanctifying the wine, the second sanctifying the time, and the third thanking G-d for keeping us alive and bringing us to this table. This last blessing is usually only said on the first night...

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Ritually wash hands without reciting the blessing. The need for hand washing before eating vegetables is no longer considered a ritual requirement for traditional Jews, but it is preserved here in the seder. Before we embark on this journey through time and space together, what things do you want to wash your hands of? What do you want to cast aside? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Adir hu, adir hu ... Chorus: Yivneh veito bekarov, Bimheirah, bimheirah, Beyameinu beka'rov. Ehl benei, Ehl benei Benei veit-cha beka'arov. Bachur hu, gadol hu, dagul hu (chorus) Hadur hu, vatik hu, zakai hu (chorus) Chassid hu, tahor hu, yachid hu (chorus) Kabir hu, lamud hu, melech hu (chorus) Nora hu, sagiv hu, iizuz hu (chorus) Podeh hu, tzadik hu, kadosh hu (chorus) Rachum hu, shaddai hu, takif hu Yivneh veito bekarov, Bimheirah, bimheirah, Beyameinu beka'arov. Ehl benei, Ehl benei Benei veit-cha...

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Many feel that redemption requires complete change. Dayenu reminds us that redemption or self-improvement is a process. Each line of the Dayenu makes this very point. For example, we say had God taken us out of Egypt and not executed judgment upon the Egyptians, Dayenu – it would have been enough. One should be perpetually moving toward self-improvement. The process is sometimes more valuable than the end result. [...] I remember, during some of the most difficult times of the Free...

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From a distance everything looks like a miracle but up close even a miracle doesn’t appear so. Even someone who crossed the Red Sea when it split only saw the sweaty back of the one in front of him and the motion of his big legs, and at most, a hurried glance to the side, fish of many colors in a wall of water, like in a marine observatory behind walls of glass.  The real miracles happen at the next table...

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Our hands were touched by this water earlier during tonight's seder, but this time is different. This is a deeper step than that. This act of washing our hands is accompanied by a blessing, for in this moment we feel our People's story more viscerally, having just retold it during Maggid. Now, having re-experienced the majesty of the Jewish journey from degradation to dignity, we raise our hands in holiness, remembering once again that our liberation is bound up in everyone...

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Sometimes I lay under the moon And thank God I'm breathing Then I pray: Don't take me soon 'Cause I am here for a reason Sometimes in my tears I drown But I never let it get me down So when negativity surrounds I know some day it'll all turn around because... Chorus: All my life I've been waiting for I've been praying for, for the people to say That we don't wanna fight no more There will be no more...

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The Jerusalem Talmud claims that the Pesach Hallel is not “recited”, rather it is belted out in the kind of song which suits a miraculous moment of reclaiming our lives after a national near-death experience. It is a current, relevant, real singing of salvation, said by Jews worldwide, every year. On this night I attempt to identify with the pain and tortures of the darkest nights of history. On this night, in contrast, I feel more a deep connection to my...