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The fourth cup of wine is poured We now draw our attention to the two empty cups on the table--one of which is for Elijah the Prophet, and the other for Miriam the Prophetess. Tradition teaches us that each of these biblical characters plays an important task of bringing redemption.It is said that that Elijah the Prophet visits the homes of Jewish families on Passover, to check to see if we are all truly ready to welcome the stranger, and are...

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Maror: Bitter Herbs (perceived) – We take a break from the story here to eat Maror. Why? (We are taught that “In every generation all of us are obliged to regard ourselves as if we ourselves went forth from the land of Egypt.” So it is not enough to remember, we must ourselves enter the story and, through symbols and ceremony and food, make it our own. Maror helps reminds us of the bitterness of slavery, the bitterness of being treated...

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Why do we talk about 4 children? (This part of the seder comes from Rabbinic midrash or Rabbis interpretation of the torah. The Torah speaks about children in connection with the Pesach story 4 times using the exact same words. Rabbis made sense of why the same thing was said 4 times by explaining that each time was supposed to represent different types of children.) How would we respond to each of these 4 types of children? The eager child: (Teach...

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Naming the Plagues We remove a drop from our cups at the mention of the plagues. Removing wine reminds us that our freedom came at the same time as terrible misfortunes were visited upon the Egyptians. The ten plagues are:(For each plague from the story, somebody mention a modern day problem in our society)Dom (blood), Tzfardaya (frogs), Keeneem (lice), Orov (flies), Dever (cattle disease), Shcheen (boils), Barad (hail), Arbeh (locusts), Choschech (darkness), Makat bchorot (slaying of the first born) (What are...

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 Many times throughout history,  the Jewish people have lived without freedom. The Haggadah tells the story of one of those times. It tells the story of how the Jewish people were freed from being slaves in Eqypt which is called the Exodus. By reading the words of the Haggadah and by eating special food, we perform the Mitzvah written in the Torah. “You shall tell the Passover story to your children in the days to come”.The word “Haggadah” means a retelling.The...

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 Yachatz  - Breaking of the middle matzah – why now?(Something broken reminds us of how things are made of parts. In Mitzrayim each slave was a part of the group called the Israelites. In order for each part to be strong and healthy each Hebrew had to take responsibility for helping other Hebrews. Only with teamwork, each part helping the other parts, could the Hebrews remain hopeful that they would not be slaves forever.)

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Matzoh: (Unleavened bread of our ancestors)This is the poor people’s bread that our ancestors ate when they fled the land of Egypt. Let all who hunger come and eat it with us . Next year may we be free.  Next year may we be living in peace in a new era of love and respect for all humanity and all the creatures of the green hills of Earth. ( the uppermost of the three matzot is broken and distributed among the...

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Find the Afikomen, symbolizing part of you that was split off and must be reintegrated into your full being to be a whole and free person.

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Our Passover celebration begins with the lighting of the candles. As we light these candles may we rededicate ourselves to keep alive the burning flame of justice.  (The candles are lit as these blessings are said by everyone): Nvarech et ruach ha’olam asher kidashatnu bemitzvoteha vetzivatnu lehadlik ner shel yom tov. Let us bless the source of life, that brings us to this year’s spring and to this year’s seder.  May the festival lights we now kindleInspire us to use our...

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The Third Cup(Pour the third cup of wine)Reader 1: The swords have not yet been put aside, and the time of the plowshare and the pruning hooks is still to come. But the journey has begun. Towards that redemption, let us lift once again our glasses of wine andjoin in the blessing: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam boreh p’ri ha-gafen. We praise You, O God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who brings forth the fruit of the vine.(Leaning to the left,...

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Freedom. It isn’t once, to walk outunder the Milky Way, feeling the riversof light, the fields of dark—freedom is daily, prose-bound, routineremembering. Putting together, inch by inchthe starry worlds. From all the lost collections.

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Even though they were slaves, the Children of Israel continued to have more children. Pharoah was scared of them because of their large population. Pharoah thought that the Children of Israel might join with his other enemies and try to overthrow him and his family as rulers of Egypt. Because Pharoah was scared of the Hebrews, he decided to make things difficult for Hebrew mothers (all male, Hebrew babies were to be killed). He ordered the two head Hebrew midwives, Shifrah...

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In the Pesach story, freedom is discussed in many different ways.   We stop to think about this four different times in the seder with a cup of wine.We dedicate this first cup of wine to Sping, openness to learning and change, to new beginnings(The wine is poured as these blessings are said by everyone):Nvarech et ruach ha’olam boray pri hagafen. Let us bless the source of life that nurtures fruit on the vine  as we weave the branches of our lives...

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Two times so far we've talked about this matzah here to figure out And now's our chance to take a bite to remind us of the slaves rushed flight But first some blessings say we should Thank God for our gifts so good Ba-ruch A-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ha-o-lam, Ha-mo-tzee le-chem meen ha-a-retz. O Holy One of Blessing, Your Presence fills creation; Thank you for the nourishing goodness of bread. Ba-ruch A-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ha-o-lam, a-sher keed-sha-nu be-meetz-vo-tav, vee-tzee-va-nu al...

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Rabbi Meir ben Tzipporah v’Nechemia haLevi was often asked about the meaning of the roasted egg. It remains on the Seder Plate, yet never discussed. The egg reminds us of many things. Its presence on the Seder Plate represents the holiday sacrifice our ancestors made when the Temple stood. But, as with any good symbol it is rich with meaning. The egg itself is symbolic of life and reminds us of the blossoming world around us. The egg’s roundness reminds us...

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Maror: Bitter Herbs (perceived) – We take a break from the story here to eat Maror. Why? (We are taught that “In every generation all of us are obliged to regard ourselves as if we ourselves went forth from the land of Egypt.” So it is not enough to remember, we must ourselves enter the story and, through symbols and ceremony and food, make it our own. Maror helps reminds us of the bitterness of slavery, the bitterness of being treated...

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When Pharoah demanded that Shifrah and Pu’ah explain why there were still so many healthy babies, they told him that Hebrew women were like animals, and that they gave birth too quickly, before the midwives could arrive. A woman named Jocheved gave birth to a son, Moshe. The child was quiet, and she decided to keep him hidden in the Nile river for three months to make sure he was safe. His sister, Miriam, often stood nearby watching over him. One...

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Miriam, and the other midwives, Nachshon, Moses and all the people needed courage to stand up and defy the Pharoah. The third cup of wine is dedicated to the courage that is needed to seek freedom.  (everyone raises her or his wine or juice cup and says together) Blessing for Wine Let us bless the source of lifethat nurtures fruit on the vine as we weave the branches of our lives into the tradition. (Everyone drinks the second cup of wine...