It’s been a crazy week. The world with all its worries and bothers is still clamoring for your attention. The first step is to forget all that. Leave it behind.  Accept the first cup as a portkey to transport you into a timeless space, where you, your great-grandparents and Moses all coincide.   The beginning of all journeys is separation. You’ve got to leave somewhere to go somewhere else. It is also the first step towards freedom: You ignore the voice of...

There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. We will wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. This is the original Horcrux, an object which holds part of a person's soul and protects them from death. We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our...

Before us are the Karpas (green vegetable). The salt water, which we will pass around, is symbolic of those who have experienced hardship; these are their tears. They belong to: Jewish slaves in the Egypt; gay people with unaccepting families; parents who have lost their children to police brutality or gang violence; men and women in abusive relationships; immigrants under threat of deportation; the bullied and the neglected.   Together we dip the Karpas into the water. By eating the Karpas with...

Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.  -Albus Dumbledore Now, sit back and enjoy as the story unfolds!!

It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated.

Tonight we gather together to celebrate Passover, our holiday of freedom. We will eat a great meal together, enjoy (at least!) four glasses of wine, and tell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. We welcome our friends and family members to reflect with us on the meaning of freedom in all our lives and histories. We will consider the blessings in our lives, pledge to work harder at freeing those who still suffer, and begin to cast...

At the end of the seder, it is traditional to say or sing "Next Year in Jerusalem". We sometimes think of this as a literal wish, though far fewer of us have actually found ourselves in Jerusalem for seder the following year -- congratulations if you have!   But Jerusalem is more than a place, it is a feeling, it is a hope. We wish to be free, loved, and safe.  We wish to be with people we love and who love...

"Friends In Low Places" -- parody!! Blame it all on my roots -I showed up in boots - And brought with me plagues of despair The last one to know - The last one to show - I was the last one You thought you'd see there And I saw the surprise - And the fear in your eyes - When I took up the staff to bring change And I said to you - Hey Pharoh, its time we're through...

Home on the Range Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, Where the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the skies are not cloudy all day. **Chorus** Home, home on the range, Where the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the skies are not cloudy all day. How often at night when the heavens are bright, With the light from the glittering stars, Have I...