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EVERY JEWISH FAMILY produces a unique version of the Passover seder—the big ritual meal of traditional foods, served after and amid liturgy, storytelling, and song. We’re all surprised at each other’s customs: You eat lamb? You don’t sing “Chad Gad Ya”? And yet, virtually every seder does share a few common elements. Matzoh crumbs all over the floor. Wine stains on the tablecloth. A seder plate containing the traditional symbols of the holiday: a roasted shank bone and hardboiled egg, recalling...

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Erev shel shoshanim/ Nitzeh na el habustan/ Mor besamim ulevona/ Leraglech miftan. Layla yored le'at/ Veru'ach shoshan noshvah/ Havah elchash lach shir balat/ Zemer shel ahava/ Shachar homa yonah/ Roshech maleh t'lalim/ Pich el haboker shoshana/ Ektefenu li. Evening of roses/ Let's go out to the grove/ Myrrh, perfumes, and incense/ Are a threshold at your feet. The night falls slowly/ A breeze of roses blows/ Let me whisper a song to you quietly/ A song of love. At dawn, a...

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A Prayer for Human Rights  Rabbi Brant Rosen Ruach Kol Chai - Spirit of All that Lives: Help us.Help us to uphold the values that are so central to whom we are: human beings created B'tzelem Elohim- in the image of God. Help us to recognize that the inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of...

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Gefilte Fish - A Mythical MidrashAccording to Ashkenazi Jewish custom, we eat Gefilte fish on Passover. The question arose as to why Gefilte fish is so closely associated with Passover, and why it seems to appear on so many Seder tables.Here is one answer:When the Israelites found themselves trapped between the Sea of Reeds (sometimes mistakenly called the Red Sea) and the pursuing Egyptian chariots, they panicked. They cried to Moses, who cried to God who said: wait, let me think...

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You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and...