As we prepare to drink our first cup of wine and make our first promise, we acknowledge that not everyone is able to feed their bodies with affordable nutritious food. Far too many people in our country simply do not have adequate resources to do that which so many take for granted: eat in a way that actually provides nourishment and sustenance. Our first cup of wine is our first promise: ALL We will work to ensure that everyone has access...

During the traditional seder, we join together and drink four cups of wine: a cup for each of the promises of freedom God made to the Israelites as God led them out of bondage. Today we join together and make four new promises — promises not about breaking the shackles of Egyptian slavery, but about breaking the bonds of hunger. We do so standing together and calling for a better tomorrow, one in which we are all blessed to have bountiful...

LEADER: Each year, Jews across the world join with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers to celebrate the holiday of Passover with a symbolic meal called a seder. But why? What is behind this tradition?  Seder means “order.” The ordered rituals and symbols of the Passover seder help us to tell the story of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt. (Leader holds up the Seder Plate and briefly explains the ritual items and what they symbolize.) For today’s seder we...

Our seder is now coming to a close. We celebrate our blessings, yet acknowledge the hunger that still plagues far too many in our communities and affirm our commitment to work together to create a hunger-free world. ALL READ TOGETHER IN UNISON: This year we are here; next year in Jerusalem. This year we are pained by hunger; next year may all who are hungry come and eat. -- For more than 36 years, MAZON has been committed to ensuring that...

READ RESPONSIVELY LEADER: Today we give thanks for the Passover story ALL: And its enduring message of freedom and justice. LEADER:Today we give thanks for our individual blessings ALL: And our commitment to increase blessing and nutrition for all. LEADER: Today we give thanks for the opportunity to gather. ALL: And lift our voices to speak out on behalf of those who are hungry. LEADER: Today we give thanks and act ALL: So that no one goes hungry tomorrow. KOS R’VI-I...

KOS SH’LISHI – THE THIRD CUP LEADER: We drink the Third Cup to remember our promise ALL: We will urge our elected officials and community leaders to support effective public policies and prioritize ending hunger. We lift our glasses and read the blessing together (drink wine after the blessing): Baruch ata Adonai Elohenu Melech ha’olam borei p’ri hagafen. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. KOS ELIYAHU – THE CUP FOR...

Afikomen comes from the Greek word for dessert and is the last item eaten during the seder. Traditionally, the Afikomen is hidden toward the beginning of the seder to keep children’s attention. When the meal is over, the seder’s younger participants search the house for the Afikomen. This year, let us consider the search for the Afikomen as a symbol for the ongoing search for answers as to why so many in America are not able to eat healthy nutritious meals...

If the event includes a festival meal, it should be served at this time. We encourage you to use the time while participants are eating to engage in discussion about hunger. Resources are available at mazon.org/passover

To carry out the instruction, “They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Numbers 9:11), the great sage Hillel would combine matzah and maror on Passover and eat them together. We eat a sandwich of matzah, maror, and charoset to remember both the bitterness and injustice of hunger and the redemptive sweetness that comes with working together to bring about real social change. (The bottom matzah on the seder plate is broken and distributed. Each person takes two pieces...

LEADER: Another important Passover symbol is maror, bitter herbs. Bitter herbs serve as a reminder of how the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers and mothers. When we eat these bitter herbs, we recognize the bitterness of servitude and oppression. ALL: It is our obligation, as people and as members of this community, to do what we can to lighten the load of those less fortunate and to show compassion for all those who continue to face the oppression of...

We thank God for providing us wheat to make bread. In doing so, God gives us the tools we need to sustain ourselves and our communities. We have the tools to create a hunger-free world. It is our responsibility to use these tools to create a more just society. (Leader lifts up a piece of matzah and invites all to eat a piece of matzah after the blessing.) LEADER We join together in the blessing over the matzah: Baruch ata Adonai...

Once again we wash our hands, this time in anticipation of the festive meal. May this ritual act of hand washing, followed by a blessing, lead to other sacred acts of preparation and protest, advocacy and activism, so that all may find they have the nutritious food they need (Either have volunteers walk around to each table with a pitcher of water and a basin or invite seder guests to wash their hands in some other way.) We join together in...

LEADER: The Second Cup represents our promise ALL: We will learn why—in a nation of such abundance—there are still millions of people who struggle with hunger. The more we know about the reasons that friends, neighbors, and others in our community experience food insecurity, the better able we will be to create solutions that will free them from this bondage. LEADER: We lift our glasses and read the blessing together (drink wine after the blessing): Baruch ata Adonai Elohenu Melech ha’olam...