The Four Questions The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers. The tradition that the youngest person asks the questions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. Since we don’t have any young children this year, we’ll do them together. מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּֽיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילות Ma nishtana halaila hazeh mikol haleilot? Why is this night different from all...

Breaking the middle matzah | Yachatz | יַחַץ There are three pieces of matzah stacked here. Earlier, we broke the middle matzah into two pieces and hid the larger piece. That piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, y’all will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal… and win a prize. We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our ancestors from Egypt. As slaves, they had faced many...

Kiddush (the blessing over wine) | kadeish | קַדֵּשׁ All Jewish celebrations, from holidays to weddings, include wine as a symbol of our joy – not to mention a practical way to increase that joy. The seder starts with wine and then gives us three more opportunities to refill our cups and drink. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit...

The first words in the creation of the universe out of the unformed, void and dark earth were God’s “Let there be light." Therein lies the hope and faith of Judaism and the obligation of our people: to make the light of justice, compassion, and knowledge penetrate the darkness of our time. ברוך אתה יי אלהינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו להדליק נר של (שבתו) יום טוב Baruch atah Adonai Elohaynoo melech ha-olam, asher keedshanoo b’meetzvotav v’tzeevanoo l’hadleek ner shel...

Welcome to our family seder. It is such a joy to share this holiday with our friends and family. We'll use this Haggadah, the book that tells the Passover story, to guide us through our Seder. Seder means "order," because the service moves in a specific order with specific steps. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to interupt at any time, and if we don't know the answer, we'll at least have some good discussion.