Contributors

Megan Fass

-- Exodus Story

SNICKET: And God heard us...

by Megan Fass

“And the Lord heard our voices.” As it is written: “And God heard their wailing, and God remembered His covenant, His Abraham, His Isaac, His Jacob.” God, who supposedly knows everything, needs to be reminded of a promise He made with our ancestors. This is disconcerting—a word which here means “cause for much argument among rabbis and peasants alike”—but not surprising. All of us have forgotten about promises we have made, even promises that are very important to us, and that...

SNICKET: Elijah

by Megan Fass

It is difficult not to be jealous of Elijah, who for many years held the enviable job of prophet and who now is welcomed in any civilized home, ushered in through the door and served immediate refreshment. (Consider, in comparison, the sad case of Santa Claus, a figure from a more prominent and less interesting religion, who is forced to enter homes via the chimney and must bribe the residents with gifts if he expects any kindness before returning to his...

SNICKET: Next Year...

by Megan Fass

It is very likely that you are reading this in the Diaspora, a word which here means “everywhere in the universe except Israel.” Even though Israel is designated as the Jewish homeland, most Jews live in the Diaspora, for any number of good or bad reasons. Whatever your reasons are for living in the Diaspora, to some extent Israel is still your home tonight, for when you read the story of Passover and think about the journey from slavery to freedom,...

SNICKET: Chad Gadya

by Megan Fass

Someone’s father purchases a goat, and this goat starts a cavalcade of anguish and gluttony, with animals, objects, people, and supernatural beings all dragged into the all-consuming whirlpool of the song. The entire universe changes, and it is all because of one goat, and it has been this way since the beginning of time, in every story that has ever been told. In the story of Passover, for example, if Moses had not been rescued from his basket in the reeds,...

SNICKET: Afikoman

by Megan Fass

The afikoman is the hostage of the Passover seder, having been ripped from its neighboring matzah, imprisoned in an obscure part of the house, and then traded fro some ransom just so it can be split up and devoured. Decent people will not participate in this saga of kidnapping and blackmail but rather fight against these foul crimes by excusing themselves from the table during the meal to disseminate counterfeit afikomans, a phrase which here means “hiding similar pieces of matzah...

SNICKET: 10 Plagues

by Megan Fass

It is one of the peculiarities of the Passover story that God sends ten plagues down on all of the Egyptians, not just the ones who were in favor of slavery. It is likely that there were a fair number of Egyptians who said, “I see no reason to detain these Hebrew slaves any longer than we already have,” and who nevertheless found themselves drinking blood instead of water. By the time frogs had hopped through the land, and gnats and...

LEMONY SNICKET: Poor Man's Bread

by Megan Fass

It is altogether proper that matzah is called the bread of affliction, because it has been afflicted more than any other foodstuff on earth. It is born in a searing-hot oven and then completely ignored for fifty-one weeks of the year while people walk around shamelessly eating leavened bread and crackers. Then, Passover rolls around, and it is smeared with various substances, ground up into balls, and, in the morning, fried up into a counterfeit version of French toast. Everyone eats...

LEMONY SNICKET: Kiddush

by Megan Fass

The Passover seder is conducted in an orderly fashion, with each ritual performed at a certain time, in a certain way, according to thousands of years of tradition. This is surprising, as the Jewish people do not have a history of being particularly well organized. Even God Himself often seems engaged in convolution, a phrase which here means “as if He has not quite followed His own plan.” If you look around your Passover table now, you will most certainly see...

-- Four Children

Lemony Snicket: The Four Sons

by Megan Fass

Some scholars believe there are four kinds of parents as well. The Wise Parent is an utter bore. “Listen closely, because you are younger than I am,” says the Wise Parent, “and I will go on and on about Jewish history, based on some foggy memories of my own religious upbringing, as well as an article in a Jewish journal I have recently skimmed.” The Wise Parent must be faced with a small smile of dim interest. The Wicked Parent tries...

FOURTH NIGHT WITH FOSSE: A INTRO TO PASSOVER

FOURTH NIGHT WITH FOSSE: A...

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Matzah: Bread of Affliction, Bread of Hope and Possibility

by A Way In

A WAY IN Jewish Mindfulness ProgramHaggadah SupplementMATZAHBread of Affliction, Bread of Hope and Possibility Ha lachma anya— This is the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. As we go through the seder, the matzah will be transformed. It will cease to be the bread of affliction and it will become the bread of hope, courage, faith and possibility.And it begins with a breaking.YACHATZ: Breaking the MatzahReader: Each person is invited to hold a piece of matzah,...

-- Four Questions

Four Alternative Questions

by HIAS

Following the framework of the Four Questions of the Passover haggadah, we ask four alternative questions for discussion. These questions are meant to spark conversations that can happen throughout the seder. First Question Read this narrative aloud and then discuss the question below. “When I found out I got into the University, I immediately called my ‘real’ mom in Afghanistan, whom I haven’t seen since I was 14. My family, which belongs to the Hazaras, lived under the constant threat of...

Why a Social Justice Seder?

by Eli Allen

The Passover seder serves many purposes. First and foremost it is a ritualized celebration of the Israelites’ dramatic journey from slavery to freedom. But even early on, the seder was never just about our history. As the format of the seder was finalized in Mishnaic and Talmudic times, rituals were included to make each participant feel as if they personally were experiencing the journey from slavery to freedom. This theme of the seder goes beyond the Jewish people’s flight from Egypt...

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