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As we come to the end of the seder, we drink one more glass of wine. With this final cup, we give thanks for the experience of celebrating Passover together, for the traditions that help inform our daily lives and guide our actions and aspirations. *** 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 of the vine. לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בִּירוּשָׁלָֽיִם L’shana...

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As we pour a glass of wine for Elijah and open the door for him, let us offer the following prayer together from the Maharal of Prague. HaRachaman! May the Merciful One send Elijah the prophet to announce good news about redemption and comfort--just as You promised: "Here I will send you Elijah the prophet before the Lord's great and awesome day. He will reconcile the hearts of parents to their children and children to their parents..." (Malachi 3.24)

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Two elements that traditionally close out the Maggid encourage us to consider how the seder calls upon us to celebrate the Pesach with a view not toward the past but to responsibilities for our future actions. These elements are the B'chol dor vador and the blessing of the cup of redemption. בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ, כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרָֽיִם B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, k’ilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim. In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves...

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As if the 10 plagues just enumerated weren't bad enough, Midrashic literature suggests that some biblical passages might support the conclusion that God's wrath expressed itself according to the following possible formulas:  Rabbi Yossi, the Galilean posed the riddle this way: How do we know that the Egyptians suffered 10 plagues in Egypt and on the see they suffered 50 plagues? In Egypt what does it say? “The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God.” (Shemot 8:15) On...

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There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. In a moment, we will break the middle matzah into two pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert” in Greek. After dinner, our younger guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in the portion of the seder called the Tzatoon. A little later on we will discuss the symbolic significance of the matzah in a...

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מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, כֻּלּוֹ מַצָּה שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, כֻּלּוֹ מָרוֹר שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אֵין אָנוּ מַטְבִּילִין אֲפִילוּ פַּעַם אֶחָת הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵּין יוֹשְׁבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִּין הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, כֻּלָּנוּ מְסֻבִּין Mah Nishtana halayla hazeh mikol haleylot? Mikol haleylot? Sheb-ch-ol haleylot anu o-ch-lim ch-ametz umatzah, ch-ametz umatzah. Halaylah hazeh, halaylah hazeh kulo matzah. (x2) Sheb-ch-ol haleylot anu o-ch-lim she-ar yerakot.She-ar yerakot. Halayla...

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Nicholas of Cusa's De pace fidei was written in 1453 in response to the fall of Constantinople. Although many contemporary Cusanus scholars tend to emphasize the ecumenical themes of the text, there is a deep tension between these ecumenical impulses and its apologetic bent. Depressingly, the apologetic bent is most noticeable in the ways in which representatives of Islam are depicted as being persuaded to accept several central tenets of trinitarian theology as well as several unsavory characterizations of Jews and...

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As we mentioned when we dipped our karpas earlier, so too in the case of the dipping of drops of wine for each of the following plagues, we should recall that various elements of the story of the exile and exodus are mirrors for each other. Dip a finger or a spoon into your wine glass for a drop for each plague. ***** Blood | dam |דָּם Frogs | tzfardeiya |צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ Lice | kinim |כִּנִּים Beasts | arov |עָרוֹב Cattle disease...

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One element of the story of the exodus that the Roberts' version elides is God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Moses Maimonides (ca 1135 - 1204 CE) recognized this element of the story as a significant paradox since it seemed to suggest that God forced Pharaoh to make the wicked decisions that brought about the punishment of the plagues. As Maimonides recognizes, if this were so, then the notion that the plagues were a punishment as well as a means of the...

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Here is the conclusion of the exodus narrative in Cokie and Steve Roberts' Our Haggadah : ***** And so with the terrible tenth plague, “Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron while it was still night and said, ‘Up with you! Be off, and leave my people, you and the Israelites. Go and worship the Lord, as you request.’ And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. Then Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day, the day...

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This version of the exodus story is taken from Cokie and Steve Roberts' Our Haggadah (Harper Collins 2011), which they say is adapted from the Revised English Bible. We will take turns reading paragraphs below: ***** When there was famine in Canaan, “Jacob and all his family with him, his sons and their sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, he brought them all to Egypt.” Jacob’s son Joseph was the prime minister to the Pharaoh, who welcomed into his land...

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Before we can enjoy our meal, we should attend the fourth question that we set out for ourselves a little earlier, namely what is the symbolic significance of matzah in the seder celebration. Let's begin with the Let's now extend our reflections on the bread of affliction by reading the following blessing over the meal and matzah: ***** בְָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, הַמּוֹצִיא לֶֽחֶם מִן הָאָֽרֶץ: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz. We praise God,...

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The dipping of greens is reminiscent of the historic "dipping" that led Israel into exile in Egypt. The descent to Egyptian slavery began when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and dipped his coat of many colors into a slaughtered goat’s blood in order to mislead their father Israel about his beloved son’s true fate. The ascent from exile – moral and physical – began when every family gathered together with their neighbors to share a lamb on seder night and...

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From Wikipedia, the Fount of All True Scholarship:  Philo of Alexandria (c. 25 BCE – c. 50 CE), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo used philosophical allegory to attempt to fuse and harmonize Greek philosophy with Jewish philosophy. His method followed the practices of both Jewish exegesis and Stoic philosophy. His allegorical exegesis was important for several Christian Church Fathers, but he has barely any reception history...

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The family of Abrabanel was without a doubt among the most illustrious of those which adorned Spanish Jewry in the Middle Ages. Like more than one other in the Iberian Peninsula, it boasted descent from the house of David; but it did not depend on this remote and hypothetical ancestry for its distinction. From the thirteenth century onwards, it was active in public and communal service. It provided the Court of Castile with many tried servants; and in the fifteenth century,...

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Traditionally, the Maggid opens with the Ma Nishtana--the Four Questions. Tonight, however, we will also ask our own questions. Let's begin, though, by reading the traditional four questions along with Don Isaac Abrabanel's responses (for a biography of Don Isaac look further down in the Haggadah). ***** 1. Why eat plain matza which is hard to digest? Poor laborers and slaves are fed matza not only because it is cheap but because it is filling and requires a long digestion period....

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“By spilling a drop of wine, from the Pesach cup for each plague, we acknowledge that our own joy is lessened and incomplete. For our redemption had to come by means of the punishment of other human beings. Even though these are just punishments for evil acts, it says ‘Do not rejoice at the fall of your enemy.’” (Proverbs 24:17)

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The celebration of the Pesach and the story of the Exodus can all too easily be read in a way that would confirm the most self-aggrandizing notions of Jewish election. Below is a quote from Baruch Spinoza that should encourage us to resist any such interpretation. ***** "The Hebrew nation was not chosen by God in respect to its wisdom nor its tranquility of mind, but in respect to its social organization and the good fortune with which it obtained supremacy...