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Prayer for a Pandemic   (We gratefully acknowledge this contribution from Claudia Schaefer) May we who must inconveniently shelter in place Remember those who have neither shelter not place May we who are forced to keep a social distance for weeks Remember those whose distance from fresh produce or decent health care is a daily reality May we who have the luxury of working from home Remember those who must choose between medicine and rent. Reader: May we who have to cancel...

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AS WE BEGIN TONIGHT’S SEDER, let’s take a moment to be thankful for being together. We make a small community of storytellers. But, why this story again? Most of us already know the story of Passover. The answer is that we are not merely telling, or in tonight’s case, singing a story. We are being called to the act of empathy. Not only to hear the story of the Exodus but to feel as if we too were being set free....

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This is the time set aside for singing. Some of us might sing traditional prayers from the Book of Psalms. Others take this moment for favorites we get to sing only once a year. We're at least three glasses of wine into it so you get extra points for singing loud and enthusiastically. Please roll with it! In Loving Memory to our Uncle Heinz Grunewald, who always tried singing this song (but nobody knew it), we will pretend to start Kee...

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For centuries Jewish identity was synonymous with the Jewish religion. This began to change starting in the mid-17th century as movements for political rights and equality moved across Europe. Jews had more opportunities to interact with other cultures and communities, and as a result, ideas about religion and identity changed. As Jonathan Sarna writes, what made modern democratic society unique is voluntaryism, “the principle that individuals are free to choose their religious beliefs and associations without political, ecclesiastical or communal coercion.”...

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Just about everybody experiences the sense of being foreign sometime in their lives. Most of the adults at this table have immigrated from a foreign country. But even if you have lived in the same city your entire life, as an adult you no longer live in the same neighborhood you lived in when you were growing up. Your home is defined not only by place but also by time. People have changed; circumstances have changed. As a foreigner in that...

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What does the wise child say? The wise child will notice parents’ expressions of gratitude and make good habits their own. You must guide this child in helping them and encouraging them to volunteer, to be optimistic, to understand other people, to be a true friend, to notice good things, look for them, and appreciate them. You must encourage this child to savor, absorb, and really pay attention to those good things. You should express your appreciation to that child when...

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“Gratitude is the moral memory of mankind. If every grateful action were suddenly eliminated, society would crumble.” – Georg Simmel Gratitude and happiness are intertwined and for good reason. It is no coincidence that positive psychology practitioners and happiness experts state that in order to increase your contentment in life you need to boost your level of gratitude. One of the leading researchers in gratitude is Dr. Robert Emmons. He has brought gratitude into the forefront by demonstrating how simple acts...

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When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude. Elie Wiesel In Judaism, gratitude is an essential part of the act of worship and a part of every aspect of a worshiper’s life. According to the Hebrew worldview, all things come from God and because of this, gratitude is extremely important to the followers of Judaism. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with the...

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Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts. Henri Frederic Amiel Let us all know sing a song of gratitude: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers sit together in perfect harmony. Hinei ma tov umanayim shevet ahim gam yahad.