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The Fifth Cup: The Cup of Elijah, the Cup of Activism to Create the Beloved Community “On the Shabbat just before Passover, we read the last passage of the last of the Prophets, Malachi, who proclaims on behalf of the Breath of Life: “Before the coming of the great and awesome day when the Breath of Life may become a Hurricane of Change, I will send the Prophet Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the...

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“American society is living now at the moment when an abused wife walks out of the household. It is the moment of greatest possibility for freedom, and the moment of greatest danger that the abusive husband will try to kill her. Freedom depends on her having a community to protect and nurture her. “Right now, many abused communities are walking out of their abusive households. Almost certainly, there will be attempts by those in power to choke these energies to death....

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The Third Cup: Ending Militarism and Moving toward a Worldwide Fellowship There are three aspects to the growing militarization of America: (A) The military overseas, through great increases in military budgets and the longest war in American history; (B) The militarization of domestic U.S. police forces, especially those intended to deal with Black and Latino communities; and (C) the rising number of deaths by gunfire, including by weapons intended for war. Let us look at each: “A nation that continues year...

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[Share a spoon of charoset to each person around the tables.] Why do we eat charoset? “Because by mixing apples, apricots, and raisins, nuts and cinnamon, wine and cloves, we embody the tastes and smells of the Song of Songs, the earthy poem of love and Eros—the springtime when flowers rise up against winter, the juices of love arise from the depths of depression, and the night-time of history gives way to the sunlight of Eden, the garden of delight; the...

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The Second Cup: We drink to ending Materialism and to celebrating Earth and Spirit through Empathy and Justice DAYENU: THE PATH OF MANY STEPS TOWARD FREEDOM What are the Ten Healings that can begin to make our world a Beloved Community? [For each of the Ten Healings, we drink some wine or grape-juice and then say L’Chaim!—To Life!] Create organic farms in countrysides and cities. Purchase home and company electric power from wind-based suppliers. Families buy hybrid or electric cars; convince...

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The First Cup: We drink to Ending Racism and Poverty, and Birthing Racial and Economic Justice We begin with the teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King 50 years ago, on the evening before his death. He came to Memphis, Tennessee to support the striking sanitation workers of the city, and he spoke to a gathered crowd: “The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers....

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For the Passover Seder, the ancient Rabbis for many years debated whether to drink four Cups of Liberation or five. They finally decided to prepare a fifth cup but set it aside, waiting for Elijah the Prophet to come to herald the Great Turning-point of history. Elijah would decide whether we should drink the fifth cup.   So we will drink four cups of wine or grape juice, dedicating these four cups to facing the deadly triplets Dr. King named (Racism, Materialism,...

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[Sing this translation of psalm 149 to the tune of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore."] Praise Yah in the heavens, halleluyah. Praise God in the heights, halleluyah. Praise God, all you angels, halleluyah. Praise Yah, all you hosts, halleluyah. Praise God, sun and moon, halleluyah. Praise Yah, you stars of light, halleluyah. Praise God, you high heavens, halleluyah. All that flows in all the world, halleluyah. Let them all praise God's Name, halleluyah. For God spoke and they appeared, halleluyah. With...

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[There are many different traditions of songs to sing, praising the Breath of Life Who brings freedom and justice to birth.) BY PRAISING [Read together:] All living are one and holy, let us remember as we eat, as we work, as we walk and drive. All living are one and holy, we must make ourselves worthy We must act out justice and mercy and healing as the sun rises and as the sun sets, as the moon rises and the stars...

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At the end of the meal the children are invited to hunt for the Afikoman (the piece of matzah that was hidden earlier) and it is redeemed from the children who have found it, since it is necessary to have this taste of matzah as the last taste at the end of the meal. One way of redeeming it is to ask the children to name an organization that is working for social justice, freedom, peace, or healing of the earth,...

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{At each table, someone pours juice from the Cup of Elijah, sitting untasted in the center of the table, into each person's glass. All say together:] I take responsibility to become the Prophet Elijah, "turning the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to the parents, lest the earth be utterly destroyed." Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri eytz. Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Who creates the fruit of the vine. {All...

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[All sing:] O Freedom! O Freedom! O Freedom over me! And before I'd be a slave I'd be buried in my grave And go home to my Lord and be free! No more killing...No more hunger ...No more pollution..., etc. [Someone says:] We join at the time of Passover to connect our separate stories in the telling of new freedom. Our telling cannot end tonight. We must name and number the different tribes to carry on the journey. We have a...

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[Raise the cup. All sing or recite Dayenu:] Had You taken us out of slavery, but not torn the Sea apart for us, it would have been enough for us! Had You brought us through it dry, but not sunk our oppressors in its midst, it would have been enough for us! Had You sunk our oppressors in its midst, but not freely fed us manna, it would have been enough for us! Had You freely fed us manna, but not...

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PRAYER FOR THE GREAT TURNING May the turning of the Earth save us. May the turning of the seasons & the turning of the leaves save us. May we be saved by the worms, the beetles & the microbes turning the soil. May we be saved by the turning of vegetation into compost & the turning of compost into rich soil. May the turning of seeds into plants & the turning of flowers into fruits save us. May the grasses &...

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THE NIGHT (Quran, Sura 92) In the Name of God the Compassionate the Caring By the night when it falls By the day when it breaks By what has made the male and the female You strive toward different ends. As for him who shares what he has and is mindful who affirms the right -- him we will ease to the good life As for him who hoards what he has thinking it makes him secure who denies the right...

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[**Fourth cup: Responsibility and action] [Pour the cup. Someone reads:] In a free society, some are guilty. But all are responsible. Ñ Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1944; 1964. Ten Healings INVITED SPEAKERS set forth Ten Healings that we ourselves must bring to heal the birth from the Plagues we have discerned. Someone reads: All are responsible. Yet we are not all alike. Having heard some teaching about the Ten Healings now needed, we turn to each other, face to face, to...

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[All sing either:] And every one 'neath vine and figtree Shall live in peace and unafraid (Repeat) And into plowshares beat their swords Nations shall learn war no more (Repeat) or "Solidarity Forever":) Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, Solidarity forever, For the movement makes us strong. In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold, Greater than the might of armies magnified a thousand fold, We shall bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old,...

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[Someone says/does each of the following. One participant lifts up the matzah, showing it to the celebrants, and says:] Why do we eat this flat, unleavened matzah? Because the decision to act came upon our forebears so quickly that their dough had not yet risen when You, the Breath of Life, bore them to freedom through a hurricane of transformation. [All say:] Blessed are You, Yah, Breath of Life, who makes us holy by connecting us with all of life, and...

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** Third cup: Creativity: envisioning the new world. Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri hagafen. Blessed are You, Whose interwoven Breath of Life breathes forth the fruit of the vine. [We drink from the second cup, the cup of resistance.] [Pour Miriam's Cup, a cup of water because waters birth new possibility. Someone reads:] As a child, Miriam reached out to Pharaoh's daughter to save the life of her baby brother Moses; together they crossed boundaries of class and...

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[Sing newer anti-oppression songs] I NEVER WAS ©Linda Hirschhorn 2009 (Inspired by Pastor Martin Niemoller) First they came for the Communists I stood by silently I never was a Communist What did it matter to me What did it matter to me Then they came for the Union Men and I stood silently I never was a Union Man What did it matter to me What did it matter to me Cry out cry out its still going on today your...

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Pour the Second cup: resistance to oppression [Read:] In every generation, a Pharaoh rises up to enslave us. In every generation, every human being must seek to free the community anew. [All join in singing:] When Israel was in Egypt's land, Let my people go; Oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let my people go! (Chorus:) Go down, Moses, 'Way down in Egypt's land; Tell ol' Pharaoh, Let my people go! Thus says the Lord, bold Moses said, Let my...

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We will recite THE PLAGUES of ancient story. We welcome you to call out the plague of today that for you echoes with the ancient warning: [At each table, the group pauses after naming each plague, and the people drop grape-juice from the cup onto the plate. Have someone call out the next plague listed, and wait for communal response and the naming of other contemporary plagues. After this exploration, some invited speakers will name the ten most dangerous plagues of...

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A young person asks; Why is this Seder different from all other Seders? In all other seders we tell the story of the liberation of human beings from oppression, from a Tight and Narrow Place. In this Seder we tell of the oppression of the earth itself and all its living beings. An elder asks: Why is that we ask our children to ask these questions? Someone says: : The answer to both these questions comes from the same teaching. For...

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All Sing: B'chol Dor Vador "In Every Generation" © Linda Hirschhorn B'chol dor vador 4x In every generation we relive a time we fled out of a narrow place with freedom on our mind B'chol ... We recall how we were dancing when we saw the waters part how we stood as one at Sinai and felt that Godbeat in our heart B'chol .. Now we chant the ancient prayers even as we sing new songs weave our future with the...

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[The youngest person present asks:] Why is this night different from all other nights? On all the other nights we may eat either leavened or unleavened bread, but on this night only unleavened bread; on all the other nights we may eat any species of herbs, but on this night only bitter herbs; on all the other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night twice; on all the other nights we eat and drink either tense or...

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We will drink from four cups of grape juice to honor FOUR STAGES on the path of LIBERATION. These cups are (1) Becoming aware of oppression, (2) Opposing oppression, (3) Imagining alternatives, (4) Accepting personal and communal responsibility to act. ** First: the cup of awareness: learning to recognize the reality of oppression. [Pour cups of grape juice.]

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By breaking bread and setting it aside: [Someone at each table: Break the middle matzah or other bread of the poor in two. Put the larger piece aside, leaving the smaller on the plate. Uncover the remaining piece of bread, lift up the dish and say:] This is the pressed-down bread of the oppressed that our forebears ate in the Tight and Narrow Land (Mitzrayim, Egypt, where the Israelites were enslaved), and this [lift up some other bread of the poor—tortilla,...

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** By celebrating the earth and spring: [Use a chant without words to keep energy focused as people pass around a basin to wash and dry the hands.] Take pieces of parsley or mint, dip them in salt water, pass them around the table, and say: Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the earth. Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri ha a-da-mah. [Everyone then eats this piece of parsley....

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** By meeting each other: In each table-group, people say their names and in one sentence, no more, explain why they have chosen to come to this Seder. ** By joining our voices: [All sing:] Circle 'round for freedom, Circle 'round for peace; For all of us imprisoned, Circle for release. Circle for the planet, Circle for each soul; For the children of our children, Keep the circle whole. --- Linda Hirschhorn ** By creating light [All say together:] We are...

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The most mysterious and most intimate Name of God in Jewish tradition was written as four Hebrew letters that in Western transliteration are YHWH. This Name is especially closely connected with the liberation from Egypt, since it was revealed to Moses at the Burning Bush as the Name of God he could give to the Israelites in preparing them for their birth of freedom. We do not know how the name was pronounced in Biblical days. The "YHWH" had no vowels....

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This New Freedom Seder can be used by small groups of family and friends or by larger communal gatherings. In the latter case, it assumes there will be different tables of eight to ten people, with a combination of some readings that everyone hears and some discussion among the small groups at the different tables. It includes several different instructions for discussion and sharing among participants at the tables. In planning communal Seders, to manage time, it is best to choose...

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" Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision." — Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1970 "If we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the...

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In every generation, Pharaoh. In every generation, Freedom. About three thousand years ago, ancient Israelites fused a shepherds' spring celebration of the birthing of lambs and a farmers' spring celebration of the sprouting of barley into a spring celebration of their liberation from slavery and the downfall of a tyrant at the hands of YHWH, the Breath of Life. They celebrated the overthrow of tyrants by gathering a million strong, bringing barley-bread and newborn lambs to the Temple in Jerusalem. About...