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In celebration of Passover, we are commanded to hold or attend a Seder and retell the story of our liberation from Egypt. During our Seder, meaning order, we will follow the order of the rituals required to properly tell the story. Instead of just reading the story from the Torah (first five books of the Bible/cornerstone of Jewish text) we use a combination of symbolic food and asking questions. The Exodus story is one of redemption from slavery. We retell this...

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Jewish holidays celebrate important historical moments, and also many are associated with the seasons of nature. In addition to celebrating our going out of Egypt, Passover marks the beginning of the barley harvest. On the second day of Passover, an omer, a sheaf of barley, was brought to the Temple as an offering. Shavuot, which comes 49 days later, commemorates the giving of the Torah, and also marks the beginning of the wheat harvest. At the second Seder, it is traditional...

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After the meal we recite this blessing to thank God for the food we have eaten. ָ בּ ר וּ ךְ ַ א ָ ת ה ְ י ָ י ַ ה ָ ז ן ֶ א ת ַ ה ֹכ ל . Baruch atah Adonai, hazan et hakol. We praise You, O God, Source of food for all who live. We will now drink our 3rd cup of wine! Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. We praise...

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Thank you all for coming! We hope to see you at an event soon!

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(Refill your glass of wine for this next part) On our table we have two cups, one for Miriam and one for Elijah. This is the cup of Elijah. According to Jewish tradition, the Prophet Elijah was a brave man who denounced the slavery of his day. Legend teaches that he will return one day to lead everyone to peace and freedom. It was customary during the Passover Seder to open the door of the house for Elijah, in the hope...

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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. The rabbis who created the set format for the seder gave us the Four Questions to help break the ice in case no one had their own questions. Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. The four questions will now be said...

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Eating the meal! Enjoy! Don't forget that we have more to do after dinner, including the final two cups of wine! (You may now also eat the other food on the table. We will dismiss by table to go get food from the buffet.)

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When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the biggest ritual of them all was eating the lamb offered as the pesach or Passover sacrifice. The great sage Hillel would put the meat in a sandwich made of matzah, along with some of the bitter herbs. While we do not make sacrifices any more – and, in fact, some Jews have a custom of purposely avoiding lamb during the Seder so that it is not mistaken as a sacrifice – we honor this...

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The tenth plague is where the Jewish holiday of Passover derives its name, because while the Angel of Death visited Egypt it "passed over" Israelite homes, which had been marked with lambs’ blood on the doorposts. It was this last plague that finally made Pharaoh decide to free the children of Israel from slavery. All of Israel packed up their belongings and left Egypt. Again Pharaoh changed his mind and went after the Israelites. G-d sent a barricade of smoke and...

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Our story starts in ancient times, with Abraham, the first person to stop worshiping idols and worship Adonai (or G-d). Abraham entered into a covenant with G-d which inspired him to leave his family and begin a new people in Canaan. G-d had made a promise to Abraham that his family would become a great nation, but this promise came with a frightening vision of the troubles along the way: “Your descendants will dwell for a time in a land that...

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We now begin the part of the Seder where we tell the story of our Exodus. Pour the second glass of wine for everyone. You will need a full glass of wine for this next part. The central imperative of the Seder is to tell the story. We are instructed: “ You shall tell your child on that day, saying: ‘This is because of what Adonai did for me when I came out of Egypt.' ” (Exodus 13:8) We relate the...

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Next are the bitter herbs or maror. Put some of the maror on a piece of matzah. Together, we recite: ָבּרוּךְ ַאָתה יי ֱאלֹ ֵהינוּ ֶמֶלךְ ָהעוָֹלם, ֲא ֶשר ִקְד ָשנוּ ְבּ ִמ ְצווָֹתיו, ְו ִצָוּנוּ ַעל ֲאִכיַלת ָמרוֹר. Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror. Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments and ordained that we should eat bitter herbs. The bitter herbs serve...

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The blessing over the meal and matzah |  motzi matzah  | מוֹצִיא מַצָּה The familiar hamotzi blessing marks the formal start of the meal. Because we are using matzah instead of bread, we add a blessing celebrating this mitzvah. Together, we recite: ָבּרוּךְ ַא ָתה יי, ֱאלֹ ֵהינוּ ֶמ ֶלךְ ָהעוֹ ָלם, ַהמּוֹ ִציא ֶלֶחם ִמן ָהָאֶרץ. Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min haaretz   Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe, who brings forth bread...

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We praise G-d, Ruler of Everything, who redeemed us and our ancestors from Egypt, enabling us to reach this night and eat matzah and bitter herbs. May we continue to reach future holidays in peace and happiness. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. We praise G-d, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine. Drink the second glass of wine!

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The plagues and our subsequent redemption from Egypt are but one example of the care G-d has shown for us in our history. Had G-d but done any one of these kindnesses, it would have been enough – dayeinu. Everyone sing together: אלו הוציאנו ממצרים דיינו Ilu hotzi'eynu mimitzrayim Dayeynu If God had only brought us out of Egypt, It would have been enough for us. אלו נתן לנו את השבת דיינו Ilu natan lanu et ha-shabbat Dayeynu If God had...

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There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the 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, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen in order to wrap up the meal. We eat matzah in memory of the quick flight of our...

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There are two points during the Seder when we wash our hands. This first washing, Urchatz, is a symbolic and ritual washing, done by one person and with no blessing. The second washing, Rachtzah, is a washing used to prepare all of us for the meal and is said with a blessing. As we wash our hands for the first time this evening, we remember that we have the freedom to access resources that many do not. The first hand-washing of...

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The Passover seder is used to tell the story of our Exodus. The main way that we do that is through the use of symbolic food on the seder plate. Maror – The bitter herb. This symbolizes the harshness of the lives of the Jews in Egypt. Charoset – A delicious mix of sweet wine, apples, cinnamon and nuts that resembles the mortar used as bricks of the many buildings the Jewish slaves built in Egypt. Karpas – A green vegetable,...

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In celebration of Passover, we are commanded to hold or attend a Seder and retell the story of our liberation from Egypt. During our Seder, meaning order, we will follow the order of the rituals required to properly tell the story. Instead of just reading the story from the Torah (first five books of the Bible/cornerstone of Jewish text) we use a combination of symbolic food and asking questions. The Exodus story is one of redemption from slavery. We retell this...

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In celebration of Passover, we are commanded to hold or attend a Seder and retell the story of our liberation from Egypt. During our Seder, meaning order, we will follow the order of the rituals required to properly tell the story. Instead of just reading the story from the Torah (first five books of the Bible/cornerstone of Jewish text) we use a combination of symbolic food and ask questions. The Exodus story is one of redemption from slavery. We are retell...

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Welcome to Moishe House Portland Welcome to Moishe House’s annual Passover Seder. For those of you who might be new to Moishe House, we are a Jewish young adult organization. We host 7 events a month, some of them in our house in South East Portland. We have more events coming up in April including: Earth Day Shabbat – April 21st Professional Headshot Sessions – April 23rd Brunch with a Purpose: Civics 101, “Translating the News” – April 29th The best...

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As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. We regret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering, for we are all human beings made in the image of God. When human beings suffer, even evil human beings, our joy cannot be complete. In ancient times, a full cup of wine was seen as a sign of joy, therefore we decrease our wine for each of the plagues as we recite...