Documenti di Didattica
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By Lauren Viner
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
2
4
Freedom
Welcome
4
4
Kadesh
4
5
6
Urchatz
Karpas
8
8
Arise my beloved
Dipping Parsley
Karpas
9
9
9
Yachatz
10
10
Maggid - Beginning
10
In Every Generation
Maggid
A Story about Stories
Avadim Hayinu (Hebrew)
Avadim Hayinu (Translation)
10
11
11
12
12
-- Four Questions
12
The 4 Questions
12
-- Four Children
13
13
14
14
15
16
16
-- Exodus Story
17
The Narration
For More Than One Enemy Has Risen Against Us
I Am A Jew
17
18
19
-- Ten Plagues
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The 10 Plagues
19
20
Dayeinu
20
2
Dayeinu (Hebrew)
Signs and Symbols
The Passover Symbols, The Orange & Miriam's Cup
In Every Generation & Second Cup
21
22
23
24
Rachtzah
25
Rachtzah
25
Motzi-Matzah
25
Motzi/Matzah
25
Shulchan Oreich
26
Shulchan Oreich
26
Tzafun
26
Afikoman
26
Bareich
27
Barech
27
Hallel
29
29
29
31
32
Nirtzah
32
32
36
38
38
38
39
INTRODUCTION
Freedom
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
Let all the human family sit at Your table, drink the wine of deliverance, eat the bread of freedom:
Freedom from bondage and freedom from oppression
Freedom from hunger and freedom from want
Freedom from hatred and freedom from fear
Freedom to think and freedom to speak
Freedom to teach and freedom to learn
Freedom to love and freedom to share
Freedom to hope and freedom to rejoice
Soon in our days. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
In the Northern Hemisphere, Passover coincides with the beginning of Spring; a time for renewal, rethinking
and rebirth. We throw open the windows of our houses, we sweep away winter's grit and dust. The story of
Passover is a story of new beginnings: what better time to rethink our own liberation, as snow melts and
new green appears?
May this Passover spring give us the insign and courage to create ourselves anew.
KADESH
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling ame.Blessed is the ame that burns in the secret fastness of
the heart.Blessed is the heart with the strength to stop its beating for honors sake.Blessed is the match
consumed in kindling ame.
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(Hannah Senesch)
May the candles we kindle tonight bring radiance to all who live in darkness. May this season, marking the
deliverance of our people, rouse us against anyone who keeps others in servitude. In gratitude for the
freedom we enjoy, may we strive to bring about the liberation of all people everywhere.
Lighting these candles, we create the sacred space of the Festival of Freedom; we sanctify the comingtogether of our community.
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Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu ruach haolam, asher kidshanu bmitzvotav vtzivanu lhadlik ner shel Yom
Tov.
Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Breath of Life, who sancties us with your commandment to kindle the
holiday lights.
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Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech haolam, shehecheyanu vkiymanu vhigiyanu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are you, Adonai, sovereign of all worlds, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to
reach this moment.
KADESH
Tonight we drink four cups of wine. It is said that each cup represents something different. Some say they
represent our matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. Others say they represent the Four Worlds:
Physicality, emotions, thought and essence.
The most common representation is the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah:
I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, I will take you to be my people (Exodus 6:6-7).
The four promises, in turn, suggest four stages of liberation: becoming aware of oppression, opposing
oppression, imagining alternatives and accepting responsibility to act.
The first cup of wine reminds us of God's first declaration: "I will bring you out from the oppression".
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Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheynu melech haolam, asher bakhar banu mikol am, vrommanu mikol lashon,
vkidshanu bmitzvotav. Va-titen lanu Adonai eloheynu, bahavah (shabatot limnucha u-) moadim lsimkha,
hagim uzmanim lsason, et yom (ha-shabbat hazeh v'et yom) chag ha-matzot hazeh, zman cheruteinu,
(b'ahavah) mikra kodesh, zecher ltziat mitzrayim. Ki vanu vacharta, votanu kidashta, mikol haamim u5
moadim kadshekha (b'ahavah uvratzon) vsimcha uv-sason hin-khal-tanu. Baruch atah, Adonai, mkadesh
(ha-shabbat v') Yisrael vhazmanim
We praise You, Sovereign of Existence! You have called us for service from among the peoples, and have
hallowed our lives with commandments. In love You have given us (Shabbat and) festivals for rejoicing,
seasons of celebration, including this (Shabbat and this) Festival of Matzot, the time of our freedom, a
commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt. Praised are You, our Eternal God, Who gave us this joyful
heritage and Who sancties (Shabbat and) Israel and the Festivals.
If the seder falls on Saturday night, continue here...
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Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, borei m'orei ha'esh. Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech
ha'olam, hamavdil bein kodesh l'chol. Bein or l'choshech, bein Yisrael l'amim, bein yom ha-shvi'i l'sheishet
y'mei ha-ma'aseh. Bein k'dushat Shabbat likdushat Yom Tov hivdalta. V'et-yom ha-shvi'i m'sheishet y'mei
ha-ma'aseh kidashta. Hivdalta v'kidashta et-amcha Yisrael bikdushatecha. Baruch atah Adonai, hamavdil
v'mgasher ben kodesh l'kodesh.
Praised are You, our Eternal God, who creates the lights of re. Praised are You, our Eternal God, who
separates holy from ordinary: light from dark, the people Israel from other peoples, the day of Shabbat from
the six days of work. Who separates the holiness of Shabbat from the holiness of this festival, and Who
makes Shabbat and festivals holy time. Just so, you separate Israel in holiness. Blessed are You, Adonai,
who both separates and creates connections between holy time and holy time.
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3 Questions
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
THREE QUESTIONS
There is a Sefardic (Iraqi or Afghani) custom of turning to the person beside you, asking these three
questions, and offering the three brief answers.
Who are you? (I am Yisrael.)
Where are you coming from? (I am coming from Mitzrayim.)
Where are you going? (I am going to Yerushalayim.)
Who are you?
I'm Yisrael. I'm a God-wrestler. I'm someone who wrestles with the holy, with the Source of All Being, with
my understanding of ultimate reality, and I expect God to wrestle back. I dance with God. I waltz with
Torah. I stay up all night grappling with angels, and even if I come away limping, I know I come away
blessed. I'm a wandering Aramean, and I'm wearing my traveling shoes. I'm a child of the house of Israel,
and my community and Iand anyone else who hears freedom's callare walking into the wilderness
together.
Where are you coming from?
I'm coming from Mitzrayim. From the narrow place. From slavery. From constriction. From the birth canal.
I'm coming from hard labor. I'm coming from the surfeit of sweetness that lulls me into forgetting the
world's imperfections. I've been settling for what hurts, too fearful to risk something new. I'm coming from
suffering and isolation. I'm coming from addiction to my work, addiction to success, addiction to
separation. I'm coming from "if I stopped working, I'm not even sure who I'd be."
Where are you going?
I'm going to Yerushalayim. I'm going to Ir Shalem, the city of wholeness. I'm going to Ir Shalom, the city of
peace. I'm going where talking to God is a local call. I'm heading toward my best imaginings of community
and connection. I'm clicking my ruby slippers with fervent kavanah and moving toward the meaning of
home. Maybe I'm going to a place; maybe I'm going to a state of mind. Maybe it's an asymptotic
progression toward something that can't be reached. Maybe it's the journey that defines me.
Run that by me again?
I am Yisrael. I am coming from Mitzrayim. And the moon is almost full: tomorrow we're packing our bags.
Grabbing the flatbread. And setting out. It's time to go.
A note on Israel:
Passover celebrates freedom, exemplified in the story of our Exodus from Egypt. That story leads our entry
into Israelnot exactly a simple redemption tale. Especially not now, as Israelis and Palestinians continue
to fight for their mutual Promised Land, and to shed blood in pursuit of its ownership.
In light of that situation, some of us may have complicated feelings about identifying with Israel. But
Israel doesnt refer only to the Land. Israel is the name which was given to Jacob after he spent the
night wrestling with an angel of God. Therefore the people Israel can be interpreted as Godwrestling
peoplepeople who take on the holy obligation of engaging with the divine.
When I see the word "Israel"
When I see the word Israel I see Isra-el wrestles with God. God isvictorious
When I see the word I do not see the chosen few I see those few who choose
Those few who choose to wrestle with You, a contest in which both wrestlers are one and in which the one
is victorious
I see those few who choose, among the many nations among all people, those few who choose to make
love to you and those who say: I betroth myself to you whether it feels like honey or a thornbush because
even the thornbush sometimes glows with fire of revelation
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When I see the world Israel I know many claim it as their own. As a title a privilege a status As if God chose
them
they are right in this: God chooses but they are wrong in thinking: only them
God breathes through many begotten sons and daughters. God wrestles through his glorious perverts and
professors
and as there is only one contestant for better or for worse in shit and in shine this wrestling is an embrace
of recognition and delight
do you seek God? God seeks you. Who will you allow to be victorious?
-Jay Michaelson
URCHATZ
Water is refreshing, cleansing, and clear, so its easy to understand why so many cultures and religions use
water for symbolic purification. We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to
get us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, well wash again with a blessing, preparing us for
the meal, which Judaism thinks of as a ritual in itself. (The Jewish obsession with food is older than you
thought!)
To wash your hands, you dont need soap, but you do need a cup to pour water over your hands. Pour water
on each of your hands three times, alternating between your hands. If the people around your table dont
want to get up to walk all the way over to the sink, you could pass a pitcher and a bowl around so everyone
can wash at their seats just be careful not to spill!
Too often during our daily lives we dont stop and take the moment to prepare for whatever it is were about
to do.
Let's pause to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together tonight. Go around the table and
share one hope or expectation you have for tonight's seder.
URCHATZ
Urchatz
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
This symbolic washing of the hands recalls the story of Miriam's Well. Legend tells us that this well
followed Miriam, sister of Moses, through the desert, sustaining the Jews in their wanderings. Filled with
mayimei chayyim, waters of life, the well was a source of strength and renewal to all who drew from it. One
drink from its waters was said to alert the heart, mind and soul, and make the meaning of Torah become
more clear.6
In Hebrew, urchatz means washing or cleansing. In Aramaic, sister language to Hebrew, urchatz means
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trusting. As we wash each others hands, let us rejoice in this act of trust.
When we wash hands again later, just before eating the festive meal, we will say blessings to sanctify that
act. Because the feast is still a few pages away, this hand- washing is purely symbolic, and therefore the
blessing is unspoken.
Pass the bowl & pitcher around the table, each pouring a few drops of water onto her/his neighbors hands.
Alternately, symbolize the uplifting of cleansed hands by raising hands into the air .
Optional chant for handwashing:
/
Arise my beloved
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
Dipping Parsley
by Mordechai Liebling
Source : original
Traditionally we have interpreted the salt water used for dipping as the tears of our ancestors. Perhaps this
year as we dip the greens into the salt water, we will understand it as the tears of the earth. In the Exodus
story the liberation begins when God hears the cry of the Hebrew slaves, let us hear and taste the cry of the
earth. . This moment requires that we hear the cry of the earth itself
KARPAS
Karpas
by Natalie Winch
Source : Original/JewishBostin.com
Passover, like other holidays, have mix celebration of an event from our Jewish memory with a recognize
of the cycles of nature. When we remember the liberation from Egypt, also we recognize the stirring and
rebirth going on in the world. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of
celebration.
We now take a green leafy biter herb, representing the joy at the start of spring after our long, freezing
winter. What ever your using for your herb dip it in salt water, a symbol of tears our ancestors shed as
slaves. Before you eat it, recite a blessing:
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Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei pree ha-adama.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruits of the earth.
YACHATZ
This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and
eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover with us. Now we are here; next year may we be
in the Land of Israel. Now we are slaves; next year may we be free.
We break the matzah as we broke the chains of slavery, and as we break chains which bind us today. We
will no more be fooled by movements which free only some of us, in which our so - called freedom rests
upon the enslavement or embitterment of others.
Traditionally, seders require three matzot. Why three? Three are our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Three are the segments of the people Israel, Kohen, Levi and Yisrael. The three matzot could even
represent thesis, antithesis and synthesis: the two opposites in any polarized situation, and the solution
which bridges them.
MAGGID - BEGINNING
In Every Generation
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
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In every generation on emust see oneself as if one had personally experienced the Exodus from Egypt. As
it is written: "You shall speak to your children on that day, saying, this is how the Holy Blessed One
redeemed me from Egypt. It wasn't merely my ancestors who were redeemed, but the Holy Blessed One
also redeemed us with them...
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MAGGID - BEGINNING
Maggid
by stephanie berman
Source : Various
When the founder of modern Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was
his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a special fire, say a
special prayer, and the trouble would be averted.
Later, when his disciple, the Rabbi Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with
heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I cannot light
the fire, but I know the place and I can say the prayer."
Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save the Jewish people, would go into the forest and say:
"I cannot light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place."
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his house, his head in his hands, he
spoke to God: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the
forest. All I can do is tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient.
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MAGGID - BEGINNING
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MAGGID - BEGINNING
We were slaves to Pharoh in Egypt and the Lord freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched
arm. Had not the holy One liberated our people from Egypt, then we, our children and our childrens
children would still be enslaved to Pharoah in Egypt. And even if we were all wise, all men of understanding,
all old and learned in the Torah, it is a positive commandment upon us to tell of the story of the Exodus
from Egypt. And the more one tells of the Exodus from Egypt, the more he is praised.
-- FOUR QUESTIONS
The 4 Questions
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
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we made.
On all other nights we eat sitting up; tonight, we recline, to remind ourselves to savor our liberation.
In addition to the Four Questions, tonight we ask ourselves a fifth:
We are commanded to celebrate as if each one of us were personally liberated from Egypt. In the last year,
how have you been liberated from bondageand in the next year, how do you hope to bring yourself closer
to your place of freedom?
-- FOUR CHILDREN
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The Torah speaks of four kinds of children: one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who does not yet
know how to ask.
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The Wise One says: What is the meaning of the rules, laws and practices which God has commanded us
to observe?
You shall tell him the story of the Exodus and shall teach him Torah, midrash and commentary, down to
the last detail.
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The Wicked One says: What is the meaning of this service to you?
You shall tell her I do this because of the wonderful things which God did for me when God brought me
out of Egypt. You shall say for me, not for us, because in asking what the service means to you she
has made it clear that she does not
consider herself a part of the community for whom the ritual has meaning.
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The Simple One asks, What is this?
You shall tell him of the deliverance from the house of bondage.
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The One Who Does Not Know How To Question, for her you must open the way.1
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-- FOUR CHILDREN
At the time the Haggadah was created, it was safe for the rabbis to assume that most Jewish adults had
the knowledge available to teach their children about the Exodus. At that time, perhaps, all adults did know
about the Exodus from Egypt and the Jews' struggle against Pharaoh. However, in subsequent
generations, not all adults are familiar with the story told in the Haggadah, with the people of Israel, with
their history. It isn't only the children that need to be taught, but their parents as well.
To complicate matters, each Jew is coming from a different orientation with regard to his or her Judaism.
In today's world, Jews may identify themselves in a variety of ways. One may be ritually, culturally, or
intellectually orientedor unconnected. And yet, however modified one's Judaism may be, there is still some
level of concern about the Jewish people that causes Jews to at least ask the questions about the Exodus
from Egypt. If they weren't interested, they wouldn't ask. We must answer them, and enable them to teach
their children.
The ritual Jew asks: "What are the laws that God commanded us? " This Jew defines herself by the rituals,
the laws and guidelines of Pesach. We call on her to seek the meaning that underlies all of these acts, so
that they have relevance for all of us today.
The unconnected Jew asks: "What does this ritual mean to you?" This Jew feels alienated from the Jewish
community and finds it difficult to identify with the rituals, perhaps because of his upbringing or
experiences. Yet we recognize that he is still interested, if only because he asks these questions, and we
call on him to see these rituals as a way of affirming the universal beliefs that gave rise to them.
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The cultural Jew asks: "What is this all about?" She shows little concern with the ritual or psychological
ramifications of the Exodus, even while embracing this reenactment of our ancestors; flight from Egypt.
We call on her to recognize that it was a deep sense of faith that enabled these rituals to transcend the
generations. It was belief in a vision of future freedom that caused us to celebrate our first Exodus and
hear the echo of the prophets' call: "Let all people go!"
The intellectual Jew refrains from asking direct questions because he doesn't lean in any direction,
preferring instead to let the text speak for itself. We call on him to understand that true freedom can only
be obtained when we question authority and challenge power, even if that power be God Himself. It is our
responsibility to question not only the text but the status quo too, and share this message of freedom with
all people everywhere.
- Jessica Steinberg
-- FOUR CHILDREN
At Passover, we are confronted with the stories of our ancestors pursuit of liberation from oppression.
Facing this mirror of history, how do we answer their challenge? How do we answer our children when they
ask us how to pursue justice in our time?
What does the Activist Child ask?
The Torah tells me, Justice, justice shall you pursue, but how can I pursue justice?
Empower him always to seek pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, Speak up for
the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy.
What does the Skeptical Child ask?
How can I solve problems of such enormity?
Encourage her by explaining that she need not solve the problems, she must only do what she is capable of
doing. As we read in Pirke Avot, It is not your responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free
to desist from it.
What does the Indifferent Child say?
Its not my responsibility.
Persuade him that responsibility cannot be shirked. As Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, The opposite of
good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference. In a free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are
guilty, but all are responsible.
And the Uninformed Child who does not know how to ask
Prompt her to see herself as an inheritor of our peoples legacy. As it says in Deuteronomy, You must
befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
At this season of liberation, join us in working for the liberation of all people. Let us respond to our
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-- FOUR CHILDREN
On this night, we remember a fifth child. This is a child of the Shoah (Holocaust), who did not survive to
ask. Therefore, we ask for that child -- Why? We are like the simple child. We have no answer. We can only
follow the footsteps of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, who could not bring himself to mention the Exodus at
night until Ben Zoma explained it to him through the verse: In order that you REMEMBER the day of your
going out from Egypt, all the days of your life. (Deut. 16.3) We answer that childs question with silence. In
silence, we remember that dark time. In silence, we remember that Jews preserved their image of God in
the struggle for life. In silence, we remember the seder nights spent in the forests, ghettos, and camps; we
remember that seder night when the Warsaw Ghetto rose in revol
-- FOUR CHILDREN
The Narration
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
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It came to pass that Rabbi Eliezer, and Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Elazar son of Azarya, and Rabbi Akiva,
and Rabbi Tarfon were in Bnei Brak discussing the Exodus from Egypt. They discussed it all night, until
their students came to them to say, "Our teachers, the time has come for saying the morning Shema!"
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The Torah says we are to speak these words before God and say, My father was a wandering Aramean. He
went down into Egypt and sojourned there. With few in number, he became there a great and populous
nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and afflicted us and imposed hard labor upon us. And we cried
out to the Lord, the God of our fathers and God heard our cry and saw our affliction and our oppression. He
brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great signs and
wonders.
Our patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarah went to the land of Canaan, where he became the founder of a
great nation. God tells Abraham, Know this for certain, that your descendants will be strangers in a
strange land, and be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. But know that in the end I shall bring
judgment on the oppressors.
Abrahams grandson, Jacob and his family went down to Egypt during a time of famine throughout the
land. In Egypt, Jacob and the Israelites lived and prospered until a new Pharaoh arose who said, Behold
the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Let us then deal shrewdly with them, lest they
become more powerful, and in the event of war, join our enemies in fighting against us and gain control
over the region.
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The Egyptians set taskmasters over the Israelites with forced labor and made them build cities for
Pharaoh. The Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites with harsh labor but the more they were
oppressed, the more they increased and the Egyptians came to despise them. Pharaoh ordered, Every
Hebrew boy that is born shall be thrown in the Nile River and drowned.
God remembered the covenant that he made with Abraham and Sarah and called to Moses, telling him to
appear before Pharaoh and demand that the Hebrew people be released from bondage. But Pharaoh
refused to free the Israelites. Nine times Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh, and each time that
Pharaoh refused Moses request, God sent a plague to Egypt.
After the ninth plague, Moses summoned the elders of Israel and told them to have their families mark
their door posts and lintels with the blood of a lamb saying, none of you shall go out of his house until the
morning for God will pass through to smite the first born of the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood
upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, God will pass over your doors.
It is written in the Torah that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh during Moses pleas. Finally when God
brought down the tenth plague upon them the death of the first-born of all the Egyptians a great cry
went up throughout Egypt, and Pharaoh allowed Moses to take his people out of the land and deliver them
to a new land.
It is written: And it shall come to pass, when you come to the land which God will give you, according as
He has promised, that you shall keep this service to commemorate the Exodus. And it shall come to pass,
when your children shall say to you, What mean you by this service? you shall say, it is the sacrifice of
God's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt.
( All raise cups of wine)
We praise God Who kept faith with the people of Israel. God's promise of Redemption in ancient days
sustains us now.
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For more than one enemy has risen against us to destroy us. In every generation, in every age, some rise
up to plot our anhiliation. But a Divine Power sustains and delivers us.
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( replace cups untasted).
-- EXODUS STORY
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That's the difficult in these times: ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us, only to meet the
horrible truth and be shattered.
It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to
carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I
simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world
gradually being turned into a wilderness. I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too. I
can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that
this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
In the meantime, I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them
out.
- Anne Frank
-- EXODUS STORY
I Am A Jew
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
I am a Jew because, born of Israel, and having lost her, I have felt her live again in me, more loving than
myself.
I am a Jew because, born of Israel and having regained her, I wish her to live after me, more living than
myself.
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel demands of me no abdication of the mind.
I am a Jew because the faith of Israel requires of me all the devotion of my heart.
I am a Jew because in every place where suffereing weeps, the Jew weeps.
I am a Jew because every time when despair cries out, the Jew hopes.
I am a Jew because the promise of Israel is the universal promise.
I am a Jew because, for israel, the world is not yet completed: people are completing it.
- adapted from Edmond Fleg
-- TEN PLAGUES
The 10 Plagues
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
Midrash teaches us that, while watching the Egyptians succumb to the ten plagues, the angels broke into
songs of jubilation. God rebuked them, saying "My creatures are perishing, and you sing praises?"
As we recite each plague, we spill a drop of wine - a symbol of job - from our cups. Our joy in our liberation
will always be tarnished by the pain visted upon the Egyptians
Blood Dam
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Frogs Tzfardeah
Lice Kinim
Wild Beasts Arov
Blight Dever
Boils Sh'chin
Hail Barad
Locusts Arbeh
Darkness Choshech
Slaying of the first born Makat B'chorot
These plagues are in the past, but todays world holds plagues as well. Let us spill 10 more drops of wine
as we recite these ten new plagues.
Apathy in the face of evil.
Brutal torture of the helpless
Cruel mockery of the old and the weak
Despair of human goodness
Envy of the joy of others
Falsehood and deception corroding our faith
Greedy theft of earths resources
Hatred of learning and culture
Instigation of war and aggression
Justice delayed, justice denied, justice mocked...
God, soften our hearts and the hearts of our enemies. Help us to dream new paths to freedom, so that the
next sea-opening is not also a drowning; so that our singing is never again their wailing. So that our
freedom leaves no one orphaned, childless, gasping for air.
-- CUP #2 & DAYENU
Dayeinu
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
What does this mean, "It would have been enough"? Surely no one of these would indeed have been enough
for us. Dayenu means to celebrate each step toward freedom as if it were enough, then to start out on the
next step. It means that if we reject each step because it is not the whole liberation, we will never be able
to achieve the whole liberation. It means to sing each verse as if it were the whole songand then sing the
next verse.
Had God:
Brought us out of Egypt and not divided the sea for usDayenu
Divided the sea and not permitted us to cross on dry landDayenu
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Permitted us to cross on dry land and not sustained us for forty years in the desert Dayenu
Sustained us for forty years in the desert and not fed us with mannaDayenu
Fed us with manna and not given us the SabbathDayenu
Given us the Sabbath and not brought us to Mount SinaiDayenu
Brought us to Mount Sinai and not given us the TorahDayenu
Given us the Torah and not led us into the land of IsraelDayenu
Led us into the land ofIsrael and not built for us the TempleDayenu
Built for us the Temple and not sent us prophets of truthDayenu
Sent us prophets of truth and not made us a holy peopleDayenu
For all these, alone and together, we sayDayenu!
-- CUP #2 & DAYENU
Dayeinu (Hebrew)
by Sara Smith
Source :
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Rabban Gamaliel has said: one who has not explained the following three symbols has not fulfilled their
duty: Pesach (the paschal lamb), matzah, and maror.
Jewish tradition grows by accretion. Rabban Gamaliel cherished three symbols; tonight we will explain
seven!
The Maror, bitter herb or horseradish, which represents the bitterness of slavery.
The Haroset, a mixture of apples and nuts and wine, which represents the bricks and mortar we made in
ancient times, and the new structures we are beginning to build in our lives today.
The Lamb Shank (or: beet) which represents the sacrifices we have made to survive.*2 Before the tenth
plague, our people slaughtered lambs and marked our doors with blood: because of this marking, the Angel
of Death passed over our homes and our first- born were spared.
The Egg, which symbolizes creative power, our rebirth.
The Parsley, which represents the new growth of spring, for we are earthy, rooted beings, connected to the
Earth and nourished by our connection.
Salt water of our tears, both then and now.
Matzot of our unleavened hearts: may this Seder enable our spirits to rise.
And what about the orange?
A folk tradition claims that someone once criticized Jewish feminism by shouting, Women belong on the
bimah (pulpit) like oranges belong on the seder plate! Hence, many today include oranges on their seder
plates, as a symbol that women belong wherever Jews carry on a sacred life. Women do belong in
Judaism, whether on the bimah or at the seder table, but thats not actually how the orange tradition
began.
In the early 1980s, Susannah Heschel attended a feminist seder where bread was placed on the seder
plate, a reaction to a rebbetzin who had claimed lesbians had no more place in Judaism than bread crusts
have at a seder.
Bread on the seder plate...renders everything chametz, and its symbolism suggests that being lesbian is
transgressive, violating Judaism, Heschel writes. I felt that an orange was suggestive of something else:
the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish
life.16 To speak of slavery and long for liberation, she says, demands that we acknowledge our own
complicity in enslaving others.17
One additional item on our seder plate, therefore, is an orange, representing the radical feminist notion that
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there isthere must bea place at the table for all of us, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. May
our lives be inclusive, welcoming, and fruitful.
And the olive?
The final item on our seder plate is an olive. After the Flood, Noahs dove brought back an olive branch as a
sign that the earth was again habitable. Today ancient olive groves are destroyed by violence, making a
powerful symbol of peace into a casualty of war.
We keep an olive on our seder plate as an embodied prayer for peace, in the Middle East and every place
where war destroys lives, hopes, and the freedoms we celebrate tonight.
-- CUP #2 & DAYENU
Heschel liked the idea of putting something new on the seder plate to represent suppressed voices, but
she was uncomfortable with using chametz, which she felt would invalidate the very ritual it was meant to
enhance. She chose instead to add an orange and to interpret it as a symbol of all marginalized
populations.
Miriams Cup
A decade later, the ritual of Miriams Cup emerged as another way to honor women during the seder.
Miriams Cup builds upon the message of the orange, transforming the seder into an empowering and
inclusive experience.
Although Miriam, a prophet and the sister of Moses, is never mentioned in the traditional Haggadah text,
she is one of the central figures in the Exodus story.
According to Jewish feminist writer Tamara Cohen, the practice of filling a goblet with water to symbolize
Miriams inclusion in the seder originated at a Rosh Chodesh group in Boston in 1989. The idea resonated
with many people and quickly spread.
Miriam has long been associated with water. The rabbis attribute to Miriam the well that traveled with the
Israelites throughout their wandering in the desert. In the Book of Numbers, the well dries up immediately
following Miriams death. Of course, water played a role in Miriams life from the first time we meet her,
watching over the infant Moses on the Nile, through her triumphant crossing of the Red Sea.
There is no agreed-upon ritual for incorporating Miriams Cup into the seder, but there are three moments in
the seder that work particularly well with Miriams story.
1) As Mosess sister, Miriam protected him as an infant and made sure he was safely received by
Pharaohs daughter. Some seders highlight this moment by invoking her name at the start of the Maggid
section when we begin telling the Passover story.
2) Other seders, such as this one, incorporate Miriams cup when we sing songs of praise during the
Maggid and later during the Hallel as a reminder that Miriam led the Israelites in song and dance during the
Exodus.
3) Still others place Miriams Cup alongside the cup we put out for Elijah.
Just as there is no set time in the seder to use Miriams Cup, there is no set ritual or liturgy either. Some fill
the cup with water at the start of the seder; others fill the cup during the seder. Some sing Debbie
Friedmans Miriams Song; others sing Miriam Ha-Neviah. As with all seder symbols, Miriams Cup is
most effective when it inspires discussion.
What does Miriam mean to you? How do all of her roles, as sister, protector, prophet, leader, singer, and
dancer, contribute to our understanding of the Exodus story? Who are the Miriams of today?
-- CUP #2 & DAYENU
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Bchol dor vador chayav adam lirot et-atzmo, kilu hu yatzav mimitzrayim.
In every generation, everyone is obligated to see themselves as though they personally left Egypt.
The seder reminds us that it was not only our ancestors whom God redeemed; God redeemed us too along
with them. Thats why the Torah says God brought us out from there in order to lead us to and give us the
land promised to our ancestors.
--We praise God, 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.
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Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei pree hagafen.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Rachtzah
by JewishBoston .com
Source : The Wandering is Over Haggadah, JewishBoston.com
As we now transition from the formal telling of the Passover story to the celebratory meal, we once again
wash our hands to prepare ourselves. In Judaism, a good meal together with friends and family is itself a
sacred act, so we prepare for it just as we prepared for our holiday ritual, recalling the way ancient priests
once prepared for service in the Temple.
Some people distinguish between washing to prepare for prayer and washing to prepare for food by
changing the way they pour water on their hands. For washing before food, pour water three times on your
right hand and then three times on your left hand.
After you have poured the water over your hands, recite this short blessing.
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Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu bmitzvotav vtzivanu al ntilat yadayim.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to wash our
hands.
MOTZI-MATZAH
Motzi/Matzah
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
Why do we eat matzah? Because during the Exodus, our ancestors had no time to waitfor dough to rise. So
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they improvised at cakes without yeast, which could be bakedand consumed in haste. The matzah
reminds us that when the chance for liberationcomes, we must seize it even if we do not feel ready
indeed, if we wait until we feel fully ready, we may never act at all
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Baruch atah, Adonai eloheinu,melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min haaretz. Baruch atah, Adonai eloheinu,
melech haolam, asher kidshanu bmitzvotav, vtzivanu al achilat matzah.
Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, who brings forth bread from the earth.
Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, who sanctifies us with the commandment to eat matzah.
Everyone eats a piece of matzah.
****
Why do we eat maror? Maror represents the bitterness of bondage. Why do we eat haroset? It symbolizes
the mortar for the bricks our ancestors laid in Egypt. Though it represents slave labor, haroset is sweet,
reminding us that sometimes constriction or enslavement can be masked in familiar sweetness
Eating the two together, we remind ourselves to be mindful of life with all its sweetness and bitterness, and
to seek balance between the two
Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech haolam, asher kidshanu bmitzvotav vtzivanu al achilat maror.
Blessed are you, Adonai, sovereign of all worlds, who sanctifies us with the commandment to eat the bitter
herb.
****
When the Temple still stood, the sage Hillel originated the tradition of eating matzah and maror together,
combining the bread of liberation with a remembrance of the bitterness of slavery. In following his
example, we create a physical representation of the holidays central dialectical tension.
Everyone eats a Hillel Sandwich: maror between two pieces of matzah.
SHULCHAN OREICH
Shulchan Oreich
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
It is customary to begin the meal with hard-boiled eggs flavored with salt water. This was the practice in
Roman times. The egg has come to be symbolic of new growth, of new life, of hope. The roasted egg on the
Seder plate has come to represent the ancient Temple service in Jerusalem, the holy city.
TZAFUN
Afikoman
by Lauren Viner
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Find the afikoman and distribute it to all who are seated at the table.
When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, it was customary to make an offering of a paschal lamb at this
season. Now we eat the afikoman in memory of the offering.
Tzafun means hidden, and the afikoman is usually hidden for children to find. Why end the meal thus?
Because we want the dinner to end with the taste of slavery/freedom in our mouthsthus the taste of
matzah, rather than some unrelated sweet.
But this explains eating matzah late, not the charade of hiding it. The hiding works on two levels: it
intrigues the kidsand it allows us to affirm our sense of the Hidden and Mysterious. On this theory, we
hide the larger half of the broken matzah because we are affirming that there is more that is Hidden and
Mysterious in the world than any information we can gather.
BAREICH
Barech
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
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Shir Hama'alot, b'shuv Adonai et shivat tziyon hayinu k'chol'mim. Az Y'male s'chok pinu ulshoneinu rina. Az
yom'ru vagoyim higdil Adonai la'asot im eleh; higdil Adonai la'asot imanu hayinu s'meicheim. Shuva Adonai
et shiviteinu ka'akim banegev. Hazor'im b'dimah b'rinah yiktzoru. Haloch Yelech uvacho, noseh meshech
hazarah, bo yavo v'rinah noseh alumotav.
:Leader
(leader repeats)
:All
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:Leader
:All
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Leader: Chaverai n'varech
All: Y'hi shem Adonia m'varach me'ata v'ad olam (leader repeats)
Leader: B'irshut chaverai. N'varech eloheinu shel hanu mishelo
All: Baruch eloheinu shel chanu mishelo u'vtuvo chayeinu
Leader: Baruchu u'varuch shemo
Friends, let us bless. Let us bless the Name of Adonai from now until forever! With your permission, friends,
let us bless our God from Whom our food comes. We bless the name of God from Whom our food comes,
and through whose goodness we live. Blessed is God and blessed is the Name!
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Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, hazan et ha-olam kulo b'tuvo b'chen b'chesed uv'rachamim.
Hu noten lechem l'chol basar, ki l'olam chasdo. Uvtuvo hagadol, tamid lo chasar lanu, v'al yachsar lanu
mazon l'olam va'ed. Ba'avur shemo hagadol, ki hu el zan um'farnes lakol, umeitiv lakol, u'mechin mazon,
l'chol briyotav asher bara. Baruch atah, Adonai, hazan et hakol!
.We bless you now, Wholly One, the power and majesty in all
You gave us this food,
you sustain our lives.
With your grace, with your love, your compassion.
You provide all the food that comes to us,
guiding and nourishing our lives!
Now we hope and we pray
for a wondrous day when no one in our world
will lack bread or food to eat.
We will work to help bring on that time,
when all who hunger will eat and be lled.
Every human will know that Your love is a power
sustaining all life and doing good for all.
We bless you now Wholly One, for feeding everything!
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Oseh shalom bimromav. Hu ya'aseh shalom, aleinu v'al kol Yisrael v'imeru: Amen! Y'ru et Adonai k'doshav
ki ein machsor lireyav, k'rim rashu v'raevu, v'doroshei Adonai lo y'chasru kol tov. Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki
l'olam chasdo, potech et yadecha umasbia l'chol chai ratzon. Baruch hagever asher yivtach ba'Adonai
v'haya Adonai mivtacho. Na'ar hayiti gam zakanti v'lo raiti tzadik ne'ezav, v'zaro m'vakesh lachem. Adonai
oz v'amo yiten; Adoni n'varech et amo vashalom!
May the One who makes peace in the high heavens make peace for us and for all Israel, and we say: Amen!
Have awe of God, you who are holy; those who have awe will be sustained. Those who deny God are
lacking and hungry. Those who seek God shall not lack goodness. Give thanks to God, for God is good;
Gods mercy endures forever. God opens Gods hand and satises every living thing with favor. Blessed is
the one who trusts in God, for God will be their protection. I have been young, and I have been old, but I
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have not seen a righteous person abandoned or that persons seed destitute. May God give strength to our
people; may God bless our people with peace. May all be fed, may all be nourished, and may all be loved.
HALLEL
The third cup of wine represents Gods third declaration of redemption: / V'go'alti I will liberate
you with an outstretched arm
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Hallel
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
PSALM 114
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B'tzeit Yisrael mi-Mitzrayim, beit Ya'acov me'am loez: haita y'hudah l'kodsho, Yisrael mamshelovav: Hayam
ra'ah vayanos, ha-Yarden yisov l'achor: heharim rakdo k'eilim. G'vaot kivnei-tzon: mah-lecha hayam ki
tanus, ha-Yarden tisov l'achor: heharim tir'kdu ch'eilim, g'vaot kivnei-tzon? Milifnei Adon chuli aretz. Milifnei
eloha Ya-akov. Ha-hof'chi ha-tzur agam mayim. Halamish l'maino mayim.
When Israel went forth from Mitzrayim,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange speech,
Judah became Gods holy one,
Israel, Gods dominion.
The sea saw them and ed,
The Jordan ran backward,
Mountains skipped like rams,
Hills like sheep.
What alarmed you, O sea, that you ed,
Jordan, that you ran backward,
Mountains, that you skipped like rams,
Hills, like sheep?
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This is the day which God has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
HALLEL
Elijah the prophet challenged injustice and overthrew the worship of idols. He healed the humble sick and
helped the widowed. Elijah declared that he would return once each generation in the guise of someone
poor or oppressed, coming to people's doors to see how he would be treated. Thus would he know whether
or not humanity had become ready to participate in the dawn of the Messianic age.
Tonight we welcome two prophets: not only Elijah, but also Miriam, sister of Moses. Elijah is a symbol of
messianic redemption at the end of time; Miriam, of redemption in our present lives. Miriams cup is lled
with water, evoking her Well which followed the Israelites in the wilderness.
After the crossing of the Red Sea, Miriam sang to the Israelites a song. The words in the Torah are only the
beginning:
Sing to God, for God has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver, God has hurled into the sea.
So the Rabbis asked: Why is the Song of Miriam only partially stated in the Torah? And in midrash is found
the answer: the song is incomplete so that future generations will nish it. That is our task
Open the door for Elijah and Miriam. We raise Elijah and Miriams cups and say together:
You abound in blessings,
God, creator of the universe,
Who sustains us with
living water. May we,
like the children of Israel
leaving Egypt, be guarded
and nurtured & kept alive
in the wilderness
and may You
give
us
eyes
to
see
that
the
journey
itself holds
the promise of redemption. Amen.
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HALLEL
Eliyahu Hanavi
by Lauren Viner
Source : Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach
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Eliyahu hanavi, Eliyahu hatishbi, Eliyahu hagiladi. Bimheirah b'yameinu, yavo eileinu, im Mashiach ben
David.
May Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah of Gilead, quickly in our day come to us heralding
redemption.
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Miriam tirkod itanu l'taken et ha-olam. Miriam ha-n'vi'ah oz v'zimrah b'yadah. Bimheirah v'yameinu hi
t'vi'einu El mei ha-y'shuah; el mei ha'y'shuah!
Miriam the prophet, strength and song in her hand; Miriam, dance with us in order to increase the song of
the world! Miriam, dance with us in order to repair the world. Soon she will bring us to the waters of
redemption!
(Hebrew lyrics by R'Leila Gal Berner)
NIRTZAH
4. Who knows four? I know four!
Four are the number of the matriarchs,
Three are the number of the patriarchs,
Two are the tables of the commandments
One is our God!
In Heaven and the Earth
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5. Who knows five? I know five!
Five books there are in the Torah
Four are the number of the matriarchs
Three are the number of the patriarchs
Two are the tables of the commandments
One is our God!
In heaven and on Earth
6. Who knows six? I know six!
Six sections the Mishnah has,
Five are the books in the Torah
Four are the number of the matriarchs
Three are the number of the patriarchs
Two are the tables of the commandments
One is our God!
In Heaven and on Earth
7. Who knows seven? I know seven!
Seven days there are in a week
Six sections the Mishnah has
Five books there are in the Torah
Four are the number of the matriarchs
Three are the number of the patriarchs
Two are the tables of the commadments
One is our God!
In Heaven and on Earth
8. Who knows eight? I know eight!
Eight are the days to the service of the covenant
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NIRTZAH
Had Gadya
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
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The fourth cup of wine represents Gods fourth declaration of redemption: I will claim you for me as a
people, and I will be your God
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We dedicate this fth cup to our hopes that the Israelis and Palestinians will be released from the bondage
of hatred and violence; that the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael may live as brothers, not enemies. Isaac
Luria taught that, when the world was made, Gods innity was too great to be contained, and creation
shattered. The world that we know consists of broken vessels, with sparks of God trapped inside. We bless
this cup to remind us of our obligation to nd the holy sparks in our broken world, and to x what must be
mended.
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Nirtzah
by Lauren Viner
Source : The New American Hagaddah
L'shanah haba'ah birushalayim
NIRTZAH
Adir Hu
by Lauren Viner
Source : A Passover Haggadah - CCAR
. . . . . . . . .
Adir hu. Adir hu. Yivneh beito b'karov. Bimheyrah. Bimheyrah. V'yameynu b'karov. El b'nei. El b'nei. B'nei
b'eitcha b'karov.
. . . . . . . . .
Bachur hu. Gadol hu. Dachol hu. Yivneh beito b'karov. Bimheyrah. Bimheyrah. V'yameynu b'karov. El b'nei.
El b'nei. B'nei b'eitcha b'karov.
. . . . . . . . .
Na'or hu. Sagid hu. Azuz hu. Yivneh beito b'karov. Bimheyrah. Bimheyrah. V'yameynu b'karov. El b'nei. El
b'nei. B'nei b'eitcha b'karov.
. . . . . . . . .
Podeh hu. Tzadik hu. Kadosh hu. Yivneh beito b'karov. Bimheyrah. Bimheyrah. V'yameynu b'karov. El b'nei.
El b'nei. B'nei b'eitcha b'karov.
God of Might, God of Right, thee we give all glory;
Thine all praise in these days
As in ages of hoary,When we hear, year by year,Freedom's wonderous story. Now as erst, when Thou first
Mad'st the proclamation,Warning loud ev'ry proud,Ev'ry tyrant nation,We Thy fame still proclaim,Bend in
adoration. Be with all who in thrall
To their task are driven;In Thy power speed the hourWhen their chains are riven;Earth around will
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