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Haggadah. Passover 2018. A blessing for Justice. The Seder Plate. MAROR - bitter herbs reminds us of the bitterness of enslavement and is a symbol of the bitterness of wage slavery. BEITZAH - a boiled egg symbolizes the circles and cycles of life.
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Haggadah Passover 2018
The Seder Plate MAROR - bitter herbs reminds us of the bitterness of enslavement and is a symbol of the bitterness of wage slavery. BEITZAH - a boiled egg symbolizes the circles and cycles of life. KARPAS - a green vegetable symbolizes hope and renewal, the welcoming in of new comrades and friends, the strengthening of the old. CHAROSET - a mixture of fruit and nuts, representing the mortar used to build the structures of Mitzrayim, also a symbol of the means of production which we seek to collectively own. ZEROA - a roasted bone or beet evokes the offering made at the temple in ancient times. It also symbolizes the idea of a tool for marking. Through this we may understand the danger of marking people as with us or against us, representing the hope of finding solidarity among all people.
Candle Lighting The seder officially begins with the lighting of the candles. In Jewish tradition, lighting candles and saying a blessing over them marks a time of transition, from the day that is ending to the one that is beginning, from ordinary time to sacred time. Lighting the candles is an important part of our Passover celebration because their flickering light reminds us of the importance of keeping the fragile flame of freedom alive in the world.
Kiddush - The First Cup of Wine Tonight we will drink not one cup of wine but four as we recount the journey from exodus to liberation, a journey that stops in many places along the way. We come first to the recognition of slavery, of degradation, of narrowness. Until we know the ways in which we are enslaved, we can never be free. We drink this first cup of wine in honor of awareness. All Jewish celebrations, from holidays to weddings, include wine as a symbol of our joy – not to mention a practical way to increase that joy. The seder starts with wine and then gives us three more opportunities to refill our cup and drink. Hebrew: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. English: Blessed is the Source that fills all creation and brings forth the fruit of the vine
Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melekh ha’olam borei p’ri ha’adamah English: Blessed is the One, who sustains all life, and brings forth fruits from the earth
Yachatz - Breaking the Middle Matzah We break the matzah into two pieces, and hide one half, called the Afikomen. The Afikomen represents the rupture that we seek with the current state of things. This rupture, this break, comes from within the traditions we have, and yet it is hidden from them as well. It also reflects our brokenness. Tonight, let us bless our cracked surfaces and sharp edges, unafraid to see our brittleness and brave enough to see our beauty. Reaching for wholeness, let us piece together the parts of ourselves we have found, and honor all that is still hidden.
Asking questions is at the heart of Jewish life. The Maggid is essentially a long discussion, and such a discussion can only take place if we are open to giving and receiving questions. As Jews have said for thousands of years:
Every Pesach we are reminded that "In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they had left Egypt." The rabbis tell us a midrash about the journey when seven days after leaving Egypt the Israelites stood at the edge of water and found themselves trapped. Moses prayed to G-d to part the waters and let the people pass as the Egyptian army bore down on them. The Israelites grew increasingly worried and anxious as they could hear the pounding hooves of the horses growing louder as they drew closer. G-d commanded Moses to "speak to the people of Israel; they shall travel." The Israelites hesitated, no tribe wanting to be the first to plunge into the waters in front of them. From the tribe of Judah stepped forward the brave soul Nahshon. He slowly walked forward into the water as the people cried to him "wait! stop! what are you doing? you'll drown!," but Nahshon proceeded forward. The water rose past his feet to his knees, past his knees to his waist, and finally all the way up to his nose. It was at this moment, as Nahshon was about to be lost in the waters of the sea that G-d cried out to Moses "my beloved ones are drowning in the stormy seas, and you are standing and praying" and G-d commanded Moses to raise his arms and part the waters. And we learn that even the greatest of miracles can start with the smallest actions. Tonight is a night to ask yourself, when in my life have I exhibited the brave spirit of Nahshon? When in my life have I experienced a miracle as great as the splitting of the sea, what is my personal krias yam suf? • Avi Kushan
Reader 3: The Pharaoh of the Passover story is not just a cruel king who happened to live in a certain country. The Pharaoh that our ancestors pictured, each and every year, for century after century was for them every tyrant, every cruel and heartless ruler who ever enslaved the people of his or another country. And this is why Passover means the emancipation of all people in the world from the tyranny of kings, oppressors and tyrants. The first emancipation was only a foreshadowing of all the emancipations to follow, and a reminder that the time will come when right will conquer might, and all people will live in trust and peace.
Dayenu! (Song) Lyrics: Ilu hotzi hotzianu hotzianu mi’mitzrayim Hotzianu mi’mitzrayim dayenu Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu Dai-yenu, Dai-yenu! Ilu natan natan lanu natan lanu et ha'shabbat Natan lanu et ha'shabbat dayenu Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu Dai-yenu, Dai-yenu! Ilu natan natan lanu natan lanu et ha'torah Natan lanu et ha'torah dayenu Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu, Dai-dai-yenu Dai-yenu, Dai-yenu! Translation: If you had only brought us out of Mitzrayim – Dayenu! If you had only given us Shabbat – Dayenu! If you had only given us the Torah – Dayenu! Cue hitting each other with leeks or scallions if you brought them
The Four Children Seders also include the 4 children; they represent personality types – wise, wicked, space cadet, and the one who does not know how to ask. Each of these types comes to a Seder with different viewpoints, and together we are supposed to satisfy each of their questions. But the viewpoints of these four individuals are far from all-encompassing. Rather than grounding this section in their questions, let's go around and introduce ourselves, and ask any questions we might have...
The Second Cup of Wine With this glass, we will signify solidarity Like a lone tree standing on a mountain top One that keeps on living, one that just can't stop That's the kind of loving that I have for you And when the storm is over, I'll be there and true - Tim O'Brien
Pesach, Matza, and Maror - Why do we eat them? PESACH (the bone) - Why did our ancestors eat the Pesach offering at their seder? As a reminder that God passed over the houses marks with lambs’ blood. MATZAH - the matzah symbolizes theoppression and suffering of our ancestors. But in the context of myth, matzah is the hastiness of the revolution. Matzah reminds us that revolutions always rush ahead of themselves, unplanned, chaotic, overcoming their own problems and demands in the process itself. MAROR (bitter herbs) - We eat these as a reminder of how Paroh embittered the lives of our ancestors. One interpretation is that we force ourselves to taste pain so that we may more readily value pleasure. A second interpretation of the bitter herb, which was eaten at spring festivals in ancient times, is that the sharp taste is meant to awaken the senses and make people feel at one with nature's springtime revival. In this interpretation, maror is the stimulus of life, reminding us that struggle is better than the complacent acceptance of injustice.
Motzi Matzah - Blessing the Matzah 1 2 Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melech ha-olam ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz. English: Blessed are you, Compassionate One, who has given us the blessing of eating this matzah. Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b-mitzvotav vitzivanu al akhilat matzah English: Blessed are you, Sustainer of all Life, who brings forth bread from the earth.
Maror - Blessing the Bitter Herbs Reader: Why do we eat maror? Tradition says that this bitter herb is to remind us of the bitterness of our slavery. We force ourselves to taste pain so that we may more readily value pleasure. How big a piece of maror do I have to eat to fulfill my obligation? And what if I've known enough pain this year already? And what if I eat the whole root and my tongue catches on fire and my ears burn? Then will I know slavery? All take a taste of maror on a piece of matzah, then we'll say together: Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu al akhilat maror English: Blessed are you, Eternal One, who has shown us paths to holiness. And invites us to eat the bitter herb Reader:
The afikoman is the last thing eaten at the seder. It’s the matzah we’ve broken apart, hidden, and will now bring back together to eat as a whole. One common interpretation of this part is that it signifies the unification of the 12 tribes of Israel to one whole. Instead, let us find the Afikoman, and bring it back to the table to show how we cannot survive together without recognizing the divisions, ruptures, and breaks that constitute a human life. Find the Afikomen!!!!! We can’t finish the seder without it!
The Third Cup of Wine A cup for reclamation; tonight, we hold fast to the belief that people and our actions can change the world. We hold close the stories of resistance, from Afrin to Sacramento, from New Haven to Nablus, people and communities are building and changing and creating as acts of resistance. Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ri ha-gafen English: Blessed is the infinite, that fills all creation and brings forth the fruit of the vine
Halel - Songs of Praise Lo yisa goy el goy cherev Lo yilmadu od milchama And everyone 'neath their vine and fig tree Shall live in peace and unafraid. And into ploughshares beat their swords Nations shall learn war no more. Suggest more! Let’s sing them!
The Fourth Cup of Wine Reader: A cup to the future - To uprooting oppression and transforming all of our living cultures. We refuse to give up our voices, our histories, our blood to the corporations and the governments, to the pharaohs of the present day. We refuse to leave behind any of our people who do not look or desire or move or speak or believe the way we do. We refuse to be left behind ourselves. We are powerful agents of change, and we are transforming our cultures to be so just, so free, so beautiful, that we cannot even fully imagine them right now. Let us savor this taste of the freedom that is to come. Let us never lose our conviction that the world we dream of, the ‘world to come’, is coming, right now, through each of us. Hebrew: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ri ha-gafen English: Blessed is the infinite, that fills all creation and brings forth the fruit of the vine
