Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? Our Family Haggadah

Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? Our Family Haggadah

Tonight we celebrate Passover, one of the most important festivals in Jewish culture. The story of Passover is a story of liberation and new beginnings; what better time than now, as snow melts and new green appears? Not only do we celebrate the return of Spring, and the new life that it brings, we celebrate the new life that was given to our ancestors many years ago. We celebrate and honor the importance of freedom - not just the physical freedom that we in this country are lucky enough to enjoy today, but also the spiritual freedom that is available to each of us according to our desire. Passover is the first of the major festivals mentioned in the Bible, and no celebration has a deeper significance for the Jewish people. Tonight is the night that Jewish people around the world gather together to tell the story of their past. Happiest Moment by Lydia Davis If you ask her what is a favorite story she has written, she will hesitate for a long time and then say it may be this story that she read in a book once: an English-language teacher in China asked his Chinese student to say what was the happiest moment in his life. The student hesitated for a long time. At last he smiled with embarrassment and said that his wife had once gone to Beijing and eaten duck there, and she often told him about it, and he would have to say the happiest moment of his life was her trip, and the eating of the duck. Once we were slaves. Tonight, we celebrate in freedom. Let us never forget, and let us always feel the same joy and appreciation of our freedom that those in other lands are experiencing tonight as they celebrate in freedom for the very first time. As has been done for hundred of generations before us, we retell the ancient story of liberation and we teach it to our children, so that for hundreds of generations yet to come, the message and the meaning will live on.

Seder This meal is called a Seder - the Hebrew word for order - because there is a specific set of information that must be discussed in a specific order. Jewish holidays begin when candles are lit before sundown. For Passover, these blessings are said: BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DOH-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HA-O-LAM, AH-SHER KEED-SHAH-NU B-MITZ-VOH-TAH VIZEE-VAH-NU L HAHD-LEEK-NER SHELYOM TOV Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who sanctifies us with your commandment to kindle the holiday lights. 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. Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four? Some say the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: I will bring you out, I will deliver you, I will redeem you, and I will take you to be my people. The four promises are also interpreted as four stages on the path of liberation: becoming aware of oppression, opposing oppression, imagining alternatives, and accepting responsibility to act. BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM BO-RAY P REE HAH-GAH-FEN. Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. This first cup of wine reminds us of God s first declaration... ALL: I will bring you out.

In Earlier Times, it was customary to wash one s hands before the meal, particularly before dipping one food into another. It was also the practice of the Kohen to rinse his hands before blessing the people. We wash now before blessing the foods on the Seder Plate. There are three pieces of Matzah under the Matzah cover. The middle piece is broken in two, and the larger half is hidden. It must be kept safe and returned to the table at the end of the meal, because everyone must eat a piece of it for dessert. The matzot are symbolic of the three measures of fine flour that Abraham told Sarah to bake into Matzah when they were visited by three angels. On a practical level, three matzot are needed so that when we break the middle Matzah, we are still left with two whole ones to pronounce the hamotzi blessing (as required on Shabbat and holidays). This green leafy vegetable reminds us of the springtime, when plants grow. The salt water reminds us of the tears our people cried when they were slaves. BARUCH ATAH, ADONAI, ELOHEINU MELECH HA OLAM, BOREI P RI HA ADAMAH At the seder we begin as slaves. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, which leaves us hungry and longing for redemption. It reminds us of a time when we couldn t control what food was available to us, but ate what we could out of necessity. The matzah enables us to taste slavery to imagine what it means to be denied our right to live free and healthy lives. Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

The Four Questions MAH NISHTANAH HALAILA HAZEH MIKOL HALAYLOT? Why is this night different than all the other nights of the year? 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. We begin the Pesach story... SHEBAKHOL HALAYLOT ANU OKHLEEN KHAMAYTZ U MATZAH, HALAILA HAZEH KULO MATZAH. 1. On all the other nights we eat any kind of bread we want... But on this night why do we only eat matzah? SHEBAKHOL HALAYLOT ANU OKHLEEN SH AHR Y RAKOT, HALAILA HAZEH MAROR. 2. On all other nights we eat any kind of vegetable we want... But on this night why must we eat a bitter vegetable? SHEBAKHOL HALAYLOT AYN ANU MATBEELEEN AFEELU PA AM AKHAT, HALAILA HAZEH SH TAY F AMEEM. 3. On all other nights we don t have to dip one kind of food into another... But on this night why do we dip twice? SHEBAKHOL HALAYLOT ANU OKH LEEN BEYN YOSHVEEN U VAYN M SUBEEN, HALAILA HAZEH KULANU M SUBEEN. 4. On all other nights we sit up straight at the table... But on this night why do we lean or sit on pillows if we want? ALL: Behold! This is the Bread of Affliction. This is the bread our people ate when they were slaves in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry enter and eat; let all who are needy share our Passover feast. Next year, may all people be free.

The Four Answers ALL: We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Our work was hard and our lives were miserable. With great miracles, God took us out of Egypt to be a free people. 1. We left Egypt as quickly as we could. There was no time to bake bread for the journey, so our people ate Matzah bread that doesn t rise. It is the bread of the poor, it is the bread of freedom. We ate it then, so we eat it tonight. 2. We eat a bitter vegetable to help us remember how awful it felt when we were slaves. 3. We dip a vegetable in salt water so we can taste the tears of the slaves; we dip a vegetable in Haroses because it looks like the clay the slaves used for making bricks. We dip because dipping was once the way only free people were allowed to eat. 4. We lean or rest on pillows because that is the way free people once ate not like when we were slaves, and weren t allowed to rest, even when we ate. The Four Children Four times the Torah instructs us to tell our children of the Exodus from Egypt. Four times, the Torah repeats: And you shall tell your child on that day... From this it has been understood that there are four different ways to explain what we celebrate tonight, corresponding to the different attitudes many people may have about their faith. This is symbolized by the four children who ask, each in their own way, about the Pesach celebration. The smart child asks: Please tell me all about the miracles God did. Why did God tell us all to do these things? We tell this child about the importance of tonight, and explain in detail all the observances of Passover, right down to the very last one: the Afikomen. The selfish child asks: Why do you do bother to do all this? To this child, what we do is not important. This child doesn t want to be part of our Seder or our people. If this child were in Egypt, he or she would not have been freed from slavery. To this child we say: It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt and had you been as selfish then and there, you would not have known redemption. The simple child can only ask: What is all this? To this child it is enough to say: With great strength and many miracles and love for us all, God freed us from slavery in Egypt. The child who can t even ask a question can only look with open eyes and great wonderment. The true spirit of Passover requires that we start with ourselves to tell the story, ask our own questions, and seek the answers for our children and their children, and their children.

Long ago people worshiped not one God, but many some worshipped the Sun; some worshipped water or different kinds of animals. Some even thought statues made of clay and stone were gods. Then a man named Abraham realized there is only one God; he moved to the land of Canaan where he took Sarah for his wife, and their son Isaac was born. Abraham taught his son Isaac that there was only one God; Isaac taught it to his son, Jacob, who taught it to his family. These were the first Jewish people. Jacob lived in Canaan and had twelve sons. Jacob lived many of his years in great sorrow, for his beloved son Joseph was sold as a slave by his jealous brothers, who told their father that the boy was taken by a wild animal. Joseph was taken to Egypt to be a slave, but his special talent of interpreting dreams led him to become advisor to the Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh had a troubling dream of seven fat cows being eaten by seven weak, skinny cows. Joseph predicted seven years of famine after seven years of plenty; so Pharaoh appointed Joseph to be in charge of all the food for the kingdom. With such an important job, Joseph was able to arrange for his father and brothers to come from Canaan, where there was a terrible famine, to Egypt, which had plentiful food. A special city called Goshen was set aside for Jacob s family, and there the 70 people who came with Jacob became a large and happy community of many families. Years later, a new Pharaoh came to power. He saw how wealthy, and how influential the Israelites had become, and worried that they were so many. Should a war come, they might join the enemy and help defeat us, the new Pharaoh declared. From that point on, the Hebrews were made to be slaves, working long hours in the fields, gathering straw and making the bricks to build the Pharaoh s monuments and pyramids. And to make sure the Hebrews would not grow any larger, Pharaoh ordered that the all Israelite boy babies were to be thrown into the river. But one baby was hidden in the tall grass by the river, where he was found by the Pharaoh s daughter. She called him Moses (the name means from the river I drew him out ) and she took him to the palace to raise him as her son. Though Moses grew up in the Pharaohs house, he knew he was an Israelite, and was angry at the way the Israelite slaves were treated so angry that he had to run away from Egypt. While he lived in the desert, Moses saw a sign from God, a bush that burned and burned but was not destroyed. It convinced him to return to Egypt, and, with his brother Aaron, to confront the Pharaoh and demand, Let my people go, that they may serve their God. But no matter how many times Moses asked, the Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should listen to him? I know not your God. I will not let Israel go. Moses grew sadder and sadder, and cried out to God: Why have you let your people be so badly treated? Why did you send me here? Every time I come to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has added to the troubles of your people and you have done nothing to rescue them! And God answered: I have heard the cries of the children of Israel. Go and tell them I am the Lord! And God promised: ALL: I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and I will take you to be my people. The Lord kept his promise to Moses and the children of Israel and sent the ten plagues upon the Egyptians.

The Ten Plagues God brought the ten plagues on the Egyptians using the very things they believed were gods: the Nile River, cattle, frogs, the Sun, insects, and even the Pharaoh himself. But none of the plagues affected Goshen, where the Israelites lived. During the plagues, Pharaoh promised to let our people go, but each time a plague ended, he changed his mind. Because he was so stubborn, the Egyptians suffered. To show our sorrow for this suffering even the suffering of our enemies we remove a drop of wine from our cups as we name each of the Ten Plagues. ALL: DOM; BLOOD. Z FARDEYAH; FROGS. KEE-NEEM; VERMIN. ALL-ROV; BEASTS. DEH-VER; CATTLE DISEASE. SIECHEEN; BOILS. BAH-RAIID; HAIL. AR-BEH; LOCUSTS. CHO-SHECH; DARKNESS. MAKAS B KOROT; SLAYING OF THE FIRST BORN. Did The Plagues Really Happen? River of Blood: The redness in the Nile could have actually been pollution caused by volcanic activity. The silt could make the Nile turn blood red, and would also render it undrinkable. Alternatively, a red algal bloom could have produced large quantities of toxins that would kill fish. Frogs: Any blight on the water also would have caused frogs to leave the river and probably die. Lice and Insect Swarms: The lack of frogs in the river would have let insect populations, normally kept in check by the frogs, increase. The dead fish and frogs would have attracted more insects to the areas near the Nile. Sudden Death of Cattle and Boils: There are biting flies in the Nile region which transmit livestock diseases; a sudden increase in their number could spark epidemics. Fiery Hail: Volcanic activity not only brings ash and brimstone, but also alters the weather system, occasionally producing hail. Hail could also have occurred as a completely independent natural weather event, with accompanying lightning as the fire. Locusts: The weight of hail will destroy most crops, leaving locusts to swarm whatever food remained. Also, locusts breed when the ground is wet, and if there had been a massive amount of hail, the ground would have been soaked, leading to swarms of locusts. Darkness: There could be several causes for unusual darkness: a solar eclipse, a sandstorm, volcanic ash, or simply swarms of locusts large enough to block out the sun. Slaying of the First Born: If the last plague indeed selectively tended to affect the firstborn, it could be due to food poisoned during the time of darkness, either by locusts or by the black mold Cladosporium. When people emerged after the darkness, the firstborn would be given priority, as was usual, and would consequently be more likely to be affected by any toxin or disease carried by the food.

Exodus At midnight the last plague began. The Israelites marked the doors of their homes with the blood from the animal sacrifice they were instructed to make that day. God passed over the homes with this sign and no harm came to our people. Finally the frightened Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, You and all the children of Israel, go and serve the Lord as you have demanded. As soon as they heard this, the Israelites ran from Egypt as fast as they could. In the morning, however, Pharaoh changed his mind again, and set out with his army to bring the Israelites back, finally catching up with them as they approached the shore of the sea. With Pharaoh and his army behind and the sea ahead, Moses raised his staff, and the waters parted, allowing the Israelites to cross. When the Egyptians tried to follow, the waters of the sea returned and drowned the soldiers, leaving the Israelites safe and dry on the other side. Dayenu Had God... Brought us out of Egypt and not divided the sea for us - Dayenu! Divided the sea and not permitted us to cross on dry land - Dayenu! Permitted us to cross and not sustained us in the desert - Dayenu! Sustained us in the desert and not fed us with manna - Dayenu! Fed us with manna and not given us the Sabbath - Dayenu! Given us the Sabbath and not brought us to Mount Sinai - Dayenu! Brought us to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah - Dayenu! Given us the Torah and not led us into the land of Israel - Dayenu! Led us into Israel and not built for us the Temple - Dayenu! Built for us the Temple and not sent us prophets of truth - Dayenu! Sent us prophets of truth and not made us a holy people - Dayenu! ALL: For all these, alone and together, we say - Dayenu! FUN FACT: Manna is thought to be the crystallized secretions of insects which breed in Psilocybin mushrooms. What lay ahead for the children of Israel was more than just freedom. During the next forty years that the Israelites wandered the desert, they saw more signs of the covenant with God.

Dayenu v lo Dayenu From singing Dayenu we learn to celebrate each landmark on our people s journey. Yet we must never confuse these way stations with the goal. Because it is not yet Dayenu. There is still so much to do in our work of tikkun olam, repairing the world. When governments end the escalating production of devastating weapons, secure in the knowledge that they will not be necessary, Dayenu! When all women and men are allowed to make their own decisions on matters regarding their own bodies and personal relationships without discrimination or legal consequences, Dayenu! When children grow up in freedom, without hunger, and with the love and support they need to realize their full potential, Dayenu! When the air, water, fellow creatures and beautiful world are protected for the benefit and enjoyment of all and given priority over development for the sake of profit, Dayenu! We say the blessing and drink the second cup of wine: BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM BO-RAY P REE HAH-GAH-FEN. Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. This first cup of wine reminds us of God s second declaration... ALL: I will deliver you. When people of all ages, sexes, races, religions, sexual orientations, cultures and nations respect and appreciate one another, Dayenu! When each person can say, This year, I worked as hard as I could toward improving the world so that all people can experience the joy and freedom I feel sitting here tonight at the seder table, Dayenu v lo Dayenu - it will and will not be enough. Now we rinse our hands for the Seder meal and say the blessing: BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM, ALL-SLIER REED-SHAH-NU B MITZ VOH-TAV VITZ-EE-VAH-NU AHL NTEE-LAHT YAH-DAH-YEEM Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who made us holy with Commandments and commanded us regarding washing of the hands.

The Pesach Symbols Rabban Gamliel said, Whoever does not explain the following three symbols has not fulfilled their duty: pesach, matzah, and maror. Pesach: The bone on the Seder Plate reminds us of the Passover Sacrifice. The word Pesach means pass over. We remember that God passed over the homes of the Israelites that were marked with the blood of the Pesach sacrifice. Matzah: Matzah is the hard, flat bread our people ate when they were in a hurry to leave Egypt. We eat it at Passover to remind us of our days as slaves, but it also reminds us of our freedom. Maror: We eat the maror, the bitter herb, to remember how bitter our lives were when we were slaves to the Egyptians. The Egg: The egg represents the endless circle of eternal life. Like the Jewish people, who have grown stronger under adversity, the more you heat an egg, the harder it gets. Reclining: Reclining was a common practice among the Persians, passed down to Greeks and Romans. The Afikomen: Moroccan Jews save a piece for good luck in life and travels; throwing a piece on rough seas during an ocean journey was said to ensure a safe trip. Eastern European Jews would keep a piece until the next Passover to follow the obligation to remember the day when thou camest forth from Egypt all the days of your life. The Orange: A folk tradition claims that someone once criticized Jewish feminism by shouting, Women belong on the bimah (pulpit) like an orange belongs on the seder plate! During Passover, Jewish people do not eat leavened bread (chametz) for eight days. Traditionally Jewish people are not even supposed to keep chametz in their house during Passover, which has led to an interesting loophole: the practice of selling any chametz in your house to a non-jewish neighbor. BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-OH-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM, HAH-MOTZI LEH-CHEM MIN HA AHRETZ Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAII-OLAM, ALL-SHER KEED-SHAH-NU B MITZ-VOH-TOV VITZ-EE-VAH-NU AHL AH-CHE-LAHT MATZAH Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who made us holy with Commandments and commanded us regarding eating matzah. FUN FACT: In the early 1980s, Susannah Heschel attended a feminist seder where bread was placed on the seder plate, a reaction to a rabbi who had claimed lesbians had no more place in Judaism than bread crusts have at a seder. Heschel wrote: Bread on the seder plate renders everything chametz, and its symbolism suggests that being lesbian is transgressive, violating Judaism. 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. To speak of slavery and long for liberation demands that we acknowledge our own complicity in enslaving others.

The Haroses looks like the clay the slaves made into bricks to build the cities of Egypt. The Maror gives us a taste of how bitter life was for our people as slaves. Together, they remind us that even when we are unhappy, there is always hope that things will be better. The seder ritual seems to have it backward here: One would think that we should eat the maror before the matzah, just as the bitter slavery preceded the liberation. But in truth, our chronology is not so simple. We need to have tasted freedom to really understand oppression. Now we can eat! Many years ago, at the time the Holy Temple was in existence, the great Rabbi, Hillel, used to take matzah and maror together to make a sandwich. He said that, this way, he tasted both slavery and freedom at the same time, and was able to obey the Torah, which says: They shall eat the Pesach with matzah and bitter herbs.

Elijah & Miriam s Cups We fill our cups and also fill a cup for Elijah. In Jewish tradition, the Prophet Elijah is the messenger of God appointed to usher in an age when all the world s peoples will be free and live in peace. We say the blessing and drink the third cup of wine: BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM BO-RAY P REE HAH-GAH-FEN. Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. This first cup of wine reminds us of God s third declaration... ALL: I will redeem you. When determining how many cups of wine we should drink during the Passover seder, the ancient rabbis couldn t decide whether that number should be four or five. Their solution was to drink four cups and then pour another one for Elijah (the fifth cup). When he returns it will be up to him to decide whether this fifth cup should be consumed at the seder. As a symbol of our hope for Elijah s return, we open the door, and rise. All: May our people never again have enemies. May Elijah come soon and bring us peace. According to Jewish legend, Elijah visits every Jewish home on the Seder night and sips from his cup of wine. We also fill a cup with water for Miriam, evoking her well which followed the Israelites in the wilderness. After the crossing of the Red Sea, Miriam sang a song to the Israelites. The words in the Torah are only the beginning of the song, so the Rabbis asked: Why is the Song of Miriam only partially stated in the Torah? The song is incomplete so that future generations will finish it. That is our task.

Now we find the Afikomen, and eat it. The format for today s seders was formalized in Roman times, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Before that, Passover celebrations were held in the Temple and were different: they actually sacrificed a lamb. After the central worship place was destroyed, the Passover celebration moved primarily into the home, not into the synagogue. Most Jewish ceremonies involve elements of the past, present, and future. The seder recalls the past (the Exodus from Egypt) while remaining grounded in the present (the child asks, what s this about? ), and hoping for the future. We say the blessing and drink the fourth cup of wine: BA-RUCH AH-TAH AH-DO-NAI EL-O-HAY-NU MEH-LECH HAH-OLAM BO-RAY P REE HAH-GAH-FEN. Blessed art thou, oh Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. This first cup of wine reminds us of God s fourth declaration... ALL: I will take you. Passover affirms the great truth that liberty is the inalienable right of every human being. It commemorates the deliverance of a people from degrading slavery, from most foul and cruel tyranny. And so, it is Israel s - and our - protest against unrighteousness, whether national or individual. This is true freedom: our ability to shape reality. We have the power to initiate, create and change reality rather than only react and survive it. How can we all educate our children to true freedom? Teach them not to look at reality as defining their acts but to look at their acts as defining reality. Our Seder is now complete. We did all the things we were supposed to do. We hope we will be free to enjoy a Seder like this one next year. All: Next year in Jerusalem!

No matter where the seders were held or who led them, it was somehow arranged that my dottie old Aunt Hannah would wind up reading the portion of the plagues, so we could all relish how she pronounced gnats with a hard G; my father would lead seders wearing the incongruous peaked cantor s hat that once was my great-grandfather s; my rascally cousin Alan, who would sneak outside unnoticed just as Elijah s cup was filled, so he could ring the doorbell a split second before the door was to be opened, and then yell Elijah-gram! - Max s Dad