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H I N E I M A H T O V U M A N A Y I MS H E V E T A C H I M G A M Y A C H A D

Order of the Seder

Art by Arielle Angel via Haggadot.com

Kadesh F I R S T G L A S S O F W I N E

All Jewish celebrations, from holidays to weddings, include wine as asymbol 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 torefill our cup and drink.

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. 

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Source: The Wandering is Over

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who chose us from all peoples and languages, andsanctified us with commandments, and lovingly gave to us special times for happiness,holidays and this time of celebrating the Holiday of Matzah, the time of liberation, readingour sacred stories, and remembering the Exodus from Egypt. For you chose us andsanctified us among all peoples. And you have given us joyful holidays. We praise God, whosanctifies the people of Israel and the holidays. Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all: For giving us life, sustaining us, andenabling us to reach this season.

Baruch atah adonai eloheinumelech ha-olamShe-hechiyanu v’key’manuv’higiyanu lazman hazeh, Amen

ShehecheyanuSource: The Wandering is Over

Urchatz R I T U A L H A N D - W A S H I N G I N

P R E P A R A T I O N F O R T H E S E D E R

We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, toget us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, we’ll wash againwith a blessing, preparing us for the meal.  Too often during our daily lives we don’t stop and take the moment toprepare for whatever it is we’re about to do. Let's pause as we wash ourhands to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together.

Source: Deborah Miller via Haggadot.com

Karpas D I P P I N G A G R E E N V E G E T A B L E I N

S A L T W A T E R

Passover, like many of our holidays, combines the celebration of an event fromour Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we rememberthe liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirthhappening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring togetherelements of both kinds of celebration.  We now take a vegetable, representing our joy at the dawning of spring after ourlong, cold winter. Whatever symbol of spring and sustenance we’re using, wenow dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves.Before we eat it, we recite a short blessing:

Source: The Wandering is Over

We look forward to spring and the reawakening of flowers and greenery. Theyhaven’t been lost, just buried beneath the snow, getting ready for reappearancejust when we most needed them.  We all have aspects of ourselves that sometimes get buried under the stresses ofour busy lives. What has this winter taught us? What elements of our own livesdo we hope to revive this spring?

Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree ha-adama. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruits of the earth.

Source: The Wandering is Over

Yachatz B R E A K I N G T H E M I D D L E M A T Z A H

We break the matzah and hide onepart (the Afikomen). We recognizethat liberation is made by imperfectpeople, broken, fragmented — sodon’t be waiting until you are totallypure, holy, spiritually centered, andpsychologically healthy to get involvedin tikkun (the healing and repair ofthe world). It will be imperfect people,wounded healers, who do the healingas we simultaneously work onourselves. 

This is the bread of affliction.Let everyone who is hungrycome and eat. But when sayingthat traditional line — let allwho are hungry come and eat— we must also recognize thestark contrast between thegenerosity of the Jewish peopleexpressed in this invitation,and the actual reality in whichwe live.

Source: Rabbi Michael Lerner

Maggid T E L L I N G T H E S T O R Y O F P A S S O V E R

The Haggadah doesn’t tell the story of Passover in a linear fashion. We don’t hear of Moses being foundby the daughter of Pharaoh – actually, we don’t hear much of Moses at all. Instead, we get animpressionistic collection of songs, images, and stories of both the Exodus from Egypt and fromPassover celebrations through the centuries. Some say that minimizing the role of Moses keeps usfocused on the miracles God performed for us. Others insist that we keep the focus on the role thatevery member of the community has in bringing about positive change.

The formal telling of the story of Passover is framed as a discussion with lots of questions and answers.Asking questions is a core tradition in Jewish life. The tradition that the youngest person asks thequestions reflects the centrality of involving everyone in the seder. The rabbis who created the setformat for the seder gave us the Four Questions to help break the ice in case no one had their ownquestions.

Source: The Wandering is Over

The Four QuestionsMa nishtana halaila hazeh mikol haleilot?  Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin chameitz u-matzah. Halaila hazeh, halaila hazeh kulo matzah.  Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin shi’ar yirakot Halaila hazeh, halaila hazeh maror.  Shebichol haleilot ain anu matbilin afilu pa-am echat. Halaila hazeh, halaila hazeh shtei fi-amim.  Shebichol haleilot anu ochlin bein yoshvin uvein m’subin. Halaila hazeh, halaila hazeh kulanu m’subin.

Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we eat both leavened bread and matzah. Tonight we only eat matzah. On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but tonight we eat bitter herbs. On all other nights we aren’t expected to dip our vegetables one time. Tonight we do it twice. On all other nights we eat either sitting normally or reclining. Tonight we recline.

As Jews, we are commanded toremember and retell. The act ofmemory recreates us. Now is thetime, in our celebration of Passover,when we suspend the flow of timeand relive the exodus of ourancestors in the retelling.  There was a time when our peoplewere enslaved by a Pharaoh in Egypt.In fear of rebellion, Pharaoh decreedthat all Hebrew boy-children bekilled. Through the courage ofmidwives, a boy named Mosessurvived. Fearing for his safety (andtheir own), his family placed him in abasket and he floated down the Nile.He was found, and adopted, byPharaoh's daughter.

Source: The Williams College Feminist Haggadah, 1996

When he had grown to maturity, God spoke toMoses, telling him that he was to lead the Hebrewpeople to freedom. Despite Moses' protests, theEternal persisted, and Moses went to Pharaoh toplead the injustice of slavery. He gave Pharaoh amandate which resounds through history: Let mypeople go! Pharaoh refused, and Moses warned him that Godwould strike the Egyptian people. These threatswere not idle: ten terrible plagues were unleashed,one after another, upon the Egyptians. At lastPharaoh agreed to our liberation. Fearful that hewould change his mind, our people fled, not waitingfor their bread dough to rise. (For this reason weeat unleavened bread as we take part in theirexodus.)

Source: The Williams College Feminist Haggadah, 1996

Pharaoh's army soon followed us to thesea. Moses, strong in his faith, entered thewaters. The Eternal parted the sea, andour people passed through unharmed.We mourn, even now, that Pharaoh'sarmy drowned: our liberation isbittersweet because of those who died inour pursuit.  To this day we relive our liberation, thatwe may not become complacent, that wemay always rejoice in our freedom.Moses’ sister Miriam knew that we shouldrejoice once we crossed the sea, and toldall the women to pack their timbrels asthey were leaving Egypt. The women,inspired by Miriam, led the Israelites insong and dance once they reached theshore on the other side.

Source: The Williams College Feminist Haggadah, 1996

As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, weacknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. Weregret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’suffering, for we are all human beings made in the imageof God. We pour out a drop of wine for each of theplagues as we recite them.  Blood | dam | דם Frogs | tzfardeiya | צפרדע Lice | kinim | כנים Beasts | arov | ערוב Cattle disease | dever | דבר Boils | sh’chin | שחין Hail | barad | ברד Locusts | arbeh | ארבה Darkness | choshech | חשך Death of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot |מכת בכורות  

Source: Jewbelong

Avadim hayinu. Ata b’nei chorin. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now we are free.

We were slaves to Pharaoh inEgypt, and God took us fromthere with a strong hand andoutstretched arm. Had God notbrought our ancestors out ofEgypt, then even today we andour children and ourgrandchildren would still beslaves. Even if we were all wise,knowledgeable scholars andTorah experts, we would still beobligated to tell the story of theexodus from Egypt.

Source: Jews United for Justice

The plagues and our subsequent redemption from Egypt are but one example ofthe care God has shown for us in our history. Had God but done any one of thesekindnesses, it would have been enough – dayeinu.

If God had only taken us out of Egypt, that would have been enough! If God had only given us the Sabbath, that would have been enough! If God had only given us the Torah, that would have been enough!

As we sing the traditional “Dayeinu” at the Passover Seder, we express appreciationeven for incomplete blessings. We are reminded that, in the face of uncertainty, wecan cultivate gratitude for life’s small miracles, and we can find abundance amidstbrokenness.

Source: HIAS

I L U H O T S I , H O T S I A N U ,   H O T S I A N U M I M I T Z R A Y I M ,

H O T S I A N U M I M I T Z R A Y I M , D A Y E N U !

D A Y E N U . . .  

I L U N A T A N , N A T A N L A N U ,   N A T A N L A N U E T H A S H A B A T ,  

N A T A N L A N U E T H A S H A B A T , D A Y E N U !

D A Y E N U . . .

I L U N A T A N , N A T A N L A N U ,   N A T A N L A N U E T H A T O R A H ,  

N A T A N L A N U E T H A T O R A H ,   D A Y E N U !

D A Y E N U . . .

Dayenu!

D I P P I N G A G R E E N V E G E T A B L E I N

S A L T W A T E R

We have now told the story ofPassover... but wait! We’re notquite done. There are still somesymbols on our seder plate wehaven’t talked about yet. They saythat whoever didn’t explain theshank bone, matzah, and marror(or bitter herbs) hasn’t donePassover justice.

The Seder Plate

Source: The Wandering is Over

The shank bone represents thePesach, the special lamb sacrificemade in the days of the Templefor the Passover holiday. It iscalled the pesach, from theHebrew word meaning “to passover,” because God passed overthe houses of our ancestors inEgypt when visiting plagues uponour oppressors.

Shank Bone

Source: The Wandering is Over

The matzah reminds us thatwhen our ancestors werefinally free to leave Egypt,there was no time to pack orprepare. Our ancestorsgrabbed whatever dough wasmade and set out on theirjourney, letting their doughbake into matzah as they fled.

Matzah

Source: The Wandering is Over

The bitter herbs provide avisceral reminder of thebitterness of slavery, the life ofhard labor our ancestorsexperienced in Egypt.

Maror

Source: The Wandering is Over

The egg that we place on theSeder plate is meant to remindus of the natural cycle of life –that, even after enormoussuffering, we can experiencerenewal and rebirth.

Egg

Source: HIAS

We also have somethingunusual on our seder plate: anorange. The orange on theSeder plate has come tosymbolize full inclusion inmodern day Judaism for thosewho were traditionally notseen as full participants orleaders in Jewish life andtraditions, especially womenand lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender, and queerpeople.

Orange

Source: Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,

Before we drink our second glass of wine, we also want totake notice of a special goblet on our table: the cup ofMiriam. Instead of wine, this cup is filled with water. This isto symbolize Miriam’s Well, the source of water for the Jewsduring their journey through the desert. God gave Miriamthe well to honor her bravery and devotion to the Jewishpeople. Both Miriam and her well were spiritual oases in thedesert, and sources of sustenance and healing. We fillMiriam's cup with water to honor her role in ensuring thesurvival of the Jewish people. Like Miriam, Jewish women inall generations have been essential for the continuity of ourpeople.

Miriam's Cup

Source: Dessen Passover Haggadah

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. 

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, whoredeemed us and our ancestors fromEgypt, enabling us to reach this night andeat matzah and bitter herbs. May wecontinue to reach future holidays inpeace and happiness.

Second Glass of Wine

Source: The Wandering is Over

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher kiddeshanu b’mits-vo-tav v’tsivanu al n’ti-lat ya-da-yim  Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who makesus holy with commandments and commands us to wash our hands.

Rachtzah H A N D W A S H I N G

At the Passover Seder, we eat matzah as we remember the modest means by which theIsraelites sustained themselves on their journey out of slavery, enabling them to survive andthrive in their new homeland. The familiar hamotzi blessing marks the formal start of themeal. Because we are using matzah instead of bread, we add a blessing celebrating thismitzvah.

Motzi Matzah

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.

B L E S S I N G O V E R

T H E M E A L

We praise God, Ruler of Everything,who brings bread from the land.

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam,asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilatmatzah.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, whomade us holy through obligations,commanding us to eat matzah.

Source: HIAS

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanub’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror.  Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who sanctifies uswith commandments and calls upon us to eat bitter herbs.

With the taste of bitterness just before our lips, we remind ourselves of the bitterness thatled to the enslavement of our ancestors in Egypt. As we taste the bitter herbs, we vow not tolet words of hatred pass through our own lips and to root out intolerant speech wherever wemay hear it, so that no one should fall victim to baseless hatred.

Maror T H E B I T T E R H E R B S A N D S W E E T C H A R O S E T

Source: HIAS

We now prepare to build the Hillel sandwich, combining the bitter maror with the sweetcharoset. With the bitterness of the maror still stinging our tongues and the knowledge thatfear of “the other” continues to displace people still stinging our hearts, we take comfort inknowing that there can be an antidote to that hatred. It is up to each of us to temper thehatred that still plagues our world by joining together and saying “Dayeinu” – it is, now,enough.

(Make and eat a Hillel Sandwich -- maror and charoset on top of matzah)

The Hillel Sandwich

Source: HIAS

Shulchan Oreich E A T I N G T H E M E A L

It's time to find the Afikomen! We can'tfinish the Seder without it.

Tzafoon T H E A F I K O M E N

The playfulness of finding the afikomen reminds usthat we balance our solemn memories of slaverywith a joyous celebration of freedom. As we eat theAfikomen, our last taste of matzah for the evening,we are grateful for moments of silliness andhappiness in our lives.

Sources: The Wandering is Over & Tori Avey

(Fill glasses for third cup of wine) We now say grace after the meal, thanking God for the food we’ve eaten. OnPassover, this becomes something like an extended toast to God, culminating withdrinking our third glass of wine for the evening. We praise God, Ruler of Everything, whose goodness sustains the world. Youare the origin of love and compassion, the source of bread for all. Thanks toYou, we need never lack for food; You provide food enough for everyone. Wepraise God, source of food for everyone. We praise God for the earth and forits sustenance. Amen.

Barech S A Y I N G G R A C E

Source: The Wandering is Over

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. 

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Drink the third glass of wine!

Third Glass of Wine

Source: The Wandering is Over

(Fill glasses for fourth cup of wine) We now refill our wine glasses one last timeand open the front door to invite theprophet Elijah to join our seder. In theBible, Elijah was a fierce defender of God toa disbelieving people. At the end of his life,rather than dying, he was whisked away toheaven. Tradition holds that he will returnin advance of messianic days to herald anew era of peace, so we set a place forElijah at many joyous, hopeful Jewishoccasions, such as a baby’s bris and thePassover seder.

Eliyahu hanavi, Eliyahu hatishbi Eliyahu, Eliyahu, Eliyahu hagiladi  Bimheirah b’yameinu, yavo eileinu Im mashiach ben-David, Im mashiach ben-David

Hallel S I N G I N G A N D W E L C O M I N G E L I J A H

Source: The Wandering is Over

Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, borei p’ree hagafen. 

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Drink the fourth glass of wine!

Fourth Glass of Wine

Source: The Wandering is Over

We are, each of us, working to meet challenges in our lives, but we are grateful to be heretogether for tonight’s seder. Wherever the next year takes us, we look forward tocelebrating Pesach again, together with the friends and family—new and long beloved. Nirtzah marks the conclusion of the seder. Our bellies are full, we have had severalglasses of wine, we have told stories and sung songs, and now it is time for the evening tocome to a close. At the end of the seder, we honor the tradition of declaring, “Next year inJerusalem!”  For some people, the recitation of this phrase expresses the anticipation of rebuilding theTemple in Jerusalem and the return of the Messiah. For others, it is an affirmation of hopeand of connectedness with K’lal Yisrael, the whole of the Jewish community. Still othersyearn for peace in Israel and for all those living in the Diaspora.

Nirtzah N E X T Y E A R

Source: The Wandering is Over & Temple Sinai of Roslyn

Though it comes at the end of the seder, thismoment also marks a beginning. We arebeginning the next season with a renewedawareness of the freedoms we enjoy and theobstacles we must still confront. We arelooking forward to the time that we gathertogether again. Having retold stories of theJewish people, recalled historic movementsof liberation, and reflected on the strugglespeople still face for freedom and equality, weare ready to embark on a year that we hopewill bring positive change in the world andfreedom to people everywhere.

Source: The Wandering is Over

Rabbi David Hartman writes:“Passover is the night forreckless dreams; for visionsabout what a human being canbe, what society can be, whatpeople can be, what historymay become.”

Source: The Wandering is Over

What can we do to fulfill our reckless dreams? What will be our legacy for futuregenerations? Our seder is over, according to Jewish tradition and law. As we had thepleasure to gather (albeit virtually) for a seder this year, we hope to once again have theopportunity in the years to come. We pray that God brings health and healing to all thepeople of the world.

In every generation, we all should feel as though we ourselves had gone forth from Egypt.

We end our Passover Seder by saying in unison: 

May slavery give way to freedom.

May hate give way to love. May ignorance give way to wisdom.

May despair give way to hope. Next year, at this time, may everyone, everywhere, be free! 

Source: Temple Sinai of Roslyn

L’shana haba-ah biy’rushalayim

Next Year inJerusalem!

Sources

V I R T U A L H A G G A D A H C O M P I L E D A N D D E S I G N E D B Y E L L I E F L I E R

The Wandering is Over: https://www.jewishboston.com/the-wandering-is-over-haggadah/https://opensiddur.org/compilations/festival-guides-and-haggadot/passover-seder/the-wandering-is-over-haggadah-including-womens-voices-by-jewish-boston-and-jewish-womens-archive-2011/ Arielle Angel: https://www.haggadot.com/contributors-details/arielleangel Deborah Miller: https://www.haggadot.com/clip/urchatz-washing-hands-2 Rabbi Michael Lerner: https://www.tikkun.org/passover-haggadah-supplement-2011-2 The Williams College Feminist Haggadah, 1996 : https://www.haggadot.com/clip/telling-passover-story-2 Jewbelong: https://www.jewbelong.com/holidays/passover/passover-readings/the-ten-plagues/ Jews United for Justice: https://www.haggadot.com/clip/avadim-hayinu-16 HIAS: https://www.haggadot.com/clip/todays-refugeeshttps://www.haggadot.com/clip/beitzah-the-egg Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism: https://www.haggadot.com/clip/why-there-orange-and-tomato-seder-plate Dessen Passover Haggadah: https://www.haggadot.com/clip/miriams-cup-157 Tori Avey: https://toriavey.com/home-garden/family-fun-afikoman-bag/ Temple Sinai of Roslyn:https://issuu.com/templesinaiofroslyn/docs/women_s_seder_haggadah_pages_updated_march_2020?fr=sZjM1NjEwNjg4OTg