Pesach 2025
TRADITIONS
Seder Intentions
Rabbi Chai Posner
Kadesh – We refer to Pesach as Zman Cheiruteinu, the time of our freedom. We express gratitude to God for granting us freedom from oppression. Before reciting Kiddush, complete the following sentence: “I am grateful that I am free to ___________.”
Yachatz – Like the broken glass at a wedding, the broken matzah reminds us that we can hold pain and joy at the same time. We should not ignore or be afraid of what is broken. Before breaking the matzah, pause for a moment to acknowledge something broken in your life, and know that it is ok.
Mah Nishtana – This phrase can be understood as a question—“Why is this night different?”—or as an exclamation of wonder—“How different is this night!” It’s an incredible gift to look at the world around us with curiosity and awe.
The second cup – The first cup that went with kiddush is familiar to us. We are used to reciting one blessing of “boreh pri hagafen” at our table every Shabbat. Before making this blessing for a second time, think of one “extra” blessing in your life.
Washing hands, Matzah, and Maror – We are about to recite several blessings. Though each blessing concludes differently, they all begin with the same words: “Baruch Ata Hashem – Blessed are You, Hashem.” Focus on those words and remember, we are speaking directly to God.
The understated star of the show, charoset, makes everything taste better! As you taste its sweetness, remember that even in life’s bitter moments, we can find some
The Cup of Elijah – This cup reminds us that the seder is not only a reflection of the past but also an expression of hope for the future. As we fill this cup, ask yourself: “What is one thing I will do tomorrow to make the world a little better?”
FOR THE FAMILY
10 Questions for the Seder
Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg
The number 10 is a most significant one in Jewish tradition. We have the 10 Commandments, and the 10 Plagues. Add to that my 10 Questions for the Pesach Seder, and the triumvirate is complete! Wishing you a Zissen Pesach – a sweet and joyous Passover holiday.
1
“Why is this night different from all other nights?” Because we are all together! It is told in the Torah that Moshe saw God “face to face.” Can you go through the Seder without looking at your cell phone? How about hiding it, like the Afikomen, at dinner? Isn’t “face to face” better than Facebook?
2 The Egyptians turned against us by claiming, “The children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we. Come, let us outsmart it lest it become numerous, and it may be that if a war will occur, it too may join our enemies.” This claim, of course, was untrue. It may be the first recorded “conspiracy theory.” We hear more and more of them today. What can we do?
3 As the Jews passed through the Red Sea, the Torah tells us that the water was a chomah (wall) on the right, and on the left. Our sages read the word not as chomah but rather as cheimah, meaning “hatred.” After Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Poway, etc. we were aware of the threat from the Right. After their reaction of Oct. 7th, we are now aware of the threat from the Left. Do the Jewish people today face a greater threat from the Right or from the Left? Does it make a difference?
4 Numerous times the Torah tells us: “Because you were strangers in Egypt (having experienced estrangement, depression and discrimination) you should know and sympathize with those in need.” Do these words play any role in your thinking regarding the issue of immigration?
5
According to the Midrash, God deemed the Jews worthy of liberation from Egypt because we didn’t assimilate. In the words of the Midrash, the Jews “didn’t change their names, way of dress and language.” Today American Jews name, dress and speak like everyone else. Are we too assimilated? What makes us unique?
6
We sing out “Dayenu” – thanking God for the exodus and everything he does for us. But right after the Exodus, we find the Jewish people with constant complaints about the food, the water, the leadership, etc. So, which are we – Dayenu – Jews? Or kvetchers?
7
We speak of the “four children” at the seder. But now it is said there is a “fifth” one: the one who does not come to a seder! A recent survey revealed that nearly 40% of American Jews do not attend a Pesach seder. How is this possible? Will your grandchildren have a seder? Are you sure? What can you do to make sure?
8
The Hagaddah repeats the question asked in the Torah about Pesach, “When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’, there is a new question that has to be asked these days… ‘What does Israel mean to you? What will it mean to your children and your children’s children?’”
9
The very same verse in the Hagaddah which tells us, “In every generation they rise up to destroy us,” concludes with the words, “But the Holy One, blessed by He, saves us from their hands.” Do you think our people’s survival is made possible by God? Do you believe that God is involved in your life? Do you believe in God?
10
We Jews dedicated ourselves to tikkun olam [repairing the world]. We now discovered that won us few friends. But still, it was the right thing to do. Has the time now come for Jews to repair the Jewish people?
EXTRA CREDIT: Really, why IS this night different from all other nights of the year? Wouldn’t it be nice if we all got together more often… as family? As Jews?
FOR KIDS!
A Ticket to Freedom
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Yoggev
Are you looking for a fun and innovative way to keep your family engaged at the seder? Well, look no further! My wife, Rebbetzin Phaygi, introduced me to the following game. Since it has been incorporated into our seders, the level of involvement and excitement has increased exponentially.
You will need three things: a box of small prizes, a stack of tickets, and creative ideas or prompts to ask children and family. Throughout the night we ask trivia questions at our table (you can find trivia questions here: https://bit.ly/funseder.) With each correct answer offered by a child (and many times by an adult), a ticket is earned. When ten tickets are collected, the recipient comes forward to claim a prize. Kids love it! At some of our seders, children have gone home with 5, 6, or 7 prizes. That comes out to 50 to 70 answers!
Well, it’s not only about trivia answers. We also give out tickets for songs, like the Mah Nishtanah (that can be a five-ticket song), and for readings of passages in Hebrew. We are very generous with our tickets and everyone comes out happy.
Some years, we ask the children to choose a word at the beginning of the seder and each time we come across that word in the Haggadah and they bring it to our attention, they earn a ticket. This is a great way to engage children in the text of the Haggadah. Just make sure they don’t choose the word “Moshe” as it only appears once in the Haggadah! That’s another trivia question, by the way.
We also offer ten points for children who put on a Pesach skit, and every year someone does! Some years, my wife has included verses from different pop songs. She puts the lyrics on cards and when adults integrate the lyrics into something happening at the seder, they earn tickets and can claim a prize. We usually purchase prizes from Five Below or Amazon. Fidget toys are always a hit!
I am writing excitedly about this game because it is so simple, yet has added so much connectedness and involvement into our seder experience. If you try it out and feel the same, please reach out and let me know!
Chag Pesach kasher vesame’ach!
The Afikoman
Rabbi Chaim Wecker
At the Pesach seder, we perform many rituals to involve children and encourage them to ask questions and learn more about the Exodus from Egypt. For children worldwide, one of the most exciting parts of the seder is when their parents ask for the afikoman towards the end of the seder, and the negotiating begins. Some kids walk away with board games, or maybe with the largest Nerf guns you’ve ever seen, or even villas in Florida... while others walk away disappointed.
What does “afikoman” mean? The afikoman - a half piece of matzah that is broken from the middle of three matzahs during the Passover seder – is a combination of two Aramaic words which mean “bring out the types of food with which to end the meal.” It’s a substitute for the Pesach offering, which we unfortunately don’t have any more without the Temple.
How is the afikoman eaten? Well, you must recline while eating it, and if you forget, then you should eat the afikoman again unless it’s too difficult.
How much matza must be eaten as afikoman? Technically, it’s the size of an olive, but ideally one should try to eat two olives’ worth: one to commemorate the Pesach offering, and the other to commemorate the matzah that was eaten with it.
When must it be eaten by? This is one of the biggest debates in Judaism, with some insisting it be consumed before midnight, while others opine after midnight is also acceptable.
What happens if the afikoman goes missing? When I was around 10, I fell asleep before we got to the afikoman, and I remember my parents waking me up to find it. The rabbis maintain that you must search for it until mid-December. Just joking... you take another matza and eat that instead.
May we merit to soon return to the Temple and eat the real Pesach sacrifice.
HALACHA
Music at the Seder
Chazzan Yoni Rose
The Pesach Seder is full of unique sensory experiences. We eat foods with tastes and smells we may not experience on any other occasion, not to mention the feeling of eating matzah, certainly an event in its own right! While taste, smell, and touch play a significant role, it is often music that provides us with the truest sense of where we are and what we are doing. Think about it - when you hear Kol Nidre, are you not immediately transported to Yom Kippur night? The music of the Pesach Seder has the same transformative power.
Many of the tunes we sing at the seder vary from household to household. Like the vegetable one eats for Karpas, the tunes sung for each section of the seder are specific to each family’s tradition, often traced back to one’s family origins. Descendants North Germany may sing different tunes from South Germans, Polish descendants would be bewildered by both German groups, and those of Middle Eastern extraction would wonder why they agreed to join those sedarim in the first place. While the melodies might differ, one thing remains the same - each of these disparate groups sing the same parts of the seder Ma Nishtana is chanted, V’hi She’amda is sung, and provide a raucous close to the night. While the tunes used in each household may vary, it is remarkable that so many far-flung regions - despite their limited contact with each other - chose to emphasize the same parts of the seder with song.
HISTORY
Sarajevo Haggadah
Rabbi Jason Goldstein
The Sarajevo Haggadah is one of the most remarkable surviving Jewish illuminated manuscripts – a manuscript that has been decorated with paint, frequently using silver or gold.
It’s a witness to centuries of turmoil, resilience, and survival. Commissioned in Barcelona around 1350 as a wedding gift, it includes thirty-four exquisite illustrations. The opening pages show seven scenes of Creation, and later illuminations feature Moshe and Aharon before Paroh, Miriam dancing after the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and a contemporary seder meal.
In 1391, violent anti-Jewish riots broke out in Spain, upending the region’s Jewish community. During the turmoil, a new family took possession of the Haggadah. By 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, the manuscript began its journey across Europe. According to a marginal note, it was sold in 1510. It reappeared in Italy in 1609 when it passed through the hands of a Catholic censor. Eventually, it traveled along the Sephardic migrant route, crossing the Adriatic Sea to Split, then making its way to Sarajevo.
In 1894 the Kohen family, suffering economic hardship after the death of its patriarch, sold the Haggadah to the National Museum of Sarajevo.
During World War II, the Nazis occupied Bosnia and sought to confiscate the Haggadah for Hitler’s planned museum of looted Jewish artifacts. As soldiers combed the museum, a Muslim scholar smuggled the book out, climbing through his office window to evade Nazi detection, and entrusted it to an imam outside the city for safekeeping. As the Nazis systematically exterminated eighty percent of the city’s Jews, this same scholar risked his life to harbor a Jewish woman in his home, later receiving recognition as one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
After the war, the Haggadah returned to the museum. However, in 1992, as war once again ravaged Bosnia, the book was hidden to prevent its destruction, becoming a national emblem of Sarajevo’s endurance while under siege. In 2002, it returned to public display.
The story of the Sarajevo Haggadah reflects the vicissitudes of Diaspora life over the centuries. It accompanied its owners from the comfort of 14th Century Spain to resettlement in Italy, to poverty in the Balkans, and was a witness to the destruction of European Jewry. Throughout its wandering, its winestained pages reveal that it was a well-used guide on the seder night journey, shining a light on the plight from servitude to freedom. Wherever Jews were, whatever situation they were in, they continued to recount past salvation and anticipated the harbinger of future redemption.
SPECIAL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
PESACH
Thursday, April 10
Siyum Bechorot: Shacharit 7:20am followed by siyum at 8am (approx.) Bedikat Chametz: After 8:22pm
Friday, April 11
Biur Chametz: 8:30-10:30am, outside Tuvin gate
Latest time to burn Chametz: 11:50am
Shabbat, April 12
7:30/8:20pm
Shacharit 8am-Please note the special start time
Latest time to eat Chametz: 10:32am
Latest time to own Chametz/Recite
Kol Chamira: 11:49am
Mincha/Maariv: 7:20/8:10pm
Candlelighting: After 8:24pm
Sunday, April 13
Shacharit: 9am
Mincha/Maariv: 7:25/7:45pm
Candlelighting: After 8:25pm
Monday, April 14:
Shacharit: 9am
Mincha/Maariv: 7:25/8:15pm Yom Tov ends: 8:26pm
Tuesday-Thursday, April 15-17
Shacharit: 7:20am
Mincha/Maariv: 6:10/6:25pm
Friday, April 18
Shacharit: 7:20am
Mincha/Maariv: 6:45/7pm
Candlelighting: 6:25-7:29pm
Shabbat, April 19
Shacharit: 9am
Mincha/Maariv: 7:30/8:20pm
Candlelighting: After 8:31pm
Sunday, April 20
Shacharit: 9am
Yizkor: 10am
Mincha/Maariv: 7:35/8:20pm Yom Tov ends: 8:32pm
SHAVUOT, JUNE 1-3:
Sunday, June 1:
Candlelighting: 6:56-8:09pm
Mincha/Maariv: 8:10pm
Monday, June 2:
Shacharit: 9am
Mincha/Maariv: 8:10/8:30pm
Candlelighting: After 9:10pm
Tuesday, June 3:
Shacharit: 9am
Mincha/Maariv: 8:10pm
Yom Tov ends: 9:11pm
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