Hagaadah

PASSOVER HAGGADAH

ews

COBBLE HILL, BROOKLYN 1

By Grace & Josh Vogel

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3. What is a Seder?

5. Candle Lighting 6. Kiddush 7. Urchatz - Hand Washing 8. Karpas 9. Afikomen 10. The Four Questions 11. The Four Children 12. The Passover Story 14. The Plagues 15. Dayenu 16. More Wine 18. Pesach 19. Matzah 20. Maror 21. Charoset / Meal is Eaten 22. Blessing After the Meal 23. Afikomen 24. Elijah’s Cup 25. Chad Gadya 26. Songs 27. Conclusion 2

WHAT IS A SEDER?

Here we are gathered to celebrate the oldest continually practiced ritual in the Western world, to retell what is arguably the best known of all stories, to take part in the most widely practiced Jewish holiday.

Here we are as we were last year and as we hope to be next year. Here we are, as night descends in succession over all the Jews of the world, with a book in front of us.

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Jews have a special relationship to books, and the Haggadah has been translated more widely, and reprinted more often, than any other Jewish book. It is not a work of history or philosophy, not a prayer book, user’s manual, timeline or poem – and yet it is all of these. The Torah is the foundational text for Jewish law, but the Haggadah is our book of living memory. We are not merely telling a story, we are being called to a radical act of empathy.

We are individuals remembering a shared past against despair. The universe might appear deaf to our fears and hopes, but we are not. So we gather and share them, and pass them down. We have been waiting for this moment for thousands of years – more than one hundred generations of Jews have been here as we are – and we will continue to wait for it.

And we will not wait idly.

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CANDLE LIGHTING

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM A-SHER KI-DE-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV V’TZI-VA-NU L’HAD-LIK NER SHEL (SHABBAT V’SHEL) YOM TOV.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe who makes us holy with commandments and commands us to light the (Shabbat and) festival lights.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM SHE-HE-CHE-YA-NU V’KI-YE-MA-NU V’HIG-I-YA-NU LAZ-MAN HAZEH. Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to celebrate this joyous occasion.

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KIDDUSH

Tonight we will drink four cups of wine. Our tradition abounds with explanations of this custom. It has been said that the four cups represent the four corners of the universe, for we seek freedom everywhere; it has been said that they symbolize the four seasons of the year, for freedom must be scrupulously guarded at all times; it has been said the four cups represent the four ancient empires that tyrannized Israel and have since passed away, for tyranny will pass away once and for all when the messianic dream is realized. Our Sages taught that the four cups of wine symbolize God’s four promises to save our people: “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). We can also think of the four cups as representing four types off freedom. The first cup represents physical freedom, the most basic freedom of all. Our ancestors could not accept the covenant of Torah while they were in Egypt because, as slaves, they lacked the freedom to determine the course of their own lives.

Not all Jews in our world are fully free to live as Jews. We dedicate the first cup of wine to all those who still seek their physical freedom and safety. As Jews, it is our responsibility to help them; this seder night we rededicate ourselves to that sacred purpose. May we soon share our freedom and our joy with all our brethren.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM BO-RAY P’RI HA-GA-FEN. Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

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URCHATZ HAND WASHING

Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the seder |urchatz| Passover combines the celebration of an event from Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature.

This is a moment to cleanse and refresh, so that we can begin the seder intentionally. As you wash your hands, imagine washing away any distractions, leaving your mind clear to engage fully in tonight's ritual.

BLESSING OVER HAND WASHING

Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hey-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam, A-sher ki-d’-sha-nu b’-mitz-vo-tav, v’-tzi-va-nu Al n’-ti-lat ya-da-yim.

Praised are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through your commandments, and commands us to wash our hands (before eating food)

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KARPAS

Passover combines the celebration of an event from Jewish memory with a recognition of the cycles of nature. As we remember the liberation from Egypt, we also recognize the stirrings of spring and rebirth happening in the world around us. The symbols on our table bring together elements of both kinds of celebration. We now take a vegetable, in this case parsely, to represent our joy at the dawning of spring after our long, cold winter. Whatever symbol of spring and sustenance we’re using, we now dip it into salt water, a symbol of the tears our ancestors shed as slaves. Before we eat it, we recite a short blessing:

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

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AFIKOMEN

This is the bread of affliction 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.

Breaking the matzah There are three pieces of matzah stacked on the table. We now break the middle matzah into two pieces. The host should wrap up the larger of the pieces and, at some point between now and the end of dinner, hide it. This piece is called the afikomen, literally “dessert.” After dinner, the guests will have to hunt for the afikomen.

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THE FOUR QUESTIONS Mah nish-ta-na ha-lai-lah ha-zeh mikol ha-lei-lot?

Why is this night of Passover different from all other nights of the year?

She-b’chol ha-lei-lot anu och’lin cha-meitz u-matzah. Ha-laylah hazeh kulo matzah.

On all other nights, we eat either leavened or unleavened bread, why on this night do we eat only matzah?

Sheb’chol ha-lei-lot anu och’lin sh’ar y’rakot. Ha-lai-lah h-azeh maror.

On all other nights, we eat vegetables of all kinds, why on this night must we eat bitter herbs?

Sheb’chol ha-lei-lot ein anu mat-beelin afee-lu pa-am echat.Ha-lai-lah hazeh sh’tei p’ameem.

On all other nights, we do not dip vegetables even once, why on this night do we dip greens into salt water and bitter herbs into sweet haroset?

Sheb’khol ha-lei-lot anu och-leem bein yo-shveen u-vein m’su-been, ha-lailah hazeh kulanu m’subeen.

On all other nights, everyone sits up straight at the table, why on this night do we recline and eat at

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THE FOUR CHILDREN

On four occasions, the Torah instructs parents to teach their children the story of the Passover. Thus the Sages inferred that there are four types of children.

The Wise Child asks: “What is the meaning of the duties, laws and rules which God has commanded?” Such children should be taught everything, for their minds are open to learning about, and appreciating, our heritage.

The Wicked Child asks: “What does this service mean to you?” To you and not to us. Since such children cut themselves off from the community of Israel, we respond: “I do this because of what God did for me when I came out of Egypt.” For me and not for them, for had they been there, they would not have left Egypt with us.

The Simple Child asks: “What does this mean?” To them we say: “With a mighty hand God led us out of Egypt, out of the House of Bondage.”

And to the child who does not know how to ask, we begin by explaining that our Torah commands: “You shall tell your child on that day.”

The Four Children represent attitudes more than types of people. All Four Children are in each of us; each is a face we sometimes show.

And so we begin our story now . . .

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THE PASSOVER STORY

Approximately 4000 years ago, our people were slaves in Egypt. If God had not brought us out of Egypt, we would still be slaves there. Every year we retell the story, because it is our people’s story and because it is wonderful to tell. We also retell this story each year to remind ourselves of the importance of human freedom. The story of our people’s Exodus from Egypt reminds and reassures us that freedom is possible; deliverance can come; salvation is within our reach. May we, in our lives, help the dream of redemption become a reality.

Nearly 4000 years ago there was a famine in the Land of Israel. Our ancestor Jacob took his family and settled in Egypt, where there was plenty of food. The children of Jacob lived well in Egypt. They become a great nation, powerful and numerous.

Some time later, a new king came to the throne of Egypt. He feared the Israelites because there were so many of us. He said, “If there is a war, they will join our enemies and fight against us.” So Pharaoh forced our people to become his slaves. He ordered us to make bricks and build buildings for him. Taskmasters were set over us; they imposed heavy labor and we built the cities of Pithom and Raamses.

We cried out to God for help and God heard our plea, saw our suffering and responded to our oppression. God remembered the Covenant with our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Pharaoh refused to let us go free, so God brought Ten Plagues to the land of Egypt.

When Pharaoh’s own son died he finally agreed to let us go.

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Rabbi Aaron Samuel Tamaret of Mileitchitz explained: “God alone executed the judgment of death: ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night. I and not any intermediary.’ The Holy One, blessed be God, could have given the Israelites the power to avenge themselves upon the Egyptians, but God did not want to sanction the use of their fists for selfhdefense even at that time; for, while at that moment they might merely have defended themselves against evil-doers, by such means the way of the fist spreads through the world, and in the end defenders become aggressors. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be God, took great pains to remove Israel completely from any participation in the vengeance upon the evil-doers, to such an extent that they were not even permitted to see the events.”

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THE PLAGUES When we recall the plagues against Egypt, we remove a drop of wine —our symbol of joy— from our wine cups for each plague, because our joy is lessened when we remember the sufferings of the Egyptians. Together, let us recall the Ten Plagues against Egypt:

Our people escaped to the Red Sea with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. Rabbi Judah says: When the Israelites stood at the shore of the Red Sea, one said: “I do not want to go down to the sea first,” and another said: “I do not want to go down to the sea first, either.” While they were standing there deliberating, Nachshon the son of Aminidav leaped up, ran down to the shore, and jumped into the swirling waters. The waters rose around him and he began to drown. At the same time, Moses stood reciting long prayers before the Holy One. God said to him: “Moses, your friend is sinking in the water and the sea is closing in upon him; the enemy is pursuing and you stand there reciting long prayers!” Moses said before God: “Ruler of the universe, what else can I do?” God replied: “Lift up your rod!” Moses lifted his rod. The waters parted and the Israelites crossed over on dry land.

Salvation comes to those who work, together with God, to bring it. From the Red Sea, our people traveled on to Mount Sinai where God gave them the Torah. At Sinai, we entered into our Covenant with God, which sustains us to this day and teaches us to cherish a vision of the world free of Pharaohs, slavery, and plagues. God did many wonderful things for us. God brought us out of Egypt, gave us the Shabbat, gave us the Torah and brought us into the Land of Israel. Any one of these would have been enough. Therefore we sing Dayenu which means, “it would have been enough for us.”

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DAYENU I-LU HO-TZI-A-NU MI-MITZ-RA-YIM DAYAY-NU. (chorus) I-LU NA-TAN LA-NU ET HA-SHA-BAT DA-YAY-NU. (chorus) I-LU NA-TAN LA-NU ET HA-TO-RAH DA-YAY-NU. (chorus) If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and had not fed us the manna Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Beit Habechirah (Chosen House; the Beit Hamikdash) Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

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MORE WINE The second cup of wine symbolizes intellectual freedom—freedom of the mind. Closed minds lead to misunderstanding and human suffering. We need to open our minds to new ideas and try to understand the ideas and beliefs of others. Knowledge and understanding will lead to greater freedom for everyone in our world.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM BO-RAY PE-RI HA-GA-FEN. Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

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After the ten plagues, Pharoah finally lets our people go, and the Israelites leave in a big hurry. They pack their bags, gather their children and livestock, toss the unleavened bread on their backs, and begin their journey. It is Pharaoh’s change of heart, after refusing so many times to let them go, that allows the Israelites to arrive at this moment of freedom.

After being freed, the Israelites find themselves between the roaring sea before them and the Egyptian army behind them. They panic and say to Moses, “There weren’t enough graves in Egypt, so you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? It would have been better to stay as slaves than to die here.” We can learn a lot about resistance to transition from the complaints of the Israelites.

Sometimes in the midst of doubt and fear, it can feel impossible to take that first step forward. A rabbinic Midrash tells the story of Nachshon ben Aminadav, who walked into the sea until the water was above his neck; only after he took this great risk did the waters part for all the Israelites. Passover is our annual invitation to take that first step.

There’s commentary that the post-Exodus forty years of wandering in the desert was the necessary length of time to allow the generation of Israelites raised with a slave mentality to be replaced by a new generation of free people. This means that only those born into freedom were able to enter the Promised Land. We can translate this to our own lives to mean that we have to transition out of fixed mindsets and make space for new ways and paths and directions. Remembering our own capacity to enslave and be enslaved, as well as our ability to find freedom in our lives, is one of the most meaningful practices of Passover.

May we all be blessed with a Passover of liberation. May our practice be a source of strength as we find paths to freedom, and may our open-heartedness benefit all beings.

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THREE MORE SYMBOLS: PESACH, MATZAH AND MAROR

Rabban Gamaliel said: We have not fulfilled our duty until we have explained these three symbols: Pesach, Matzah and Maror.

PESACH

(Holding up the shank bone or its symbolic replacement.) What is the meaning of the shank bone? The shank bone reminds us of the lamb which our people sacrificed to God the night they left Egypt. In family groups, our people ate the pesach lamb while the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing. Tonight, we celebrate Pesach with family, friends, and community in our homes.

Why was the lamb chosen for sacrifice? Because this is the animal that the Egyptians worshiped. The shank bone on our seder plate symbolizes our rejection of idolatry. Idolatry has taken a different form in every age. In our own time, we have witnessed the results of idolatry when people place complete, unquestioning faith in someone or something other than God. This occurred in Germany, where eleven million souls, including six million of our own people, were tragically and cruelly

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BLESSING OVER HAND WASHING

Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai, E-lo-hey-nu Me-lech ha-o-lam, A-sher ki-d’-sha-nu b’-mitz-vo-tav, v’-tzi-va-nu Al n’-ti-lat ya-da-yim.

Praised are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through your commandments, and commands us to wash our hands (before eating food).

MATZAH (Holding up a piece of matzah.) What is the meaning of the matzah? Matzah reminds us of the dough our people baked the night they left Egypt. We left in such a hurry that we did not have time to allow the dough to rise. And they baked the dough which they grought out from Egypt into unleavened cakes, because it did not rise, since they were expelled from Egypt and had not made preperaions for themselves and could not delay.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM HA-MO-TZI LE-CHEM MIN HA-A-RETZ. Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM A-SHER KI-DE-SHA-NU B’MITZ-VO-TAV V’TZI-VA-NU AL A-CHI-LAT MA-TZA. Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with commandments and commands us to eat matzah.

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MAROR

(Holding up the bitter herbs.) What is the meaning of the maror? It is bitter and eating it makes us cry. On Passover, we try to feel the bitterness of slavery and shed the tears our people shed when they were enslaved in Egypt.

B’CHOL DOR VA’DOR CHA-YAV A-DAM LIR-OT ET ATZ-MO K’IL-U HU YA-TZA MI-MITZ-RAYIM, SHE-NE-E-MAR: HI-GA-D’TA L’VIN-KHA BA-YOM HA-HU LEI-MOR: BA-A-VOR ZEH A-SA LI B’TZEI-TI MI-MITZ-RA-YIM. In every generation, each person should feel as though he or she went forth from Egypt, as our Torah teaches: “And you shall explain to your child on that day, it is because of what the Lord did for me when I, myself, went forth from Egypt.”

LO ET A-VO-TEI-NU BI-L’VAD GA-AL HA-KA-DOSH BA-RUKH HU EI-LEH AF O-TA-NU GA-AL I-MA-HEM, SHE-NE-E-MAR: V’O-TA-NU HO-TZI MI-SHAM, L’MA-AN HA-VI O-TA-NU, LA-TEIT LANU ET HA-A-RETZ A-SHER NISH-BA LA-A-VO-TEI-NU. Not only our ancestors alone did the Holy One redeem, but us along with them, as it is written: And God freed us from Egypt so as to take us and give us the land that God had sworn to give our ancestors.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM A-SHER KI-DE-SHA-NU B’MITZVO-TAV V’TZI-VA-NU AL A-CHI-LAT MA-ROR. Blessed are You, Lord our God, ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with commandments and commands us to eat maror. In the tradition of Hillel, we follow the custom of making a matzah and maror sandwich. We eat the maror of slavery together with the matzah of freedom. In times of slavery there is always the hope of freedom. In times of freedom, there is always the memory of slavery.

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CHAROSET Each person makes a sandwich using two pieces of matzah with maror and charoset, a mixture of nuts, fruit, wine, and spices that symbolizes the mortar used by the Jewish people to make bricks while enslaved in Egypt.

This is done in commemoration of an enactment made by the great sage Hillel, who lived in the time of the Second Temple, to eat the Passover sacrifice together with matzah and maror in a sandwich.

THE MEAL IS EATEN THE AFIKOMEN IS SHARED BY ALL BAREICH — BIRKAT HA-MAZON Let us praise God whose bounty we have eaten and whose goodness fills the world, bringing freedom to those in slaver and dignity to those suffering degradation.

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BIRKAT HAMAZON The third cup of wine is poured, and birkat ha-mazon (blessing after the meal) is recited.

LEADER

GROUP

LEADER

GROUP LEADER ALL

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SEARCH FOR THE AFIKOMAN

ELIJAH’S CUP

Tradition holds that we reserve a special cup of wine for the prophet Elijah. At each seder we open our door so that the spirit of Elijah may enter our homes and our lives. According to one legend, Elijah takes a drop of wine from every seder in the world, bottles all the wine and distributes the bottles to Jews who are too poor to buy wine for their own seders.

Elijah’s cup represents the promise of messianic freedom. It symbolizes a time that has not yet come, but for which we yearn and pray. The cup of Elijah is a cup from which we cannot drink until the redemption is complete, until the world is whole and at peace, until justice and compassion reign where corruption and bigotry now hold sway.

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CHAD GADYA Chorus: Chad gadya, Chad gadya, My father bought for two zuzim, One only kid , One only kid Chad gadya, Chad gadya.

Then came the Holy One, blessed be God and destroyed the angel of death That slew the butcher That killed the ox That drank the water That quenched the fire That burned the stick That beat the dog That bit the cat That ate the kid my father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya‌

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FAVORITE PASSOVER THINGS

[To the tune of "These are a few of my favourite things"]

Cleaning and cooking and so many dishes Out with the hametz, no pasta, no knishes Fish that's gefillted, horseradish that stings These are a few of our Passover things.

Matzoh and karpas and chopped up haroset Shankbones and Kiddish and Yiddish neuroses Tante who kvetches and uncle who sings These are a few of our Passover things.

Motzi and maror and trouble with Pharoahs Famines and locusts and slaves with wheelbarrows Matzoh balls floating and eggshell that cling These are a few of our Passover things.

When the plagues strike When the lice bite When we're feeling sad We simply remember our Passover things And then we don't feel so bad. _______________________________________________________________________________

The Ballad of the Four Sons (to the tune of Oh my Darlin’ Clementine) Said the father to his children, “At the seder you will dine” “You will eat your fill of matza, You will drink four cups of wine.”

Now this father had no daughters, but his sons they numbered four.

One was wise and one was wicked, one was simple and a bore.

And the fourth was sweet and winsome, he was young and he was small, While his brothers asked the questions, He could scarcely speak at all.

Said the wise son to his father, “Could you please explain the laws, Of the customs of the seder, could you please explain the cause?”

And the father proudly answered, “Every man himself must see, In every age and generation as if he himself were freed.”

Then the wicked son said wickedly, “What does all this mean to you?”

And the father’s voice was bitter as his grief and anger grew.

“If yourself you don’t consider as a son of Israel, Then for you this has no meaning, you could be a slave as well.”

Then the simple son said simply, “What is this?” and quietly, The good father told his offspring, “We were freed from slavery.”

And the youngest son was silent For he was not very bold.

But his eyes grew wide with wonder as the Pesach tale was told.

Now dear children heed the lesson and remember ever more.

The good father and his children and his sons that numbered four.

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FOURTH GLASS OF WINE As our seder draws to an end, we take up our cups one last time. The redemption is not yet complete. Not everyone in our world is yet free. This fourth cup reminds us of our responsibility to be God’s partners in bringing freedom to those enslaved, peace to those at war, food to those who hunger. This is our purpose as Jews. May we live to fulfill it.

BA-RUCH A-TA A-DO-NAI E-LO-HAY-NU ME-LECH HA-O-LAM BO-RAY P’RI HA-GA-FEN. Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

CONCLUSION Our seder service is now concluded, its rites observed and its purposes revealed. As we gathered together to celebrate this seder tonight, may we be worthy to celebrate again in freedom next year. And may God, who redeemed our ancestors from slavery and degradation, redeem all who are enslaved and bring freedom and dignity to our entire world. And may we be God’s partners in bringing redemption. Together, let us say:

HAPPY PASSOVER!!!

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