Passover 5781 Seder Craft: Learn to Lead your Own Seder Before we begin For so many of us, this Passover marks our first “second” since our world changed last March. In a year filled with so much personal and communal loss and mourning, we may find ourselves wondering, what does it mean to celebrate our freedom? On Passover, we tell the story of our ancestors’ journey from slavery to freedom. The Hebrew word for Egypt - mitzrayim - is often understood to mean “a narrow place.” So in this journey from slavery to freedom, we celebrate leaving a place of narrowness, and finding a place of openness. This year, many of us may still feel that we are still in a narrow place. But the seder gives us the opportunity to imagine what it might be to leave that narrow place. As we light the holiday candles, we are invited to leave those narrow places - even just for this one night - and join our ancestors in celebrating the first taste of freedom. Lighting Holiday Candles Baruch atah, Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner [shel Shabbat v’]shel yom tov. Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with the mitzvot (commandments), and commands us to light the candles of [Shabbat and] this holiday Blessing of the Children May you be like Ephraim and Menashe, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. Yivarechecha Adonai v’yishmerecha May God bless you and protect you. Ya’er Adonai panav eilecha vichuneka May God show you favor and be gracious to you. Yisa Adonai panav eilecha v’yasem lecha shalom May God show you kindness and grant you peace. Kadesh The First Cup of Wine During our seder, we drink 4 cups of wine to represent the 4 promises of freedom that God made the Jewish people. I will free you.... I will save you.... I will redeem you.... I will take you.... Festival Kiddish: The First Cup - The Cup of Sanctification We begin by filling up our first cup of wine, raising it, and reciting: Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, borei p'ri hagafen. Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who, with love, has chosen us and given us: ● [Shabbatot lim’nuchah - Shabbats of rest] ● Mo-adim l'simchah - Periods of joy in our lives ● Chagim uz'manim l'sason - Holidays and times for happiness Festival Kiddish (Continued) On this holiday of Passover, our season of our freedom, when we remember the Exodus from Egypt. Baruch atah, Adonai m’kadeish Yisrael v’hazmanim. Blessed are You, Adonai, who sanctifies the people Israel and the Festivals. Drink the first cup of wine. Urchatz Washing Hands There is a custom to wash our hands at the table without a blessing at the beginning of our seder. You may choose to use a pitcher or a cup to pour water over your hands. Urchatz Reading 1 I was locked into a single seed, my future fathoming. I was matter underwater and a sheer hoping, when I latched to earth, a first withered bloom. A sonic wonder, I sang about the future. I was master of the oxen pulling me toward dawn, an existence first in death, a state of stillness before beginning, a middle earth of rain. I wore many masks until the right one fit. Then the storm passed and I was wakened by water. - Tina Chang (Mishkan HaSeder: A Passover Haggadah, page 17) Urchatz Reading 2 May healing waters pour forth over us all. Every one of us. Everywhere, speedily and in our days. May healers the world over be blessed with a well-spring of strength. Part the seas before our nurses and doctors and health care workers. As you turned the sea into walls of water for our ancestors, raise up mountains of protection around our healers, send them all they need, so they may walk through the torrents in safety and in health. And as the Israelites relied on each and every person to do their part to carry the community across to dry land, so may we be vigilant in sharing our healing resources as they are now, and as they emerge across the horizon. - Rabbi Rachel Gartner, Ritualwell Karpas Karpas The word “Karpas” comes from the Greek “Karpos,” meaning fruit of the soil. The Karpas is a spring-time vegetable, representing the rebirth of spring, as we begin to enter into the new season, and the rebirth of freedom. Yet, we dip the Karpas into salt water to remember the tears of slavery, even as we celebrate our freedom and look forward to the renewal of spring. This year, if you wish, as you dip the vegetable in salt water, take a moment to share one challenge of the past year that you hope to leave behind, and one thing that gives you hope as you look ahead to spring and summer. Karpas We dip the vegetables in salt water, and recite the following: Baruch atah, Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, borei p’ri haadamah. Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, creator of the fruit of the earth. Yachatz Yachatz Break the middle matzah. Wrap up the larger portion to be hidden as the afikomen for latter in the seder. Magid Ha Lachma Anya Hold up the matzah and recite: This is the bread of affliction and persecution that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. As it says in the Torah, “seven days you shall eat…matzot – the bread of poverty and persecution” (Deut. 16:3) so that you may “remember that you were a slave in Egypt.” Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are in need come and share the Pesach meal. This year, we are still here – Next year, in the Land of Israel. This year, we are still slaves – Next year, may we all be free. Discussion Before beginning a meal, Rav Huna used to open his door and announce: “Let all who are in need come and eat” (B. Ta’anit 20b). This year, it is especially difficult to welcome all who are hungry to come and eat with us. What are some ways that we can share our Pesach meal with others, even during this time of social distancing? How can we work toward making sure that we are all a bit more free in the year to come? Four Questions We pour the second cup of wine, but wait to drink it. We are required to ask questions as part of the seder. It is traditional for the youngest guest at the seder to recite the Four Questions (although anyone is welcome to do so!). After you recite the 4 Questions, ask any other questions that may be on your mind this Passover. Four Questions (Continued) Why is this night so different from other nights? Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? On all other nights, we eat chameitz and Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin hametz matzah — on this night, only matzah. umatzah; halailah hazeh, kuloh matzah. On all other nights, we eat many kinds of vegetables — on this night, we eat a Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin sh’ar bitter herb. y’rakot; halailah hazeh, maror. Four Questions (Continued) On all other nights, we never dip even once — on this night, we dip twice. Sheb’khol haleilot ein anu matbilin afilu pa’am ehat; halailah hazeh, shtei On all other nights, we eat sitting up, or f’amim. reclining — on this night, each one of us reclines. Sheb’khol haleilot anu okhlin bein yoshvin uvein m’subin; halailah hazeh, kulanu m’subin. The Four Children Jewish tradition tells of four children with different understandings of Passover: The wise child, the wicked child, the simple child, and the silent child. Yet, we know that no one person is all wise, all wicked, all simple, or all silent. At different points in our lives, we have each been one of these children. As you read through the four children, consider: Which one of these children are you tonight? The Four Children (Continued) The wise child asks, “What are the testimonies, the obligations, which our God requires?” You yourself shall teach them all the practices of Pesach. What does it mean to be the wise child? It means to be fully engaged in the community, to know the limits of your understanding, to be able to search for answers to that which you do not know. The wicked child asks, “What is this seder ceremony to you?” To you, and not to us. What does it mean to be the wicked child? It means to stand apart from the community, to feel alienated and alone, depending only on yourself, to have little trust in the people around you. The Four Children (Continued) The simple child asks, “What is this? What does it mean to be the simple child? It means to see only one layer of meaning, to ask the most basic of questions. And for the child who doesn't know how to ask a question? Help this child ask. Start telling the story: “It is because of what God did for me in taking me out of Egypt.” This child can be the indifferent child, no longer willing to engage. Or it can be the passive child, who just shows up. Or it can be the child who hears something deeper than words, who knows how to be silent and to listen.