Liberating Ourselves Through Song and Story I ' A Multi-Cultural Freedom Seder Monday, May 1, 2000 5:30 pm- 8:00 pm Egan Center Page2 Hiney Ma Tov: How Good It Is Hiney rna tov oo rna na eem Shevet acheem gam yachad. Hiney rna tov Shevet achim gam yachad. How good it is For people to sit together. Psalm 133 Page3 Creating Holy Space To the Temple in Jerusalem They carried sheep and goats, Pomegranates and dates. We are also ripe and burdened, arms outstretched with gifts, we carry our names, our histories, our memories and fears. We have come here together to build something holy. A makom kadosh, separate and apart. We have come to rest, to sing and tell stories. We have come to learn, to teach and to grow. We bless this time with our presence. We welcome God's Presence into our midst. Page4 The Lord's Wonders at the Exodus When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house ofJacob from a people of strange speech, Judah became His holy one, Israel, His dominion. The sea saw them and fled, Jordan ran backward, mountains skipped like rams, hills like sheep. What alarmed you, 0 sea, that you fled, Jordan, that you ran backward, mountains, that you skipped like rams, hills, like sheep? Tremble, 0 earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flinty rock into a fountain. -Psalm 114 Page5 Miriam's Song (CHORUS) And the women dancing with their timbrels Followed Miriam as she sang her song. Sing a song to the One whom we've exalted. Miriam and the women danced and danced the whole night long. And Miriam was a weaver of unique variety. The tapestry she wove was one which sang our history. With every thread and every strand she crafted her delight. A woman touched with spirit, she dances to the light. (CHORUS) As Miriam stood upon the shores and gazed across the sea, The wonder of this miracle she soon came to believe. Whoever thought the sea would part with an outstetched hand, And we would pass freedom, and march to the promised land. (CHORUS) And Miriam the Prophet took her timbrel in her hand, And all the women followed her just as she had planned. And Miriam raised her voice with song. She sang with praise and might, We've just lived through a miracle, we're going to dance tonight. Debbie Friedman Page6 Lighting the Candles 0 hear my prayer, I sing to You. Be gracious to the ones I love, And bless them with goodness, and mercy and peace, 0 hear my prayer to You. Let us light these lights, And see the way to You, And let us say: Amen. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha'olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik neir shel Yom Tov You are Blessed, 0 God, Spirit ofthe World who makes us holy with mitzvot and commands us to kindle the light ofthe festival day. Page 7 \ " - ORDER OF THE PASSOVER SEDER· II _,_ -- - . Klddush: The blessing of wine ID'~Ii? / ( . : Ureliatz: Washing of the hands fl'Jl, .. · . Karp_as: E5tting a· green vegetable t:J~~~ _y f!c!latz: Break the middle matzah: the afikoman Y,l'J_' ', • ;J •· ,..._ ·~ lvfaggld: The ~assover story 1'~0 . ;,' 7 ( . Ra~atz: Washin'g of the hands_ f!J'J ,. ( . Motzr-Matzah: Blessing over the matzah il~oT - ~'~io' · Maror: Eat the bitter herb iii~ , . I T l~oi:ehkh: .Eat the bitter herb and matzah together lJi::> Sh~lhan Orekh: The Passover meal 1Ji11 lD~tq -,·I Tzafun: The afikoman ps~ Barekh: Grace after the Passover meal lJ~ I-lallel: Recital of the ~salms ??iJ· i1~iJ Neerzah: Conclusion of the Seder T : ' PageS ow is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children ... [And] we will not be satisfied until N justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream ... I way to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." This is our hope. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day ... So let freedom right from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia; let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee; let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi- from every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village, from every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black and white, Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" Martin Luther King, Jr. Page 9 Leonard Brown, saxophone solo Go Down Moses When Israel was in Egypt land Let my people go, Oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let my people go. CHORUS: Go down Moses Way down in Egypt land, Tell old Pharoah, Let my people go. Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said, Let my people go, If not, I'll smite your first-born dead, Let my people go. No more shall they in bondage toil, Let them come out with Egypt's spoil. The Lord told Moses what to do, To lead the Hebrew children through. As Israel stool by the waterside, At god's command it did divide. When they reached the other shore, They sang a song of triumph o'er Pharaoh said he'd go across, But Pharaoh and his host were lost. Your foes shall not before you stand, And you'll possess fair Canaan's Land. 0 let us all form bondage flee, And let us all in time be free. Page 10 We will now ~y the blessing over the wine together. Baruch atah Adonai eloheynu ,c?iYy 'i}~~ ~l';:1?~ ~~ ilJ!l~ 'iJ~i~ melech ha-olam boray p 'ri ha- l~~iJ '!~ 1'\"').i::l gafen. Ur-chatz yn11 Directions: A bowl of water with a cup or ladle is passed around. Each person pours water over his/her neighbor's hands, as a symbolic washing. The song "Bamboo" Is sung throughout this ritual. BAMBOO You take a stick of bamboo (3x), you throw it in the water Oh oh, Hana (repeat) Refrain Rivt:r she comes down (2x) You travel on the river . My home's across the river .. Wash your hands without reciting the customary blessing. Karpas: Rebirth and Renewal 091:;) Dip a vegetable in salt water and recite: Baruch atah Adonai, eloheynu melech ha-olam, boray p 'ri ha­ damah. The vegetable is now eaten. Praised are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe who creates the fruit of the · earth. Page 11 The Breaking of the Middle Matzah f"' Directions: A plate with three matzot is on th_e table. Tile middle matzah is broken In two. An optional part or the Seder is to hide half of this piece, known as the afilwman, for a child to find and "seD" back at the appropriate time-at the end of the meal. The afilwnum is a symboUc dessert, which aUows the Seder to proceed after the meal is finished. The other half or this piece or matzah is raised high, as the narrative proceeds. Note: Grapejuice can be substituted for wine in all cases. One explanation of lehem oni is the "bread over which much is answered." In this spirit we break the matzah, in the hope that as we share our questions, some answers may be generated, some directions given to a more hopeful future. Bread of Aflliction This is the matzoh, the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in Mitz­ raim. Mitzraim literally means "tight places," the time of our slavery. Today we are slaves of our fear. Jews are slaves to the fear bred of 2,000 years of Jew hatred culminating in the Holocaust; Palestinians are slaves to the fear bred of being homeless refugees and of living under an occupying power. Fear, insecurity, is the villain-our affliction. "Let all who are in need come and partake of the paschal lamb. Tilis year we are here: Next year in the land of Israel." Israel is both a metaphor and a reality. It is a metaphor for peace: next year may we all be at peace. Israel is the reality of a land which Jews and Palestinians both want. Next year may we share the land in peace.