A Haggadah for Poets and Goyim 1 “Now we turn to memory, we search all the days we had forgotten for a tradition that can support our arms in such a moment. If we are free people, we are also free to choose our past, at every moment to choose the tradition we will bring to the future. We invoke a rigorous positive, that will enable us to imagine our choices, and to make them.” — Muriel Rukeyser, The Life of Poetry (1944) 2 The Seder PREFACE & WELCOME - 1 Separation – CANDLE LIGHTING – 2 Sanctification - KIDDUSH – 3 Setting intentions - URCHATZ – 4 Blessing for the green vegetable - KARPAS – 5 Breaking of the middle matzah - YACHATZ – 6 Blessing for the orange – TAPUZ – 7 The Paschal Lamb, Miriam’s Cup, The Exodus, Four Questions : Telling the tale – MAGGID - 8 Tasting the sorrow and the sweetness - KOREICH - 9 The meal - SHULCHAN OREICH - 10 The afikoman - TZAFUN – 11 Saying grace - BAREICH – 12 The conscious recognition of those not completely seen - HA’CARAH – 13 Psalms of praise - HALLEL – 14 Blessing for the olive - ZAYIT – 15 Conclusion - NIRTZAH - 16 3 Preface Welcome (Together, In Turns) (Seder Leader) Here we are. Here we are, gathered to celebrate the oldest We’re so glad you can join us. We want everyone sitting here at continually practiced ritual in the Western world, to retell what is our table to be comfortable. It doesn’t matter if you are a believer, arguably the best known of all stories, to take part in the most an agnostic, or an atheist. It doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a widely practiced Jewish holiday. Here we are as we were last non-Jew. The story of Passover transcends these differences. year, and as we hope to be next year. Here we are, as night We gather tonight to celebrate the liberation of the Jewish people descends in succession over all of the Jews of the world, from slavery in Egypt more than three thousand years ago—the with a book in front of us. moment in our story in which the Jews became a people. Our Jews have a special relationship to books, and the Haggadah has ceremony is the seder, a Hebrew word that means “order.” We been translated more widely, and reprinted more often, than any read from the Haggadah, which means “the telling.” We tell the other Jewish book.1 It is not a work of history or philosophy, not a story of our deliverance from Egypt using symbols, whose prayer book, user's manual, timeline, poem, or palimpsest—and meaning we explore. These symbols are on our seder plate and at yet it is all of these things. The Torah is the foundational text for our seder table. Jewish law, but the Haggadah is our book of living memory. We are not merely telling a story here. We are being called to a Jewish tradition requires that each of us act as if we had radical act of empathy. Here we are, embarking on an ancient, personally gone forth from Egypt. Every generation is encouraged perennial attempt to give human life—our lives—dignity. […] to make the story of the Exodus their own. In accordance with this obligation, each year our seder combines rituals and prayers Here we are: Individuals remembering a shared past and in developed over the millennia with contemporary readings and pursuit of a shared destiny. The seder is a protest against despair. new practices for our joyous celebration. 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 By telling the story of freedom on Passover (in Hebrew: Pesach), have been waiting for this moment for thousands of years—more we celebrate our Jewish history. The story of Exodus, however, is than one hundred generations of Jews have been here as we not just a Jewish story. It is a story that embodies humanity’s are—and we will continue to wait for it. And we will not wait idly. passion for justice and freedom. Now more than ever, this story and tradition matter. — The New American Haggadah, ed. Jonathan Safran Foer, trans. Nathan Englander 1 “…just like there isn’t a singer who doesn’t think he can cover a Bob Dylan song better than Dylan versions with prayers writ special for women, children, Russian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and for the himself, the haggadah remains the book that everyone thinks they can improve on. The “Maxwell liberation of a wide variety of groups and causes, even those without benefit of 501(c)(3) tax- House Haggadah” might be good enough for the White House, but at homes across the country exempt charitable status.” – Tom Teicholz there are any number of printed and self-stapled versions, including egalitarian, feminist and vegan 4 As our democracy weathers a brutal storm; as we witness our country double down on white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, classism, ableism, and Lighting the Candles more; as we struggle with how to resist the horror of what is done (Together, In Turns) in our name, from the U.S.-backed Israeli war against Palestine to the deportation of thousands in a courthouse just a few short blocks from here—we are reminded that the struggle for human freedom never stops. But tonight, we rejoice. Our celebration is intended to be a source of inspiration and strength, to be drawn upon by each of us throughout the year as we strive to be vigilant against injustice, as well as to heal from oppression we carry in each of our unique identities. In short, this seder is a reminder of the ways we can be better allies to others, and to ourselves. One last note: Questions are not only welcome during the course of the evening, they are vital to tonight’s journey. Our obligation at this seder involves traveling from slavery to freedom, prodding ourselves from apathy to action, encouraging the transformation of silence into speech. Because leaving mitzrayim—the narrow places, the places that oppress us—is a personal as well as a communal passage, your participation is encouraged. Talk, interrupt, question, learn, argue, sing! Engage with what we have written and compiled. Reflect on your deepest spiritual beliefs, or THE COMING OF LIGHT just enjoy the food. Remember that questioning itself is a sign of freedom. We live in a time in which all of this feels very close to Even this late it happens: the surface, and yet out of reach. May we all live next year in a the coming of love, the coming of light. world of justice and peace. And may we all work together to build You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves, that world. stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows, — excerpts from Sharing the Journey and Love & Justice in Times of War haggadahs sending up warm bouquets of air. Even this late the bones of the body shine and tomorrow’s dust flares into breath. — Mark Strand, 2002 5 (6) CHAZERET, the bitter herb for the “sandwich” which we eat later, following the custom established by Hillel the Elder, as a reminder that our ancestors “ate matzah and What’s on the Table? bitter herbs together.” — Passover Haggadah: As Commented Upon by Elie Wiesel, by Elie Wiesel ORANGE: The orange has come to symbolize inclusion in Judaism for those not traditionally seen as full participants or leaders in Jewish life, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. MATZAH: Matzah is the unleavened bread we eat in place of bread during Passover, to symbolize our “bread of affliction” packed in haste by our ancestors, who had no time for their bread to rise before they fled Egypt. OLIVES: Olives, from the olive branch, an ancient and universal symbol of peace, signal hope for eventual peace between Israelis and Palestinians. ELIJAH’S CUP: The fifth ceremonial cup of wine poured during the Seder. It is left untouched in honor of Elijah the prophet, who, according to tradition, will arrive one day as an unknown guest to herald the advent of the Messiah. The entire story of the Haggadah is contained in the Seder plate; MIRIAM’S CUP: Miriam’s cup, filled with water, a twentieth century everything on it symbolizes an aspect of Exodus: addition to the Passover seder, recognizes the too-often silent and unnoticed role of women in the Passover story. (1) KARPAS, parsley or another green vegetable, represents hope and renewal. — Haggadot.com, various contributors (2) ZEROA, a roasted bone, evokes the Paschal lamb which our forefathers offered to God. (3) BEITZA, a boiled egg whose roundness symbolizes the circle of life and death. (4) MAROR, a bitter herb, reminds us of the bitterness of Egyptian bondage. (5) CHAROSET, a mixture of nuts, fruit, wine, and spices, represents the mortar our ancestors used in building the pyramids in Egypt. 6 Kiddush (Together, In Turns) All Jewish celebrations, from holidays to weddings, include wine as a symbol 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 to refill our cup and drink.2 Some say the four cups represent our matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah— whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery. Another interpretation is that the cups represent the Four Worlds: physicality, emotions, thought, and essence. Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah: 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.) The four promises, in turn, have been interpreted as four stages on the path of liberation: becoming aware of oppression, opposing oppression, imagining alternatives, and accepting — Maxwell House Haggadah, Deluxe Edition (1964) responsibility to act.