Broken Sound Passover Seder

Led by Cantor Debbi Ballard

Lighting the Candles

רשא ,םלועה %למ וניה.א יי התא %ור◌בבוט םוי לש רנ קילדהל ונוצו ,ויתוצמב ונשדק

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, vitzivanu, l’hadlik ner, shel yom tov.

Praised are You, Lord, our God, whose Presence fills the universe, who has sanctified our lives through Your commandments, and commanded us to kindle the lights of the festival.

ונמיקו וניחהש ,םלועה %למ וניה.א יי התא %ורבהזה ןמזל ונעיגהו

Baruch ata Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, she-he-cheyanu, v’ki-y’manu, v’hi-g’yanu, lazman hazeh

Thank you, God, for sustaining us, and bringing us to this joyous moment in time.

Kadesh - Sanctify

Since ancient times, every Jewish festive meal has begun with the kiddush. It originally celebrated our exodus from Egypt. In many ways, it is a celebration of freedom. But it is also a reminder that, even today, most people on earth are not free.

So, tonight we celebrate freedom for everyone on earth who is lucky enough to be free, and we pray for freedom for the people who still live shackled by the chains of fear, the chains of poverty, the chains of slavery, and the chains of religious intolerance.

(Drink the first glass of wine)

.ןפגה ירפ ארוב ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא %ורבBaruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-o’lam, borei p’ri hagafenBlessed are You, Creator of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

** Table Discussion **Ask yourselves the following questions:In what ways are we not free?What would our lives be like if we could break out of our own shackles? What fears hold us back from being our most powerful selves?

The Seder Plate

The Shank BoneWhen Moses asked the Pharaoh to free the Jews, the Pharaoh refused. God brought a horrible plague down upon the Egyptians. So it was no big surprise when Pharaoh changed his mind and promised to free the Jews. The surprise was when he broke his promise.Predictably, God smote Egypt with another plague. Pharaoh promised again, and again he broke his promise. This happened ten times. So God, in his infinite wisdom and frustration sent a particularly horrible plague on Egypt to make sure he had Pharaoh’s complete attention. He sent the Angel of Death to kill the first born child of every Egyptian.So the Jews sacrificed lambs and smeared the blood on their doorposts as a sign for the Angel of Death to “Pass-Over” the homes of the Jewish People. The roasted lamb bone is symbolic of the animals who gave their lives to protect the first born children of the Jews.

The EggEggs are symbols of fertility and eternity. If the Jews had escaped into the desert and stopped having children, it would have been the end of the Jewish People.

The Maror – Bitter Herbs

The bitter herbs symbolize the bitterness of life without freedom, without hope, without promise. The life that our ancestors suffered, under Pharaoh.

The Saltwater

The salt water represent the tears of pain and hardship that our ancestors shed in slavery and the nightmare of knowing that their children would be born into slavery as well.

The Charoset

The Charoset symbolizes the mortar that our ancestors used to build the pyramids. The sweet taste reminds us that even in the most bitter depths of slavery our ancestors never stopped yearning for the sweet taste of freedom.

Karpas - Parsley

We come finally to the parsley, a garnish that, to Jews, is a symbol of springtime and renewal. We cannot live on the greens of the earth alone. Nor can we live on the salt of the sea. So, we dip the greens in salt water to remind us that everything on earth is part of a giant balancing act of animals, vegetables and minerals, and they all must interact to sustain life.

(Dip the parsley in salt water)Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-Olam,

Borei P’ri Ha-Adamah.

ארוב ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא %ורב.המדאה ירפ

Blessed are You, Creator of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the Earth.

The MatzohWe all know that before you bake bread, you have to wait for the dough to rise. That process traps air in the dough to make it thick and soft. When our ancestors escaped from slavery in Egypt, they were more concerned about surviving the murderous spears of Pharaoh’s soldiers and the deadly heat of the desert than they were about the rising of bread.

Matzah is what happens to bread on those rare occasions when you can’t take the time to wait for your dough to rise, especially when Pharaoh’s soldiers are close behind. So, we eat the Matzah to remind us of the dangers that our ancestors faced and the sacrifices they made in leaving behind the only world they knew, in leaving their homes and their belongings, to race into a barren, parched, unknown desert wasteland, in search of freedom.

Matzah is known as the bread of poverty. Some people say that we hide a piece of matzah to remind us that when we were poor, we could not eat without setting aside some of our food for the next meal. But we also break the matzah to remind us that we must set some of our food aside for those who go hungry today, as the Jews did under Pharaoh.

All who are hungry, let them come and eat

We now wash our hands saying the blessing: ,ויתוצמב ונשדק רשא ,םלועה %למ וניה/א יי התא %ורב:םידי תליטנ לע ונוצו

Baruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-o’lam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al netilat yadaim.

Blessed are You, our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, Who made us holy with his Commandments and Commanded us concerning Washing of the Hands.

Yachatz(Break the middle matzah and hide the larger half)

** HEY KIDS! Watch out for where they hide the matzoh!**

Hold a piece of matzah and read together:This is the bread of poverty and affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat it with us. Let all who are in need come and share our meal. This year we are here. Next year, we may all be in Israel. this year we are still slaves. Next year, may we all be free.

Rachtza – Washing Hands

Let’s begin tonight’s story by asking four questions. Most of us think that The Four Questions begin with: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”, but in fact, the Hebrew “Mah nishtanah halaila hazeh mikol haleilot” is more accurately translated as a statement. Something like “OY! IS THIS NIGHT DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER NIGHTS!!”

The Four Questions

The actual four questions are:

On all other nights we eat leavened bread. Why on this night do we eat only unleavened bread?

Once we were slaves in Egypt. As we’ve already discussed, when we escaped from slavery, we were in no mood to bake.

On all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables. Why on this night do we eat only bitter herbs?

Once we were slaves in Egypt. The bitter taste helps us to understand how our ancestors must have felt as slaves, and how so many people today feel when they are enslaved. the first time we dip our greens is to taste the bitterness.

On all other nights we don’t dip our herbs even once. Why on this night do we dip our herbs twice?

Once we were slaves in Egypt. The first time we dip was to taste the bitterness of slavery, to remind us of the pain that our ancestors endured before escaping to freedom. The second time is to remind ourselves of the balance of life on our planet.

On all other nights we eat sitting any way we please. Why on this night must we all recline?

Once we were slaves in Egypt. Everything at this Seder represents some aspect of that story. In this case, we lean back to symbolize our release from bondage, as if we were being released from chains that were strapping us to our chairs.

The Jews were originally welcomed guests in Egypt. It all began with Joseph who came to Egypt and happened to meet the Pharaoh. As Jews

so often do, Joseph offered the Pharaoh unsolicited advice: build storehouses and fill them with grain. For some unknown reason, the

Pharaoh decided to take Joseph’s advice, which was fortunate for Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the Jewish people as years of famine struck,

and there was still food to eat.

Pharaoh was so grateful that he invited Joseph’s brothers and their families to move to Egypt. Joseph’s family took advantage of Pharaoh’s offer and eventually they became known as the Israelites. The Israelites stayed in Goshen for 400 years. The first 200 years they found favor in

Egypt and grew into a mighty nation.

The new Pharaoh was not happy, and he decreed that the Israelites be slaves. For 200 years, the Israelites toiled as slaves. They yearned for a

savior and they yearned for freedom. Ramses II became Pharaoh and he watched The Hebrews grow in spite of their enslavement. He ordered

that all newborn Israelite male slaves be thrown and drowned in the Nile.

One day, on the 7th of Adar, a baby son was born to two Hebrew slaves, Yochevet and Amram, from the House of Levi. From the moment of his

birth, we are told, their son’s face shone like the sun.

Amram and Yochevet managed to hide their son in their hut for three months. However, as the infant’s cries became louder, they knew that if

they didn’t do something he would be found and drowned. So they made a basket of reeds and pushed it out into the river. To this day, no

one knows what they were thinking, but somehow, it worked out alright.

The Story of Passover

The Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the river when the baby happened to float by. She heard the cry of the infant, and “her heart was opened with compassion”. She decided to keep him for her own. She named him “Drawn from the Water”, in Hebrew, we say “Moshe”. In Arabic, it is Mussa and in English, we pronounce it “Moses”.

Miriam, the older sister of the infant Moses, watched from the reeds as Pharaoh’s daughter held him to her breast. She approached the Princess and told her of an Israelite woman who could wet nurse the infant - the woman was none other than Yochevet - his mother. So for the next few years, although Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace as a prince, his real mother Yochevet still cared for him.

Moses grew up in the palace and learned all the things a prince would learn. He lived amongst royalty and luxury, yet only Yochevet, Miriam, and Aaron, his older brother, knew the truth -That Moses was really an Israelite slave. For 40 years, Moses lived as a prince of Egypt...until...

One day Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave and Moses killed the Egyptian. Moses fled the land of Egypt and became a shepherd in a land called Midian. In Midian, Moses worked as a shepherd, for Jethro and married Jethro’s daughter, Tzippora. They had children and all was peaceful - for another 40 years.

Upon turning 80 years old, while Moses was tending his sheep on Mount Horeb, he noticed a flaming bush that burned, but was not being consumed. A voice called out to Moses...

“Moses..Moses...I am the G-d of your Ancestors. Take off your shoes, for you are standing on Holy Ground!”

And there, in the presence of G-d, Moses received his celestial orders....To return to Egypt at once! So Moses rounded up his brother, Aaron, and together they went down to Egypt to tell the Pharaoh to

“Let My People Go!”When Israel was in Egypt’s land, Let my people go!Oppressed so hard they could not stand, Let my people go!

Chorus:Go down, Moses! Way down, in Egypt’s land. Tell Old Pharaoh, Let my people go!

The Lord told Moses what to do, Let my people go!To lead the children of Israel through, Let my people go!

Chorus:Go down, Moses! Way down, in Egypt’s land. Tell Old Pharaoh, Let my people go!

Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said, Let my people go!If not, I’ll smite your first-born dead

Chorus:Go down, Moses! Way down, in Egypt’s land. Tell Old Pharaoh, Let my people go!

When they had reached the other shore, Let my people go!They sang a song of triumph o’er, Let my people go

The 10 Plagues

We’ve already mentioned the plagues, so we all know this was one stubborn

Pharaoh!

For the record, it took

Blood (Dam)Frogs (Tzvardeya)

Lice (Kinim)Beasts (Arov)

Cattle Disease (Dever)Boils (S’cheen)Hail (Barad)Locusts(Arbeh)

Darkness (Chosekh)And the Killing of the firstborn Egyptian

(Machat B’Chorot)

before Pharaoh finally let the Jews go!

The last plague was the worst - the slaying of the first born. Moses told the Israelites to slaughter a lamb, and to dip hyssop into the blood, and mark their doorposts, so the angel of death would PASS-OVER their homes.

The angel of death smote all the first-born sons of the Egyptians including Pharaoh’s son - Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to the palace and said:

BE GONE! ALL OF YOU!

Quickly by the light of the full moon, on the 15th of Nissan the Israelites took their belongings and together with their redeemer, left Egypt. However, Ramses II had second thoughts. He sent his Army after the Israelites.

Pharaoh’s Army caught up with the Israelites at the Red Sea. Trapped between an army of Pharaoh’s soldiers and death by drowning, Moses appealed to G-d, who obliged. Moses lifted his staff, and the walls of the Red Sea parted, allowing the Israelites to pass through. When the Egyptians tried to follow, the walls of water caved in, and drowned them.

The Exodus

Dayenu! ונידIf God had taken us out of Egypt, that would have been enough

If He had punished the Egyptians and destroyed their idols, THAT would have been enough

If He had divided the sea and led us across on dry land, THAT would have been enough.

If He had taken care of us in the desert for 40 years and fed us, THAT would have been enough.

If He had given us the Sabbath, THAT would have been enough.

If He had brought us to Mount Sinai and given us the Torah, THAT would have been enough.

If He had brought us to the land of Israel and built the Holy Temple, THAT would have been enough.

For all these, alone, and together, we say THAT would have been enough, and for all these things, we are grateful.

Ilu hotzi, hotzi anu, Hotzi anu mi mitzrayim Hotzi anu mi mitzrayim, Dayenu!

Chorus: Day-Dayenu, Day-Dayenu, Day Dayenu, Dayenu, Dayenu (Dayenu) x2

Ilu natan natan lanu, Natan lanu et ha torah Natan lanu et hatorah, Dayenu! (Chorus)

Ilu natan natan lanu, Natan lanu et ha Shabbat Natan lanu et ha Shabbat, Dayenu! (Chorus)

:וניד,םירצממ ונאיצוה ולא:וניד ,הרותה־תא ונל ןתנ ולא:וניד ,תבשה־תא ונל ןתנ ולא

Baruch Ata Adonai, Ga’al Yisrael

We praise you, Our G-d, who has freed the people of Israel!

But our sages say, “it is not enough to take the Jews out of Egypt, we must take Egypt out of the Jews.” This means that every new generation must remember the painful lessons of enslavement and fight for the freedom of all people.

.ןפגה ירפ ארוב ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא %ורבBaruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Haolam,

Borei P’ri Hagafen(Drink the second glass of wine)

Welcoming Elijah(Pour a glass of wine and set it on the table for Elijah)

his cup is for Elijah the Prophet. We open the door to greet him and invite him to join our Seder and bring with him a time of peace and freedom.

Eliyahu HanaviEliyahu Hanavi, Eliyahu Hatishbee

Eliyahu Eliyahu, Eliyahu Hagiladee

Bihayra v’yamaynu ya-avo elaynu

Im Mashiach Ben David, Im Mashiach Ben David

(repeat)

Matzohהצמ

:ץראה ןמ םחל איצומה ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא%ורבBaruch ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-o’lam, hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz

Blessed are You, Adonai, our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth

ויתוצמב ונשדק רשא ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא %ורב:הצמ תליכא לע ונוצו

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu, al achilat matzah

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with your commandments, and commanded us to eat unleavened bread.

Marorרורמ(Everyone takes a bit of maror and some charoset)We dip the maror into charoset to recall the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors were able to withstand only because it was sweetened by the hope of freedom.

ויתוצמב ונשדק רשא ,םלועה %למ וניה/א יי התא %ורב:רורמ תליכא לע ונוצו

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al achilat maror.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, who commands us to eat bitter herbs

Korech *רוכ(Pass the matzah and make a bitter herb sandwich)

In the days of the Temple of Jerusalem, on Passover, Rabbi Hillel would eat a sandwich made of the sacrificial lamb, matzah and maror. Now that we no longer bring sacrifices to the Temple, we eat a vegetarian sandwich.

In the Jewish tradition, just as the sacrificial lamb was shared in the day of the Temple, to show that we are all in this together, we are all one family, we are all part of a larger community of people, and we are all responsible for one another.

.ןפגה ירפ ארוב ,םלועה %למ וניה/א ,יי התא %ורב

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Borei P’ri Hagafen

(Drink the third glass of wine)

The Fourth Cup - The Cup of Hope םילשוריב אבה הנשל

We have completed the telling of our ancient story. Why do we tell this story, again and again, for hundreds of generations? Because, it is the foundation of our hope, and the basis of all Jewish dreams. Over the entrance to the synagogue of the Bratslaver Hasidim are written the words: “Jews Must Never Despair”. After Holocaust and Pogrom, Inquisition and Expulsion, what gives us this kind of strength? Only one thing: this story. Because we saw the sea split, because we were freed from slavery, we can dream. We know that G-d has purpose in human history. We know that power is not history’s last word. We know there is always hope.

Therefore, we raise this Cup of Hope, with all our dreams for ourselves, for those we love, and for the world, and we recite:

,םלועה *למ וניה3א ,יי התא *ורב.ןפגה ירפ ארוב

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Borei P’ri Hagafen(Drink the fourth glass of wine)