L’chiam! From April 11th – April 18th is when the next Jewish holiday we will be celebrating and mourning all at the same time. So, this is the magnificent story of Passover:
Ramses the Second was a pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt. He had enslaved many Jews to build pyramids. Moses, a profit from God himself, was one of these slaves and demanded Ramses to free them but he said, “No, no, no I will not let them go!” God was angered by this, so he sent 10 plagues to Egypt, but Jews were spared, or “passed over,” and weren’t affected. Finally, after the 10th plague Ramses freed the Jews. Passover from then celebrates that freedom.
The Passover Seder’s and its Fifteen Steps: The Seder as an interactive learning experience!
Kadesh (Made Kiddush): We start by declaring that tonight is special. It is dedicated to reliving the story of the Exodus and connecting to the unique mission of the Jewish people.
Urchatz (Wash hands without a blessing) / Karpas (Eat a vegetable dipped in salt water): Thought provoking activites arouse our curiosity and stimulate questions. Tonight we ask important questions about Jewish identity, we discuss answers and consider their implications.
Yachatz (Break the middle Matzah): We put aside matzah for later. Our journey to freedom starts by delaying instant gratification, making decisions with an eye of the future.
Maggid (Tell the story of slavery and Exodus): The four questions serve as the springboard for an answer that palpably connects us with the pain of slavery. The Rabbis of B’nei Brak show us that the story has such depth we could stay up all night discussing it. The four sons teach us to educate each child according to his unique personality. We discuss how the Jews first ended up in Egypt as a small family and how we flourished despite being so terribly persecuted. We recall how we cried out to God who redeemed us by sending ten plagues and even greater miracles at the Red (Dead) Sea. We sing dayeinu to show our appreciation for every detail. We discuss the key concepts of Passover, Matzah and Maror, seeing ourselves as part of this epic journey and conclude with songs of thanks, aware of God’s guiding hand.
Rachtza (Wash hands with a blessing): Through preparing to eat in a dignified manner, we remind ourselves that we are eating to live rather than living to eat.
Motzi Matzah (Eat Matzah): Matzah, the bread of freedom, teaches us to focus on our inner essence, stripping away any inflated sense of self caused by a puffed up ego.
Maror (Eat bitter herbs): As we eat and reconnect to the pain of slavery, we reflect of the self – sacrifice of previous generations who gave up so much so that we can sit at the Seder.
Korech (Eat Matzah/maror sandwich): By eating Matzah and maror together we combine freedom with suffering. We recognize that challenges are in integral part of life. We can seek to harness their lessons rather than numb ourselves to pain.
Shulchan Orech (Enjoy a festive meal): We celebrate life with a sumptuous meal and try to keep the conversation focused on the themes of the evening.
Tzafun (Eat the Afikomen): We end our meal just as we started, with the taste of freedom in our mouths. By concluding the meal with the Matzah we set aside earlier, we teach our children the value of long term investment and reward their patience.
Barech (Recite Birkat Hamazon): We show our appreciation to the Creator for blessing us with a world with a world full of goodness.
Hallel (Sing songs of thanks): We celebrate our freedom by breaking into song, thanking Hashem (God) for taking us out of slavery.
Last, but not least….
Nirtzah (Conclude the Seder with songs of destiny): We recognize that despite our freedom as we still live in a fractured world where things are less than perfect. We hope, dream and sing of a world redeemed as we conclude this year’s Seder, and commit ourselves to being part of this unfolding narrative.
HAPPY PASSOVER EVERYONE!