The Open Source Haggadah

Passover is a Jewish holiday, but it isn't just for Jews. We welcome our non-Jewish brothers and sisters to our celebration of liberation. Liberation from oppression is always a deep concern of Jews, because of our history. But Jews are not the only people who suffer under the yoke of oppression. We invite our friends and family to share this night with Jews all over the world, as we take this opportunity to celebrate our freedom and pray for the freedom of all those who suffer, wherever and whoever they may be.

Tonight, rather than speak of Egypt during the course of this Seder, we'll use the name Mitzrayim instead. The term Mitzrayim derives from the root tza-r, "narrow, "meaning literally "from the narrows." The violent events of history have given Mitzrayim a sense of global consciousness so that we may refer to every place and any place in the world where people have been (or still are) persecuted.

We invite our friends, family, and community to share this night with Jews all over the world, as we take this opportunity to deeply feel as if we had actually been enslaved in Mitzrayim and redeemed from Mitzrayim. In celebrating our freedom, we as Jews hold out to the world an historical event and model that captured the imagination and vigor of a people. It is by the power of our reenactment of this event and the power of our visualizations of freedom that we can pray for this exodus to occur for all of us, and for all those who suffer, wherever and whoever they may be.

Using the language of our day to explain the Exodus, the challenge for us is and will continue to be to create new interpretations, new midrashim, merging the old and new into a coherent story that can be passed onto our children. Central to an understanding of Pesach is the commandment of "vehigadeta le-vinkha" - you should tell your child about the Exodus. Matzah itself symbolizes the need for a dialogue between one generation and the next. And it is the children who are obligated as well, to ask questions according to their understanding. And all of this conversation must take place on the level of "emet"-truth. For if we have not spoken to our children on this night then we have not fulfilled the mitzvah of "maggid"-telling. Some of us may think that we know all the details of the story and thus do not need to tell the story, but we must retell it to remind ourselves not only that freedom is possible but that in an unredeemed world we must continue to strive for liberation in both personal and national ways. And by our elaboration on the story--that it is not just about a Pharaoh way back when or even about the modern Pharaohs of our day, but about all the different ways we can be enslaved--we may all be deserving of praise.

The most successful home seders are the results of thoughtful planning and shared leadership. Before you hold your seder, think about who you want to invite, where and when you want to hold the seder. Think about how to "customize" a seder experience that will work for the group you are gathering. Will your seder be geared towards adults, children, or an intergenerational group? What will you ask each participant to contribute? Plan your menu, make shopping lists. And spend time thinking about what haggadah you want to use at your seder. You may choose to purchase one haggadah for everyone attending or a few different haggadot. You may undertake the project of creating your own haggadah, or you may choose to use a published haggadah in conjunction with a haggadah supplement you create specially for this year's seder.

Consider asking seder guests to be responsible for any of the following. Often, guests will enjoy being part of the preparation tasks. They will lighten your load, which will be heavy as the seder nears, and they will add their own energy and ideas to the seder which can only make it more successful and meaningful. Invite guests to:

1. Prepare a part of the meal or a ritual food item 2. Select a favorite poem, story or quotation on a specific theme to share at the seder. 3. Come up with a creative way to teach or facilitate one section of the haggadah. 4. Bring a question they want to discuss during the seder. 5. Bring a meaningful object that represents the freedom or slavery they experienced this year to the seder 6. Include tambourines and lyrics to English songs.

You can take a long range approach and slowly and gradually over the course of many years introduce a limited number of feminist readings and symbols to your seder. In this case you might want to begin with a few supplemental readings rather than a whole new haggadah. Alternatively, you may choose to balance various needs by holding or attending multiple seders--making sure that at least one of the seders speaks to your need for innovation while the others might provide opportunity for family cohesion. Many find it easier to participate in a more traditional seder on one night of Passover, knowing that they will be attending an explicitly feminist seder on another night. If you decide to take control and lead the seder as you want, prepare to build in time for reactions and responses to any possible resistance.

Seders with young children or elderly people, also deserve special forethought. If some participants need to go to sleep or eat at a certain hour, think about how to balance those needs with the desire of others for a more lengthly seder. Serve extra vegetables and dip early on in the seder during karpas. Consider moving a discussion or extra singing to a later optional time slot after the main seder has been completed.

Most importantly, have fun! Passover is a celebration of freedom!

Seders have a way of being waaaay too fun, (ie. 4 cups of wine, whacky songs about goats, and Afikomen robbery). The kittel, the garment that we wear on serious occasions like Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana, your wedding and burial day, reminds us that while having a blast, don’t forget the serious halachot (laws) that are required from us of this spiritual seder night! Speaking of "spiritual," we also have this gear on to dress the part of an angel - All white, all spiritual, all the time (Anaheim Angels jersey's were equally acceptable in '02) The Kli Yakar has the most amazing following explanation: the whole reason we were in Egypt in the first place was the jealousy over the Colored Coat of Joseph. We demonstrate our remorse for that resentment the brothers had for one another, by simply wearing white!

10. Two Words: Plague Charades
9. Preface every paragraph by saying "DID YOU KNOW..."
8. Go around the table mentioning which of the 4 sons you'd like to date
7. Sing Dayenu to the tune of Labamba (Di, Di, Di, Di Di Aynu!)
6. To get kids really asking questions, cancel Seder... in favor of Séance
5. Come up with alternative uses for "Shank Bone"
4. Promise $1000 to the first kid who finds Moshe's name in the Haggadah twice
3. Ask, "If you were an Egyptian stranded on an island, and you could only have one plague for the rest of your life which one would it be?"
2. Haggadah "Taboo" (taboo words: Slaves, Free, Plague, Outstretched)
1. Spontaneous Seder Table Wave

The Torah calls Pesach "Chag Hamatzos." But we call it "Pesach." Why is this so? Rav Chaim Volozhiner explains as follows:

The word Matzos and the word Mitzvos are spelled exactly the same in Hebrew. Thus "Chag HaMatzos" can be read "Chag HaMitzvos," meaning that by leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah, the Jewish People now have the opportunity to earn great reward by doing the Mitzvos.

Pesach, on the other hand, means Passover: Hashem "passed over" the houses of the Bnei Yisrael. By calling it Pesach, we emphasize the good that Hashem has done for us.

Our Sages teach us not to serve Hashem with an eye to the reward; rather we should serve Him out of a sense of love and gratitude. By calling it Pesach we de-emphasize the reward that each Mitzva brings, and instead focus on the good that Hashem has done for us.

--Rabbi Reuven Lauffer

The Torah calls this festival Chag HaMatzos (The Festival of Matzos), while we call it Pesach (Passover). We call it Pesach because Hashem passed-over our homes in Egypt. Hashem calls it Chag HaMatzos because of the "Mitzvos" (spelled similarly to "Matzos" in Hebrew) we perform with the Matzos. The Ari z"l points out that Pesach is a compound word which means Peh (mouth), and Sach (speaks), hinting that on this night we retell the history of the Exodus.

During the festival we read several sections of the Tanach (acronym for Torah, Nevi'im [Prophets] and K'suvim [Writings]). They mention Pesach and its Halachic details, its history and the description of its celebration at a particular time. There are three exceptions: The Haftorahs on the last two days of Yom Tov, and Shir HaShirim (The Song of Songs). The Haftorah of the seventh day presents David's song of thanksgiving after he was saved from King Saul. This parallels the Torah reading for that day, which is the singing of the Bnei Yisrael after crossing the sea.

The Haftorah for the eighth day presents a description of the Messianic redemption which the Sages said will start in Nisan, just as the redemption from Egypt began in Nisan. Shir HaShirim, read on Shabbos Chol HaMoed, alludes to our liberation from Egypt, and stresses the deep bond that was created at Sinai between the Bnei Yisrael and Hashem. This theme is expressed by a metaphor of a beautiful relationship between a man and a woman.

The Seder has 15 parts, corresponding to the fifteen steps which ascended to the Temple. Our Sages say that our table is like an Altar, and this is particularly true on Seder-night, when our family table is a tool to achieve new spiritual heights. Similarly, just as the Temple helped the Jewish People sense the Divine Order in the world, so too, the Seder, the Hebrew word for order, is a reminder that Hashem guides world history.

--Based on the Maharal

Passover is a holiday established in the Hebrew Bible. It is also known by a couple of other names, such as “Pesach” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread.” The holiday marks the liberation of the Jewish Nation from slavery. This liberation is twofold. Firstly, it is physical. The Jews were actually slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Throughout this time, the Egyptians abused the Jews and murdered their children. But secondly, and equally as important, it is a spiritual liberation. After they left Egypt, the Jews received a Divine Instruction which, if we obey it, promotes life. Only God could create such a perfect Instruction, for God, having created human thought, knows how people think, and having created this world, knows which actions lead to life and which lead to death. What’s more, God has given us a beautiful Land that He has promised to our ancestors, that we may live there in peace and happiness, if only we follow His Instruction.

According to estimates, Abraham and Sarah, our earliest founders, lived about 3800 years ago. The liberation of Jews from Egypt occurred about 3300 years ago. The first day of Passover marks the actual day on which the Jews left Egypt.

On Passover, Jews recall the story and the lesson of Passover, and teach them to their children. The lesson itself it called haggadah (הגדה), which means “narration.” In this particular narration, my goals are as follows: First, to use the words of the Hebrew Bible (in English translation), as it is the primary source of the exodus story itself and of its lessons. Second, to stay focused on the underlying lesson, and to not deviate too much from it. In particular, I did not want to simply retell the story of the liberation, in all its details. If you want to know that story, as you should, just re-read the Book of Exodus.

Dates

Passover is a seven-day holiday. The first day is the fifteenth day of the first month; the last day is the twenty-first day of the first month. This year, year 58 of the State of Israel, the first day of the holiday will be on April 24, 2005; the last day is on April 30, 2005. Remember that a Jewish day begins in the evening of the previous Gregorian day. Thus, Passover will begin in the evening of April 23, 2005 and last until the evening of April 30, 2005.

God’s Name

God has a personal Name by which He told us to call Him. Unfortunately, many people do not realize this fact, since Bible translations usually replace God’s Name with “the Lord,” or another similar expression set in small caps. To emphasize the fact that God has a personal Name, I render it as “YHWH,” which is a transliteration of the Name from the Hebrew.

In Exodus 3, the Name is explained as follows:

And God said to Moses, “[My Name is] Ehyeh (אהיה)-Asher-Ehyeh (אהיה).” He continued, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’” And God said further to Moses, “Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: YHWH (יהוה), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you:
This shall be My name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity.

Ehyeh (אהיה) is the first person of the verb “to be”. Thus, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh” means something like “I exist howsoever I exist.” The third person of Ehyeh is Yihyeh (יהיה). God’s Name, יהוה, is clearly related to the verb in the third person.

While the exact way in which the Name was pronounced in ancient times is debated, two likely possibilities are “Yihweh” (with the final h silent) or “Yahuey”.
The rendition of the Name in most Bibles as “the Lord” is clearly problematic, as the Name is related to God’s existence, not to his lordship. Possibly better renditions are “Eternal” or “Ever-Living.”

Many centuries ago, at this time of year, our ancestors left the slavery of Egypt to search for national
independence and personal dignity. We are here to honor those who have struggled for freedom, to
renew our personal commitment to work for justice and peace, and to take heart in our own personal
journeys out of oppression. ❍
For it is said:
Every person, in every generation, must regard herself or himself as having been personally freed from
bondage in Mitzraim, the biblical land of Egypt. ❍
We will all say the brocha and light the candles.