Rabbi Arthur Waskow

The Rainbow Seder

Turn out all lights.

A speaker:

In the beginning, darkness covered the face of the deep. Then the rushing breath of God hovered over the waters. Let us breathe together. Let us catch our breaths from slavery, from anxiety, and from the need to do, to make. Let us be conscious of the Breath of Life, the One Who breathes us.

Pause for seven breaths. Then say:

God breathed, "Be Light!" And Light came into being.

Light the white candle. All say together:

We are the generation
That stands between the fires.
Behind us is the flame and smoke
That rose from Auschwitz and from
Hiroshima.
Before us is the nightmare of a Flood
of Fire:
The scorching of our planet
From a flood of greenhouse gases,
Or the blazing of our citie
In thermonuclear fires.
It is our task to make from fire
Not an all-consuming blaze
But the light in which we see each other;
Each of us different,
All of us made in the image of God.
We light this fire to see more clearly
That the earth, the human race,
are not for burning.
We light this fire to see more clearly
The rainbow in our many-colored faces.

Blessed are you, YHWH* our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who gives us light that we may become a light for peace and freedom for all peoples.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who make us holy by your commandments and command us to light these lights for your holy day.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu l 'hadlik ner shel yomtov.

Pass the lit white candle down the table so that others use it to light the seven colored candles. Raise the cup of wine and say:

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who create the fruit of the vine. Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri hagafen.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who made of one humus, one earth, all the humans of the earth; who breathed into our earthiness the spirit of freedom; who made us holy so that we might know and say what is holy.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, who with love have given us and allowed us to give you solemn days for joy, festivals and seasons for gladness.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, who imagined this day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the season of our freedom, a holy convocation, a memorial of the departure from Mitzra-yim, the tight spot. Blessed are you, YHWH, who make holy the people of Israel — all who are God-wrestlers* — who make holy humankind, freedom, and the seasons.

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who have given us life and lifted us up and enabled us to reach this season.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam sheh-hekhianu v'kimanu v'higianu lazman hazeh.

Drink the first cup of wine, and fill Elijah's cup. Pass around a basin to wash and dry the hands. Take pieces of parsley or spring onion, dip them in vinegar or salt water, pass them around the table, and say:

Blessed are you, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the Universe, who create the fruit of the earth.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri ha a-da-mah.

Everyone then eats this piece of parsley. Then, break the middle matzah in two and hide the larger piece somewhere in the house, for an Afikoman. Uncover the matzah, lift up the dish and say:

This is the bread of the pressing-down that our forebears ate in the land of Mitzra-yim. Let all who are hungry eat, and all who are in need come and celebrate the Passover.

Ha Lakhma anya di-akhalu avahatana b'ara d'mitzrayeem. Kol dikhvin yetey v'yekhvol; Kol ditzrith yetey v'yifsakh. Hashata hakha; I'shanah ha ba-ah b'ara d'yisrael. Hashata avdai; I'shanah ha ba-ah b-nai khorin.

This pressed-down bread was the bread of oppression. But sometimes oppression was so deep that even this bread could not be eaten. In Bergen-Belsen Death Camp the prisoners said this prayer:

Our Father in heaven, behold it is evident and known to thee that it is our desire to do thy will and to celebrate the festival of Passover by eating rnatzah and by observing the prohibition of leavened food. But our heart is pained that the enslavement prevents us and we are in danger of our lives. Behold, we are prepared and ready to fulfill thy commandment: "And ye shall live by them and not die by them." We pray to thee that thou mayest keep us alive and preserve us and redeem us speedily so that we may observe thy statutes and do thy will and serve thee with a perfect heart. Amen.

In the world today there are still some who are so pressed-down that they have not even this bread of oppression to eat. There are so many who are hungry that they cannot all come and eat with us tonight. Therefore we say to them, we set aside this bread as a token that we owe you righteousness, tzedakah, and that we will fulfill it. (Set aside one piece of matzah.) And to ourselves we say, not by bread alone, but by everything that is brought forth by the mouth of YHWH, lives the human; share your bread with the hungry, says YHWH. As the tradition says, "Ha-sha-tah ha-kha; I-sha-nah ha-ba-ah b'ar-ah d 'yis'ra'el," this year we celebrate here, but the next year we hope to celebrate in the land of Israel, the land of God-wrestling.

For even if we were sitting tonight in Jerusalem, we should still say, "Next year in Jerusalem, next year in the city of peace." For this year, not only we here but all men and women are slaves to fear; next year we hope that all men and women shall be free. This year, not only we here but all women and men live in a city at war with itself, a city in agony; next year we hope all humankind will celebrate in "the land of Israel" — that is, in a world at peace and a world made free, a world where all can wrestle with God.

Fill the wine cups a second time. The youngest person present asks:

Why is this night different from all other nights? On all the other nights we may eat either leavened or unleavened bread, but on this night only unleavened bread; on all the other nights we may eat any species of herbs, but on this night only bitter herbs; on all the other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night twice; on all the other nights we eat and drink either sitting or leaning, but on this night we all lean.

Mah nishtanah ha-lai-lah hazeh mi-kol ha-le-lot? She-b'khol ha-le-lot anu okh-lin chametz u-ma-tzah, ha-lai-lah ha-zeh kulo ma-tzah. She-b'khol ha-le-lot a-nu okh-lin sh'ar y'ra-kot, halai-lah ha-zeh ma-ror. She-b'khol ha-le-lot eyn anu mat-bilin a-fi-lu p-am a-chat, ha-lai-lah ha-zeh sh'tay f'a-mim. She-b 'khol ha-le-lot a-nu okh-lin beyn yosh-vin u-veyn m'su-bin, ha-lai-lah hazeh ku-la-nu m'su-bin.

Another participant says:

But these are not the only questions we could ask. Any question is a way in. And every question is an act of freedom. So let us ask new questions, our own questions.

Members of the community ask questions arising from their own life-experience about freedom, food and hunger, work and jobs, homelessness, war, etc. The more concrete the better. If possible go around the circle of the table so that everyone has the chance to ask one question. A reader responds:

Because we were slaves to Pharaoh in Mitzra-yim, and YHWH our God brought us forth from there with a mighty hand and an arm outstretched to sow seed; and if the most Holy, blessed be You, had not brought forth our ancestors from Mitzra-yim we and our children and our children's children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Mitzra-yim. Therefore, even if we were all wise, all of us people of understanding and experience, all of us having and knowing the Torah, we would nevertheless be required to discuss the departure from Mitzra-yim, and all who go beyond telling about the departure from Mitzra-yim — all these are worthy of praise.

All sing:

Avodim hayinu, hayinu; avodim hayinu, hayinu; avodim, hayinu; atah atah b'nei chorin.

And so it is related of Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiba, and Rabbi Tarfon, that they once met on the night of Passover in B'nai B'rak and continued discussing the departure from Mitzra-yim so far into the night that they forgot what time it was till their students came and said, "Teachers, it is already time to read the morning Sh'ma!"

Another member of the company interrupts:

Friends, I have heard a story about this story. It is said that when the five rabbis met that night, nineteen hundred years ago, they were stirred by the story of Passover to talk about how to throw off the tyranny of the Roman Empire. And they told their students to let them know at once if the Roman troops came into the neighborhood — to let them know by a code phrase about the morning prayer. So the story goes that they planned a rebellion that night. For when we are slaves, we must talk, but we must do more than talk.

Another participant says:

Where is this Mitzra-yim?

The reader answers:

In those days it was the land of Egypt, but it is not just the land of Egypt. Mitzra-yim means the narrow place — the place that squeezes the life out of a human soul and body. No one place is always Mitzra-yim, but any place — even our own — can be turned into Mitzra-yim. It was a close and narrow Egypt that we left to come to a broad and open wilderness where we felt free, but lonely.

A reader:

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: "Look! I am like someone of seventy years, yet I never understood why the story concerning the departure from Mitzra-yim should be recited at night, until Ben Zoma interpreted it this way: It is said, 'That you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Mitzra-yim all the days of your life.' Had it been written simply 'the days of your life' it would have meant the days only; but 'all the days of your life' means the nights as well."

But the other sages explain the verse differently: "Had it been written simply 'the days of your life,' it would have meant this world only; 'all the days of your life' means that the days of the Messiah are brought in as well." Just so we in our telling and our doing must bring in the days of the Messiah.

Blessed be the Place who is beyond all places, blessed be You who gave us the Teaching.

The teaching invites us to meet and to teach four children: one wise and one wicked, one innocent and one who does not relate by asking.

What does the wise one say? "What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the rules which YHWH our God has commanded us?"

So you instruct her in the detailed rules of Passover, even that one may not conclude after the Paschal meal by saying, "On to the entertainment!"

What does the wicked one say? "What is this service to you?" "To you," and not to him. Since he removes himself from the community, and so plucks up the Root of Being, you in return must set his teeth on edge, and answer him: "It is because of what YHWH did for me when I came forth from Egypt. " For me, not for him. Had he been there, he would not have been redeemed.

What does the innocent one say? "Mah zot, what is this?" And you shall say to her: "By strength of hand YHWH brought us from Egypt, from the house of bondage."

And with the one who does not relate by asking, you must open up to him and say: "And you shall tell your child in that day, saying: It is because of what YHWH did for me when I came forth out of Egypt."

Invite and wait for discussion on these questions: Who are the four children? Are they among us? Are they within each of us? Are these good answers? After discussion, all sing:

Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere.
Go tell it on the mountain —
Let my people go!

Who are the people dressed in white?
Let my people go!
Must be the children of the Israelite —
Let my people go!

Who are the people dressed in red?
Let my people go!
Must be the people that Moses led.
Let my people go!

Who are the people dressed in black?
Let my people go!
Must be the hypocrites a-turning back.
Let my people go!

The reader:

In the beginning our forebears served as serfs to idols, but now the Place Who is beyond all places has drawn us near to God's own service, as it is said: "And Joshua said to all the people: 'Thus says YHWH the God of Israel: "Ages ago your forebears dwelt beyond the River — Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I gave Esau, Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." ' "

Blessed be the One who keeps Your promise to Israel, blessed be You! For the Holy One, blessed be You, thought, spoke, and acted to end our slavery. As you said to Abraham in the Covenant between the Sections, "And God said to Abraham: 'Know for sure that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with a great deal of property.' "

The participants lift up their cups of wine and say:

And it is this promise which has stood by our forebears and by us. For it was not one only who stood up against us to destroy us; in every generation they stand up against us to destroy us, and the Holy One, blessed be You, saves us from their hand.

The cups are put back on the table. Reader says:

Search and inquire how our forebears died in the Middle Passage, in the ships of slavery that brought us to the cotton fields of slavery.

Search still further and inquire in the last generation, what Hitler intended to do; for once again he intended to destroy all Israel and enslave humankind.

And in this generation, search and demand to know about those who shape the fire of the sun to murder nations and all humankind; for at last those who rise up against us, to annihilate us, make no distinctions of race or belief, but plan to destroy us all, without exception. May the Most Holy, blessed be You, deliver us out of their hand again!

May YHWH deliver us again as in the past we celebrate; for it is said, "The Egyptians ill-treated us, afflicted us, and laid heavy bondage upon us. And we cried out to YHWH, the God of our forebears; YHWH heard our voice, and observed our affliction, our labor, and our oppression; and YHWH brought us forth from Egypt, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; with terror and with signs and wonders."

"And YHWH brought us forth from Egypt," not by means of an angel nor by means of a seraph, nor by means of a messenger; but the Most Holy, blessed be You, Yourself, in Your glory: as it is said, "And I will pass through the land of Egypt this night; and I will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both of human and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment; I am YHWH."

"And I will pass through the land of Egypt," I myself and not an angel; "and I will smite all the first-born," I myself and no seraph; "and on all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment," I myself and not a messenger; "I am YHWH, I am Thou and no other."

These are the ten plagues which the Most Holy, blessed be You, brought on the Egyptians in Egypt.

All drop wine from the cup ten times while saying the ten plagues in unison:

BLOOD, FROGS, LICE, POISONOUS BEASTS, PLAGUE, BOILS, HAIL, LOCUSTS, DARKNESS, SLAYING OF THE FIRST-BORN.

A reader:

The tradition says that we spill wine from our cups in recounting the plagues because we must reduce our pleasure as we remember the sufferings of the Egyptians. And the tradition also tells us that when the angels rejoiced in the drowning of the Egyptians, the Lord our God, blessed be You, rebuked them, saying, "Are these not My people also, and the work of My hands?" Let us therefore grieve for the sufferings of our cousins the Egyptians.

A moment of silence. Then a reader says:

But let us also face the question of the plagues: Can the winning of freedom be bloodless?

The struggle was not bloodless when the people of America announced, "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it," and when Jefferson added, "Can history produce an instance of rebellion so honorably conducted? God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

It was not bloodless when Nat Turner proclaimed, "I had a vision, and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened — the thunder rolled in the heavens and blood flowed in streams — and I heard a voice saying, Such is your luck, such you are called to see, and let it come rough or smooth, you must surely bear it."

All join in singing:

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 ol' 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;
Let my people go!

No more shall they in bondage toil,
Let my people go;
Let them come out with Egypt's spoil,
Let my people go!

We need not always weep and mourn,
Let my people go;
And wear these slav'ry chains forlorn,
Let my people go!

The devil thought he had us fast,
Let my people go;
But we thought we'd break his chains at last,
Let my people go!

A reader:

It was not bloodless when Henry David Thoreau wrote of John Brown, "It was his peculiar doctrine that a man has a perfect right to interfere by force with the slaveholder, in order to rescue the slave. I agree with him. They who are continually shocked by slavery have some right to be shocked by the violent death of the slaveholder, but no other"; or when Lloyd Garrison burned the Constitution that protected slavery because it was "a covenant with death and an agreement with Hell"; or when Abraham Lincoln said, "If every drop of blood drawn by the lash must be paid by one drawn by the sword, still must it be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' "

It was not bloodless in the dark months of 1942 when Emmanuel Ringelblum wrote from the Warsaw ghetto: "Most of the populace is set on resistance. It seems to me that people will no longer go to the slaughter like lambs. They want the enemy to pay dearly for their lives. They'll fling themselves at them with knives, staves, coal gas. They'll permit no more blockades. They'll not allow themselves to be seized in the street, for they know that work camp means death these days. And they want to die at home, not in a strange place. "

All present sing:

Far and wide as the eye can wander,
Heath and bog are everywhere.
Not a bird sings out to cheer us,
Oaks are standing gaunt and bare.
We are the peat-bog soldiers,
marching with our spades to the bog.
We are the peat-bog soldiers,
marching with our spades to the bog.

Up and down the guards are passing;
No one, no one can get through.
Flight would mean a sure death facing
Guns and barbed wire meet our view.
We are the peat-bog soldiers,
marching with our spades to the bog.
We are the peat-bog soldiers,
marching with our spades to the bog.

But for us there's no complaining,
Winter will in time be past.
One day we shall cry, rejoicing,
"Homeland dear, you're mine at last!"
Then will the peat-bog soldiers march no more with their spades to the bog.
Then will the peat-bog soldiers march no more with their spades to the bog.

A reader resumes:

No, the moments of resistance have not been bloodless. The blood of tyrants and the blood of free people has watered history. But we may not rest easy in that knowledge. The freedom we seek is a freedom from blood as well as a freedom from tyrants. It is incumbent upon us not only to remember in tears the blood of the tyrants and the blood of the prophets and martyrs, but to end the letting of blood. To end it, to end it!

As our rabbi Aaron Samuel Tamaret taught, "This message was conveyed by the Holy One, blessed be He, in connection with the last of the plagues upon Egypt, when He Himself executed the judgment of death directly by His own power: 'For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night,' I and not an intermediary.

"Now obviously the Holy One, blessed be He, could have given the Children of Israel the power to avenge themselves upon the Egyptians, but He did not want to sanction the use of their fists for self-defense even at that time; for, while at that moment they might merely have defended themselves against evil-doers, by such means the way of the fist spreads through the world, and in the end defenders become aggressors.

"Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, took great pains to remove Israel completely from any participation in the vengeance upon the evil-doers, to such an extent that they were not permitted even to see the events. For that reason midnight, the darkest hour, was designated as the time for the deeds of vengeance, and the Children of Israel were warned not to step outside their houses at that hour — all this in order to remove them totally and completely from even the slightest participation in the deeds of destruction, extending even to watching them.

"The language itself is very precise: '. . . And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning' — 'that there not be in your midst the plague of the destroyer.' Which means: your abstention from any participation in the vengeance upon Egypt will prevent the plague of vengeance from stirring the power of the destroyer which is in you, yourselves.

"The Children of Israel, then, must derive this lesson from the events of that Passover eve: not to put their trust in wealth, and not to put their trust in might, but rather in the God of truth and justice, for this will serve to defend them everywhere against those who would dominate by the power of the fist."

And as one of the greatest of our prophets, whose own death by violence at a time near the Passover, we remember in tears tonight — as the prophet Martin Luther King called us to know:

"The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But the principle of non-violent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites — acquiescence and violence. The non-violent resister rises to the noble height of opposing the unjust system while loving the perpetrators of the system. Non-violence can reach men where the law cannot touch them.

"So, we will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will not hate you, but we cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process. "

He did not win us while he lived. Yet the night before he died he stood with Moses.

Guitar or humming voice, etc., begins the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" in the background as the reader continues:

"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop, I won't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"

Sing:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
God is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
God has loosed the fateful lightning of that terrible swift sword;
God's Truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, halleluyah; glory, glory, halleluyah; glory, glory, halleluyah, God's Truth is marching on.

A moment of silence. Then the reader says:

In sadness we remember death and suffering, but in joy we remember liberation. To You we raise our voices, in a song of thanks and joy.

Raise the cup.

How many are the claims of the Place beyond all places upon our thankfulness!

All sing or recite Dayenu:

Had You taken us out of Egypt,
but not executed judgments on them,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You executed judgments on them,
but not on their gods,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You executed judgments on their gods,
but not slain their first-born,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You slain their first-born,
but not given us their property which we had worked to create,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You given us their property,
but not torn the Sea apart for us,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You brought us through it dry,
but not sunk our oppressors in the midst of it,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You sunk our oppressors in the midst of it,
but not satisfied our needs in the desert for forty years,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You satisfied our needs in the desert for forty years,
but not fed us manna,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You fed us manna,
but not given us the Shabbat,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You given us the Shabbat,
but not brought us to Mount Sinai,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You given us the Torah,
but not brought us into the Land of Israel,
it would have been enough for us!
Had You brought us into the Land of Israel,
but not built us the House of Your choosing,
it would have been enough for us!

I-lu ho-tzi ho-tzi-a-nu, ho-tzi-anu mi-mitz-ra-yim, ho-tzi-a-nu mi-mitz-rayim dai-ye-nu.

DAI-DAI-YE-NU, DAI-DAI-YE-NU, DAI-DAI-YE-NU, Dayenu, dayenu!

I-lu na-tan na-tan la-nu, na-tan la-nu et ha-sha-bat, na-tan la-nu et ha-sha-bat, dai-ye-nu.

DAI-DAI-YE-NU, DAI-DAI-YE-NU, DAI-DAI-YE-NU, Dayenu, dayenu!

What does this mean, "It would have been enough"? Surely no one of these would indeed have been enough for us. It means to celebrate each step toward freedom as if it were enough, then to start out on the next step. It means that if we reject each step because it is not the whole liberation, we will never be able to achieve the whole liberation. It means to sing each verse as if it were the whole song — and then sing the next verse!

Then how much more, doubled and redoubled, is the claim the Place beyond all places has upon our thankfulness! For You did take us out of Egypt, and execute judgments upon them, and judgment on their gods, and slay their first-born, and give us their property, and tear the Sea apart for us, and bring us through it dry, and sink our oppressors in the midst of it, and satisfy our needs in the desert for forty years, and feed us manna, and give us the Shabbat, and bring us to Mount Sinai, and give us the Torah, and bring us into the Land of Israel, and build us the House of Your choosing to atone for all our sins.

But there is also work for us to do. It is our own labor that must give birth to freedom. In every generation we stand with those who first gave birth to freedom: with the midwives Shifrah and Puah. When Pharaoh chose death, they chose life. When Pharaoh proclaimed that babies must be murdered, they revered God and resisted Pharaoh. Their eyes saw God in every mother's face, their ears heard God in every baby's cry, their hands drew forth from the narrow place not only life but freedom.

All read:

How many and how hard are the tasks the Redeemer has set before us!
If we were to free the peoples of the world,
but not to beat the swords of every nation into plowshares,
it would not be enough for us.
If we were to beat the swords of every nation into plowshares,
but not to free our earth and air of poison,
it would not be enough for us.
If we were to free our earth and air of poison,
but not to share our food and end all hunger,
it would not be enough for us.
If we were to share our food and end all hunger,
but not to free the poets from their prisons,
it would not be enough for us.
If we were to free the poets from their prisons,
but not to free all women, men, and children to be persons,
it would not be enough for us.
If we were to free all humans to be persons,
but not to free ourselves to know You,
it would not be enough for us.

Then how great, doubled and redoubled,
are the claims the Redeemer makes upon our effort!
You call us to struggle, work, share, give,
think, plan, organize, sit-in, speak out, dream, hope,
and pray for the great Redemption:
to end the oppression of all peoples,
to beat the swords of every nation into plowshares,
to free our earth and air of poison,
to share our food and end all hunger,
to free the poets from their prisons,
to free all women, men and children to be persons,
and to free ourselves to know You.

All sing:

O Freedom!
O Freedom!
O Freedom over me!
And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free!

No more killing
No more hunger
No more pollution
No more racism
No more sexism
(etc.)

The reader says:

Rabban Gamaliel used to say: "Whoever does not explain the following three things on Passover has not fulfilled the obligation: namely, the Passover Sacrifice, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs."

The Passover Sacrifice which our forebears used to eat at the time when the Holy Temple still stood — what was the reason for it? Because the Holy One, blessed be You, passed over the houses of our forebears in Egypt. And as You redeemed our first-born from being killed, may all the children of all Your peoples be redeemed from being killed.

For it is said: "It is the sacrifice of YHWH's Passover, for S/He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when S/He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped."

Another participant lifts up the matzot, showing them to the celebrants.

This matzah that we eat, what is the reason for it? Because the dough of our forebears had not yet risen when You Who Rule over all rulers, Holy One, revealed Yourself to them and redeemed them.

As it is said: "And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any food."

Participant lifts up the bitter herbs, showing them to the celebrants.

These bitter herbs we eat, what is the reason for them? Because the Egyptians made the lives of our forebears bitter in Egypt.

As it is said: "And they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; in all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor."

The reader says:

So in every generation let every human being look on himself, herself, as if we all came forth out of Mitzra-yim.

As it is said: "And you shall tell your child in that day, saying: It is because of that which YHWH did for me when I came forth out of Mitzra-yim."

It was not only our forebears that the Holy One, blessed be You, redeemed, but us as well did You redeem along with them.

As it is said: "And S/He brought us out from thence, that S/He might bring us in, to give us the land which S/He swore unto our forebears."

The participants lift up their cups of wine and say:

Therefore, we are bound to thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore the One who performed all these miracles for our forebears and for us. You have brought us forth from slavery into freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to holiday, from darkness to great light, and from bondage to redemption. Let us then recite before You a new song: Halleluyah!

Sing to tune of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore."

Praise Yah in the heavens, halleluyah.
Praise God in the heights, halleluyah.
Praise God, all you angels, halleluyah.
Praise Yah, all you hosts, halleluyah.
Praise God, sun and moon, halleluyah.
Praise Yah, you stars of light, halleluyah.
Praise God, high heavens and waters above heaven, halleluyah. Let them all praise God's Name, halleluyah.
For God spoke and they appeared, halleluyah.
God made them stand forever, halleluyah.

God gave order none can break, halleluyah.
Praise Yah from the earth, halleluyah.
You sea-monsters and all deeps, halleluyah.
Fire, hail, snow, and steam, halleluyah.
Stormy wind to do God's word, halleluyah.

Mountains and small hills, halleluyah.
Trees of fruit and cedars too, halleluyah.
Wild beasts and quiet flocks, halleluyah.
Creeping things and winged birds, halleluyah.
Kings on earth and every nation, halleluyah.
Princes, judges, in the world, halleluyah.
Young men and maidens, too, halleluyah.
Let us praise the holy Name, halleluyah.
For God's Name alone is high, halleluyah.

God's glory outshines earth and heaven, halleluyah.
And God lifts the people's hearts, halleluyah.
For all who wrestle God, halleluyah.

For all who touch God close, halleluyah.

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Ruler of the universe, who redeemed us and who redeemed our forebears from Mitzra-yim, and have brought us to this night, to eat thereon unleavened bread and bitter herbs. In the same way, YHWH our God and God of our forebears, bring us to other festivals and holy days that come toward us in peace, happy in peace, happy in the building of Your City of Peace and joyful in Your service. There may we renew the Passover in all its fullness, with the liberation of all peoples and the redemption of all children. Then shall we give thanks to you with a new song, for our redemption and the liberation of our life-breath. Blessed are You who redeem all those who wrestle with God.

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who create the fruit of the vine.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam, boray p'ri hagafen.

The second cup of wine is drunk in a reclining position. The participants wash their hands and say the following benediction:

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who made us holy with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the washing of hands.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al n'tilat yadaim.

A participant breaks pieces from the upper and middle matzot and distributes them; the following benedictions are recited:

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who bring forth bread from the earth.

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who made us holy with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning the eating of unleavened bread.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam hamotzi lechem min haaretz.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al akhilat matzah.

The matzah is eaten in a reclining position.

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, who have made us holy by Your commandments and commanded us to share our bread with the hungry, as is written in the Torah: "You shall not gather the fallen fruits of your vineyard, you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am YHWH your God."

Pause and allow time for those at the table, either silently or aloud, to say: "I pledge myself to. . . [and say what he or she is prepared to do for the hungry]." Dip a slice of the raw horseradish root in the charoset and offer a piece to each participant. The following blessing is spoken before eating the bitter herbs:

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who made us holy with your commandments, and commanded us concerning the eating of bitter herbs.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu al akhilat maror.

Break the bottom matzah, put some chopped horseradish sandwich-fashion between two pieces of matzah. The following is recited before eating:

In memory of the Temple, according to the custom of Hillel. Thus did Hillel when the Holy Temple still stood: he used to combine unleavened bread and bitter herbs and eat them together, to fulfill what is said: "They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs."

The Seder platter is removed. At this point the Seder meal is eaten.

At the end of the meal the Afikoman [the piece of matzah that was hidden earlier] is redeemed from the children who have found it, since it is necessary to have this taste of matzah as the last taste at the end of the meal. Alternatively, the children may take the Afikoman and hide it themselves. If the adults cannot find it they must redeem it. The Seder platter is again placed on the table. The matzah which has been set aside for Afikoman is distributed among the Seder company, and everyone eats. Fill the third cup, and all say:

Blessed are You, YHWH, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who feed the whole world in Your goodness, with grace, lovingkindness, and compassion. You give bread to all flesh, for Your lovingkindness is for all space-time. And through Your great goodness, food has never failed us. May we indeed never let it fail us; may we share it, to honor Your great name. For You feed and sustain all and do good to all and prepare enough food for all the creatures You created — enough if we all share it. Blessed are You, YHWH, who feed all.

A participant asks:

Why this egg, and why these flowers?

In the beginning the Passover was a festival of spring and the rebirth of all life. As is said, if we cannot enjoy the return of spring, how can we be happy in utopia? The egg we see here is the form of life and rebirth. And these flowers rise up against winter, as our forebears rose up against Pharaoh.

And these flowers remind us to sing the Song of Songs. Our forebears knew that the Departure from Egypt could teach us how to burst out of slavery to freedom when the moment comes but they also knew that there is another shape of freedom: openness in every moment, openness to the love that is stirred up when it pleases. That is the shape of freedom in the Song of Songs. And as the Departure from Egypt was led by a man, so the Song of Songs is led by a woman. So the tradition arose that just as at Passover we tell of the Departure from Egypt, so also we sing from the Song of Songs, of liberation through love. May we learn from both and join both together that we may be redeemed, speedily in our own day!

Woman speaks:

Come with me, my love, come away,
For the long wet months are past,
The rains have fed the earth
And left it bright with blossoms.

Birds wing in the low sky,
Dove and songbird singing
In the open air above,

Earth nourishing tree and vine,
Green fig and tender grape,
Green and tender fragrance.

Come with me, my love, come away.

Man speaks: Of all pleasure, how sweet
Is the taste of love!

There you stand like a palm,
Your breasts clusters of dates.

Shall I climb that palm
And take hold of the boughs?

Your breasts will be tender
As clusters of grapes,

Your breath will be sweet
As the fragrance of quince,

And your mouth will awaken
All sleeping desire,

Like wine that entice
The lips of new lovers.

Woman speaks:

Turning to him, who meets me with desire —
Come, love, let us go out to the open field
And spend our night lying where the henna blooms,
Rising early to leave for the near vineyard
Where the vines flower, opening tender buds,
And the pomegranate boughs unfold their blossoms.
There among blossom and vine I will give you my love,
Musk of the violet mandrakes spilled upon us. . .
And returning, finding our doorways piled with fruits,
The best of the new-picked and the long-stored,
My love, I will give you all I have saved for you.

Man speaks:

O women of the city,
Swear by the wild field doe
Not to wake or rouse u
Till we fulfill our love.

The reader passes a blossom from the flowers on the table — if possible on a living plant — to everyone and all say:

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, Breathing Spirit of the universe, who have made your world lack nothing, but have created in it beautiful creatures and beautiful blossoming trees, to give delight to the children of Adam.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam shelo khisar ba-olamo davar uvarah vo briyot tovot v'ilanot tovim l'hanot bahem b'nai adam.

All sniff and look carefully at their flowers. All sing:

(Chorus)
Do-di li va-a-ni lo
Ha-ro-eh ba-sho-sha-nim
(Repeat)

Mi zot olah
Min hamidbar
Mi zat olah

M'kituret mor
Mor u-livonah
Mor u-livonah

(Chorus)

Uri tzafon u-vo-i teyman
Uri tzafon u-vo-i teyman

(Chorus)

All lift their glasses and say:

Blessed be You, YHWH our God, who create the fruit of the vine.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam boray p'ri hagafen.

All drink the third cup. Refill glasses, but not to the top. Reader says:

YHWH our God, we share Your spring with all that lives and breathes. But there are still some who would crush out of us our joy in spring, in flowers, in freedom and in You. Help us to pour out our wrath against those who have oppressed us — pour it out so that we may be emptied of it.

The door is opened and the following verses are recited:

On those who pour out their hatred upon Your earth and people, let earth and heaven pour out Your wrath upon them. Yes, let Your wrath pour out on those who reject Your creation and revile Your creatures, for they are devouring Your people and laying waste their earthly dwelling place.

Sh'foch chamatchah el hagoyim asher lo y'da-ucha v'al mamlaacute;chot asher b'shimcha lo kara-oo. Ki achal et-yaakov v'et havey-hu heyshamu. Sh'fach aleyhem zamecha vacharon apcha yasigeym. Tirof b'af v'tashmideym mitachet shmey Adonai.

But we plead with You that in that day of recompense, You shield all who love You and love Your image in every human face and every creature.

A reader:

Now we are ready to say Your words of peace. Now we are ready to welcome Your prophets:

The Prophet Elijah, who will come to prepare the path of Messiah by turning the hearts of the children toward the parents and the hearts of the parents toward the children — lest the earth be utterly destroyed. Who will come to teach us truly that all the true paths of Your teaching lead toward peace.

Fill Elijah's wine cup in the center of the table. All sing: Eliyahu ha'navi, Eliyahu ha'Tishbi, Eliyahu, Eliyahu, Eliyahu ha-Giladi, Bimheyra v'yamenu, yovo elenu, im mashiach ben-David; im mashiach bat-David.

The Prophet Miriam, who comes to dance and to renew for us the wellsprings of transformation:

Miriam ha'nevia, oz v'zimra b'yada; Miriam, rikdi itanu l'takeyn et ha'olam. Bimheyra v'yamenu, tavo elenu — el mei ha'y'shua, el mei ha'y'shua.

You have told us, are we not as the children of the Ethiopians to You? Have You not brought us up out of the land of Egypt, but also the Philistines from Kaphtor and Aram from Kir? May the day come soon when, as is written in Your Torah, Ishmael will dwell face to face with all his brothers, and when, as is written by Your prophet, "In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for YHWH of hosts has blessed them, saying: 'Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.' "

A reader:

And may Your day come soon when swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks, when nation does not lift up sword against nation, neither do they learn war any more.

All sing: And every one 'neath vine and figtree
Shall live in peace and unafraid
(Repeat)

And into plowshares beat their swords —
Nations shall learn war no more
(Repeat)

All stand. A reader says:

Brothers and sisters, we have been remembering our slavery and our liberation. But just as it was we, not our forebears only, who were liberated in Egypt, so it is we, not our forebears only, who live in slavery. Our slavery is not over, and our liberation is not complete. The task of liberation is long, and it is work that we ourselves must do.

We will share the cup of Elijah. To each other and to You we say: "We ourselves shall be Elijah, we ourselves shall act to bring Messiah."

All say:

We may not live to complete the task, but neither may we refrain from beginning. If not now, when? We have eaten; may our food give us strength for the work ahead! We will drink; may our wine give us joy for the work ahead!

A participant pours some wine from Elijah's cup into that of the next person, who then takes Elijah's cup and does the same for the next person, and so on until the wine has circled the table, and the last person has poured wine from Elijah's cup into that of the first person. All lift their cups, and say in unison:

Blessed are You, YHWH our God, who create the fruit of the vine.

Barukh atah YHWH elohenu ruakh ha-olam, boray p'ri hagafen.

They drink, and call out: "Next year in the City of Peace! L'shana Haba-ah b-Yerushalayim!"

All sing:

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome.
We shall overcome some day!
Deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome some day.

We'll walk hand in hand...
(Repeat as "We shall overcome," above)

Black and white together... (Repeat...)

We are not afraid... (Repeat...)

The people shalI be free... (Repeat...)

We shall live in peace... (Repeat...)

We shall overcome!

Dance joyfully.

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A Note on the Names of God

The most mysterious and most intimate Name of God in Jewish tradition is [yud-hey-vav-hey], which in transliteration is YHWH. This Name is especially closely conn