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..................................... Kadesh | Urchatz | Karpas | Yachatz Maggid | Rachtza | Motzi | Matza Maror | Korech | Shulchan Orech Tzafun | Barech | Hallel | Nirtzah Maggid Now we tell the story of the Exodus! Question: What does the word Maggid mean in Hebrew? Answer: To Tell! It is a big mitzvah to tell as much of the story of our ancestors leaving Egypt as we can. Activity: What do you know about the story of the Exodus from Egypt? Share something you know with the other people sitting around the table. Ha Lachma Anya - The matza is lifted up. We say, this is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in Egypt. Whoever is hungry, let him come in and eat! Whoever is needy, let him come in and celebrate! Question: Why does it say two times that someone who is needy should come inside? Answer: There is a difference - one person is hungry - he should come in to eat. Another is needy - maybe she is lonely and needs a friend. She comes in to celebrate together, not just for food. If we want to help people in need, we should be sensitive to give them what THEY need, not just whatever we feel like giving. Ma Nishtanah - The 4 Questions - The youngest child asks the four questions. In some groups, all the children ask the questions. Ma Nishtana HaLayla Hazeh mikol haleilot? Why is this night different than all other nights? Shebchol Haleilot, anu ochlin chametz u'matzah. On all other nights, we eat matza and bread. Halaila hazeh, culo matzah. Tonight, we only eat matza. Shebchol Haleilot, anu ochlin sha'ar yerakkot. On all other nights, we eat all types of vegetables. Halaila hazeh, maror. Tonight we eat maror, bitter herbs. Shebchol Haleilot, ein anu matbilin afilu pam echad. On all other nights, we don't dip our vegetables. Halaila hazeh, sh'tei paamim. Tonight, we dip two times. Shebchol Haleilot, anu ochlin bein yoshvin ubein mesubin. On all other nights, we eat sitting or reclining. Halaila hazeh, culanu mesubin. Tonight, we all recline. Question: But wait! Aren't there 4 answers and one question, not four questions? Do you see that? Answer: There are really four aspects to the same question! All these questions and answers raise the same point. Why are we doing so many strange things tonight? Some things remind us of being slaves, like eating bitter maror and eating matza, poor hard bread instead of fluffy rolls. Other things are what noble people do, like lean back while eating and dipping our food. Are we acting like slaves or kings?? On the night of Passover, we were both! Before midnight, the Jews were slaves -- then in the middle of the night, they became free. If we are going to imagine what it was like, we have to feel both the pain of slavery and the joy of freedom. Avadim Hayinu - We Were Slaves - Once upon a time, the Jews were slaves to Pharoah, the ruler of Egypt. God took us out of Egypt. Children should feel especially happy about the Exodus because the slavery was very hard on them! Some babies were killed at birth and later, boy babies were thrown in the river. Even if you survived to grow into a child, you couldn't live with your mother and father both, because families were separated. Children had to work hard and not play. Arba Banim - 4 Sons - Here four types of sons are listed. Each needs to be taught about Pesach differently, depending on what kind of question he asks (or doesn't). One is called wise, one is bad, one is simple and one doesn't even know to ask a question. Each one gets a different answer. The wise son wants to understand Pesach, so the parent tells him about Pesach - how we celebrate it. The bad son says, "What's this to YOU?" He acts like Pesach doesn't matter to him. The parent gives him a tough answer which implies, "If you were there, we would have left you behind." The parent wants to wake him up. No one would have liked being left behind in Egypt. The simple son just says, "What's this?" So the parent gives him a simple answer that he can absorb. If the son doesn't even know he should ask, the parent starts very gently. "This wonderful thing happened to me . . ." Maybe the child will become interested to hear more, and ask more questions. The Rabbis say that most people act like each one of the four sons at different times. Question: Which son are you most like? Activity: Have each grown-up at the table choose one of the sons, then act like him. You play the parent. In your own words, what would you tell each one about Pesach? The answers given to the four sons are mentioned in the Bible. The rabbis understood from the different answers that when children question their parents' religious observance, the parents need to have answers prepared, if they want their children to follow in their footsteps. Questions: Did you ever ask one of your parents a religious question they couldn't answer? Or did they give you an answer you didn't like? How did you feel? Activity: Imagine what you would say to your child, if he or she asked you the same question. From the beginning, our forefathers were idol worshippers. . . - Once upon a time, our forefathers worshipped idols. They believed that the stars or other natural forces had powers and should be worshipped. They made statues that represented these forces and prayed to them. Question: Do you know how people started worshipping idols? Answer: Because at first people knew there was a God, but when they saw the sun and moon and other natural forces which were God's "messengers," they thought it was good to honor them. It wasn't such a bad idea, except that secretly, it was easier to honor the sun, which goes away at night, than to remember that God never goes to sleep, and is always there. It was just an excuse. They could act however they wanted if there was no God. Question: Did you ever do something wrong, but pretend you had a good reason for it? Did you fool anyone? How did you feel? Baruch Shomer Havtachato - Blessed is the One Who keeps his promise . . . God made a promise to Abraham that even though his descendents would be enslaved in Egypt, they would go free again and become a great people. V'Hi Sh'amda L'avoteinu - And this [promise] held up for our forefathers and for us. . . The Jews went through many difficult times from the days of Abraham until now, but they are still here. God has kept his promise not to let anyone destroy us totally, even though some have tried. Even before Pharaoh tried to destroy the Jews, Abraham's grandson, Jacob, had an evil father-in-law who wanted to do the same thing. Since Jacob married Laban's two daughters, Rachel and Leah, Laban felt that all of Jacob's family really belonged to him, and that they should continue to follow his ways (which were not too great!). Laban didn't want the Jewish people to develop into a nation. After Pharoah, there were many others like Haman, Antiochus (the Syrian King who the Maccabees fought against), Titus (the Roman emperor who destroyed the Temple), all the way until Hitler in modern times. Activity: Does anyone at the table know a story of when someone tried to hurt Jews but didn't succeed? Ask people to tell their stories. Tzei U'lmad - Go out and Learn! Now we tell the Exodus story in detail, from start to finish. V'Yered - The Jews went down to Egypt as one family and grew into a nation. The Egyptians oppressed them, and they cried out. And God heard their cry. And God took them out with a strong hand, outstretched arm, great awe, signs, and wonders. Each thing implies something different. Question: Why does the story talk about God as if he had hands and body parts like a person? Don't Jews believe that God doesn't have a body? Answer: Jews certainly don't think that God has a body - or any body parts! The Bible talks about God's hand or arm so that we can more easily relate to it. Question: Why doesn't the Haggadah mention Moses here? It keeps saying, "God took us out." "God did it." What happened to Moses? Answer: Because you might think that Moses was just a charismatic leader who intimidated Pharoah. Or that he was a brilliant general. The Haggadah wants to stress that God took us out of Egypt Himself, so that we will appreciate it and give thanks where it is due. Ten plagues - When Moses asked Pharoah to let the Jewish people go, Pharoah refused. Moses told him he would be hit by plagues, but Pharoah didn't care. He wouldn't let them go. One by one, each plague hit Egypt harder and harder, but he wasn't moved. Question: What would you have done if YOU were Pharoah? Question: Did you ever feel so stubborn about something, that you wouldn't change your mind, even if it hurt you? Question: What are some of the plagues that affect the world today? As we read the list of plagues, we take one drop of wine from our cup with our finger. Question: Why do we take out the drops? Answer: Because we shouldn't be happy even when evil people die or get hurt. We should really wish that they would stop being evil instead, and decide to be good. Even though the Egyptians treated us terribly, the plagues were horrible and painful to them, so we take a little wine from our cups to reduce the amount of joy we feel for the Exodus. This shows that we feel sorry for them a little bit. Dayeinu - We sing "Dayeinu" because we are so happy at our good fortune. If God had only done one of these things for us, we'd be happy, but when we start thinking of all the good things that happened during the Exodus, we just feel happier and happier! Pesach, Matza, Maror- These three things are the most important part of the Seder. If we don't mention them, then it's as if we never had a Seder at all! Pesach - This is the Passover lamb. The Jews in Egypt had to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on their doorposts on the night of the last plague. That night all the firstborn of Egypt died, except in the houses with blood on the doorposts. Every year, the Jews would sacrifice a lamb in the Holy Temple and roast it in the memory of when they were saved. Now that the Temple was destroyed, we place a roasted bone on the Seder plate as a symbol for the sacrifice. Question: Yuck. Why did they have to do something so gory? Couldn't God see who the Jews were and only hurt the Egyptians without the blood? Answer: Of course God knew who the Egyptians were, but it was a test for the Jews. The Egyptians thought that lambs were holy and worshipped them. God commanded them to kill a lamb to prove that the Jews were not afraid of the Egyptians, or the Egyptian gods. If they could overcome their fear of the Egyptians and listen to God's command, then they were ready to go free. God wanted the Jews to show that they trusted in God. The Passover sacrifice hints to something else. God "passed over" the weaknesses of the Jewish people in Egypt. They were very broken from their slavery. They didn't really deserve such a spectacular rescue that God did for them. But God "passed over" their faults, and focused on the positive potential they had. In Judaism, this is called having an "ayin tov" - a good eye. It means looking to see the good in other people instead of the bad. Activity: Think of someone you don't like. Now think of something good about them. Think of two more people and repeat the exercise. Now think about yourself. You know that you have bad parts and good parts. Which parts of yourself would you rather your parents focused on? Your teacher? Your best friend? Matza - When it came time to leave Egypt, the Jews had to go in a hurry. They didn't even have time to let the bread rise, so they just baked it into flat matzas. Matzas are a very simple food. They remind us to be simple, and not get puffed up with false pride. Maror - We eat bitter herbs to remind us of the bitterness of slavery. In Every Generation - We should imagine that we ourselves came out of Egypt! Soon we will switch from just telling the story to re-experiencing it . . . . Hallel - Hallel is a collection of prayers of praise we say to praise God. Even though God doesn't need our praise, it is good for us to praise Him. That way we remember how thankful we are, and that makes us happy! Question: Why do you feel thankful to God? Can you think of a reason? Activity: You can enter our Hallel essay contest. Write an essay and submit it. Then you can print it out and read it at the Seder! Ratzcha It's time to start the meal! First we wash our hands, with a special washing cup and say the bracha (blessing): Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, Asher Kidishanu BeMitzvotav, V'tzivanu Al Netilat Yedaim Motzi Next we make a bracha on the matza, acknowleging that our food comes from God. Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, HaMotzi Lechem Min Ha'Aretz. Matza Without any interruption, we say another bracha for the miztva to eat matza on Pesach: Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, Asher Kidishanu BeMitzvotav, V'tzivanu, Al Achilat Matza. Now eat the matza, while leaning to the left. Don't get crumbs on your neighbor!     .....................................