2009 Haggadah Supplement

8/14/2019 2009 Haggadah Supplement

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2/8

This year, our Seder plate has a newsymbol an olive. Why an olive?

Because, for slavery to be truly over,

for a people to be truly free, we mustknow that we can feed ourselves and

our children, today, tomorrow, and intothe following generations.

In the lands of Israel and Palestine,

olive groves provide this security.When olive groves are destroyed, the

past and future is destroyed. Without

economic security, a people can much

more easily be conquered or enslaved.

And so this year, we eat an olive, to

make real our understanding of what itmeans each time a bulldozer plows upa grove. Without the taste of olives,

there will be no taste offreedom.

"You abound in blessings, God, creator of

the universe, Who sustains us with living

water. May we, like the children of Israel

leaving Egypt, be guarded and nurtured

and kept alive in the wilderness, and mayYou give us wisdom to understand that the

journey itself holds the promise of

redemption. AMEN." --Susan Schnur

Miriams Well

Elijahs Cup

n the ninth century B.C.E., a farmer arose to

hallenge the domination of the ruling elite. In his

ireless and passionate advocacy on behalf of the

ommon people, and his ceaseless exposure of the

orruption and waste of the court, Elijah sparked a

movement and created a legend which would

nspire people for generations to come.

Before he died, Elijah declared that he would return

once each generation in the guise of any poor or

oppressed person, coming to peoples doors to seehow he would be treated. By the treatment offered

his poor person, who would be Elijah himself, he

would know whether the population had reached a

evel of humanity making them capable of

participating in the darn of the Messianic age.

--Love and Justice Haggadah


3/8

Exodus and After

1leaving is the easy partnot where to run, how to get therechildren pulling at your hemsso many bags to carrywhich way in the dark will you wanderwhat star use as your guidestepping out into the uncertain sandswhat then

it is more than the worry of food, shelter, water, foodwhat will become of usthis is what holds you back

2leaving is the simplest partto turn, in panic, anger, disdain, passionrent of all its trappings, belongings, owing-nessto flee

us running, leaping, all gaity at bonds releasedthe haze, intoxication, dinwill we recognize sufferingnotice disequilibrium bedding down among us

as we beat freedom drumswill we turn to the sounds of still-lacking

3leaving is the lonliest partdeterminedly setting out through unmapped watersgrasping ourselves, the air, what comes next full in ourhandswe are wild joyfully moving as the dreamour mothers, fathers, cousins dreamed for us

even in our hastehistory whispers:

bring all you have borne with youleaving it, you will find no peace

what you make of liberationthat is the trickcan you, unshackled, set someone else free?

-Cynthia Greenberg, The Love and Justice Haggadah

Prayer for Overcoming Indifference

I watch the news, God. I observe it all from a

comfortable distance. I see people suffering,

and I dont lift a finger to help them. I condemn

injustice but I do nothing to fight against it. I

am pained by the faces of starving children, but

I am not moved enough to try to save them. Istep over homeless people in the street, I walk

past outstretched hands, I avert my eyes, I close

my heart.

Forgive me, God, for remaining aloof while

others are in need of my assistance.

Wake me up, God; ignite my passion, fill me

with outrage. Remind me that I am responsible

for Your world. Dont allow me to stand idly by.

Inspire me to act. Teach me to believe that I canrepair some corner of this world.

When I despair, fill me with hope. When I

doubt my strength, fill me with faith. When I

am weary, renew my spirit. When I lose

direction, show me the way back to meaning,

back to compassion, back to You. Amen.

Rabbi Naomi Levy, from www.savedarfur.org
http://www.savedarfur.org/http://www.savedarfur.org/


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5/8

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev at the Matzah Bakery

It was practice of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak each Passover to supervise the bakeries of Berditchev. In addition t

the kashrut(dietary laws) of the matzot, he was concerned with the working conditions of the women and

children employees. One year, observing that they were being exploited, being forced to work from early

morning until late at night, he approached the bakery owner. Our enemies used to cause great

consternation among our people, he said, charging that we use non-Jewish blood to bake our matzah.

Today, however, God knows and you know as well that this is a foolish lie. But among our many sins, I se

that there are Jewish bakers who prepare their matzah with Jewish blood, with the blood of the poor Jewis

women and children from whom, unfortunately, they squeeze out the last bit of strength.

As we eat matzah, this bread of affliction, tonight, we remember the conditions of the unseen workers wh

helped to bring us food. We follow in the example of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and acknowledge

that the kashrut of our food also depends on the conditions of the workers who make it for us.

The tradition blames the wicked child

because that child stands outside of thecommunity. Do you agree? Why is it so bad

to choose to stand apart? How should we

respond to the wicked child among us?Should we give them space or shut them out?

--Joy Levitt

The wicked child might not be wicked at

perhaps she is just expressing our doubts

what is the purpose of all of this trouble yput yourself through at Pesah? Are you

really working for freedom? Annoyed at

someone who gives voice to our own fearwe react harshly to hide our feelings. Th

wicked child becomes our scapegoat.

--Michael Strassfeld

When are you the silent child? When do

find that you cant speak, that words fail that you have nothing to say?--Joy Levitt

Meditation on Tears

As we dip the karpas in salt water, let us meditate on themeanings of tears.What are tears?They contain the memory of all that we are:

Bitterness of slavery, Water of dissolution,Salt of hospitality, Water of life.

Lots wife turned to salt when, out of compassion,she turned to look once more on the home of her childhood.

Sarah offered hospitality to all, with bread and salt.Yocheved placed Moses in the waters of the Nile,

that he might be reborn to lead the Jews to freedom.Just as the dry land emerged from the salt sea,So our people emerged in freedom from the salt Sea of

Reeds.To shed tears is to release all that we are, have been,and can become.

Tears are a sign that we are able to fully live,and to experience and feel all that life has to offer.

Thank you, Divine Closeness, for the ability to feel, to weep, and toremember.--The Dancing with Miriam Haggadah


6/8

40th Anniversary of the Freedom Seder

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength iservice of my vision, then it becomes less and less

important whether I am afraid

audre lorde

"I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of allcommunities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atland not be concerned about what happens inBirmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to juseverywhere. We are caught in an inescapable netwmutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whaffects one directly, affects all indirectly."

-mlk from "letter from a birmingham j

Prayer For The Great Turning

May the turning of the Earth save us.May the turning of the seasons & the turning of the leaves save us.May we be saved by the worms, the beetles & the microbes turning the soil.May we be saved by the turning of vegetation into compost & the turning of compost into rich soil.May the turning of seeds into plants & the turning of flowers into fruits save us.May the grasses & weeds, the vines & mosses all conspire to save us.May we be saved by the turning of sprouts into saplings, of saplings into trees, & the trees into forests.May the scurrying, foraging, pouncing & lumbering of the animals save us.

May the breath of heaven in the breezes & the stormy winds save us.May the dance of the butterflies, & the musical flight & return of the birds save us.May we be saved by vapors turning into clouds & by the turning of the ever-changing clouds into rain.May the waters flowing from springs into the lakes save us.May the streams flowing into rivers, the rivers into seas, & the great heaving of the oceans save us.May we be saved by the patient turning of the rocks, the hills, the mountains, & the volcanoes.May the metabolism of the climates of the Earth save us.May the turnings of all Beings great & small move us to find wisdom in our own turnings.

May we be saved by our waking & sleeping, by the rhythms of our blood & our appetites, by the cyclesof birthing & nurturing, injury & healing, mating & nesting, loss & discovery, joy & mourning.

May we find in time the grace to turn to one another, & may this turning also become our salvation.May we learn to benefit the life of Earth with peace, humble in our needs, & generous in our giving.May we learn to celebrate the abundance of life with gratitude, & to embrace the Earth with our bodiesin return.

Joanne Sunshower, The Haggadah for Earth

All living are one and holy, let us rememberas we eat, as we work, as we walk and drive.All living are one and holy, we must make ourselves worthyWe must act out justice and mercy and healingas the sun rises and as the sun sets,as the moon rises and the stars wheel above us:we must repair goodness.We must praise the power of the one that joins us.Whether we plunge in or thrust ourselves far outfinally we reach the face of glory too brightfor our eyes and yet we burn and we give light.We will try to be holy,we will try to repair the world given to us to hand on.Precious is this treasure of words and knowledge and deedsthat moves inside us. Holy is the hand that works for peace and forjustice,holy is the mouth that speaks for goodnessholy is the foot that walks toward mercy.Let us lift each other on our shoulders and carry each other along.Let holiness move in us. Let us pay attention to its small voice.Let us see the light in others and honor that light.Remember the dead who paid our way here dearly, dearlyand remember the unborn for whom we build our houses.Praise the light that shines before us, through us, after us. Amein. Marge Piercy, from Amidah

range is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for

hort visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a

ine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, therene thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of

ers...for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are

nected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize

w much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of

ple, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert

self in order to give in return as much as I have received.

bert einstein

The Hebrew prophets belong to all people because thconcepts of justice and equality have become ideals races and civilizations. Today we particularly need th

Hebrew prophets because they taught that to love Goto love justice: that each human being has an inescaobligation to denounce evil where he sees it and to druler who commands him to break the covenant.

The Hebrew prophets are needed today because decpeople must be imbued with the courage to speak theto realize that silence may temporarily preserve statusecurity but to live with a lie is a gross affront to God.scarcely a secret that many congressmen, educatorsclergymen, and leaders of national affairs are gravelydisturbed by our foreign policy. A war in which childreincinerated by napalm, in which American soldiers diemounting numbers while other American soldiers,... inunrestrained hatred shoot the wounded enemy as theon the ground is a war that mutilates the conscience.important leaders keep their silence. I know this to bebecause so many have confided in me that they sharopinions but not my willingness to publicly state them

The Hebrew prophets are needed today because wetheir flaming courage; we need them because the thuof their fearless voices is the only sound stronger thablasts of bombs and the clamor of war hysteria... In thdays to come as the voices of sanity multiply we will that across thousands of years of time the prophet'smessage of truth and decency, brotherhood and peac

survives -- that they are living in our time to give hopetortured world that their promise of the kingdom of Gonot been lost to mankind.

-MLK from a speech to the Synagogue Council of Am

Well, I don't know what will

happen now. We've got some

difficult days ahead. But it

doesn't matter with me now.Because I've been to the

mountaintop. And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like tolive a long life. Longevity has

its place. But I'm not concerned

about that now. I just want to doGod's will. And He's allowed

me to go up to the mountain.

And I've looked over. And I'veseen 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 thepromised land. And I'm happy,

tonight. I'm not worried about

anything. I'm not fearing anyman. Mine eyes have seen the

glory of the coming of the Lord.

-mlk 4/3/68

rayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrowd to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehoods.

e liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking

overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, theion."

bbi abraham joshua heschel


7/8

MORE SONGS!Reflection on Bitterness

This is the way to experience bitterness: take a big chunk of raw horseradish, let the burning turn your face all red.

This is the way to experience bitterness: dig back to a time of raw wounds, remember how it felt before the healing began, y

or months or days ago.This is the way to experience bitterness: hold the hand of a friend in pain, listen to her story, remember Naomi who renam

herself Mara, bitterness, because she went away full but God brought [her] back empty (Ruth 1:21).

This is the way to experience bitterness: recall the pain of exclusion that is part of the legacy of Jewish women. Listen to

words of Bertha Pappenheim, founder of the German Jewish feminist movement, who said, No continuing education can rehow the souls of Jewish womenand thus Judaism in its entiretyhave been sinned against

Or the words of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, who wrote, But do not speak to me of the progressiveness of Judas

Why isnt there one prayer in all the books to fit my modern casenot one to raise up the spirit of the so-called emancipa

woman?

How big a piece of maror must we eat to re-experience this bitterness?

And what if Ive known enough pain this year already? And what if exclusion is not just a memory for me?

And what if I eat the whole root and my tongue catches on fire and my ears burn? Then will I know slavery?

--The Maayan Passover Haggadah

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.

Neither shall they learn war anymore.

OSEH SHALOM

Oseh shalom bimromavhu yaaseh shalom aleinuval kol Yisrael,vimru, vimru, Amein.yaaseh shalomyaaseh shalomshalom aleinu val kol Yisrael (2x)

May the One who makes peace in thesupernal,grant peace to us, and to all the world.Amen

Take Us Out of Mitzrayim(Sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the BallGame")

Take us out of Mitzrayim,

Free us from slavery

Bake us some matzah in a haste

Don't worry 'bout flavor,

Give no thought to taste.

Oh it's rush, rush, rush, to the Red Sea

If we don't cross it's a shame,

For it's ten plagues,Passover Things(To the tune of "My Favorite Things")

Cleaning and cooking and so manydishesOut with the Hametz, no pasta, noKnishesFish that's gefilted, horseradish thatstings

These are a few of our Passover things.Matzah and Karpas and chopped upCharosetShankbones and Kiddish and Yiddishneuroses

Tante who Kvetches and uncle who singsThese are a few of our Passover things.Motzi and Maror and trouble withPharaohsFamines and locusts and slaves withwheelbarrowsMatzah balls floating and eggshells that

Mi Sheberakh avotenuMekor Habrakha limoteynuMay the Source of StrengthWho Blessed the ones before usHelp us find the courageTo make our lives a blessingAnd let us say: Amen

Mi Sheberakh imoteynuMekor Habrakha lavoteynuBless those in need of healingWith refuah shlema:

The renewal of bodyThe renewal of spiritAnd let us sa : Amen


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Documents

2009 Haggadah Supplement