content.md.erb

<% bgnd = "background-image: url(dark_wall_@2x.png)" %>
<%
stages = ["קדש!", "ורחץ", "כרפס", "יחץ", "מגיד!", "רחצה", "מוציא מצה", "מרור", "כורך", "שולחן עורך", "צפון", "ברך", "הלל", "נירצה"]
seder = ->(pos) {
<<-MARKDOWN
  .left-column[
    #{
      stages.each_with_index.map do |stage, i|
        "#{"#"*(pos === i ? 2 : 3)} #{stage} \n"
      end.join
    }
  ]
MARKDOWN
}
%>
class: middle, center
<%= bgnd %>

  Long ago at this season, our people set out on a journey.

  *On such a night as this, We went from degradation to joy.*

  We give thanks for the liberation of days gone by.

  *And we pray for all who are still bound.*

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

Fill your glass!

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four?

Some say the cups represent our matriarchs — Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah — whose virtue caused God to liberate us from slavery.
---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

Fill your glass!

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four?

Another interpretation is that the cups represent the Four Worlds: physicality, emotions, thought, and essence.
---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

Fill your glass!

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four?

Still a third interpretation is that the cups represent the four promises of liberation God makes in the Torah:

* I will bring you out
* I will deliver you
* I will redeem you
* I will take you to be my people

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

Fill your glass!

Tonight we drink four cups of wine. Why four?

The four promises, in turn, have been interpreted as four stages on the path of liberation:

* becoming aware of oppression
* opposing oppression
* imagining alternatives
* accepting responsibility to act

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הַעוֹלָם אָשֶר קִדשָנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָנוּ לְהָדלִיק נֵר שֶל יוֹם טוֹב

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu ruach ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, who sanctifies us with your commandment to kindle the holiday lights

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh.

Blessed are you, Adonai, sovereign of all worlds, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this moment.


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[0] %>
# קדש (Kadeish)

Here's to becoming aware of oppression!

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei p’ri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Adonai, Ruler of the Universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

---


<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[1] %>

# ורחץ (Urhatz)

In Hebrew, urchatz means “washing” or “cleansing.” In Aramaic, sister language to Hebrew, urchatz means “trusting.” As we wash each others’ hands, let us rejoice in this act of trust.

---

<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[1] %>
# ורחץ (Urhatz)

*There is a Sefardic (Iraqi or Afghani) custom of turning to the person beside you, asking these three questions, and offering the three brief answers.*

* Who are you?

* Where are you coming from?

* Where are you going?

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[1] %>
# ורחץ (Urhatz)

Passover celebrates freedom, exemplified in the story of our Exodus from Egypt. That story leads our entry into Israel — not exactly a simple redemption tale. Especially not now, as Israelis and Palestinians continue to fight for their mutual Promised Land, and to shed blood in pursuit of its ownership.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[1] %>
# ורחץ (Urhatz)

In light of that situation, some of us may have complicated feelings about identifying with Israel. But “Israel” doesn’t refer only to the Land. “Israel” is the name which was given to Jacob after he spent the night wrestling with an angel of God. Therefore “the people Israel” can be interpreted as “Godwrestling people” — “people who take on the holy obligation of engaging with the divine.”

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[2] %>

# כרפס (Karpas)

Dip some parsley in saltwater.

The green vegetable represents rebirth, renewal and growth; the salt water represents the tears of enslavement.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[2] %>

# כרפס (Karpas)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu ruach ha’olam, borei p’ri ha’adamah.

Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, creator of the fruit of the earth.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[3] %>

# יחץ (Yahatz)

Traditionally, seders require three matzot. Why three?

Three are our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Three are the segments of the people Israel, Kohen, Levi and Yisrael.

The three matzot could even represent thesis, antithesis and synthesis: the two opposites in any polarized situation, and the solution which bridges them.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[3] %>

# יחץ (Yahatz)

This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.

Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover with us.

Now we are here; next year may we be in the Land of Israel.

Now we are slaves; next year may we be free.


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[3] %>

# יחץ (Yahatz)

We break the matzah as we broke the chains of slavery, and as we break chains which bind us today.

We will no more be fooled by movements which free only some of us, in which our so-called “freedom” rests upon the enslavement or embitterment of others.

Break the matza.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Fill your second glass!

Memory is not a static deposit; it is neither rules nor happenings that confront us unchanging. We continually re-remember; we retell and recast our past in light of changing communal experience and changing communal values.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Fill your second glass!

When the founder of modern Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a special fire, say a special prayer, and the trouble would be averted.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Fill your second glass!

Later, when his disciple, the Rabbi Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion for the same reason to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I cannot light the fire, but I know the place and I can say the prayer."

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Fill your second glass!

Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save the Jewish people, would go into the forest and say: "I cannot light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place."

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Fill your second glass!

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his house, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is tell the story, and this must be sufficient."

And it was sufficient.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Here's to opposing oppression!

ברוּכָה אַת, שְכִינָה רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם בוֹראֵת פְרִי הַגָפֶן

Brucha At, Shekhinah, ruach ha-olam, boreit pri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Shekhinah, Breath of Life, creator of the fruit of the vine.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>
# מגיד (Maggid)

Why is this night different from all other nights?

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

Then came the cat, that ate the kid,

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that ate the kid

Then came the dog that bit the cat

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

Then came the stick that beat the dog

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that beat the dog

Then came the fire that burnt the stick

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>


Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that burnt the stick that beat the dog

Then came the water that quench'd the fire

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that burnt the stick that beat the dog

that quench'd the fire

Then came the ox that drank the water

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that burnt the stick that beat the dog

that drank the water that quench'd the fire

Then came the butcher to slaughter the ox

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that burnt the stick that beat the dog

that drank the water that quench'd the fire

that slaughtered the ox

Then came the Angel of Death and slew the butcher

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[4] %>

Chad gadya, chad gadya!

My father bought for two zuzim.

that bit the cat that ate the kid

that burnt the stick that beat the dog

that drank the water that quench'd the fire

that slew the butcher that slaughtered the ox

Then came the Breath of Life that smote the Angel of Death

---

<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[5] %>

# רחצה (Ratzah)
Go wash your hands!

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדָיִם

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al n'tilat yadayim.

Blessed are You, Source of all Being, who sanctifies us with Your commandments, and commands us to wash our hands.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[6] %>
# מוציא מצה (Motzi Matza)

this is the year that squatters evict landlords,
gazing like admirals from the rail of the roofdeck,

or levitating hands in praise, of steam in the shower;

this is the year that shawled refugees deport judges who stare at the floor
and their swollen feet as files are stamped with their destination....


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[6] %>
# מוציא מצה (Motzi Matza)

this is the year that those who swim the border's undertow and shiver in boxcars
are greeted with trumpets and drums at the first railroad crossing on the other side;

this is the year that the hands pulling tomatoes from the vine uproot the deed to the earth that sprouts the vine....

if the abolition of slave-manacles began as a vision of hands without manacles, then this is the year;

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[6] %>
# מוציא מצה (Motzi Matza)

if the shutdown of extermination camps began as imagination of a land without barbed wire or the crematorium, then this is the year;

if every rebellion begins with the idea that conquerors on horseback are not many-legged gods, that they too drown if plunged in the river, then this is the year.

so may every humiliated mouth, teeth like desecrated headstones, fill with the angels of bread.

---

<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[6] %>
# מוציא מצה (Motzi Matza)

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ  אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוח הָעוֹלָם  אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתַָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מַצָּה:

Baruch atah, Adonai eloheinu, melech ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al achilat matzah.

Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, who sanctifies us with the commandment to eat matzah.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[6] %>
# מוציא מצה (Motzi Matza)

בְָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ  אֱלֹהֵינוּ רוח הָעוֹלָם  הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ

Baruch atah, Adonai eloheinu, melech ha’olam, hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz.

Blessed are you, Adonai, Breath of Life, who brings forth bread from the earth.

---

<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[7] %>

# מרור (Maror)

Why do we eat maror?
Maror represents the bitterness of bondage.

Why do we eat haroset? It symbolizes the mortar for the bricks our ancestors laid in Egypt.

Though it represents slave labor, haroset is sweet, reminding us that sometimes constriction or enslavement can be masked in familiar sweetness.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[7] %>

# מרור (Maror)

Eating the two together, we remind ourselves to be mindful of life with all its sweetness and bitterness, and to seek balance between the two.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[7] %>

# מרור (Maror)

Eating the two together, we remind ourselves to be mindful of life with all its sweetness and bitterness, and to seek balance between the two.

Make haroset, chop chop chop

Apples, nuts, and cinnamon

Add some wine, it’s lots of fun!

Make haroset, chop chop chop!

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[7] %>

# מרור (Maror)
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיַָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם  אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל אֲכִילַת מָרוֹר

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al achilat maror.

Blessed are you, Adonai, sovereign of all worlds, who sanctifies us with the commandment to eat the bitter herb.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[8] %>
# כורך (Koreich)

When the Temple still stood, the sage Hillel originated the tradition of eating matzah and maror together, combining the bread of liberation with a remembrance of the bitterness of slavery.

In following his example, we create a physical representation of the holiday’s central dialectical tension.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[9] %>

# שולחן עורך (Shulhan Orech)

OK. Let's eat.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[10] %>

# צפון (Tzafun)

Find the afikoman!

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[10] %>

# צפון (Tzafun)

When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, it was customary to make an offering of a paschal lamb at this season. Now we eat the afikoman in memory of the offering.

Why end the meal thus? Because we want the dinner to end with the taste of slavery/freedom in our mouths—thus the taste of matzah, rather than some unrelated sweet.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[11] %>

# ברך (Bareich)

I have taken in the light

that quickened eye and leaf.

May my brain be bright with praise of what I eat, in the brief blaze

of motion and of thought.

May I be worthy of my meat.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your third glass!


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>
# הלל (Hallel)

Here's to imagining alternatives!

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ  אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם  בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei pri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

*Pour out Your wrath upon those who do not know You and upon the governments which do not call upon Your Name.*

*For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling place. Pour out Your fury upon them; let the fierceness of Your anger overtake them. Pursue them in indignation and destroy them from under Your heavens*


---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

This text reminds us that oppression breeds anger to which we must attend. Once, we recited this text out of powerlessness. We asked God to pour forth divine wrath because we were unable to express our own. But in today's world, where we enjoy agency to an unprecedented degree, we must resist the temptations of perennial victimhood and yearning for revenge.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

The scholar Laura Levitt has written:

*Revenge is not pretty; it is even embarrassing. And yet, these passages acknowledge that anger and the desire for revenge are a part of our legacy. They seem to suggest that before the Messiah can come, we must be able to express our rage at what has been done to us.*

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

Rage, unexpressed, will fester. Let us therefore acknowledge our communal pain. Let us recognize the intersecting systems of oppression which ensnare our world, from xenophobia to sexism, and feel appropriate anger in response. And let us recommit ourselves to honing that anger so that it might fuel us to create change, so that our wrath may lead us to redemption.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

*Focused with precision, [anger] can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change. And when I speak of change, I do not mean a simple switch of positions or a temporary lessening of tensions, nor the ability to smile or feel good. I am speaking of a basic and radical alteration in those assumptions underlining our lives.*
— Audre Lorde

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

Three thousand years ago, a farmer arose in the Middle East who challenged the ruling elite. In his passionate advocacy for common people, Elijah sparked a movement and created a legend which would inspire generations to come.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

Elijah declared that he would return once each generation in the guise of someone poor or oppressed, coming to people's doors to see how he would be treated. Thus would he know whether or not humanity had become ready to participate in the dawn of the Messianic age. He is said to visit every seder, and sip there from his cup of wine.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Fill your fourth glass!

(Also, go open the gate.  We will wait.)

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Raise your fourth glass!

Tonight we welcome two prophets: not only Elijah, but also Miriam, sister of Moses.
Elijah is a symbol of messianic redemption at the end of time; Miriam, of redemption in our present lives.

Miriam’s cup is filled with water, evoking her Well which followed the Israelites in the wilderness.
---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Raise your fourth glass!

אֵלִיָהוּ הַנָבִיא, אֵלִיָהוּ הַתִּשְׁבִּי, אֵלִיָהוּ הַגִלְעָדִי בִּמְהֵרָה יָבוֹא אֵלֵינוּ עִם מָשִׁיחַ בֶּן דָוִד

Eliyahu Hanavi, Eliyahu Hatishbi, Elyahu Hagiladi, Bimherah Yavo Elenu Im Mashiach Ben David.

Elijah the Prophet, Elijah the Stranger, Elijah of Gilead, May he soon come to us, with Mashiach the son of David.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[12] %>

# הלל (Hallel)

Here's to accepting responsibility to act!

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ  אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם  בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן

Baruch atah, Adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, borei pri hagafen.

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Ruler of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine.

---
<%= bgnd %>
<%= seder[13] %>

# נירצה (Nirtzah)

Next year in Jerusalem!