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Seder intro

This is an archive of resources and prayers offered at the very outset of the seder, prior to its first course.

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

Alternative Mnemonic Order of Simanim for the Pesaḥ Seder, following Maimonides

I wrote this back in 2023 when it was pointed out to me that none of the attested mnemonics for the seder follow the Maimonidean practice, which lacks breaking the matzo. According to the Rambam, the matzo is only divided right before the blessings. This means that Yemenites recite a mnemonic that doesn’t follow their practice! I decided that was unfair and wrote an alternative that follows the Rambam’s instructions. (That being said, I’m still doing yaḥatz at mine.)

Categories:

Seder intro

Tags:

haggadah supplements, mnemonic, Seder intro, סימנים simanim, Yemenite Jewry

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer and Moshe ben Maimon

Judeo-Italian couplets for each course of the Passover Seder (Venice, 1609)

A series of fourteen short couplets describing the fourteen traditional stages of the Haggadah, written in Judeo-Italian and first published in the famous 1609 Venice Haggadah of Isaac Gershon. The Italian used in the Venice Haggadah lacks a lot of the most divergent aspects of the Judeo-Italian languages, sticking to a more mainline Tuscan grammatical norm, but there are enough obsolete, poetic, or dialectal forms that several footnotes have been included to explain them. Also included is an original English-language rhyming translation!

Categories:

Seder intro

Tags:

17th century C.E., 55th century A.M., haggadah supplements, Italian Jewry, Italian vernacular prayer, Nusaḥ Italḳi, rhyming translation

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation) and Unknown

Opening Prayer to the Home Service for the Festival of Passover, by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy (1896)

This is the opening prayer to the Passover seder by Rabbi J. Leonard Levy to his Haggadah or Home Service for the Festival of Passover (1896) pp. 3-4, reprinted with different page numbers in subsequent editions. The prayer threads the needle between the particularly Jewish communal focus of Passover and the universalist themes that animated Levy’s Liberal Jewish mission.

Categories:

Seder intro

Tags:

19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, particularism and universalism

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and J. Leonard Levy

Seder-Night, by Israel Zangwill (1903)

“Seder-Night” was written by Israel Zangwill and first published in his collection of poetry, Blind Children (1903), p. 117.

Categories:

Seder intro

Tags:

20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Jewry, English poetry, English vernacular prayer, Prayers as poems

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Israel Zangwill

הַכָּרָת רִבּוֹנוּת הָאָרֶץ | Indigenous Land Acknowledgement for Toronto, by Aurora Mendelsohn (2020)

An acknowledgement that the land we are conducting our religious ceremonies on is the sacred and traditional land of Indigenous people. It involves a kavvanah and study verses as well as the land acknowledgement.

Categories:

Seder intro, 🇨🇦 Canada

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., haggadah supplements, indigenous land acknowledgement, Indigenous Peoples, petiḥah, Openers, post-colonial, פרשת חיי שרה parashat Ḥayyei Sarah

Contributor(s):

Aurora Mendelsohn

הַכָּרָת רִבּוֹנוּת הָאָרֶץ | Indigenous Land Acknowledgment for Cincinnati, Ohio, by Aharon Varady (Havayah community, 2021)

An indigenous land acknowledgement for Jewish communities located in the historic lands of the Shawnee and Miami people.

Categories:

Seder intro, 🇺🇸 Indigenous Peoples' Day (2nd Monday of October), 🇺🇸 Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November)

Tags:

21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, indigenous land acknowledgement, Indigenous Peoples, petiḥah, Openers, post-colonial

Contributor(s):

Havayah community, Northside Cincinnati and Aharon N. Varady

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

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