📄 הגדה לסדר פסח | Seder in the Streets Passover Haggadah, compiled by Danielle Gershkoff, Rachel Lerman, Rachel Beck, and Margot Seigle (5774/2014)

Why a Seder in Solidarity with Hunger Strikers fighting deportation?

Everyday, more than 1,000 people are deported from the U.S.: torn apart from family, community and loved ones. By the end of this month, two million people will have been deported by the Obama Administration, amid Congressional inaction on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. The President can take concrete, bold and necessary actions to turn back the deportation dragnet but thus far, has not taken action.

In communities all across the country, people have been putting their bodies on the line, using nonviolent civil disobedience to stop deportation buses, shut down deportation centers, and put an end to this unjust and racist system that is destroying lives and tearing families apart. In April, migrant justice leaders from local struggles across the country convened in DC to ensure the president heard their demands loud and clear. Family members of those in deportation proceedings went on hunger strike outside the White House to emphasize the urgency of their message.

As Jews, this travesty hits close to home: it is not too long ago in our history that we were unwelcome in the places we called home. During Passover, we celebrate our freedom from bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh. Today in the U.S., undocumented communities face a parallel state of enslavement at the hands of ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) and local law enforcement. Families live in a constant state of fear that at any moment they could be separated through deportation, as a result of state sanctioned racial profiling. Undocumented workers, often silenced with the threat of being reported to ICE, face stolen wages and abuse in the workplace. Domestic violence goes unreported and unchecked in an environment where police are required to detain victims and collude with ICE. Individuals caught reentering the country are charged with felonies, tried en masse, and sentenced to months or years in jail while the private prison industry rakes in taxpayer money.

We use the structure of the Seder, a central piece of the tradition of Passover, to ground us in our struggles past and present and to hear the stories of those fighting for liberation today.

Set Up

Knowing we would not have a physical table to sit around, we wanted to create a container to hold the space. We placed a traditional seder plate with traditional items in the center, on top of a large piece of fabric cut in a circle, with our talisses placed around the fabric. This created a central table we could all gather around. Before hand, we asked participants to bring a piece of fabric and an item that represents liberation to them. Upon arrival, they were asked to cut their piece of fabric into a circle, place it on the large piece of fabric in front of their seat, and place their item on it. This represented their plate, or place, at the table.

Opening

Leader: Passover is the time to remember the struggle and celebrate the liberation of the Jewish peoples. This tradition relies heavily on story telling. We want to use this opportunity to learn about a modern day struggle for liberation through the sharing of stories.

Seder means order. We’re going to use the traditional order or structure of the seder while adapting the content of each section to fit this modern day context. We use a seder plate to hold symbolic ritual items that are used in describing and reliving the story of Passover. We invite you to place your item in front of you on your plate. Throughout the seder, we will explain the various items and invite you to share yours.

Passover has a strong tradition of asking questions. We encourage you to use this as an opportunity to ask the questions you are usually afraid to ask. No questions are off the table. Let this be a tool to facilitate deeper understanding between us, leaving us with a deeper commitment to each other’s struggle.

We want to acknowledge that we have chosen to do the seder in english, and that there are some people present for whom English is not their first language. People have volunteered to translate one on one. It’s helpful if folks can remember to speak slowly. We also want to recognize that loss of language is loss of culture, and that many if not all of our ancestors grew up speaking a language other than English.

Ritualized use of food

Leader: A Seder is a ritual meal carried out in a specific order. Jewish tradition commands us to eat an abundant meal to mark holidays, requiring of us an abundance of food beyond what we would eat on a typical day. A hunger strike is also a highly ritualized use of food. It is the act of not eating as a tool of protest, placing the value of ones life on the line in pursuit of justice. For our Seder today will not eat as a tool of marking this overlapping moment of Passover and the #not1more hunger strike.

A Stand Against All Forms Of Oppression

Leader: We are gathered here with people targeted by many forms of oppression- racism, imperialism, classism, anti-Semitism, US dominance, capitalism. To firmly take a stand against present-day oppression towards Arab Americans and western imperialism in the Middle East, we will be using the Hebrew word mitzrayim in place of Egypt, to intentionally differentiate between the symbolic and ancient oppressors in the Passover story and contemporary Arab places or people. Mitzrayim is the word used throughout the Torah to mean the land of Egypt. It comes from the Hebrew word zar, meaning narrow or constricted. The Passover story is also the story of the birth of the Jewish people, and mitzrayim is the narrow passage we moved through. Leaving mitzrayim also means freeing ourselves from narrow- mindedness and oppression.
(Liberation Seder Hagaddah 2014)

For the rest of the seder, we read in a circle, each person reading as many lines as they desired, with leaders adding additional commentary and explanation throughout.

Sh’heḥiyanu – blessing for new things

Baruch atta Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam she-ecḥeyanu ve’qi’eh’manu ve’higiy’anu laz’man hazeh.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Ḳadesh – four cups of water

In a traditional seder, we drink four cups of wine, marking the ways God redeemed us from Israel. In this seder, as we stand in solidarity with the hunger strikers, we will drink four cups of water.

While the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, they had fresh water from a traveling well, Miriam’s well. Miriam was a prophetess, and Moses’s sister. As the Jews would not have survived in the desert without water, the hunger strikers need water to maintain life. We join together to celebrate life, struggle, and sustenance by drinking these four cups.

Before we drink each cup, we will call forth the names and stories of four matriarchs in our own lives- water sustains life, women sustain the life of a community.

Who on our own journey has been a way-station for us?
Who has quenched our thirst for knowledge?
To whom do we look for our role models?
Who sang with joy at our accomplishments?
(Lerman Family Haggadah, 1990s)

Blessing over the first cup

Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha-olam shehakol nih’yeh bid’varo

Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe
Who made all things exist through His word

Ur’ḥatz – ritual handwashing

Pair share: Think about any preconceptions or judgments you are bringing with you. Let’s acknowledge them and wash them away, so we can all be completely open to learning and hearing each others’ experiences.

Karpas – dipping greens into salt water

The vegetable for Karpas symbolizes spring and renewal. Traditionally, we dip a vegetable in salt water as a reminder of the tears shed by our ancestors when they were slaves. Today we live with the many contradictions of bitter and sweet, past and future, freedom and oppression.

We will honor this tradition by picking a piece of spring from around us, noticing the life and newness in it, and then dipping it in salt water and placing it on our seder plate.

This tradition reminds us of the bitterness on our way to liberation, part of the life cycle of history, each human, each story, each piece of nature, reminds us of this cycle of bitterness and liberation.

Yaḥatz – breaking middle matzah

“We break the middle matzah in two, wrapping one portion in a napkin and hiding it. This division reminds us of the forced division of communities and families due to
disappearances, detentions, and deportations of immigrants that are carried out in the name of public safety.

The portion of matzah that remains visible becomes our bread of affliction, lekhem oni, the suffering of those who do not know where their loved ones have been taken.

The hidden piece of matzah, the afikomen, represents the horror hidden from our view – the treatment of those detained and prevented from speaking with their families, friends, or even lawyers. The disappeared are doubly blocked from our sight, physically separated in jails and detention centers, but also wrapped in a blanket of fear of further disappearances and legal attacks, fears intended to silence their communities.

Until these divided parts are made one again, our seder cannot truly be ended. Until these families and communities are reunited, we have not yet achieved our freedom.”
(JFREJ- Immigrant Justice/Racial Justice Haggadah Seder Plate Insert, April 2003)

Maggid – storytelling

“The time has come to embrace this story as our own. The time has come to honor each generation reading this story anew. The time has come to join hands with all who dream of freedom.” (JCA’s Immigrant Rights Freedom Seder, 2010)

Why Are We Here? In a pair share, why are you here today?

The Four Questions:

Mah nishtanah halaila hazeh mikol halaylot?

Shebakhol halaylot anu okhleen khamaytz u’matzah, halaila hazeh kulo matzah.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat either bread or matzah, but on this night we only eat matzah?

Shebakhol halaylot anu okhleen sh’ahr y’rakot, halaila hazeh maror.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?

Shebakhol halaylot ayn anu matbeeleen afeelu pa’am akhat, halaila hazeh sh’tay f’ameem.

Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?

Shebakhol halaylot anu okh’leen beyn yoshveen u’vayn m’subeen, halaila hazeh kulanu m’subeen.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?

Why is it that on all other nights we eat either bread or matzah, but on this night we only eat matzah?
On all other nights we may eat either leavened bread or matzah; tonight, only matzah, that we may recall the unleavened bread our ancestors baked in haste when they left slavery.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?
On all other nights we need not taste bitterness; tonight, we eat bitter herbs, that we may recall the suffering of slavery.

Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?
On all other nights we needn’t dip our food in condiments even once; tonight we dip twice, in saltwater to remember our tears when we were enslaved, and in haroset to remember the mortar and the bricks which we made.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?
On all other nights we eat sitting up; tonight, we recline, to remind ourselves to savor our liberation. (DC Avodah Haggadah)

“If your own suffering does not serve to unite you with the suffering of others, if your own imprisonment does not join you with others in prison, if you in your smallness remain alone, then your pain will have been for naught.” (The JOI Hagaddah)

The Four Alternative Questions:

Small group breakouts: Read through together and discuss four presumptuous questions relating to Jewish people in the U.S.

1. Who are the Jewish people?
“Jews are a people with a common early history that has developed uninterrupted for more than 3000 years. They have developed a number of distinctive cultures in the many lands in which they have lived…Jews are not a race. They are members of every race and have been citizens of many nations….nothing genetic determines Jewishness.” (JLPS, 2011) There are Jews by choice, Jews of mixed faith families, Jews through adoption, and Jews by birth.

2. Is it true Jews control the economy, run politics and the media?
No. Throughout history,” the roles that some Jews played as officials, administrators, etc. [ie middle agent roles] placed the entire Jewish community in a visible and vulnerable position in relation to other oppressed peoples. The latter were encouraged to direct hatred and resentment of their socioeconomic difficulties against the Jews rather than their actual oppressors, the ruling classes.” (JLPS, 2011) Today, we see this to continue to be played by perceptions of who run the media, politics, and the economy. “The largest concentration of people in the ruling class by far are Christian, not Jewish – and even the wealthiest Jews have often been excluded from top levels of decision making.” (Paul Kivel, in Rosenwasser)

3. Aren’t all Jews white and wealthy?
Again, no. Jews are of all races and come from most all corners of the world. And no, not all Jews are wealthy. 1 in every 10 Jews are Jews of color. As we said above, it is in the interest of those in power to paint the picture that Jews are all wealthy. In the early 2000s, the Jewish median household income was $54,000 and 1/6th of Jews in the U.S. are low income.

4. Do all Jews support Israel?
There are a wide range of views on Israel, Zionism, and concepts of Jewish home within the Jewish community. In today’s political climate, there is little space for Jews to take firm stands against the injustices being carried out by the Israeli government while maintaining a clear commitment to the Jewish people’s right to a home. This right belongs to all peoples and is not inherently in conflict with any other peoples.

Four presumptuous questions relating to people who are undocumented in the U.S.

1. Why don’t people come here legally, like many of our ancestors did?
Under current policy, the immigrant ancestors of many citizens today, who arrived between 1790 and 1924, would not be allowed in today. Generally, gaining permission to live and work in the United States is limited to people who are (1) highly trained in a skill that is in short supply here, (2) escaping political persecution, or (3) joining close family already here. For many, there is no legal path offered. (Tolerance.org)

2. Do undocumented people take “our” jobs?
This is not the question that we should be asking. Our current economic system exploits workers without documents, which in turn lowers the standards for health, safety and wage protection for all workers. The question we should be asking is: how can we create an economic system that is just and fair for all workers? In addition, the concept of jobs being “ours” and not “theirs” is faulty. It is based on a sense of entitlement to land and a belief that who gets access to citizenship is based in justice rather than the reality that it is deeply rooted in racism and the reaches of global capitalism.

3. Is it true undocumented people don’t pay taxes and then receive government benefits?
No. Undocumented people pay property and sales tax, and often either have taxes withheld from their paycheck, and/or file taxes with an ITIN #. Though they do pay taxes, they are not able to receive government benefits because in order to receive them, one is required to show a valid SS# and undocumented people do not have this. This means that often, people pay into social security benefits that they will never receive.

4. Why don’t people just stay in the countries they came from?
Many countries have been negatively impacted by economic decisions imposed on them by the US Government. Many people are forced out of their countries because of poverty caused by global economic decisions. For example: prior to NAFTA, corn was a staple crop for Mexican farmers. However, after NAFTA came into effect, the U.S. subsidies for soy and corn flooded Mexican markets with cheaper products, putting thousands of Mexican farmers out of business

The Story of Exodus:

According to the Torah, one of Jacob’s sons, Joseph came to live in Mitzrayim and became the Pharoah’s advisor. He told Pharoah to build storehouses and fill them with grain. Years later, famine struck and there was food to eat in Mitzrayim. The Pharoah was so grateful that when Joseph’s brothers came in search of food, he invited them to settle. They lived there in peace for many years and became known as Israelites.

Years later, a new Pharoah came to rule who did not remember Joseph and all he had done for the people in Mitzrayim. He only feared that the Israelites would become too numerous and too powerful.

This Pharoah made the Israelites slaves. He forced them to do hard labor, building cities with bricks made from clay and straw. The cruelest decree of all was the Pharoah’s order that every baby boy born to an Israelite woman be drowned in the River Nile.

One couple, Amram and Yocheved, would not kill their newborn son. Instead, they hid him in their hut for three months. When his cries became too loud, Yocheved placed him in a basket in the river. Their daughter Miriam watched to see what would happen.

As the Pharaoh’s daughter came to bathe in the river, she discovered the basket with the baby inside and decided to keep him as her own. She named him Moshe (Moses) which means “drawn from the water.”

Bravely, Miriam asked the princess if she needed a nurse to help her with the baby. She said yes and so Yocheved was able to care for her own son and teach him about his heritage.

Moses would have remained in the Pharoah’s palace, but he could not ignore the suffering of his people. One day, he saw an Israelite slave being beaten and in anger, he killed the taskmaster. Knowing his life would be in danger once the news of this deed spread, he fled to Midian and became a Shepherd.

One day, he came upon a bush that seemed to be on fire, but was not burning up. From the bush, he heard God’s voice calling to him saying: “I am the God of your ancestors. I have seen the suffering of the Israelites and have heard their cries. I am ready to take them out of Mitzrayim and bring them to a new land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

God told Moses to return to Mitzrayim to bring the message of freedom to the Israelites and to warn Pharoah that God would bring plagues to Mitzrayim if he did not let the slaves go free.

When Moses asked Pharoah to free the Israelites, he refused, so God brought ten plagues to the land.

We tell this story to remember our joy in being able to leave Mitzrayim. Yet our happiness is not complete, because the people of Mitzrayim, who are also God’s children, suffered from Pharoah’s evil ways. Therefore, we spill a drop from our cups as we say each plague. (Lerman family Hagaddah, 1990s)

“In each and every generation, a person needs to see themselves as if they left Egypt.”

Explanation of #Not1MoreDeportation Campaign

Hunger Strikers Share Their Stories

10 Plagues

Customarily, we spill 10 drops of wine in order to recognize the suffering that non-Jews living in Mitzrayim faced from the 10 plagues. There are many contemporary renditions written of these plagues including those below. However, another way to view the plagues is that they were tactics used by G-d and Moses to put pressure on Pharaoh to achieve freedom from slavery. Therefore, today we also recognize the plagues of liberation, the many tactics that are being used today to unfreeze the hearts of ICE, President Obama and Congress.

Plagues of the Exodus story

1. Blood Dahm
2. Frogs Tzfardeyah
3. Lice Key-nim
4. Beasts Ah-rove
5. Cattle Disease Dever
6. Boils Sheh-chin
7. Hail Bah-rad
8. Locusts Ar-beh
9. Darkness Choshech
10. Killing of First Born Makat Bechorot

Contemporary Plagues

1. Secure Communities
2. Legalized racial profiling via SB1070, HB 87, etc.
3. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
4. ICE (immigration customs enforcement)
5. Privatization of prisons
6. Dysfunctional pathway to citizenship
7. Raids, wage theft and worker exploitation
8. Operation streamline
9. Militarized border
10. Mandatory detention during deportation proceedings.

Plagues of Liberation (tactics)

1. Hunger Strike
2. Shut down ICE
3. Uno por uno – Organizing to get individuals out of deportation
4. No Papers, No Fear – Ride for Justice
5. National days of action
6. Petitions
7. Marches and rallies
8. Writing Bills (aka the Trust Act)
9. Rulemaking petition to the Department of Homeland Security
10. Boycott and divestment

All demanding: Moratorium on Deportation! DACA for All!

This is an opportunity for folks to talk about the contemporary plagues and tactics. What are the contemporary plagues, and how have they caused devastation to the undocumented community? What are stories from the tactics and how have they led to the liberation of undocumented folks?

Dayenu

The song Dayenu leads us through the story of exodus, from leaving mitzrayim, through receiving the Jewish laws, through entering the land of freedom. In the story, God did all of these things for us. We sing this song to pause, grateful for our work at each stage along the way. Even though we still have much ahead on the path for immigrant justice, while what has been won so far is not enough for us, our families, and our communities, we still get to rejoice what we have achieved so far and be grateful for the work and wins.

Dayenu
Ilu ho-tsi, ho-tsi-a-nu,
Ho-tsi-a-nu mi-Mitz-ra-yim,
Ho-tsi-a-nu mi-Mitz-ra-yim,
Da-ye-nu!

.. CHORUS:
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu!
..
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Dai, da-ye-nu,
.. Da-ye-nu, da-ye-nu!

Ilu na-tan, na-tan la-nu,
Na-tan la-nu et-ha-Sha-bat,
Na-tan la-nu et-ha-Sha-bat,
Da-ye-nu!

.. (CHORUS)

Ilu na-tan, na-tan la-nu,
Na-tan la-nu et-ha-To-rah,
Na-tan la-nu et-ha-To-rah,
Da-ye-nu!

.. (CHORUS)

Had He brought all out from Egypt,
then it would have been enough.

Had He given to us all the Sabbath,
then it would have been enough.

Had He given to us all the Torah,
then it would have been enough.

Pesach, Matzah, and Maror

Rabbi Gamaliel said: “One who has not explained the following symbols of the seder has not fulfilled the festival obligations: Pesach, the pachal lambd; Matzah, the unleavened bread; Maror, the bitter herb.” -Silverman Haggadah, 2013

The Pesach Offering: The tenth plague was the killing of the first born son. The Israelites sacrificed a lamb, ate the meat, and spread the blood on the doorposts of their homes, signifying to God to “pass over” their home and spare their first born.

The Matzah, unleavened bread, to remind us how our ancestors had to leave mitzrayim in such haste that the dough for their bread did not have time to rise.

The Maror, a bitter herb (horseradish), reminds us how bitter the lives of our ancestors were as slaves in mitzrayim.

Explanation of remaining items on the seder plate

The Egg reminds us of spring, and its round shape symbolizes the cycle of life and renewal.

Ḥaroset, a mixture of fruit, nuts, wine, cinnamon (there are many variations from many traditions) represents the mortar that the Israelites used in their labor as slaves in mitzrayim.

Personal Liberation Items represent liberation to each of us in our own lives.

Second Cup of Water

repeat ritual in Ḳadesh

Meal

#not1moredepoeration campaign explains the hunger strike strategy

Third Cup of Water

repeat ritual in Ḳadesh

Tzafun – looking for afikomen

As we said before, the hidden piece of matzah, the afikomen, represents the horror hidden from our view – those detained and prevented from speaking with their families, friends, or even lawyers. We will use this time to hear from some people who have families in deportation or who have been deported.

Barekh – blessing after meal

Pick a partner and bless each other, honoring the shared storytelling we engaged in as a group.

Hallel – songs of praise

Ozi v’Zimrat Yah Vayahi li lishuah

My Strength (balanced) with the Song of God will be my salvation (Psalms 118:14 & Exodus 15:2)

Esturulu

^[1] author unknown  

Esturulu, Esturulu, Esturulu
Esturulu de la mama
No me tengas ningún mal

Esturulu no come carne
porque quiere casa aparte
Esturulu, Esturulu, Esturulu
Esturulu de la mama
No me tengas ningún mal

Esturulu se fue al pozo
Para ver su hermozo
Esturulu, Esturulu, Esturulu
Esturulu de la mama
No me tengas ningún mal

Esturulu se fue al tejado
Para ver su enamorado
Esturulu, Esturulu, Esturulu
Esturulu de la mama
no me tengas ningún mal

When the world is sick
Can’t no one be well
But I dreamt we were all beautiful and strong

Nirtzah

Fourth Cup of Wine

repeat ritual in Ḳadesh

Conclusion!!

Traditionally, we conclude by saying, “Next year in Jerusalem”, as a means of calling for a hopeful future. What are we hopeful for in the year to come?

Activity: Take your “plate” or piece of fabric and on it with permanent marker, finish the sentence “next year in _______”. Go around and share what you wrote! A willing participant can take home the pieces of fabric and sew on to the larger fabric seder plate!

Examples:
“Next year without deportations”
“Next year with my family”
“Next year, right where I am”
“Next year, an end to racist immigration policies”
“Next year, dayeinu”

“This Time” by Aurora Levins Morales

They say that other country over there, dim blue in the twilight, farther than the orange stars exploding over our roofs, is called peace, but who can find a way?
This time we cannot cross until we carry each other.
All of us refugees, all of us prophets. No more taking turns on history’s wheel trying to collect old debts no one can pay.
The sea will not open that way.
This time that country is what we promise each other, our rage pressed cheek to cheek until tears flood the space between, until there are no enemies left, because this time no one will be left to drown, and all of us must be chosen.
This time it’s all of us, or none.