(Note that some of the supplementary Seder Readings are from a few years ago and we can see how the political and religious conditions for the Jews and for others who are oppressed have changed so quickly in our world. Discuss with the Seder participants how relevant each of these readings still is today and why each is or is not still necessary.)

Behold this matzah, the symbol of our affliction but also of our liberty. As we look at it let us remember our brethren everywhere who are in distress. On this festival of our freedom, may our hearts be turned to our brothers and sisters in Russia and in Arab lands who are not able to celebrate this Passover in the traditional, reclining attitude of free men. Rock of Israel, hasten the day when all of our brethren will know true freedom and in consort with the whole house of Israel give thanks to Thee for Thy wondrous deeds and Thy redemption. And may the redeemer come unto Zion. Amen.

"The words are a pledge, and the pledge is a privilege. Surrounded by the hungry and the homeless, we can redeem the pledge. This evening, so that the hungry may eat, we contribute to Mazon, A Jewish Response to Hunger, and we say, together:

Barukh eloheinu sheb'tuvo he'vianu v'zikanu l'mitzvat matan mazon.

Blessed is our God through whose goodness we have been brought to the privilege of sharing our bread."

This Is The Matzah of Hope: This matzah, which we set aside as a symbol of hope, for the three million Jews of the Soviet Union, reminds us of the indestructible link that exists between us. As we observe this festival of freedom, we know that Soviet Jews are not free to learn of their Jewish past, to hand it down to their children. They cannot learn the languages of their fathers. They cannot teach their children to be the teachers, the rabbis of future generations.

They can only sit in silence and become invisible. We shall be their voice, and our voices shall be joined by thousands of men of conscience aroused by the wrongs suffered by Soviet Jews. Then shall they know that they have not been forgotten and they that sit in darkness shall yet see a great light.

It has become customary at the Seder to set aside a few minutes for Jews in other lands, especially the Soviet Union and those in Arab lands, who are not free to celebrate Passover. We also remember another group of our brothers and sisters, perhaps less familiar to us, but living in even more dire circumstances. These are the Ethiopian Jews or "Falashas" as they were called by the Ethiopians. Even their name, "Falasha," means stranger, though this group of Jews has been living in Ethiopia at least since the time of the Second Temple. They call themselves instead "Beta Yisrael," "The House of Israel."

Though their origins may be mysterious, their current problems are not. Once a proud and prosperous community of 500,000, their numbers have dwindled in recent years due to poverty, disease, drought, civil war and missionary efforts. Today, while most have been resettled in Israel for which they hoped, some still remain in Ethiopia. Their only desire is to be able to return to the land of their ancestors, Israel.

Do not separate me, O Lord, from the chosen

From the joy, from the light, from the splendor,

Let me see, O Lord, the light of Israel,

And let me listen to the words of the just

While they speak about the Law.

To teach fear of Thee, O Lord, King forever.

Thou are blessed, O Lord, be merciful to me.

By day be Thou my shepherd, and my guardian at night.

When I walk be my guide, when I sit be my guardian.

When I call Thee, keep Thou not silent.

I love Thee, hate me not;

I have confidence in Thee,

Abandon me not.

(From United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism collected materials by Rabbi Moshe Edelman)

All three Pilgrim festivals (Pesach, Shavuot and Succot) contain elements which make of them complete joyous occasions. However, it is Pesach, more than the others, which combines all elements into a most harmonious and soul-satisfying whole.

Pesach is a festival of the head. It calls upon the Jew to meditate on the ideal of freedom. It transports you back in history to the period of bondage in Egypt and it asks that you put yourself in the place of your ancestors who were released from Pharaoh’s yoke. It is not enough to regard the Exodus as history. "In every generation a person is obliged to regard oneself as if you had left the land of Egypt. To translate Pesach into contemporary terms is one of the elements of the festival.

On this night, we remember a fifth child.

This is a child of the Shoah (Holocaust), who did not survive to ask.

Therefore, we ask for that child -- Why?

We are like the simple child. We have no answer.

We can only follow the footsteps of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, who could not bring himself to mention the Exodus at night until Ben Zoma explained it to him through the verse: In order that you REMEMBER the day of your going out from Egypt, all the days of your life. (Deut. 16.3)

We answer that child’s question with silence. In silence, we remember that dark time. In silence, we remember that Jews preserved their image of God in the struggle for life. In silence, we remember the seder nights spent in the forests, ghettos, and camps; we remember that seder night when the Warsaw Ghetto rose in revolt.

On this night of the Seder we remember with reverence and love the six million of our people of the European exile who perished at the hand of a tyrant more wicked that Pharaoh who enslaved our fathers in Egypt. Come, said he to his minions, let us cut them off from being a people, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more. And they slew the blameless and pure, men and women and little ones, with vapors of poison and burned them with fire. But we abstain from dwelling the deeds of evil ones lest we defame the image of God in which man was created.

Now, the remnants of our people who were left in the ghettos and camps of annihilation rose up against the wicked ones for the sanctification of the Name and slew many of them before they died. On the first day of Passover the remnants in the Ghetto for Warsaw rose up against the adversary, even as in the days of Judah the Maccabee. They were lovely and pleasant in the lives and in their death they were not divided. They brought redemption to the name of Israel throughout all the world.

And from the depths of their affliction the martyrs lifted their voices in a song of faith in the coming of the Messiah, when justice and brotherhood will reign among men.

(I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah;

and, though he tarry, none the less I believe.")

We read in the Talmud: These four cups correspond to the four expressions of redemption which the Torah uses in relating the events of Egypt: Vehotzeti and I shall bring forth: Vehitzalti and I shall save; Vegaalti and I shall redeem: Valakahti and I shall take. Rabbi Tarphon would add a fifth cup to correspond to Veheveti and I shall bring.

And now, in our own time, when we have been privileged to behold the mercies of the Holy One, blessed is He and His salvation over us; in the establishment of the State of Israel which is the beginning of redemption and salvation, as it is written: "And I shall bring you into the land which I swore to give unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob and I have given it unto you as an inheritance; I am the Lord! it is fitting and proper that we observe this pious act, the drinking of the fifth cup as a form of thanksgiving.

We give thanks unto the Eternal for the wartime miracles and wonders He wrought for us. The mercies of the Eternal stood us in good stead in time of dire peril, when seven nations united to destroy and annihilate the Jewish state at the very time of its birth and yet once again they pledge do annihilate the land and its people and plunge it into rivers of blood and fire. The Eternal, in His loving kindness, frustrated the designs of our enemies and vouchsafed victory unto us bringing us again to Jerusalem in joy.

As we prepare to spill wine from our cup at the mention of each plague, we recall the sentence of the Bible, "Rejoice not when your enemy falls". Our Rabbis taught that when the children of Israel sang songs of praise to God as the Egyptians drowned in the sea, the angels on high wished to join in these songs and were stopped by God who said, "These are my creatures who are drowning in the sea! For this you would sing songs of praise?". Thus we too lessen our joy at Passover time at the mention of these plagues, for there can be no rejoicing at the death or suffering of human beings, even our enemies. And so we diminish this cup of joy, for our redemption had to come through the destruction of others.

The Jewish prisoners in the German concentration camp at Bergen Belsen did not have matzah for the observance of Pesach in 1944. Under the circumstances the sages at the camp permitted the eating of leavened bread for which occasion this benediction was composed:

Our Father in heaven, behold it is evident and known to three that it is our desire to do they will and to celebrate the festival of Pesach by eating matzah and by observing the prohibition of leavened food. But our heart is pained that the enslavement prevents us and we are in danger of our lives. Behold, we are prepared and ready to fulfill they commandment; "And ye shall live by them and not die by them".

We pray to thee that thou mayest keep us alive and preserve us and redeem us speedily so that we may observe thy statutes and do thy will and serve thee with a perfect heart. Amen.

CHILD: (Holding the Afikoman, a child addresses the Seder leader:)

Father...(Grandfather, Mother...) I have found this half of the Matzah...the Afikoman.

LEADER: And, I have the other half. Where did you find your half of the matzah?

CHILD: I found it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LEADER: And now, we who have enjoyed this bountiful Seder must share what you have found. We will share the Afikoman as our dessert and also remember and provide for those still in bondage.

CHILD: How much will you pay me for this dessert?

LEADER: I will pay you whatever we agree upon. And, in memory of our own escape from Egypt and to free those still in bondage in Ethiopia, we at this table will give generously to free Beta Yisrael, the Jews of Ethiopia.

(Child hands the Afikoman to the Leader.)

LEADER: As I receive this Afikoman, may it be an offering for all our people who still suffer. May this be the fulfillment of Rabbi Maimonides' conviction that the greatest of all Mitzvot is the "redemption of captives."

"Tonight we read together:

Lo! This is the bread of poverty that our ancestors ate.

Let all who are hungry come and eat!

Let all who are in need share in the hope of Passover!

This year we all are slaves,

Next year may we all be free.

Tonight, to redeem the Afikoman:

We renew our commitment to help all who are hungry round the world,

So that next year we may all be free."

Had God upheld us throughout two thousand year of Dispersion

But not preserved our hope for return Dayenu

Had God preserved our hope for return

But not sent us leaders to make the dream a reality Dayenu

Had God sent us leaders to make the dream a reality,

But not given us success in the U.N. vote Dayenu

Had God given us success in the U.N. vote,

But not defeated our attackers in 1948 Dayenu

Had God defeated our attackers in 1948,

But not unified Jerusalem Dayenu

Had God unified Jerusalem,

But not led us toward peace with Egypt Dayenu

Had God returned us to the Land of our ancestors,

But not filled it with our children Dayenu

Had God willed it with our children,

But not caused the desert to bloom Dayenu

Had God caused the desert to bloom,

But not built for us cities and towns Dayenu

Had God rescued our remnants from the Holocaust's flames,

But not brought our brothers from Arab lands Dayenu

Had God brought our brothers from Arab lands,

But not opened the gates for Russia's Jews Dayenu

Had God opened the gate for Russia's Jews,

But not redeemed our people from Ethiopia Dayenu

Had God redeemed our people from Ethiopia,

But not planted in our hearts a covenant of One People Dayenu

Had God planted in our hearts a covenant of One People,

But not sustained in our souls a vision of a perfected world Dayenu