Rev. Melhorn led us in the Seder Meal with a scripted service he wrote (see below).

We make this day holy by gathering around the table and by  remembering the One who has brought us out of slavery and brings us  here tonight.  We begin by lighting candles and by saying a traditional blessing:

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitz vo-tav v'tzi vanu

We take the Kiddush cup and proclaim this a day of deliverance 

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam,borei p'ri ha-gafen

In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priests ritually washed their hands before performing their duties.  We will wash our, hands now, to remember that this a holy celebration.

• Bitter Herbs
• Salt Water
• Lamb Bone
• Matzah
• Charoset
• Scorched Egg

We dip the karpas into salt water to remember the tears shed by the Hebrew people while they were slaves in Egypt.  The hope of new life carries with it our concern for those who still cry out in pain.

There are three pieces of matzah, or bread baked without any yeast, on the plate at each table.  We will remove the middle piece and break it in half.  Put the larger half in a napkin, and set it aside as the afikomen, a Greek word meaning dessert.  In just a moment, when the children leave the tables, someone will hide the afikomen, which we will later share. 

As a way of expressing our thanks for all God has done, we sing the Dayeinu, which means "it would have been enough".

For two thousand years, our Jewish sisters and brothers have observed the joyous celebration of the Passover.  This event is a way of remembering the wonderful story of liberation, starting in the slave camps of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the receiving of the Law on Mount Sinai, and ending in the land God had promised through Abraham.  This exodus from slavery to freedom became the chief event in the history of the Hebrew people.  On a night just like this, their long journey began.

Through the centuries, it became important that this escape from slavery to freedom remain a living personal experience and not just a page in a history book.  And so, from generation to generation, the story has been passed on.

As Christians, this meal has its own uniqueness.  We believe that it was the Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples in the upper room on the night before his betrayal and death. During the meal, he gave his disciples new insight into the meaning of their communal meal as they broke the bread and shared the cup of blessing.  Our meal tonight will closely follow the traditional Jewish seder.  It is a time for us to express the common bonds we share as children of God.  It is also a time to celebrate the freedom we enjoy and remember those who are not yet free.  May the light of God's Holy Spirit fill us with the desire to light the torch of freedom for all the world.

Before we begin, we will hear some words from the Book of Exodus 

Leader: We make this day holy by gathering around the table and by  remembering the One who has brought us out of slavery and brings us  here tonight.  We begin by lighting candles and by saying a traditional blessing:

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitz vo-tav v'tzi vanu

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy with your commandments and commands us to light the festival lights.

(light the candles) 

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Leader: Tonight we will drink four cups of wine, a symbol of joy and thanksgiving.  Traditions abound about the meaning of the four cups.  It is said they represent the four corners of the universe, the four seasons, and the four ancient empires that tyrannized the Hebrew people. 

We remember the four-fold promise that God made to save his people.  With each cup we recall one of the promises, found in the book of Exodus 6:6,7: 

All: "I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians

Leader: We take the Kiddush cup and proclaim this a day of deliverance 

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-gafen

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. 

We praise you, O Lord, for giving us life, and keeping us alive, so we may celebrate the Passover with joy.

(drink the first cup of wine)

Leader: In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, the high priests ritually washed their hands before performing their duties.  We will wash our, hands now, to remember that this a holy celebration.  Since we are not ready to eat just yet, we will not recite the hand-washing blessing.

(dip your hands into the water) 

Leader: Passover is a springtime holiday.  As the days grow longer and warmer, and the earth comes to life again, we celebrate the rebirth that God brings each year.  The karpas reminds us of the hope of springtime. 

All: (a reading from the Song of Songs 2:10-12) 

Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; 
For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come

Leader: We dip the karpas into salt water to remember the tears shed by the Hebrew people while they were slaves in Egypt.  The hope of new life carries with it our concern for those who still cry out in pain.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-adamah

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.

(take a piece of the greens, dip them in the salt water, and eat them)

Leader: There are three pieces of matzah, or bread baked without any yeast, on the plate at each table.  We will remove the middle piece and break it in half.  Put the larger half in a napkin, and set it aside as the afikomen, a Greek word meaning dessert.  In just a moment, when the children leave the tables, someone will hide the afikomen, which we will later share. 

(children, get up and go to any of the doors in this room) 
(adults, this is a good time to hide the afikomen) 

All: This is the bread of suffering which our people ate when they were slaves in Egypt.

(children, open the doors) 

All: Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy share the hope of this Passover celebration.  We pray that all those who are slaves will soon be free.

(children, return to the tables) 

Leader: It is now time to tell the whole story of Passover.  Traditionally, the telling starts with the youngest child, who asks the four questions.  But before we begin, let us fill our second cup of wine. 

A child or any inquisitive person: 

Why is this night different from all other nights?

On all other nights, we eat both leavened and unleavened bread.  Why, on this night, do we eat only matzah. 

On all other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs.  Why, on this night, do we eat only bitter herbs? 

On all other nights, we do not dip our foods even once.  Why, on this night do we dip twice? 

On all other nights, we eat in an ordinary way.  Why, on this night, do we eat with a special ceremony?

Reader: Nearly 4,000 years ago, there was a famine in the land of Israel.  Jacob, our ancestor, took his family and settled in the land of Egypt, where there was plenty of food.  The children of Jacob lived well there and prospered and became a great nation.  Many years later, a new king came to the throne in Egypt, and he became afraid of our wealth and power.  So Pharaoh forced us to be slaves, making bricks and building buildings for him.  The taskmasters he set lover us were harsh and cruel, and we suffered greatly.

We cried out to God for help, and God heard our suffering and responded to our oppression. God remembered the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  So God called to Moses, telling him to go to Pharaoh and say, "Let my people go!"  But Pharaoh was stubborn, and would not listen to God's word.  Nine times Pharaoh refused God and placed his trust in his own gods.  So God caused plagues to come upon Egypt, but still Pharaoh would not yield. Finally, after the tenth plague, the death of the first-born sons of the Egyptians, a great cry went up throughout Egypt, and Pharaoh relented and allowed Moses to take his people out of the land. God parted the Red Sea, allowing us to cross, while Pharaoh's chariots and soldiers were left behind.  And so God alone delivered us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with awesome power, through signs and wonders. 

Leader: Rabbis teach that when the Egyptian armies were drowning in the sea, some of the angels broke out in joyful song.  God silenced them and said, "My creatures are perishing, and you sing praises?"

All: Tonight we remember all those caught in the upheaval that follows oppression. We take no pride in the death of our enemies, for they too are part of God’s creation.

Leader: A full cup is a symbol of complete joy.  Although we celebrate our freedom, our happiness cannot be complete as long as others lives were sacrificed for its sake.  We will remove some wine as we remember the plagues visited upon the Egyptians.

(dip some wine out on the tip of your finger and place it on your napkin as we recite each plague)

(say together) 
Blood 
Frogs 
Lice 
Insects 
Cattle Blight 
Boils 
Hail 
Locusts 
Darkness 
Death of the First-Born

Leader: Each additional drop we remove reminds us of the plagues that continue to threaten life in our world. 

(say together) 
AIDS 
Greed 
Injustice 
Pride 
Pollution 
Warfare 
Poverty 
Love of Power 
Terrorism 
Sexual Abuse

Leader: As a way of expressing our thanks for all God has done, we sing the Dayeinu, which means "it would have been enough".  Let's first learn the simple refrain: 
 
 

How many are the gifts the Lord our God bestowed upon us! Had the Lord brought us out of Egypt and not parted the sea; 
Dayeinu!
Parted the sea and not sustained us for forty years in the desert 
Dayeinu!
Sustained us for forty years in the desert and not provided us with manna 
Dayeinu!
Provided us with manna and not brought us into the land of Israel 
Dayeinu!
Brought us into the land of Israel and not made us a holy people 
Dayeinu!

Leader: The Seder plate is rich in symbolism.  Three of the symbols are so meaningful that, as Rabbi Gamaliel said, "We have not fulfilled our duty until we have explained these three symbols: Pesach, Matzah, and Maror.”

Reader: The lamb bone reminds us of the Passover (pesach) lamb sacrificed on the night of the escape from Egypt.  After coming to the land that God had promised to them, each year our ancestors would gather at  the Temple, and each family would bring a lamb for sacrifice.  For them, the lamb was a reminder the God ‘passed lover’ the houses of their ancestors during their trip to freedom. 

Leader: John's gospel makes an explicit connection between Jesus and the Passover Lamb, the one who is sacrificed to bring redemption.

All: We call on God as our guardian, as we renew the bonds within our families and within the whole people of God.

Reader: Matzah reminds us of three things: this was the dough our people baked on the night they left Egypt.  We left in such a hurry that we did not have time for the dough to rise.  Also, as we have already said, this is the bread of suffering, which reminds us of our slavery.  Thirdly, as we live with excess food and in comfortable homes, we are reminded of the poverty of our ancestors, how they had so little food and uncertain shelter, and had to trust in God to provide.

All: Let us never forget to be humble before God, who provides us with the good life we enjoy.

Leader: Jesus performed feeding miracles using the simple, common element of bread.  He told his disciples about a new kind of bread, the bread of life, that would end hunger forever.  And at that last meal, as he broke the bread and said the blessing, as we will soon do, he told his friends, "This is my body, which is broken for you." 

Reader: Maror, the bitter herb can bring tears to our eyes when we eat it.  During Passover, we try to make the bitterness and tears of slavery our own through a real experience. 

All: God's promises are not only to the women and men of history, but to us.  Today, whenever people are oppressed, we taste the bitterness.

Leader: In Matthew's gospel, Jesus announces his betrayer as the one who dips in the bowl at the same time as he does.  Surely Judas must have tasted the bitterness of his betrayal.

Leader: We end the telling of the story by sharing the second cup of wine as we recall God's second promise.

All: "I will deliver you from slavery"

Leader: We take the cup and proclaim this a day of deliverance

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-gafen

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. 

We praise you, O Lord, for delivering us and for bringing us here tonight to celebrate in peace and joy.

(drink the second cup of wine)

Leader: Before we eat, let us wash our hands and say together the blessing. 

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v’tzivanu al n'tee-las yadayim 

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes our lives holy with commandments and commands us to wash our hands.

(dip each hand three times in the water and dry them) 

Leader: Traditionally, a family meal begins with the breaking and sharing of bread, and so we begin tonight.  We will say two blessings, one for bread and then a special one for matzah.

(take the upper and middle piece of the matzah and break them each in half.  Then distribute them around the table. Everyone should take a decent sized piece.)

Baruch Ala Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz

All: Blessed are You O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Baruch Ala Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al a-chilat matzah

All: Blessed are You O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through your commandments and commands us to eat unleavened bread.

(eat a piece of bread, at least the size of a large olive)

Leader: Now we take another piece of matzah and dip it into the bitter herbs.  Dip it also into the charoset (a mixture of nuts, apples, spices, and sweet wine).  The charoset looks like the mortar used between the bricks made by our ancestors.  The bitterness of slavery is remembered from the sweet place of freedom, but our freedom comes with the bitterness of the slavery that came before.  Thus, we dip our food twice.

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, as her kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al a-chilat maror

All: Blessed are You O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through your commandments and commands us to eat bitter herbs.

(eat the maror)

Leader: Rabbi Hillel was head of the rabbinic academy of Jerusalem around the time of the birth of Jesus.  According to tradition, Rabbi Hillel began the custom of eating the lamb, the maror, and the matzah together, so that he might more exactly observe the commandments of God's law.  Since the destruction of the Temple put an end to animal sacrifice, our sandwich is made with only the bread and the bitter herb.

All: Together we eat the matzah of freedom and the maror of slavery.  Even in bondage, there is hope; and in freedom, there is the memory of slavery.

(eat the Hillel sandwich, maror between two pieces of matzah)

Leader: It is customary to begin the meal by eating the hard-boiled egg (boiled in salt water and roasted).  The egg is a symbol of new life and growth.  The scorched egg has come to represent the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.  Not only were burnt offerings given there, but the Temple itself was burned and then destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, about 40 years after Jesus' death.

(Finally, we get to eat. Eat joyously, take your time, and don't forget to save room for the afikomen)

(toward the end of the meal, the children look for the afikomen which the leader has hidden.  Since neither the meal nor the Seder can be concluded until the afikomen is eaten, whoever finds it may demand a reward.  Usually, the reward is long and green and found in a wallet or purse.  After the afikomen is eaten, all other food is put away, so that the matzah is the last food tasted.)

Leader: In Temple times, the Passover sacrifice was eaten at the end of the meal, when everyone was almost satisfied.  In remembrance of this, we eat the afikomen as the very last food we will eat tonight.

(put aside all other food and eat the afikomen) 

Leader: We have eaten our Passover meal as free people.  Let us give thanks to the Source of all
life and freedom. Let us say grace.

All: Let us praise God, of whose bounty we have eaten and whose goodness fills the world.  On this festival day, inspire us to goodness, make us a blessing, and preserve us in life

May the Lord give us strength. May the Lord bless all people with peace.

(fill the third cup of wine)

Leader: The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus took this cup, the cup after supper, and said, "this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

Together, we take the third cup of wine and recall the third divine promise to the people Israel:

All: I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through mighty acts of judgment.

Leader: We take the cup and proclaim this a day of redemption

Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-gafen

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. 

(drink the third cup)

Leader: This special cup is reserved for the prophet Elijah.  At each Seder, we open the door so that the Spirit of Elijah may enter.  Elijah's cup represents the promise of the coming Messiah.  Our Jewish sisters and brothers await the coming of Messiah. Christians wait also, for the day when Jesus the Messiah will come again.

All: We will not drink from Elijah's cup until our redemption is complete, until the world is whole and at peace, until justice and compassion take the place of corruption and bigotry. Let us open the doors for Elijah.

(send a child to open the doors)

All: Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah of Gilead, may he soon come and bring the Messiah, the son of David.

(close the doors)

Leader: Traditionally, a number of psalms or hymns of praise are said and sung toward the end of the Seder.  We remember that in Mark's gospel, Jesus and the disciples went out to the Mount of Olives "after they had sung the hymn".  We will read part of the Great Hallel, Psalm 136, responsively

Leader: Give thanks to the Lord, who is good 
All: Whose love endures forever 
Leader: Give thanks to the God of gods
All: Whose love endures forever 
Leader: Give thanks to the Lord of Lords 
All: Whose love endures forever 
Leader: who alone does great wonders
All: Whose love endures forever 
Leader: who by understanding made the heavens 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: who spread out the earth on the waters
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: who made the great lights
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: the sun to rule the day 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: and the moon and stars to rule the night 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: who struck Egypt through their firstborn 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: and brought Israel out from among them 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: who divided the Red Sea in two 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: and made Israel pass through the midst of it 
All: Whose love endures forever 
Leader: and led his people through the wilderness 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: It is he who remembered us in our lowest time 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: and rescued us from our foes 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: who gives food to all people 
All: Whose love endures forever
Leader: O give thanks to the God in heaven 
All: Whose love endures forever

(fill the fourth cup of wine)

Leader: As our seder draws to an end, we take up our last cup of wine.  The Redemption is not yet complete.  Not everyone in the world is free.  The fourth cup recalls God's covenant with us, and our work that still needs to be done as people of faith. 

All: I will take you as my people, and I will be your God.

Baruch Ala Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p'ri ha-gafen

All: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

This is our purpose as children of God and disciples of Christ: to bring freedom to those who are enslaved, peace to those who are at war, food to those who are hungry, and healing to those who are sick.  May we live to fulfill it.

(drink the fourth cup)

Leader: The seder has ended, its rituals observed, its purposes revealed.  May God, who redeemed our ancestors from slavery bring freedom and dignity and peace to all the world. Let us say together: