Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dr. Bronner's.
We'd also like to thank the many individuals who helped make this event what it is today
including Debra Hornbecker who helped with planning and to help secure our location
for tonight, Tia Vanich for the use of this stunning venue and for her generous hospitality,
Laura Berman, JD Kleinke, Tim Crespi and Steve Cohen for their beautiful music this
evening, Lindsay Goldner who helped lay out this very Haggadah and make it shine, Devil's
Food Catering for the delicious food we are enjoying tonight, and Sol Neeman for his exquisite
photography. We could not make this event what it is without your efforts so thank you!
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WHY RITUAL?
All spiritual growth is internal based upon the Seder ritual as a call to begin working on
WELCOME! BRUCHIM HABAIM! the effort that changes our behavior, thoughts
We come together this evening as Jews and as
and feelings. So, in some sense, ritual does
Welcome, kind and dear friends! We are honored that youve chosen to a family and friends to share our lives and the
not serve inherent purpose. Yet every culture,
explore one of Judaisms oldest traditions in a new light! ritual of telling the story of the Exodus.
religion and nation has rituals. They are
effective as reminders to think about reality Like the blind men trying to describe an
and lifes inner meaning. They also serve as an elephant, the best we can do is use a variety
Jews are the original remixers. We sample our freedoms work.
invitation to pause in thanksgiving. of words/names for God. If any make you
classics and mold them into expressions of our
This Seder is meant to be a conversation, and uncomfortable, substitute another one:
time, our world and our experience in (and of) The goal then is to look beyond the ritual for
a lively one at that! The hosts will be calling
it. Case in point? The social-justice Seder. the deeper meaning. With recognition of the
on people to read portions of the Hagaddah, or
real power of rituals, we begin to approach
Social-justice Seders are a modern Jewish to answer questions. Some pieces will use the Adonai
them with deeper devotion. Holiness is not
tradition. In a social-justice Seder, we ask tradition of call and response. Be prepared; on
a random event; it is a choice we make, a Source
the people at our Seder table to remember your toes, people!
state of being and a quality of consciousness.
the Story of Exodus, and then to go one step Oneness
Tonights gathering of hearts and minds would A Passover Seder is a powerful reminder to
further: dont just remember our past; apply
not have been possible without the generous pay attention to the things that matter most Divine Consciousness
our story to the world today.
and trusting support of our donors. within ourselves and within the world in
Shekhina (Feminine aspect of
Tonight, at this Cannabis Seder, we ask the which we live.
With that, let us go forward and fulfill the The One, in Hebrew)
Jewish community to turn outward to look
mitzvah of the Passover Seder, together in In every generation it is our duty to look upon
at the millions of people still living in slavery Ayn Sof (Without end, in Hebrew)
freedom. ourselves as if we had gone forth from Egypt.
and oppression and see that their plight is our
Haggadah means the Telling, the story of the
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KADESH May we consume our cannabis as free and responsible people,
as expressions of our joy and our freedoms.
Blessing the First Cup of Wine, Given that cannabis is one of the most
During the Seder, we traditionally fill, bless to all our forebears, those whose names we
and drink four cups of wine. At tonights Seder, know, and those whose names are lost to us.
reason we lean when we eat and drink: whose sacrifices and struggles made our Blessed are you, Adonay, Source of Life, Renowned drug policy advocates Adam Eidinger
and Amanda Reiman enjoy our first first annual
because as slaves we could not rest, not even lives possible. First we bless the wine. When who gives us the fragrant herbs. cannabis seder in 2015.
when sating our hunger and thirst. And we we raise our cup, let us each think of our
1930s. She organized the Young Negroes Christian Leadership Conference, whose
Cooperative League in New York City, and first president was Martin Luther King, Jr.
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THE SEDER PLATE URCHATZ
Ancient rituals, new traditions Ritual hand-washing without blessing
As is custom, our Seder plate is adorned Water is the universal purifier. It sustains
with the Three Essentials Pesach, the life and it cleanses life. As Rachel welcomed
shank bone, which represents the sacrificial strangers at the well with water, so do we
lamb and the spiritual meaning of sacrifice; welcome each other to this Seder by washing
Cannabis (bud, ganja, dagga, chronic, kind, Oregon cannabis patient advocate Sarah Duff
washes her hands at the first LeOr Cannabis
herb, etc.) is a symbol of protest and a symbol Seder in 2015.
ritual of Urchatz. The fresh parsley reminds us of renewal As we dip these vegetables, the karpas, into
and rebirth. Plants are budding; flowers are salt water, a symbol of the tears of slavery,
blooming. The miracle of life is unfolding. we remember all those who still suffer under
We praise You, O God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who brings forth fruits from the earth.
YACHATZ
The breaking of the Afikomen
Comedian Ngaio Bealum and advocate Amanda We break the matzah in half because the story We even have a nifty prize for the winner!
Reiman enjoy the bouquet of our Seder flower.
we are about to tell is a story of how a people
This is the bread of affliction that our
was broken by slavery and oppression. We
ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all
begin with the break, but we do not conclude
who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are
our Seder until the halves are reunited.
hungry come and celebrate Passover. Now we
Tonight, keeping with tradition, we will hide are here. Next year in the land of Israel. Now
the Afikomen and all Seder guests are invited we are slaves. Next year we will be free.
Old pirates, yes, they rob I 'Cause none of them can stop the time
Sold I to the merchant ships How long shall they kill our prophets
Minutes after they took I While we stand aside and look? Ooh
From the bottomless pit Some say it's just a part of it
But my hand was made strong We've got to fulfill the Book
By the hand of the Almighty Won't you help to sing
We forward in this generation These songs of freedom?
Triumphantly 'Cause all I ever have
Won't you help to sing Redemption songs
These songs of freedom? Redemption songs
'Cause all I ever have Redemption songs
Redemption songs Emancipate yourselves from mental
Redemption songs slavery
Emancipate yourselves from mental None but
slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
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THE FOUR QUESTIONS
For more than 2,000 years the tradition has the world as well as in their own behavior.
1 Why, on all other nights, do we eat 3 Why, on all other nights, do we eat our
leavened and unleavened breads, yet vegetables as part of the meal, yet tonight
been to start The Telling (mageed) with
Traditionally, these four questions are sung tonight we eat only unleavened bread? we eat our parsley with salt water well
spontaneous questions. Why do we start with
by the youngest person at the Seder table. before the meal?
questions? Because an essential characteristic The main reason we are given is to
Tonight we will sing these all together, and
of free people is the power to question, to ask remember the hurriedness of the Exodus. As with the maror, where we taste the
then read the English explanation.
without fear, to look for meaningful patterns in The window of opportunity for escape bitterness of slavery, the juxtaposition
was narrow; time was of the essence. of fresh greens and brackish water is a
The bread didnt have time to rise. The powerful symbol of contrast.
2 Why, on all other nights, do we eat all only lean, and to the left?
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MAGEED in a basket and floated it on the river. Their
would happen. When the Pharaohs daughter ready to take them out of Egypt and bring
THE TELLING OF THE STORY
came to the river to bathe, she discovered the them to a new land, flowing with milk and
Rabbi Menachem Schneerson said Passover brothers. Josephs family grew and multiplied. Feeling pity for the helpless child, the princess God told Moses to return to Egypt to bring
enables us to undergo a personal exodus from decided to keep the baby and named him the message of freedom to the Israelites and
But then a Pharaoh came to power who did
Egypt to transcend our individual limits. Moses, meaning drawn from the water. warn Pharaoh that God would bring plagues
not know all that Joseph had done for the
As we grow spiritually, Passover becomes an Bravely, Miriam approached the princess on the Egyptian people if he did not let the
people of Egypt. The Jewish people were
annual opportunity to share new insights into and asked her if she needed a nurse to help slaves go free. With his older brother Aaron
convinced that they were secure in Egypt.
how our understanding of Slavery has changed with the baby. The princess said yes, and so a spokesman, Moses went to the Pharaoh,
They trusted the power structure would
and evolved, and our personal progress toward it happened that Yocheved, thanks to her Ramses II, asking him to free the Israelites.
remain disposed to them forever.
Freedom. daughter Miriams quick thinking, was able
God brought signs and wonders, but Pharaoh
But the Hebrews were a strong and visible to raise her own son and teach him about his
Although the Egyptians had other slaves, remained stubborn. Though each plague
minority and they became feared by the heritage as a Jew. It was this experience, living
the Hebrews story begins with Joseph, the would elicit a promise to free the slaves,
Pharaoh. He enslaved them with the desire to both as the oppressor and the oppressed, that
eleventh son of Jacob. Joseph was bright, Pharaoh broke his word every time.
wipe them out, this enemy from within. would come to define Moses life story.
strong-willed and an irritation to his older
brothers. One day, Josephs older brothers After more than two centuries in bondage, the Moses would have lived at the Pharaohs
sold him into Egyptian slavery. Through ruling Pharaoh decreed that all male children palace all his life, but he could not ignore
intelligence and intuition, Joseph became a should be killed at birth and only female the suffering of his people. One day, when he
senior advisor to the Pharaoh, developing children be allowed to live. saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave, he
storehouses of grain and food that saved the was unable to control his anger and he killed
Two midwives, unsung heroes of our
Egyptian empire when the famines came. the Egyptian overseer. Aware his life was in
redemption, attended a couple named Amram
danger, Moses fled Egypt to Midian, where he
When Josephs brothers learned that their and Yocheved. The parents hid their newborn
became a shepherd.
youngest sibling had become a man of great son at home for three months, ignoring
power and influence, they sojourned to beg his the Pharaohs orders to drown their baby While tending sheep on a mountain, Moses
forgiveness and assistance. boy. When the babys cries grew too loud to saw a bush burning but not consumed by
conceal, Yocheved, the babys mother, put him the fire. From the bush, he heard Gods voice
Joseph, a wise and forgiving man, helped his
calling to him. God said, I am the God of
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THE TEN PLAGUES As the pain of others diminishes our own joys,
The triumph of Passover is diminished by our awareness festival as we imagine a new list of plagues, our plates edge:
of the pain of the Egyptian people when the plagues arrived. 10 Modern Plagues of the Drug War.
We have filled our cups to remember the joy of being able to leave Egypt, where our people were
1 One, the criminalization of nature
slaves for two hundred years. Yet our happiness is not complete, because the Egyptians, who are
also Gods children, suffered from the Pharaohs evil ways. Therefore we will spill a drop of wine
2 Two, the suppression of science and information
Together:
Dam - blood
Shehin -- boils
Barad -- hail
4 Four, the radically undemocratic and unequal
application of laws
Tzfardeah -- frogs Arbeh -- locusts
Kinim -- gnats
Arov -- flies
Chosech -- darkness
Makat bechorot -- death of the first-born
5 Five, the systemic violence against the poor
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MAGEED CONTINUED DAYENU
The Escape It Would Have Been Enough
After God brought forward the plagues on Sea, with the armies of Pharaoh hot on their A Jewish philosopher was once asked, What from changing cruel sentencing laws, to
Egypt and The Pharaoh, the Hebrews were heels, the water first refused to part. is the opposite of hopelessness? His answer allowing cannabis to be used as medicine, and
allowed to leave. But, Pharoah changed his was, Dayenu, the ability to be thankful for opening it to commerce. When we sing the
It was not until the first Hebrews had taken
mind and sent his army after the fleeing what we do have. dayenu, we celebrate the battles for freedom
the huge chance and stepped into the sea and
Hebrews. that we have won.
even then not until the waters reached their All around the United States, citizens are
While many imagine the waters parting as necks that the sea parted. rejecting the failed policies of The Drug War
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2ND CUP OF WINE /
2ND BOWL OF FLOWER SONG:
Amazing Grace
The Five Strings feat. Alex Boy
This second cup of wine (or bowl of flower) As we raise our second glass or bowl, let us be
Let's grow together, heal together, Let's grow together, heal together,
we dedicate to willingness. It took great thankful for the power of will, and the ability
Find true strength from one another. Find true strength from one another.
willpower to move forward from slavery that to strengthen our willpower. Lifting our wine
Smiles be many tears are few Smiles be many tears are few
had become familiar into the unknown future. or cannabis into the air, we say:
May all your dreams come back to you May all your dreams come back to you
It's a brand new day, a brand new way It's a brand new day, a brand new way
Sing like a bird brother fly away. Sing like a bird brother fly away.
Above the mountains up through the trees Above the mountains up through the trees
Baruch Atah Adonay Eloheynu Melech haolam boreh peri hagefen.
My dreams live forever. My dreams live forever.
Blessed are you, Adonay, our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
Baba Mungu, Baba Mungu wa maisha We've been there ten thousand years,
Bwana, Bwana wa dunia bright shining as the sun.
RACHATZ Baba Mungu, Baba Mungu wa muanga We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Bwana, Bwana wa wote than when we've first begun.
Washing of the Hands with Blessing
Through many dangers, toils and snares, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
The first time we washed hands was ritual. Now we sing the blessing of washing our hands I have already come. That saved a wretch like me.
before eating our Passover meal. Tis Grace has brought me safe thus far, I once was lost but now I'm found,
and Grace will lead us home. Was blind, but now, I see.
Baba mungu, baba mungu wa maisha
bwana, bwana wa dunia Main Text: John Newton
Baba mungu, baba mungu wa muanga
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kidshanu bamitzvotav vtzivanu al ntilat
bwana, bwana wa wote
yadayim.
We praise You, O God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who hallows our lives with commandments,
The matzah, the clearest symbol of the We are fortunate to have the freedom to As we talked about in the Four Questions, Take a piece or scoop of horseradish, our
Passover holiday, is as much the bread of eat this unleavened bread as we share in we eat the bitter herb to remind us of the maror, and place it on a small piece of matzah.
survival as the bread of affliction. its meaning. bitter taste of oppression our own and the We say the following blessing before eating.
oppressed.
Baruch atah Adonay, elohaynu melech haolam, asher kidishanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu al
achilat maror.
Baruch atah Adonay elohaynu melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min haaretz.
Blessed are you, God, King of the Universe, who hallows our lives with commandments, and
Baruch atah Adonay elohaynu melech haolam, asher kidishanu bemitvotav al achilat matzah.
who has commanded us to eat the bitter herb.
Blessed are you, Adonay our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the Earth.
Blessed are you, Adonay our God, King of the Universe, who has made us holy with his Tokin Jew Sarah Silverman
partkaes of the (not-so-bitter) herb
commandments, and commanded us to eat matzah.
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3RD CUP OF WINE / KORAYCH
3RD BOWL OF FLOWER The Rabbi Hillel Sandwich
The first cup of wine was dedicated to our fight to make the world a better place. Now, we follow a practice of Hillel from the bitterness of slavery mixed with the sweetness
ancestors, and in a larger sense everything and time when the Temple stood. He combined of freedom.
As we pour our third cup of wine or fill
everyone that brought us to this place. The the matzah and maror and ate them together,
our third bowl of flower, let us reflect on This practice suggests that part of the
second cup was dedicated to our willingness. creating a koraych sandwich, so that he might
redemption. Let the tastes and smells awaken challenge of living is to taste freedom even
observe the precept handed down to him,
This third cup of wine (or bowl of flower) is our senses to the hard and rewarding work in the midst of oppression, and to be ever
exactly as his father before him. He said that
dedicated to all those who need our help, those ahead of us. conscious of the oppression of others even
by eating the koraych, we would taste the
who society would marginalize, and those who when we feel that we are free.
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TZAFUN BARACH
The Search for the Afikomen Blessing After the Meal
Now we get the chance to get up, run around, schmooze and partake, while we search for the Traditionally, your cup of wine is refilled, and Birkat Ha-mazon, the Grace after the Meal, is
hidden Afikomen. recited. For those who wish to recite this blessing, go ahead and sing on your own. Others can
reflect on their gratitude for this lovely meal, and for this holy time together.
Winner gets a special prize!
SONG:
Burn One Down
Ben Harper
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SILENT REFLECTION ELIYAHU HANAVI AND
THE FOURTH CUP OF WINE
The Jewish spiritual teachings concerning Peh). What is the connection between Pharoah (OR FLOWER)
Passover focus on how through tapping into and neck? At the beginning of the Book of
the Infinite One, a person can emancipate Exodus, when Moses spoke to the Children
themselves from slavery both spiritually and of Israel about freedom, the Torah says that
physically. It says in the Passover Haggadah, they did not even understand what Moses This is Elijahs cup. According to Jewish him a glass of wine to show our appreciation.
We were slaves to Pharoah in Egypt. The was saying because of shortness of breath tradition, the Prophet Elijah was a brave man Tonight we also leave Elijah a little something
Hebrew word for Egypt is Mizrayim (). and hard work. During states of trauma who denounced the slavery of his day. Legend greener as well. We think that Elijah deserves
The Hebrew root of the word Mizrayim is and anxiety a person will hold their breath teaches that he will return one day to lead not only a glass of wine, but a bowl to go
mayzar (), which means constriction. in order to numb out, and under stress everyone to peace and freedom. with it.
Being a slave in Egypt means being stuck in the neck is often the seat of great muscular
As we confront the injustice of this world, We dedicate this fourth cup of wine or bowl
constricted consciousness. Not free to be ones tension. The neck is the bridge between the
may we be like Elijah, who in defense of of flower to Hope.
self, not free to live an authentic life. Mizrayim mind and the heart. Pharoah is the force that
justice, spoke truth to power. Jewish legends
is associated with living in fear, unconsciously, chokes our necks and stops us from breathing, We raise our fourth cup and say:
recall the mystical appearance of Elijah
habitually, akin to mindlessly running on a from connecting our heads our hearts, from
in times of trouble, to promise relief and I have been to Mitzrayim. I have been to the
gerbil wheel, lost in the narrow constricted thinking, and keeps us in a state of fight or
redemption, and to lift up the downtrodden. desert. I have learned of our struggle and story.
confines of the ego. flight, disconnection and unconsciousness, i.e.
connection between two concepts based on [excerpted from Passover: Love is Revolution, by Eitan
Press]
the letters they share, and this connection is
backwards is oref ( Ayin), ( Reish), ( final Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah The Giladite May he come to us soon, the Mashiach, son
of David.
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Baruch Atah Adonay Eloheynu Melech haolam boreh peri hagefen.
Blessed are you, Adonay, our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.
NIRTZAH
We now come to the conclusion of our Seder. an unredeemed world. He cannot concede that
We have fulfilled the mitzvah of retelling our redemption is an accomplished fact, for he
As the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber but also a zman cheiruteihem, a time of
sagely wrote, The Jew carries the burden of freedom for everyone.
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The Le'Or Cannabis Passover Seder is a project of