Blessings

May you feel relief from the pressures.

May the decision you make be based on joy, not fear.

May your interactions with others bring you happiness, as you see the holy spark inside everyone around you.

May you focus less on the differences between you and others, and more on the connections that bring us all together.

May you be kind to yourself, giving yourself the same chesed that you give to others.

The Blue Dove Foundation with Association of Reform Jewish Educators

Coming through the sea was only the beginning.

The giddiness of walking through walls of living water...

But the story doesn’t end there.

Now it’s desert, without a map.

What if the next forty years are bone-dry and desolate?

Maybe it wasn’t so bad, that life numb and familiar.

Cucumbers and fish fresh from the Nile.

Certainty: a fixed path.

Now hope unfolds its mighty wings and every step risks failure.

When I falter, remind me I didn’t cross the sea alone.

Remind me there’s a mountain I’m heading toward,

a promise that spans lifetimes of becoming, together, with you.

בָּ רוֹּךְ אַתָּ ה יי גָּאַל יִשְ ׂרָאֵל

Baruch atah YHVH ga’al Yisrael.

Blessed are You, YHVH, redeemer of Israel.

The Hebrew word “Kiddush” means sanctification. But it is not the wine we sanctify. Instead, the wine is a symbol of the sanctity, the preciousness, and the sweetness of this moment. Held together by sacred bonds of family, friendship, peoplehood, we share this table tonight with one another and with all the generations who have come before us. Let us rise, and sanctify this singular moment.

HOW? We will drink four cups of wine at the Seder in celebration of our freedom. (Grape juice is fine too.) We stand, recite the blessing, and enjoy the first cup. L'chaim!

The blessing praises God for creating the "fruit of the vine." We recite the blessing, not over the whole grape, but over wine — squeezed and fermented through human skill. So, too, the motzee blessing is recited not over sheaves of wheat but over bread, leavened or unleavened, ground and kneaded and prepared by human hands. The blessing is over the product cultivated through human and divine cooperation: We bless the gifts of sun, seed and soil transformed by wisdom and purpose to sustain the body and rejoice the soul. 

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohaynoo melech ha-olam, boray pree ha-gafen. Baruch atah Adonai, Elohynoo melech ha- olam, asher bachar banoo meekol am, v’romemanoo meekol lashon, v’keedshanoo b’meetzvotav. Va’teetayn lanoo Adonai Elohaynoo b’bahava, mo’adeem lsimcha, chageem oo-z’maneem l’sason. Et yom chag ha-matzot ha-zeh,

z’man chayrootaynoo, meekra kodesh, zecher leetzeeyat Meetzrayeem. Kee vanoo vacharta, v’otanoo keed- ashta meekol ha- ameem. Oo’mo’adday kodsheh’cha b’seemcha oo-v’sason heen’chaltanoo. Barcuch ata Adonai m’kadesh Yisrael v’ha-z’maneem.

Praised are You, Lord our God, Whose presence fills the universe. Who creates the fruit of the vine. Praised are You, Lord our God, Whose presence fills the universe, Who has called us for service

from among the peoples of the world, sanctifying our lives with Your commandments. In love, You have given us festivals for rejoicing and seasons of celebration, this Festival of Matzot, the time of our freedom, a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt. Praised are You, Lord, Who gave us this joyful heritage and Who sanctifies Israel and the festivals.

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohaynoo melech ha-olam, sheh’hech’eeyanoo v’’keeyemanoo, v’heegeeanoo la-z’man ha-zeh.

Praised are You, Lord, our God, Whose presence fills the universe, Who has given us the gifts of life and strength and enabled us to reach this moment of joy. 

Shabbat Candles

May the festival lights we now kindle,

Inspire us to use our powers

To heal and not to harm,

To help and not to hinder,

To bless and not to curse,

To serve You, O God of freedom.