(as if the Seder wasn’t long enough already )

Each year we ask the traditional four questions. This year we’re adding a fifth, and since Passover is about freedom,
we’re going with that theme. What do you seek freedom from? Or another way to put it, what are you a “slave” to?
Your phone? Vaping? CNN? Too much guilt? Exercising every damn day? Maybe something bigger, like a relationship that’s run its course, or your career. There are no wrong answers, just a chance to think more deeply about the way we conduct our lives.

Our Passover meal is called a Seder, which means "order" in Hebrew, because we go through 14 specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors' liberation from slavery in Egypt. 

1. Kadeish
Kiddush (the blessing over the wine)

2. Urchatz
Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the Seder

3. Karpas
Dipping a green vegetable in salt water

4. Matzah Yachtaz
Breaking the middle matzah

5. Maggid
Telling the story of Passover

6. Rachtza
Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the meal

7. Motzi Matzah
The blessing over the meal and matzah

8. Charoset Maror
Dipping the bitter herb in sweet

9. Koreich
Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb

10. Schulan Oreich
Eating the meal

11. Tzafoon
Finding and eating the Afikomen

12. Bareich
Saying grace after the meal and inviting Elijah the Prophet

13. Hallel
Singing songs that praise God

14. Nirtzah
Ending the Seder and thinking about the future

The Amidah (Hebrew: תפילת העמידה, Tefilat HaAmidah "The Standing Prayer"), also called the Shmoneh Esreh (שמנה עשרה, Shmoneh Esreh"The Eighteen," in reference to the original number of constituent blessings; there are now nineteen), is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book. As Judaism's central prayer, the Amidah is often designated simply astefila (תפילה, "prayer") in Rabbinic literature.

Observant Jews recite the Amidah at each of three prayer services in a typical weekday: morning, afternoon, and evening. A special abbreviated Amidah is also the core of the Mussaf ("Additional") service that is recited on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath), Rosh Chodesh (the day of the New Moon), and Jewish festivals, after the morning Torah reading, with various forms of the Amidah that depend on the occasion. The typical weekday Amidah actually consists of nineteen blessings, though it originally had eighteen; when the Amidah is modified for specific prayers or occasions, the first three blessings and the last three remain constant, framing the Amidah used in each service, while the middle thirteen blessings are replaced by blessings specific to the occasion.

The language of the Amidah most likely dates from the mishnaic period, both before and after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) at which time it was considered unnecessary to prescribe its text and content.[1] The Talmud indicates that when Rabbi Gamaliel II undertook to fix definitely the public service and to regulate private devotion, he directed Samuel ha-Katan to write another paragraph inveighing against informers and heretics, which was inserted as the twelfth prayer in modern sequence, making the number of blessings nineteen.[2] Other sources, also in the Talmud, indicate, however, that this prayer was part of the original 18;[3] and that 19 prayers came about when the 15th prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem and of the throne of David (coming of the Messiah) was split into two.[4]

The prayer is recited standing with feet firmly together, and preferably while facing Jerusalem. In Orthodox public worship, the Shemoneh Esrei is usually first prayed silently by the congregation and is then repeated aloud by the chazzan (reader); the repetition's original purpose was to give illiterate members of the congregation a chance to participate in the collective prayer by answering "Amen." Conservative and Reform congregations sometimes abbreviate the public recitation of the Amidah according to their customs. The rules governing the composition and recital of the Amidah are discussed primarily in the Talmud, in Chapters 4–5 of Berakhot; in the Mishneh Torah, in chapters 4–5 of Hilkhot Tefilah; and in the Shulchan Aruch, Laws 89–127.

Thanksgiving Prayer by Rabbi Naomi Levy

For the laughter of the children,
For my own life breath,
For the abundance of food on this table,
For the ones who prepared this sumptuous feast,
For the roof over our heads,
The clothes on our backs,
For our health,
And our wealth of blessings,

For this opportunity to celebrate with family and friends,
For the freedom to pray these words
Without fear,
In any language,
In any faith,
In this great country,
Whose landscape is as vast and beautiful as her inhabitants.
Thank You, God, for giving us all these. Amen.

May you find strength, joy, and peace in your body as you engage your senses and move with your whole-broken-holy self through the healing rituals you create, inspired by the resources we have provided.

May the practice of Hakarat Ha-Tov, Recognizing Goodness, open your mind to gratitude for the profound blessings of being alive.

May Rachamim, Compassion towards yourself and others, soften and mend your gentle, generous heart.

May Mekor Chayyim, Source of Life, nourish your precious soul and empower you to call upon your own embodied wisdom, your inner Torah, as you travel this sacred healing journey.

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.