Shavuot Haggadah

Kindling of the Lights:

Blessed is the Match, by Hannah Senesh

Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling the flame.
Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.
Blessed is the heart strong enough to stop beating in dignity.
Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling the flame.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel (Shabbat v'shel) Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, our God, Ruler of the world, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and calls upon us to kindle the lights of (Shabbat and) the Festival day.

An Alternative Blessing:

Blessing of New Moments:

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam,
shehecheyanu, v'kiy'manu, v'higianu laz'man hazeh.

Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all:
for giving us life, sustaining us, and enabling us to reach this season.

Family Blessing:

For all of us, and especially for the children, who will in their turn be keepers of the flame, we ask for God's blessing:

Y'varechecha Adonai V'yish'm'recha.
Ya'er Adonai panav eilecha vichuneka.
Yisa Adonai panav eilecha v'yasem l'cha shalom.

May God Bless you and guard you.
May the light of God shine upon you, and may God be gracious to you.
May the presence of God be with you and give you peace.

A Prayer Before Prayer:

(Recite Together)

I now prepare to unify my whole self –

heart, mind, consciousness, body, passions,

with this holy community,

with the Jewish people everywhere

with all people everywhere

with all life and being.

To commune with the Source of All Being

May I find the words, the music, the movements,

that will put me in touch with the great light of God.

May the beauty of God rest upon us

May God establish the works of our hands, and may the works of our hands establish God.

~ From the Elat Chayyim High-Holiday Machzor, as found at RitualWell.org

Order of the Seder:

Kadeish, Urchatz,

Pri ha-Etz,

Maggid, Yachatz,

Rachtzah,

Motzi, Korech,

Shulchan Orech,

Tzafun, Barech,

Hallel, Nirtzah

Kiddush:

If it is going to be a celebration, there has to be some wine. So, let us all pour a glass and bless together.

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, borei p’ri hagafen.

Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.

u'Rchatz - Washing:

Traditionally, the washing of the hands is an act of purification which precedes a ritual. Water takes on special significance during Shavuot. A midrashic reading of the word "water" means Torah, as both give life. You might be surprised to learn in Jerusalem, there are squirt gun fights at playgrounds during Shavuot. There is also a Sefardic custom of taking people by surprise by splashing water on them.

P'ri ha-Etz - Blessing Over Fruit:

On Shavuot, we eat first fruits, ones we haven't eaten yet this year. First fruits were offered at the Holy Temple to thank God for their harvest. We pass out the fruit and say the following together:

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, borei p'ri ha-etz.

We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.

Why don't we go straight to the haMotzi (breaking bread) like a normal Shabbat or holiday? Because, Shavuot is the finale of Pesach.

Explanation of the Seder Plate:

On the beautiful Shavuot seder plate before us, we see:

1. Fruit - grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, strawberries
2. Date honey - Silan
3. Yogurt
4. Water - Miriam's well
5. Tomato - One nation with the diversity of many seeds
6. Flowers
7. Barley and Wheat (connection between Passover and Shavuot)

Can you guess what each item represents? Which items grow in Israel?

Who is like You? Who?!

Mi chamochah ba-eilim, Adonai!
Mi kamochah nedar bakodesh,
nora t’hilot, oseih fele!

Miriam's Song

And the women dancing with their timbrels
Followed Miriam as she sang her song
Sing a song to the One whom we've exalted
Miriam and the women danced and danced the whole night long

And Miriam was a weaver of unique variety
The tapestry she wove was one which sang our history
With every strand and every thread she crafted her delight
A woman touched with spirit, she dances toward the light... Chorus

When Miriam stood upon the shores and gazed across the sea
The wonder of this miracle she soon came to believe
Whoever thought the sea would part with an outstretched hand
And we would pass to freedom and march to the promised land... Chorus

And Miriam the prophet took her timbrel in her hand
And all the women followed her just as she had planned
And Miriam raised her voice in song
She sang with praise and might
We've just lived through a miracle
We're going to dance tonight... Chorus

Songwriter: Debbie Friedman

We've made it through so much, but still, WE ARE ALIVE!

How is the Seder of the evening of Shavuot different from all other Seders? All other Seders have a beginning and end, but this Seder continues every day of the year. At all other Seders we are what we eat. On this night we are what we read.

Rabbi Laurence Aryeh Alpern

Maggid - Story:

The Four Questions of Shavuot

Why is this night different from all other nights?

Song:

Ma Nishtana, What is so different,

haLailah haZeh, on this night,

miKol haLailot, from all other nights,

Ma Nishtana haLailah haZeh miKol haLailot?

1. On all other nights we eat all kinds of fruit, just first fruits this night.
2. On all other nights we eat all types of food; now milk and honey is the treat we like.
3. On all other nights, we wear what we want, on this night white is the look.
4. On all other nights, we go early to bed, but tonight we stay up all night.

Tikkun Leil Shavuot - "the fixing of the night of Shavuot." It is said that Jews slept late the morning that the Torah was given because they did not feel worthy of being present. By staying up the first night of Shavuot, we hope to correct this error and demonstrate our eagerness to learn and be connected to the Torah.

Yachatz - Breaking The Tablets:

(Broken tablets are hidden for children to find later.)

The myth and metaphors of this evening of Pentecost focus on the shattered set of Tablets. Moses breaks the first set of tablets upon seeing the worship of the golden calf. The children of Israel are given a second chance by a God who is compassionate and forgiving. The reconstructed set of Tablets allows us to move from the golden calf to the golden path. This is Tikkun (repair.)

This process actually begins in Genesis. In the beginning is our ending. Creation is the ordering of chaos, which is why we have a Seder this evening. Our mythical ancestors, Adam and Eve, are told they will die if they eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They did not die but were exiled from Eden. God is benevolent from the very beginning. The Book of Genesis is our starting point to reconstruct our sacred library.

This evening we think of the story of Cain killing his brother, Abel, and experience a myth history has lived by. Civilization wears the mark of Cain, as murder and violence are the supreme themes of our story.

We speak often of God's hidden face, blaming God for tragedies, such as the Holocaust. This night we discuss how we hide from God.

The end of Genesis is a story about the end of days, in the messianic age. Jacob, who is known as Israel (the one who wrestles with God,) has a prophetic vision of his children that illuminates the end of their story. Jacob/Israel’s poetic charge to his children is brutal in its criticism and praise of his sons.

We the children of the children of Israel have been as unstable as water and the first born have not merited the staff of leadership. Our pruning hooks we have turned into swords used in uncivil war. When the nation is tribally divided, Israel prays we reunite, so the blessings do not become a curse.

All of this we review this night of Tikkun before we enter the Book of Exodus. Moses lives to lead the people out of Egypt because of an act of civil disobedience.

Retell at your table the story of the midwifes (Shifra and Puah),and how they inspired Yocheved to save her son Moses.

Rabbinic narrative teaches that just as Creation continues so does Revelation. God in her infinite goodness renews at every moment the workings and story of creation. The Torah is given every day to those who will Kabballah, who will receive her. Redemption is also happening, one person at a time. Once we stop dancing around the golden calf and ascend to the peak of the mountain we see nigh the way of sanctification. The Path is sometimes straight and sometimes narrow but always leads to the Second Set of Tablets.

The God of the second chance is by definition a forgiving God who dwells in realms of mercy. Heaven and Earth meet on The Arête where we accept the gift of The Two Tablets of Testimony.

This is also the Tikkun of the evening of Shavuot.

The first set of Tablets was broken by Moses to represent the broken worlds of the broken Covenant.

The Second Set represents the World of Tikkun.

Rabbi Laurence Aryeh Alpern

Searching and Re-Assembling:

(Children search for the broken tablets and assemble them back together.)

"So what does it mean that the Torah was given not once but twice? What was different about these two revelations? And what spiritual lessons can we learn from the fact that the Israelites gathered up and carried the broken tablets with them on their journey? The myth of the two tablets suggests that mistake and even failures are a natural, inevitable part of our development. In fact, failure is often a gateway through which we must pass in order to receive our greatest gifts. It was only after Israel's greatest single act of folly - namely, worshiping the golden calf - when they were able to truly receive and hold on to the gift of Torah. Sometimes we learn to appreciate life's gifts only after we have lost them. If, however, we are lucky enough to be given a second chance with the wisdom we have acquired through our experience of failure, we learn how to cherish and hold on to what we are given."

-Estelle Frankel in Sacred Therapy: Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Inner Wholeness, pg. 42

Let's Give It Up For MOSHE!

Torah reading: The Ten Utterances: Ten Wor(l)ds

Ten Words for Our Time:

1.)Trust in God. We will be lead out of our bondage to ignorance and embrace truth.

2.) Remove the idols of false ideals. Religions, like people, get lost.

3.) Do not profane Shalom, which is Gods sublime Name.

4.) Remember to observe The Sabbath, paradigm of inner and world Peace.

5.) Honor and love your parents, together the image of God.

6.) To life

7.) To love

8.) To give

9.) To witness

10 The Ten are basics. Do not Covet them as secrets, teach fundamentals, not ism.

Blessing after The Revelation:

We now proclaim your Crown on Creation

For these teachings lead to Redemption

By living the Truths of Torah

Seeds of eternity planted in our gardens

The Tree of Life now within our grasp

Ever expanding the boundaries of our worlds

as we Kabballah (receive) your Torah.

Rabbi Laurence Aryeh Alpern

I swear, TORAH WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH!

613 Commandments by Debbie Friedman

CHORUS

Well there were 613 commandments that Moses handed to us
As we stood at the foot of the mountain of Sinai
Our dear Moses started to fuss
He threw two tablets onto the ground
And much to our surprise
The ten commandments broke into pieces
And we couldn't believe our eyes.

Because the Torah was much too long to describe to all the Jews
Our God decided to write ten commandments that said the don'ts and do's
Every commandment talked about the way we have to live
When we work or play, cook or clean, borrow, take or give
Cause there were....CHORUS

As we stood at the bottom of the mountain and listened to Moshe
He asked how many wanted the Torah and a bunch of us said, "Yah";
We thought about the way life was and the way life ought to be
Without the Torah we would have been lost and stuck with idolatry
Cause there were....CHORUS

So when it's time to celebrate Chag HaShavuot
We all rejoice 'cause the Torah's ours to study, teach and quote
Had we not made a promise to be chosen and to choose
Remember that there wouldn't be a people called the Jews
Cause there were....CHORUS

The Tree of Life by B. Goldstein and P. Namanworth

The Torah is a tree of life
A tree of life to those who hold fast to it
The Torah is a tree of life for people everywhere

Its roots are deep, its trunk is strong
Its fruits are pure and branches so beautiful
The Torah is a tree of life for everyone to share

Etz chaim hi, lamachazikim bah
Etz chaim hi, lamachazikim bah
A tree of life.........the tree of life
The Torah is a tree of life.... etz chaim hi

Who Knows One?

1. One is HaShem in the heaven and the earth.
2. Two are the tablets the Moshe brought.
3. Three are the fathers
4. Four are the mothers
5. Five are the books of the Torah
6. Six are the books or the Mishnah
7. Seven are the days of the week Ooooo-aaahhh
8. Eight are the days of brit milah
9. Nine are the months of a baby
10. Ten are the Ten Commandments

A Story About Receiving by Mindy Ribner

There were two great and holy rebbes who had been the best of friends since childhood. Though they lived a few hours journey from each other, they would write each other every week. One would send a letter with a messenger on Friday morning. The messenger would travel, rain or shine, through the forest and along all the back roads for several hours and then wait for a reply from the other rebbe. Often he would see the rebbe's face light up with great delight as he opened the envelope and looked at the letter he had carried. Sometimes the reply would be a short time in coming. Other times, the rebbe would excuse himself for several hours before he would return with a reply.

"How awesome must be the Torah exchanged between them," he reflected to himself. "What a privilege to be a messenger of such holiness."

Upon receiving the reply, he would immediately return with it to his rebbe before the Sabbath. This practice went on every Friday for years.

After years of transporting these letters, the messenger could not contain his curiosity. He yearned to read of the holy thoughts contained in the letters he was transporting.

"Ho do such great rebbes talk to each other?" He wondered. "I have such a deep desire to know," he confessed to himself and God. "I'm sure it will help me with my own service to God," he rationalized to himself.

He struggled with his desire and it became stronger and stronger. He knew that this correspondence was private, too holy for the eyes of a commoner like himself, yet he was so tempted to just take a peek. His evil inclination got the better of him one day and he opened the envelope.

He could not believe what he saw. He was fully expecting to find written the deepest words of Torah, words expounding the secrets of the universe on the page. Instead, he was surprised to find only a blank piece of paper. He felt like a fool, transporting a blank piece of paper back and forth all these years.

"I should have looked earlier," he admonished himself.

He schemed and said to himself, "Maybe in the future, I'll save myself some time. I'll just take the day off, and at the end of the day I'll return with the empty pieces of paper, like before. My rebbe will not know the difference."

When he returned with the blank pieces of paper to his rebbe, the rebbe did note a difference in him and confronted him. He could not lie to his rebbe and confessed that his evil inclination had gotten the better of him. He had opened the letter and was amazed, confused and angry to discover that he had been transporting blank pieces of paper all these years.

The rebbe explained, "Because of the closeness of our souls, there are no words that can express our love for each other. The Torahs we have to exchange with each other are also beyond words. Only a blank piece of paper can hold such love and such knowing."

Think about your connection or love for someone else that no words can adequately describe. What we can open to and receive in silence is sometimes greater than what can be accomplished in words. These are great spiritual gifts, just like the Torah.

Rachtzah - Hand Washing:

haMotzi:

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam,
Hamotzi lechem min haaretz

Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of the universe,
Who brings forth bread from the earth

Korech - "Hillel" Sandwich:

Make a sandwich of yogurt and honey to represent our finally arriving at the promised land!

Shulchan Orech - Meal:

Traditional foods on Shavuot include cheese kugel, lasagna, cheesecake, blintzes, barley dishes, and fruit salad.

Tzafun - Dessert:

Enjoy something sweet to represent the sweetness of freedom and vision.

Barech - Blessing After Meal:

Please join us in singing this shortened after meal blessing.

Hallel - Psalms of Praise:

Nirtza - Concluding Prayer:

A poem by Richard Levy

The earth smells different tonight

A new season is arriving

Bearing its own delicacies

Its own music

Its own guidebook

Out of Egypt

Into the wilderness

Toward a distant mountain.

We have stopped here to pray

Seeking You in the fragrant night air

Finding our way by the moon's clear light.

Turning away from enslavement to a false and narrow world.

Pursuing a life of Torah in the broad spaces of Your Majesty.

You chose us for this journey.

You loved us, desired us,

You gave us this joyous season.

Help us scale the heights of joy.

Teach us how to harvest the delights You have sown.

In our festival souls.

Be present with us this night.

Keep us in mind for blessing.

Guide us to the mountain of Your truth.

Help us close.

Oseh shalom bimromav,
hu yaaseh shalom aleinu,
v’al kol Yisrael, v’al kol yoshvei teiveil,
v’imru. Amen.

May the One who makes peace in the high heavens
make peace for us, for all Israel and all who inhabit the earth. Amen.