בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים, שנאמר (שמות יג), והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, בעבור זה עשה יי לי בצאתי ממצרים.
In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: ‘It is because of what God did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’”
(ח) וְהִגַּדְתָּ֣ לְבִנְךָ֔ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַה֖וּא לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּעֲב֣וּר זֶ֗ה עָשָׂ֤ה יי לִ֔י בְּצֵאתִ֖י מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃
(8) And you shall tell your child (son) in that day, saying: It is because of that which the Hashem did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.
גמ' אמר רבא צריך שיאמר " 'ואותנו הוציא משם', שלא אבותינו בלבד גאל אלא אף אותנו גאל"
Rava said: One [is additionally] to say 'and we [too] were taken from that place [Mitzrayim], not only our ancestors were redeemed but we too were redeemed'.
(כג) וְאוֹתָ֖נוּ הוֹצִ֣יא מִשָּׁ֑ם לְמַ֙עַן֙ הָבִ֣יא אֹתָ֔נוּ לָ֤תֶת לָ֙נוּ֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֵֽינוּ׃
(23) And we were brought by Him from there [Egypt] that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers.
(83) In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 13:8); "For the sake of this, did the Lord do [this] for me in my going out of Egypt." Not only our ancestors did the Holy One, blessed be He, redeem, but rather also us [together] with them did he redeem, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 6:23); "And He took us out from there, in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers."
(ו) בכל דור ודור חייב אדם להראות את עצמו כאילו הוא בעצמו יצא עתה משעבוד מצרים שנאמר ואותנו הוציא משם וגו'.
ועל דבר זה צוה הקב"ה בתורה 'וזכרת כי עבד היית' כלומר כאילו אתה בעצמך היית עבד ויצאת לחירות ונפדית.
(ז) לפיכך כשסועד אדם בלילה הזה צריך לאכול ולשתות והוא מיסב דרך חירות.
(ח) אפילו עני שבישראל לא יאכל עד שיסב...
(6) In each and every generation, a person must present himself as if he, himself, has now left the slavery of Egypt, as [Deuteronomy 6:23] states: "He took us out from there."
Regarding this manner, God commanded in the Torah: "Remember that you were a slave [Deuteronomy 5:15]" - i.e., as if you, yourself, were a slave and went out to freedom and were redeemed.
(7)Therefore, when a person feasts on this night, he must eat and drink while he is reclining in the manner of free men...
(8) Even one of Israel's poor should not eat until he [can] recline.
עולת ראיה / חלק ב / הגדה של פסח
בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים. בכח הזרע הנטוי', להוציא אל הפועל את רוממות המעלה מעט מעט בכל דור ודור, חיב כל אחד להשלים, להשיג ולהרגיש את חלקו בשלמות המעלה, השייך לערכו ולדורו, המגיע לו מיציאת מצרים.
Olat Ra'ayah/ Part II / Haggadah
"In every generation, a person…"
Through the strength of the 'outstretched arm' to make manifest the elevation (romemut) little-by-little in every generation, we are each obligated to complete, to perceive, to sense our portion (chelek) in the higher perfection which is unique and appropriate to that time and value (sourced in the original leaving of Egypt)
Ritual, Storytelling and Sacred Time
"In imitating the exemplary acts of a god or of a mythic hero, or simply by recounting their adventures, the man of an archaic society detaches himself from profane time and magically re-enters the Great Time, the sacred time."
Participants at a Sephardic Persian (or Iranian) Passover Seder will simultaneously chant the Passover song "Dayenu" and hold bunches of either celery, chives, leeks or scallions in their hands and lightly beat each other on the back and shoulders to symbolize the sting generated by the whip of the Egyptian taskmasters. A variation of this custom with Sephardic Persian Jewish families will have participants at the Passover Seder table take turns being an Egyptian taskmaster, lightly beating another person with the celery, chives, scallions, or leeks. Once one person is done, they then pass the chives, scallions, or leeks on to the next person at the table who will then repeat the custom, and so on until all at the table have had their turns.
Moroccan Sephardic Jews will hold the Passover Seder plate aloft and pass it over the heads of all those at the Passover Seder table while announcing to each participant that they have left Egypt and are now free.
Tunisian Sephardic Jews touch the heads of each person with the tray which serves as a reminder to each person that they once carried burdens upon their heads as slaves in Egypt.
This sentence is a stumbling block for any woman or non-binary person who wishes to fully understand what it means to be "free" as a Jew. Jewish freedom means being able to respond as a mature practicing adult to any issues which arise in the Jewish community. How can a woman or non-binary person recite "atzmo" — "himself"—and still feel they are an adult decision-maker? If they do this, they have not yet gone out from slavery to freedom. They arestill second class.
Freedom can only be gained whenwe becomes fully knowledgeable and fully capable of speaking and acting for ourselves. This means, whenever necessary, actively—not passively—extracting herself from Pharaoh's grip, in whatever guise or form that hold takes place. And if, in the process, we find that we is in part Pharaoh to ourselves, she must renew the struggle yearly until such time when we can stand at a seder and recite for ourselves:
בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּבִים אָנוּ לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמֵנוּ כְּאִלּוּ יָצָאנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם
For a woman or man (group): B'khol dor vador khayavim anu lir'ot et atzmeynu k'ilu yatzanu mimitzrayim.
In every generation, it is our duty to consider ourselves as if we had come forth from Egypt.
For a woman (individual):
בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיֶּבֶת אִיְּשָׁהּ לִרְאוֹת אֶת עָצְמָה כְּאִלּוּ הִיא יִצְּאָה מִמִּצְרַיִם
B'khol dor vador khayavet ishah lir'ot et atzma k'ilu hee yatz'ah mimitzrayim.
In every generation, it is the duty of a woman to consider herself as if she herself had come forth from Egypt.
For a non-binary person:
B'khol dor vador khayaeh isheh lir'ot et atzmeh k'ilu hee yatzeh mimitzrayim.
In every generation, it is the duty of a person to consider themselves as if they themselves had come forth from Egypt.
We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who redeemed us and our ancestors from Egypt, enabling us to reach this night and eat matzah and bitter herbs. May we continue to reach future holidays in peace and happiness.
Adapted from Lichvod Pesach
Every year we recall the Israelite experience of oppression, redemption and the recurring commandment to care for those in society that remain oppressed, such as the stranger, the orphan and the widow. These memories and values are key to embodying anti-racism through concrete acts of care and shifting access to power, which is critical to actualizing our true multi-racial community in its fullest glory.
-- Yehudah Webster, Community Organizer, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
לְפִיכָךְ אֲנַחְנוּ חַיָּבִין לְהוֹדוֹת, לְהַלֵּל, לְשַׁבֵּחַ, לְפָאֵר, לְרוֹמֵם, לְהַדֵּר, לְבָרֵךְ, לְעַלֵּה, וּלְקַלֵּס, לְמִי שֶׁעָשָׂה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ אֶת כָּל הַנִּסִּים הָאֵלּוּ, הוֹצִיאָנוּ מֵעַבְדוּת לְחֵרוּת, מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה, וּמֵאֵבֶל לְיוֹם טוֹב, וּמֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹר גָּדוֹל, וּמִשִּׁעְבּוּד לִגְאֻלָּה. וְנֹאמַר לְפָנָיו, הַלְלוּיָהּ:
Therefore we are obligated to thank, praise, glorify, extol, exalt, honor, bless, revere, and laud [lekales] the One who performed for our forefathers and for us all these miracles: He took us out from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to a Festival, from darkness to a great light, and from enslavement to redemption. And we will say before Him: Halleluya.