- There is more than 1 new year in America, such as the Fourth of July being a new year for counting how old the country is. - p. 8
- Matzah lasts for a very long time. Food with chametz goes bad eventually. Searching for chametz is more powerful if we take it as an opportunity to search within ourselves for aspects that we want to make permanent (and conversely get rid of those we don’t). - p. 45-47
- The tension of “Festival of Freedom” being celebrated with a meal of “order”. Order - we follow a script (“so we can seder right words”), sing the table of contents, even set our table in a certain way. Freedom - matzah cracks in unpredictable ways, only some of the spilled wine is intentional, don’t know where the afikomen will be, what exactly you’ll see when you open the door, how the conversations will go - freedom flows from order - p. 53-54
- Charoset as both “deeds of righteous women” and “clay” = multiple interpretations could both be right = important take-away for our society today
- Starting the story with “We were slaves” and later starting again with “We were idol-worshippers” - the chance to begin again - Jacob’s blessing of a name-change is the blessing of self-transformation - celebrate the rededication of 2nd Temple, not the dedication - saying “I’m sorry” sincerely is the chance to begin again - p. 99-103
- Seder in B’nai Brak - student has to tell them to end it = Much have I learned from my teachers… - p. 121-124
- Jobs of sages: Rabbi Yochanan = sandal-maker, Rabbi Jose = tanner, Rav Huna = water carrier, Rabbi Joshua = blacksmith, Rabbi Akiba = shepherd, Hillel the Elder = woodcutter; Maimonides/Nachmanides/Judah HaLevi = physicians, Don Isaac Abravanel = financier and statesman, Rashi = wine merchant. “Tzei ulmad” - go and learn (what Laban did to us) - have jobs to go and learn. Pirkei Avot 2:2 - Rabban Gamliel - Torah must be combined with worldly occupation. - p. 173-4
- 70 ancestors went down to Egypt - Gen. 46:8-27 lists 69 people, in one way of adding up the numbers (this is Rashi’s read). The rabbis read Yocheved as the 70th person, but you can also see “you” as the missing person (for Haggadah purposes, not parasha purposes) since in every generation each person must see themselves as if they came out of Egypt. - p. 193
- Making us like the stars in the sky - stars don’t make the entire night sky bright, but they do brighten up their patch of darkness - don’t have to finish the job but can’t ignore it (Rabbi Shai Held, building on the Sfat Emet) - p. 197
- “Daven” derives from the Hebrew “dovaiv”, to move the lips - p. 216 (connected to crying out to G-d)
- Just like tzedakah is not from the same root as charity, Tefillah is not from the same root as prayer (precari = beg or ask). It’s related to “tafal”, “to connect or bind”, and “to pray” is related to “palel”, “to judge or analyze”. - p. 218-19
- The 9th plague, where one could not even “see his brother”, is a plague against relationships, which is why it is the 2nd most severe plague of all. Alternatively, it is a plague of depression and mental health, since they could not rise from their beds for 3 days. - p. 258-259
- Each family had to find a lamb, but there couldn’t be leftovers, and it takes 15 people to eat a lamb in one night. Thus, the first act of being free people is building community with other families in order to accomplish this task. - p. 263-264
- Ancient people thought that royal elites were created in the image of their gods, and everybody else existed to serve them. All being created in the image of G-d was a radically subversive claim. - p. 264
- Deut. 15:11 - Open your hand to your brother, your poor one, and the needy in your land - first care for your family, then your community, and then your country - Cynthia Ozick notes that we blow into the narrow end of the shofar, not the wide end - you can take care of a greater percentage of the need by starting close and working outward - p. 266
- Blood on doors = mezuzah = a Jew when at home and when out of your home - a Jewish home of Torah (Jewish) and moral education, joy and support, love and learning - go out as ambassadors of G-d and representatives of your people - p. 277
- “Pesach” could mean “protect” based on Isaiah 31:5, or watching over us - slave-masters watch to ensure compliance, but G-d is watching to protect - p. 277-281