We are taught to spend the Passover Seder discussing the story of the Exodus and making it relevant for each of us regardless of our age or level of learning. This is a reading I wrote to use in your Seder to encourage discussion and it can be inserted at any point during the “Maggid” (storytelling) section of the Seder.

In Every Generation

“B’chol dor v’dor chayav Adam lirot et atzmo c’ilu hu yatza mi’ Mitzrayim”

“In every generation one is obligated to see oneself as one who personally went out from Egypt.” —Mishna Pesachim 10:5

B’chol dor vador… In every generation we have joined together to demand justice. In the bible, the first step from slavery towards freedom does not come from the leadership of Moses or even from God. Instead, it is the people themselves who call out with a united voice to demand change. We read in Exodus (2:24): “The Israelites were groaning from their bondage and they shouted and wailed for help from their oppression…”

B’chol dor vador… In every generation we have joined together to demand justice. On March 25, 1911, 146 low-wage workers were killed in the Triangle Shirt Waist Fire in a sweatshop in the Lower East Side of New York City. After the fire, Jewish laborers and other working people organized for improved working conditions. Rose Shneiderman, a Jewish woman, activist and union leader said on April 2, 1911: “I know from experience it is up to us working people to save ourselves.”

B’chol dor vador… In this generation we join together to demand justice. Each one of us remembers being an oppressed laborer who organized for freedom in Egypt. Today, we think about all the different types of labor, both paid and unpaid, that made this Seder possible on farms, in kitchens and grocery stores. Was each human being who contributed to this meal treated with respect and was their work treated with dignity? When we prepare our meal in a way that reflects our story we help fulfill the words of the Jewish Mystic Rabbi Nachman of Brestlav: “The Exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year and even on every day.”

Question for the Seder table:

• What does it mean to be to see myself as someone who personally came out of Egypt? How does this impact the choices I make?
• What forms of labor, both paid an unpaid, were necessary in order to prepare this Seder? Did I make conscious choices about how all the work and workers who contributed to this meal were treated?

Download a PDF file of the Seder Reading [92kb]

Download a WORD file of the Seder Reading [48kb]

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