00.b.1+The+Prelude;+The+Seder+Begins

=The Prelude=

The Seder Begins
‡ We start by singing:

Hine mah tov
//הנה מה–טוב// //ומה–נעים ׁשבת אחים גם–יחד Hine mah tov u’mah na’im shevet achim gam yachad.// Behold how good and how pleasant it is for families to sit together. We begin our Seder and join our efforts with those everywhere who celebrate the Passover searching for its meaning in their lives; as an expression of our liberation so far... There are many possible modes for understanding the events retold in the Pesach Haggadah. Of these, three are braided together so that, if we concentrate exclusively on any one of them, we diminish the special qualities of the entire story. By participating in the symbolic actions built into the order of the Seder, we can share in: We begin this evening: Tonight we hope to set in motion: Indeed, we begin our Seder here. However, our goals are neither Pesach is but the pointer to the acceptance of our commitments to complete these tasks—in a harvesting of the fruits of our labors yet to come.
 * the experience of the rebirth of the natural world around us,
 * the national liberation of our people,
 * the spiritual redemption of each individual human being.
 * some of us feeling shackled by the bonds of winter,
 * some of our people — and other peoples of the world — persecuted,
 * many of us confined by our own personal limitations.
 * processes of growth that encourage within each of us the renewal of each person’s unique vision, and
 * efforts to work for the freedom of our scattered—and other, oppressed—people,
 * as we see about us the flowering of a new year.
 * our renewal,
 * our efforts,
 * nor our flowering.