Ritual:
Each person pours some of their wine (and water from Miriam’s Cup if it is part of your tradition) into Elijah’s cup. Or the contents of Elijah’s cup and some of each person’s (or all the remainders) into Miriam’s cup.
The door is opened.
Reading:
Now we have thanked HaShemLit. The Name, referring to the ineffable name of God; used as a substitute for any of the more sacred names of God when not speaking in prayer. Particularly used in conversation. for our food. And for our evolving freedom.
And we ask again. But for what in the face of all we have had to bear?
Not for us … but for You, our God.
Please HaShem,
Don’t let this warmth we’ve made together
Find its way back to fire
Destroying itself and all in its path,
Trying to correct what never can be
By such a means as wrath.
Let us pour it out together.
Let’s carry it in one cup
To the open door of our hearts,
And let the earth
Soak it in instead of the very hearts
We hold so dearly tonight
Having found one another again this year.
EliyahuElijah is a biblical prophet who is said never to have died. There are therefore many legends associated with Elijah. In the Talmud, unresolved arguments will be resolved when Elijah comes. He will herald the coming of the messiah. In Jewish ritual, Elijah is a liminal figure, arriving at moments of danger and transition – at a brit milah, a chair is put out for him, a cup is poured for Elijah at the Passover seder, and he is invoked at havdalah. His Hebrew name is Eliyahu. and MiriamMiriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. As Moses' and Aaron's sister she, according to midrash, prophesies Moses' role and helps secure it by watching over the young baby, seeing to it that Pharaoh's daughter takes him and that the baby is returned to his mother for nursing. During the Israelites' trek through the desert, a magical well given on her behalf travels with the Israelites, providing water, healing, and sustenance., now hand in hand,
Rising from this table, walking in embrace
Through our open door
Having tasted matzahThe unleavened bread eaten on Passover that recalls the Israelite's hasty escape from Egypt when there was no time for the dough to rise. Matzah is also considered the "bread of our affliction," eaten while we were slaves. with us
And allowed the bitter herbs to warm our lips –
The korbanot now fully slaughtered, eaten, the
Leftovers burned completely with
Not a broken bone.
And we, so awfully aware of
Blood spilled somewhere else –
But not here. Not tonight.
Pour out Your warmth on us
And let it stand and glow
Before the nations as an eternal light.
Let there be no longer a furnace –
But a crucible of love
Making our faces radiant
Like that of your servant MosesThe quintessential Jewish leader who spoke face to face with God, unlike any other prophet, and who freed the people from Egypt, led them through the desert for forty years, and received the Torah on Mt. Sinai. His Hebrew name is Moshe.
And his sister Miriam,
Shining on one another until next year,
And again, and again, and again.
Ritual continues:
One or all take the cup through the open door and pour it onto the earth.
We come back and sit around the table again to complete the HallelLit. “Praise” The Hallel prayers are additional prayers taken from Psalms 113-118 and are traditionally recited on the Jewish holidays of Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Chodesh, and Hanukah..
