Meals traditionally begin with the breaking of bread, an ancient sign of coming together in fellowship. Tonight we break matzah together.

The blessing over bread says that God "brings forth bread from the earth," as though there were bread plants that a loaf could simply be picked from. (Some say that this is how it was in Eden; some say this is how it will be in the messianic era.) We know that far more work went into this matzah than that, and honor all whose effort put this bread on the table.

Blessed are you, י ה ו ה, giver of life, who brings forth bread from the earth.

We share our celebration of the life force that brings forth bread from the earth.

And we thank the farmers and laborers who planted and tended and harvested the grain, the bakers and rabbis who made and supervised the making of matzah, the workers who packed and shipped the boxes, the storekeeper who sold the matzah to one of us, the member of our group who brought the matzah to this table, and all of us who share in this meal tonight.

Blessed are you, י ה ו ה, spirit of the universe, who directs us to create sacredness by eating matzah.

We come together in shared determination to act in rightness, and observe the ritual of eating matzah.


haggadah Section: Motzi-Matzah