As we rejoice at our deliverance from slavery, we acknowledge that our freedom was hard-earned. We regret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering, and so we remove a little bit of wine from our cups for each of the plagues as we recite them.

When saying the ten plagues, do not remove wine by dipping a finger, but with a spoon. The wine in the spoon symbolizes an aspect of anger and indignation, and we should remove that anger from our cup of joy. Additionally, a drop is the smallest amount we could possibly take from the cup, and we should not limit our empathy for others, even the Egyptians, because they have suffered.

These are the ten plagues which God brought down on the Egyptians:

[Everyone: Remove a small amount of wine using your spoon, saying each plague as you pour the wine on your plate.]

Blood | dam |דָּם

Frogs | tzfardeiya |צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ

Lice | kinim |כִּנִּים

Beasts | arov |עָרוֹב

Cattle disease | dever |דֶּֽבֶר

Boils | sh’chin |שְׁחִין

Hail | barad |בָּרָד

Locusts | arbeh |אַרְבֶּה

Darkness | choshech |חֹֽשֶׁךְ

Death of the Firstborn | makat b’chorot |מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת


haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues
Source: Image by Beth Flusser (watercolor and pen on paper 2011). JewishBoston.com. Edited by Brandi Ullian.