Welcome to another virtual seder. Looking back at ourselves last year, it would have been hard to imagine that we would again be gathered around computer screens, instead of gathered round a shared table. Last year we had been living in lockdown for somewhere around 6 weeks - Now we he have had over a year of varied levels of isolation, of fear and panic, of uneasing loss, and of birthdays, anniversaries, triumps and heartbreaks, all of which have been celebrated, and commemorated so differently than they might have been without the pandemic. Tonight as we drink, eat, tell stories, and ask questions, we invite you all to ponder not just why this night is different from other nights? But how this year has been different from others - what has been gained? What has been lost? And as we head into spring, and the season of mass vaccinations, what it will mean to each of us to be free again? 

We open our seder tonight by lighting the candles. With this lighting, we transition from day to night, from ordinary to sacred, and from our screens and separate lives, to a committment to a shared experience together. 

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with laws and commanded us to light the festival lights.


haggadah Section: Introduction