Shabbat Shalom and welcome to the Rockin Rocklin Sedar! I am very happy to have you here and happy to say this is my third year attempting to write a Haggadah, which is the thing you're reading now. I'm graduated with a minor in Religious Studies, so if this flops, blame NYU.

Passover tells the story of Moses ultimately leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. Passover happened around 1200 BCE, but it is far from the last time we, and others, have had to fight and escape for our rights and our freedom. Two quotes said by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are as follows:

We Ukrainians are a peaceful nation. But if we remain silent today, we will be gone tomorrow!

It’s a victory when the weapons fall silent and people speak up.

Moses spoke up and asked the Pharaoh and then God to "let my people go." Again and again, the Jewish people have had to yell to be heard, and yet we persist and we persist and we persist into 2024. At a moment in our service, we will hear the phrase, Next year in Jersusalem. Sitting on zoom in New York City during my family's seder 3 year ago, "next year in Jerusalem," for me meant this year, here with all of you. Let's get started because we're still a while away from dinner.


haggadah Section: Introduction