Why is this night different from all other nights When we celebrate Passover the youngest child asks the Four Questions Why on this night do we eat unleavened bread Why do we eat bitter herbs Why do we dip in salt water Why do we recline Why do we tell the Passover story year after year time and time again What do we remember We remember the Israelites lived peacefully in Egypt for many years until a new Pharaoh came to power Worried that the Israelites would become plentiful prosperous and powerful he forced them to become slaves treating them harshly We remember when this cruel Pharaoh ordered all baby boys born to Israelites to be drowned one mother refused and instead put her baby in a basket and floated it down the river We remember the Pharaoh’s daughter found this baby and named him Moses which meant drawn out of the water She brought up Moses in Pharaoh’s palace but Moses never forgot he was an Israelite and that his people suffered greatly We remember when Moses saw a slave driver whipping an Israelite he became so angry he killed the slave driver Fearing he would be punished Moses fled to the land of Midian where he worked as a shepherd for many years We remember while tending his flock one day Moses saw a burning bush from which he heard the voice of God commanding him to return to Egypt to free the Israelites Moses returned to Egypt and demanded of the Pharaoh Let my people go
We remember the Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites and made their lives even harder Time and again Moses pleaded with Pharaoh to free the Israelites time and again Pharaoh refused We remember God told Moses to return and tell the Pharaoh if he did not free the Israelites the Egyptians would suffer from plagues But the Pharaoh would not listen We remember each time the Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites God sent a new plague to the Egyptian people With each new plague the Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go but Pharaoh never kept his word We remember when God sent the tenth plague the first-born male child of each Egyptian family would be slain But the Israelites were commanded by God to mark their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that the Angel of Death would pass over their homes sparing their firstborn We remember when the Pharaoh’s own son was taken he finally agreed to free the Israelites They rushed to gather their belongings including their unbaked bread which didn’t have time to rise We remember the Pharaoh decided he wanted his slaves back and sent his soldiers and chariots to follow them When the Israelites reached the Red Sea they were unable to cross and with the Egyptian army close behind they feared for their lives We remember Moses prayed to God and the waters parted allowing the Israelites to cross the sea safely But the roaring waters closed upon the Egyptians drowning them all We remember that at last the Israelites were free and so began their long journey wandering in the desert for forty years until they reached the promised land So that we never forget these events and the gift of freedom we celebrate Passover and we remember
and every last crumb Now We sweep We clean We prepare the house We remove the bread
