My Seder Plate

This year I don’t need symbols on my Seder plate.

This year I am very literal.

An egg is just an egg,

A bone represents only bones.

This year I’m all pshat.

Hate, Lies, Anger, Fear, Pain, Isolation, 

Death

Only an empty Seder plate can hold all that truth.

Second Cup Of Wine

We are about to drink that second cup of wine, 

The beginning of the Maggid section of the Seder,

As we tell the story 

Of how we left the narrow place.

In the Talmud, Rabbi Hanina says that

Human versions of God’s vast intent are as unripened fruit,

Filled with potential,

Perceived completely only by God.  

Hanina says that the unripened fruit of prophecy is a dream.

Which is kind of cool. 

So I speculate,

As grapes become wine

So does the unripened fruit of truth 

Become the story.

We tell tales with beginnings, middles and ends

Around our seder table, 

And our mythology tells us who we were

Which helps a lot,

Almost as much as that second cup of wine.

So

Blessed Holy Wholeness

We give thanks 

For the fruits of the earth

And our minds.

Amen

Hallel for Pesach

Blessed be the Holy Wholeness and our connections within the One-ness, which joyfully compels us to celebrate this festival, Pesach, Hallelujah!

Praise the names we use to name the names we use to name the one -ness that cannot be named.

Praise the—

Praise what?

God?

Why?

If God is God, then why does God need praise?

And if God isn’t God, then why do I need to praise God?

I want to think about compassion, empathy, creativity and love. 

I want to concentrate on hope and beauty and humor and kindness.

I want to praise something that needs and deserves praise, something that evokes Spring and Fertility and Pesach!

I want to praise…birds.

Birds!

Praise the birds that sing, that fill the world with lovely sounds.

Praise the birds that fly, that are free and no man’s slave.

Praise the birds that are camouflaged, may they always be safe.

Praise the birds that are colorful, that dazzle us with their beauty.

Praise the Chestnut-Coloured Woodpecker, red and golden brown,

Praise the pissed off Sri Lanka Frogmouth 

Praise the intensely yellow Indian Golden Oriole

Praise the Resplendent Quetzal 

Praise the Ward's Trogon, the aerodynamic Toco Toucan , the White-faced Ibis!

Praise the Rufous-backed Kingfisher, the Red-cheeked cordon-bleu, the Northern Cassowary, who can kick your ass and the Ostrich, who can outrun a cheetah!

Praise the Rosy starling, the Hawk, the Falcon, the Vulture!

Praise the Red Cardinal, the Blue Jayand the Sparrow!

Praise the Osprey, the Kingfisher, the Heron!

Ooo, and Praise the Penguins!  Because Penguins!

And of course the Robin! Praise the robin, spring is officially here!

Compassion and empathy and creation and love. 

Hope and beauty and humor and kindness.

Freedom and spring and music and color.

Blessed be the Holy Whole that includes it all.

Hallelujah!

Halleluyah, Spring!

Halleluyah, Pesach!

Fly, sing, hunt, have babies!

Eat matzoh!  Drink wine!  Tell stories!

Praise the Holy Wholeness,

The Creator that creates and was created and is always creating!

Halleluyah, birds!

And let us say,

Amen

Washing Hands A Second Time

The first time we washed our hands before this meal

It was all about water,

It was to get clean.

And we are clean, so why a second time?

Perhaps this turn

It's all about our hands.

As we prepare to wash for a second time,

I call up every blessing and good vibe

For the hands that help,

The hands that build,

The hands that comfort,

And the hands that create.

As we prepare to wash our hands a second time,

I call up every curse and shred of bad karma

Against the hands that hurt,

The hands that tear down,

The hands that slap,

And the hands that destroy.

As we prepare to wash our hands a second time

I call up every memory of the hands of our Pesach story,

The hands of the midwives,  saving the boy babies,

The hands of the princess, pulling the basket out of the water,

The hands of the slaves, making the bricks out of straw,

And the the hands holding the hands of the children crossing the sea.

So now,

Baruch Atah Adonai

Brucha At Shechina

As we prepare to wash our hands a second time

Let's pour soothing water for all those hands

To recognize the good work

And wash away the bad

And to

Honor the hands that made this wonderful meal,

And the hands that we will use to put this holy food into our mouths,

And the hands we will raise in truth and protest,

And the hands we will wave in the air as we tell our stories

And let us say, Amen.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

PayPal  https://www.paypal.me/trishaarlin  

If you would like to support my work as a sacred artist in an ongoing fashion, please contribute (any amount) on a monthly basis to my Patreon account.

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Thank you!

Trisha

Plagues Are Not Cute

Plagues are not finger puppets,

Plagues are not soft and furry stuffed toys,

Plagues don't have googly eyes,

Plagues are not cute.

Plagues are not targeted attacks,

Plagues are not guerilla warfare,

Plagues do not show up in a court of law,

Plagues are not fair.

Plagues are not a bland topic for a mild discussion,

Plagues do not call for objectivity,

Plagues are not subject to ironic humor,

Plagues are not interesting.

No,

Plagues are disaster without explanation,

Plagues are revenge without a solution,

Plagues are acts of desperation,

Plagues attack everyone,

Plagues hurt the poor more than the rich,

Plagues kill the innocent as well as the guilty,

Plagues are not cute or fair or interesting.

So I drop wine onto my plate to remember all who suffered, Hebrew and Egyptian.

I drop wine onto my plate for the desperate acts that often come with freedom struggles.

I drop wine onto my plate so that I will not forget that

Plagues

Are 

Not
Cute.

If you find this offering of my work valuable or pleasurable, please consider supporting me with a mutual offering, if you are able:

If you use one of my prayers or kavannot for a service or event you can make a one time donation via my PayPal account.  

PayPal  https://www.paypal.me/trishaarlin  

If you would like to support my work as a sacred artist in an ongoing fashion, please contribute (any amount) on a monthly basis to my Patreon account.

Patreon    https://www.patreon.com/trishaarlin

Thank you!

Trisha