THE THANKSGIVING HAGGADAH
Shechechiyanu
Group: hzh }mzl wnuyghw wnmyqw wnyjhc \lwuh ]lm wnyhla yy hta ]wrb
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam she-heh-heh-yanu v'kimanu v'higi-anu lazman hazeh.
Blessed are You, Eternal God, Ruler of the Universe, who has given us life and sustenance and brought us to this happy occasion.
Participant: Today we celebrate and recall the story of America’s origins.
Participant: We remember long ordeals in the wilderness where people had fled in a hurry, their supplies very limited.
Participant: We tell of the founding of new towns and cities, by people dedicated to the idea that all are able to live together in liberty, justice and pursuit of happiness.
Participant: These many pilgrim voices echo in us, their descendants either in body or spirit, recalling on this festive day their story.
Participant: Those who were to become our Pilgrim forebears suffered in England under religious persecution just as the children of Israel suffered under Pharaoh's yoke.
[Story of Thanksgiving]
Participant: Thanksgiving links American and Jewish values. This holiday commemorates the Pilgrims’ first New World harvest. Its inspiration comes from the Torah and the festival of Sukkot.
Group: Let us express our gratitude:
We are thankful for the freedom from hunger.
We are thankful for the freedom to pray.
We are thankful for the freedom to challenge our minds.
We are thankful for the freedom to change our minds.
We are thankful for the freedom to be different.
We are thankful for the freedom to work for a better world.
We are thankful for the freedom to celebrate this day.
Toda
Toda al kol ma sheh barata
Toda al ma sheli natata
Al or enaim, haver o shnaim,
Al ma sheh yesh li ba’olam.
tarbc hm lk lu hdwt
ttn ylc hm lu hdwt
\ynyu rwa lu
\ync wa rbj
slwub yl cyc hm lu
O thank you God for Your creation;
You give me strength and inspiration.
For all the beauty I see around me
For knowing peace and being free.
For all my friends and family
I thank You God for creating me.
Participant: We pray for our country, for the men and women who today are protecting our freedom…
Participant: and for the day when America, Israel, and the entire world will know peace.
Oseh Shalom
Group: Oseh shalom bi-m’romav, hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kol yisrael, v’imru amen.
}ma wrmaw larcy lk luw wnylu \wlc hcuy awh wymwrmb \wlc hcwu
Participant: God who brings peace to the universe will bring peace to us and to all the people Israel, and to all the inhabitants of the earth. And let us say, Amen.
[From Rabbi Jack Riemer] Participant: We cannot merely pray to God to end war; Participant: For the world was made in such a way that we must find our own path of peace within ourselves and with our neighbor... Participant: Therefore we pray instead for strength, determination, and will power. Participant: To do instead of merely to pray, to become instead of merely to wish; Participant: that our world may be safe, and that our lives may be blessed. | |
Participant: Let us all make sure that we each, in our own way and every day, work toward a better world.
Group:
Lo alecha ha-m’lacha ligmor, lo alecha ligmor.
Lo alecha ha-m’lacha ligmor, lo alecha ligmor.
V’lo ata ven chorin l’hibatel mimena.
V’lo ata ven chorin.
rmgl ]ylu al rmgl hkalmh ]ylu al
hnmm lfbhl }yrwj }b hta alw
Participant: It is not our duty to complete the work, but neither are we free to avoid it.
Participant: In celebrating our own Thanksgiving, we give thanks for all pilgrims in every land and age who were not willing to build highways for tyrants,
Participant: or smooth the path of the wicked,
Participant: or lend their aid to hateful people.
Participant: As we feast at the table of Thanksgiving, we acknowledge that we and our people have come from many places of tyranny…
Participant: We come from Egypt with Moses and the children of Israel to the Promised land;
Participant: from England and Holland to Plymouth;
Participant: from the tenements and ghettoes of Europe to the New World.
Group: …into new life and new hope of freedom.
Kiddush
Group: }pgh yrp arwb \lwuh ]lm wnyhla yy hta ]wrb
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam borei p'ri ha-gafen.
Hamotzi
Group: {rah }m \jl ayxwmh \lwuh ]lm wnyhla yy hta ]wrb
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam ha-motzi lehem min ha-aretz.
************* LET’S EAT! *************
This Land is Your Land
Chorus
This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood forest
To the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway;
I saw below me that golden valley;
This land was made for you and me.
<Chorus>
I’ve roamed and rambled
And I followed my footsteps
To the sprakling sounds of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.
<Chorus>
