Part 5: Yachatz

Matzah lies at the heart of the traditional seder. Likewise, Obama's victory lies at the heart of ours. In the place of a piece of Matzah, the leader of the seder hides the postcard sent out to all of the Obama supporters. On one side of this postcard is a picture of Barack and Michelle Obama, and Joe and Jill Biden, at Grant Park on election night. On the other side is a letter to Obama's supporters, thanking them for their hard work and expressing the hope that the country will work together to make change and progress in the coming weeks, months, and years. Throughout the seder, the children try to find this postcard, which must be recovered before dessert.

Part 4: Carpas

Carpas is the ritual in which people dip green vegetables into saltwater, which represents the tears of our ancestors when they were slaves. In modern times, however, the tears of our world have come from conflicts around oil, which is at the heart of many environmental and war problems. Therefore, we dip our salad into the dish of olive oil.

Part 3: Kiddush

Traditionally, Jewish holidays include a blessing over wine. However, wine is in itself a discriminatory drink, since only those of 21 or older can legally drink it. Since a large part of Obama's campaign and message was about the importance of reaching out to the youth, we will make kiddush over water instead. Water is an essential life force that nourishes the entire world. It is important both for the world of nature and for the world of people. It is our quintessential natural resource.
Baruch atah adonai elohainu melech ha'olam, boreh prie ha'shamayim v'ha'yam.

Part 2: Candle Lighting

Every Jewish Holiday begins with candle lighting. As is traditional, we light two candles, representing the yin and yang of all life. We then recite the schehecheyanu blessing, in which we give thanks for having reached this day, the first day of something wonderful. We are all thankful to be here for Barack Obama's inauguration. This is truly a historic event, and we hope that it will be the beginning of a new era of hope, peace, and prosperity.
Baruch atah adonai elohainu melech ha'olam, shehecheyanu, v'kiyimanu, v'higiyanu, la'z'man ha'zeh.

Part 1: B'dikat HaBush

Before a traditional seder, participants search throughout the house for traces of the forbidden chametz. Likewise, before our seder we search throughout the house for anything that mentions George W. Bush (such as books, newspapers, etc...) We then place all of these items in the fireplace. We do not actually burn them, but instead merely express the hope that the dire consequences of the Bush administration will no longer cause us suffering.

Setup

1.The seder plate:
We put in the center of our seder plate a picture of the earth, as viewed from space. Around this image we place: a small bowl with a few ice cubes; a piece of idaho maki; a small stack of tomato, mozzarella, and basil; a dish of oil, a helping of rice and beans; a scoop of hummus; and a cell phone. We will explain the significance of these items later.

2.The participants' dress:
We all wear blue, Obama-related, or progressive attire (such as peace signs or shirts with environmental slogans).

3.The participants' positions:
We sit where we can all see out the window. Once again, the purpose of this will be discussed later.



All food served is completely vegetarian.

Order of Seder

B'dikat HaBush

Candle Lighting + Shehecheyanu

Kiddush

Dipping in Oil (Carpas)

Yachatz – hiding of postcard

Magid – storytelling
ma nishtana
4 voters
dayenu
10 plagues
seder plate explanation
et Cetera

Maror/Korech – eating of seder plate items

Shulchan Orech – festive meal

Tzafun – dessert!

Barech – what we are thankful for

Hallel/Nirtzah – songs!!!