The Passover holiday, which is both a serious and light-hearted celebration of freedom, is a full sight and sound production of an ancient story’s re-telling. The ancient story is read from a short book written with both the six and the sixty-year-old in mind. The name of the small book is simply, "The Re-Telling".

To understand Passover, it is important to understand the framework of the language, for there is an important distinction in Hebrew between the actual words, "story", "tale" and "fable". In Hebrew, vowels are not represented by letters, but are rather the dots and lines arranged around the consonants (the letters). The word for, tell, Sapair, and the word for, story, Sipoor, bear the same consonants, SPR. "HaGadah" (The Re-Telling), does not stem from the same consonants, SPR, but uses the consonants, HGD. The reason for the difference? The "HaGadah" is not a simple "telling" as in a story or fable or celebrated tale, but is a re-telling executed in a very special rhythm.

The cadence in the storytelling is an essential aspect of the "Hagadah’s" quality of uniqueness. Whether reading to one’s self or reading aloud, one is constantly aware of one’s own rhythm, but in reading together with others, individual rhythm becomes attuned to a more public one. Other than the letters and the vowels, the Hebrew language has symbols that guide rhythm. Words and sentences are quiet or loud, high or low, deep or light. By the time a child is twelve or thirteen, he or she has become accomplished in repeating words and sentences in proper rhythm. Whether a glass spills, children are crawling under the table, someone is sneezing or someone is snoring, the "HaGadah" goes on in a rhythm all its own.

Before the main meal is served, each person opens their book and begins reading the first half of the story either in unison or in turn, depending upon the particular passage. A large plate, the Seder Plate, is filled with samples from the different dishes that are served according to the specific order written into the story. The dishes include, The Matzah, symbolic of the people who were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry to bake bread. The Bitter Herbs, signifying embittered lives from the loss of freedom. A bowl of heavily salted water, for the tears shed in the absence of freedom. The sweet mixture of ground apples and walnuts soaked in sweet red wine, for the sweetness of being able to build a lasting home. And the charred lamb bone, a symbol of sacrifice for having been spared the wrath of God.

Other than the Seder Plate, there is one more important setting at the table: Eliahu’s (Elijah)Place. As Passover is celebrated on a specific date every year, families can make all their preparations in advance. Preparations include not only customary foods, but also the preparation of the home, in which every piece of furniture, every shelf, window and door must be cleaned. There are, however, travelers who cannot make it home in time for the Seder. An empty chair, a full setting and a full glass of wine are always left alone at one end of the Seder table. And the front door is, literally, left open for Eliahu (Elijah), the welcome traveler.

At the end of the reading of the "HaGadah", the children set off in search of a hidden piece of matzah. The discoverer of the hidden matzah is rewarded either monetarily or in the form of a fulfillment of a small wish. But before the search can begin, a final song is sung in unison, a long and complicated tale of the humorous travails of the father who bought a horse to bring home to his family.

From rice to tortellini, from beans to potatoe "kugle", the Passover Seder is celebrated with as many different kinds of food and in as many different kinds of homes as there are different cultures on earth. But the message of the rhythmic "HaGadah" remains universal: Everyone must honor the gift of Freedom.