Passover 2026: Around The Jewish Year - Illustrated by AI

On the seder night, we all gather around the table, eat matzah, drink four cups of wine, and ask questions. Because on this night, we tell the amazing story of how God brought us out from slavery to freedom. Before we begin the story, we'll tell you about the great sages Robbie Eleazar, Robbie Yahosua, Rabbi Elazar Benazaria, Rabbi Akiva, and Robbie Tarfon who once sat together on the night of the seder in the city of Ben Brock and told the story of the Exodus from Egypt all night long. They were so immersed in the story that they didn't even notice that dawn had broken until their students came and said, "Our teachers, it is time to recite the morning shama." Amazing. These great sages knew everything. Yet they taught us that no matter how much we know, there is always more to learn. And we are obligated to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Now we will tell you what happened in the land of Egypt. Yakov, our forefather, had 12 sons, and among them was Yoseseph, who was handsome and smart. Yakov made him a special coat of many colors. Because of this, Yseph's brothers hated him. And one day, they decided to sell him to the IshRaelites, and they brought him to Egypt. In Egypt, Ysef endured great suffering. He was a servant in Piper's house and then spent 12 years in prison until he eventually became the deputy to the king of Egypt. Yakov, who had thought that a wild animal had devoured him, was overjoyed to hear that Yseph was alive and that he was a ruler in Egypt. So he packed up all his belongings and he went down to Egypt with his family of 70 people. On the way, God promised Yakov that he would protect his family in Egypt and turn them into a great nation. Many years passed. Yakov, Yseph, and all the brothers passed away. The Jewish people continued to grow and multiply in Egypt. They were blessed and they prospered greatly. When Yseph passed away, a new king arose in Egypt. His name was Parro. He did not know Ysef, nor did he care about all the good Yoseseph had done for Egypt. The new king was afraid of the Jewish people because they were numerous and strong. He said to his people, "Let us deal shrewdly with the Jewish people, lest they multiply and fight against us." The verse says, "And the Egyptians treated us cruy and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us. The Egyptians began to enslave the Jewish nation with harsh labor. They built great cities for Pyro and worked in the fields. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Jewish people multiplied. When Parro saw this, he decided on a terrible and dreadful decree. Every baby boy born to the Jews was to be thrown into the Nile. He summoned the Hebrew midwives, Shiffra and Pua, and ordered them to kill the newborns. But the midwives were righteous women. They refused. They told Pero that the Jewish women give birth before the midwives arrive. This is how they saved the babies. In those difficult days, the Savior of Israel was born. Moshe, our teacher, his mother, Yohed, hid him for three months so he would be spared from Perro<unk>'s decree. But then she could no longer hide him. She built a small basket, coated it with tar to keep the water out and placed the baby inside it. That day, Parro's daughter went down to bathe in the Nile, saw the baby, and decided to take him in. Moshe grew up in Parro's palace. When he became an adult, he went out to see his fellow brothers and saw how much they were suffering. It's important to note that the main hardship of the enslavement occurred during the last 86 years of their time in Egypt. The Egyptians imposed backbreaking labor on the Jewish people. Women's work was assigned to the men and men's work to the women. The women were forced to draw water, chop wood, and gather crops in the fields. The construction work was unbearably difficult. Every Jew was required to produce 400 bricks every day. Additionally, they were forced to build on sandy ground and everything they built sank into the earth. The Egyptians treated the Jews with humiliation. Jewish men worked for Egyptian women and Jewish women served Egyptian men. Additionally, they placed torches on the heads of the Jews to provide light for the Egyptians. When the Egyptians wanted to plow their fields, they used Jews instead of animals so as not to tire their livestock. When Egyptian children heard a Jewish baby crying, they would call their fathers, who would then throw the male infants into the river. The Egyptians burned the Jewish children as sacrifices to their gods. Parro contracted leprosy, and in order to be cured, he would bathe in the blood of 150 Jewish infants in the evening and another 150 in the morning. The condition of the Jewish people was dire. Many asked, why did the Jewish nation suffer in such a way? It's important to note that in the Hagada, we say, "At first, our ancestors were idol worshippers before we became Israel, the Jewish nation. Our ancestors lived in another land and worshiped idols, pagan gods. But Hashem chose our forefather, Araham, and promised him that he would become a great nation and receive the land of Israel." Abraham asked God how he would know that he would truly receive the land of Israel. Hashem said to him that the Jewish people would be enslaved in Egypt and then they would ascend to the land of Israel and settle in it and that is the reason we went down to Egypt. Let's return to the story. Moshe was commanded by God to go and redeem the Jewish nation. He went with Aaron to Parro and the moment Parro heard that they were asking to free the Jews, he made their labor even harder. Hashem said to Moshe, "Now you will see what will happen." And then he began to punish the Egyptians with the 10 plagues. The first plague, the plague of blood. God told Moshe to strike the Nile with his staff. In practice, it was Auron who struck the Nile. All the waters of the Nile turned to blood. The fish died, the water stank, and the Egyptians couldn't drink from the Nile. But Pyro did not release the Jewish people. At this point, God moved on to the plague of frogs. Frogs came up from the river and covered the entire land of Egypt. They were in the houses, in the beds, in the ovens, and everywhere. Pyro asked Moshe to pray to Hashem to remove the frogs. But once they disappeared, he again refused to let the Jewish people go. At this stage, God moved on to the third plague, the plague of lice. God told Moshe to strike the dust of the earth, and all the dust turned into lice on people and on animals. Even parro<unk>'s magician said, "This is the finger of God." We move on to the fourth plague, the plague of wild beasts. God sent predatory animals throughout all of Egypt. They roamed the streets and harmed people. But in the land of Gan, where the Jewish people lived, there were no wild animals. Pero promised to let the people go, but when the plague ended, he once again refused. Let's move on to the fifth plague. The plague of pestilence. A severe disease struck all the Egyptians livestock, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep. But not a single animal belonging to the Jewish people died. Parro sent messengers to check and saw that it was true. But he still did not let the people go. And from here, we move on to the sixth plague, the plague of boils. God told Moshe and Aon to take soot from a furnace and throw it into the air. The soot turned into fine dust that caused soores and blisters on all the Egyptians and their animals. Even the magicians couldn't stand before Moshe because of the boils. But Pyro still refused. And so we move on to the seventh plague, the plague of hail. The hail destroyed all the plants and trees in Egypt. Only in the land of Gan where the Jews lived, there was no hail. Parro promised to send the nation away, but once the hail stopped, he refused. Once again, God brought a strong easterly wind that brought a massive swarm of locusts. The locusts covered the entire land and ate everything that was left after the hail. Not a single green thing remained in all of Egypt. Pyro begged God to remove the locusts. But once again, he refused to let the people go. We move on to the ninth plague, the one before the last, the plague of darkness. God told Moshe to raise his hand toward the sky. And then a thick darkness fell over the entire land of Egypt for 3 days. The Egyptians couldn't see one another and didn't move from their places. This did not deter Pro. And then came the final and most severe plague, the plague of the firstborns. All the firstborns of Egypt died in a single moment. There was no house in Egypt without someone dead. When Pyro saw this, he ran to look for Moshe and Auron. He was afraid that he too might die since he was a firstborn. When he met Moshe and Aon, he said, "Get up and leave from among my people." At this point, the process of the exodus from Egypt began. The Jewish people began their preparations. They entered the Egyptians homes, took clothing and jewelry, and waited for the command from Moshe. Meanwhile, they needed dough to take with them on the journey. But the dough didn't have time to rise. And at the break of dawn, Moshe called out to the entire Jewish nation and began leading them out of Egypt. As we say in the Hagada, we were slaves to parro in Egypt. The Egyptians forced us to work very hard to build cities and make heavy stones. They didn't let us rest and made things harder and harder for us. But God saw our suffering and decided to save us as it says in the Hagada. And God heard our voice like it says in the verse. And God heard their cry. And God remembered his covenant with Avraham, with Yeetszhok, and with Yakov. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt, not by an angel, not by a sarav, and not by a messenger. But the Holy One, blessed be he, did it in his glory, by himself, as it is said, "On that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt, and I will smite every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast, and I will carry out judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord." Now the Jewish people are marching towards the Red Sea. Parro regrets letting them go and begins the chase after the Jewish people. But there's no need to worry. This is a divine plan carefully orchestrated. At the point when the Jews reached the edge of the sea, Moshe stood over the water and the sea split into two. It was the greatest miracle witnessed by the entire world. The Egyptians who were chasing after the Jewish nation continued on and in a single moment God closed the sea upon them and killed them. Rabi Yosi Haglei, Robbie Eleazar, and Robbie Aka wrote their opinions regarding the number of plagues the Egyptians received. Rabbi Yosi Hagali said that the Egyptians received 10 plagues in Egypt and 50 at the sea. Robbie Eli Azer said they received 40 plagues in Egypt and 200 at the sea. Whereas Rabbi Akiva explained that in Egypt they received 50 plagues and at the sea they received another 250 plagues. And so the Egyptians died and the Jewish people breathed a sigh of relief. In the Hagada we sing Denu, a song that reminds us of all the good things God did for us. If Hashem had only taken us out of Egypt and not performed additional miracles, Dianu, it would have been enough. If he had only split the sea for us and not brought us to the land of Israel, Denu, but Hashem performed so many miracles and wonders for us. Raban Gamliel said that in order to remember the story, we must speak about three important things. Pesak, a remembrance of the special sacrifice that was offered before we left Egypt. Matzah, a remembrance of the bread that didn't have time to rise when we fled Egypt. and Marur, a remembrance of the bitter lives we had in Egypt. Now, the Jewish people are preparing for the giving of the Torah. The Jewish nation will receive the Torah, and by doing so, they will become the chosen people of God and will take upon themselves the 613 commandments. The Hagada mentions four sons. The wise son asks awful questions and wants to know everything about the commandments. The wicked son asks in a dismissive way and says, "What is this service to you? Why do you need all these commandments as if it has nothing to do with him?" The simple son asks in a straightforward manner, "What is this?" And the one who does not know how to ask, he doesn't even know how to formulate a question. So therefore, we need to begin telling him ourselves. In the end, the Jewish nation received the Torah and said, "We will do and we will hear." At the end of the Hagada, we sing who knows one and had. These songs remind us of our faith in God and the miracles he has done and continues to do for us. The story of the Hagada teaches us that God is always with us. Even in the most difficult times, we can expect a great salvation on the night of the cedar. We are not just telling a story, we are reliving it. And we give thanks to Hashem for our freedom. And there is no truly free person except for one who engages in Torah.