PASSOVER 2026

Passover Hagaddah by Wendy Cohen for 2026

The Story Overview

Start by offering prayers of thanksgiving to the LORD that we have reached this time. Bless Him first, then begin the Seder.

Pour the first cup of wine but don’t drink it yet. 

Sing songs or offer impromptu prayers of thanksgiving for God’s Holiness. 

From Revelation 13:8 and 1 Peter 1:19-20 we know that Passover existed before the creation of the world 

It’s first fulfillment was in Egypt

Then it was fulfilled again in Assyria, Iran, probably twice. 

1. From Esther 3:7-12 we learn that Haman’s decree to destroy the Jewish people was signed by the King on the 13th of Nissan, a day and a half before the Passover week began. Therefore, during Passover, the following things happened: 

Esther went to the king, 

Haman and his sons were killed (Haggagites), 

Mordechai was made prime minister, given the King’s signet ring and Haman’s house  

Only the military victory was won 11 months later at Purim. 

2. Nehemiah 2:1-6

Nehemiah asked the king for permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem during the month of Nisan. It could have been during Passover. The king was very happy to support Nehemiah’s request. One must wonder about his connection with Mordechai and Esther. 

The Isaiah 19 highway talks about God’s redemption of both Egypt and Assyria 

23 On that day there will be a highway
from Egypt to Assyria. Assyria will come to Egypt and Egypt to Assyria, and Egypt will worship with Assyria

24  On that day Isra’el will be a third partner
with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing here on earth;

25 for Adonai–Tzva’ot has blessed him:
“Blessed be Egypt my people,
Assyria the work of my hands
and Isra’el my heritage.”

In order, as described in Isaiah 19,

1. We were delivered out of Egypt (God’s people)
2. God delivered Assyria through us (the work of His hands, Esther, etc)
3. Christ delivered mankind in Israel (Messiah, our inheritance) on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday

Nissan is the 7th month, thus the month of completion, of covenant, of sitting together (meaning of seven in Hebrew)

Passover begins at the full moon, the height of the month

THE PASSOVER STORY

Ridding the house of leaven: 

1 Cor 5: 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We usually hide some yeast or some baking soda or some baking powder somewhere in the house and then everybody looks for it, especially kids if they’re present, and then we throw it out or burn it up and pray for the leaven in our lives to be removed

Light two candles

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time.

What is this time?

Ex 6:6-7 “I YHVH will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you of their bonding, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgements, and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you God, and you will know that I, YHVH your God, bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” 

There are four statements here that we will see again with each of the 4 cups of wine.

1. First, we are brought out from under the burden of the Egyptians, whatever ungodly burdens have been placed upon our lives. 
2. Then we are rid of our bondage to those things, the effects of those burdens on us are removed.
3. Then we are redeemed with great power
4. Then God takes us as his people

TELLING THE STORY

Game: each person thinks of one sentence to describe their person. people can prepare in advance if they like:

For instance Reuben, “I  was against selling or harming Joseph. What would i say to Father?”

Rueben

Judah

Pottifer

Pottifer’s wife

Jail keeper

Cup bearer in prison

Baker

Cup bearer talking to pharaoh

Pharoah’s dream

Jacob tells his sons to get grain from pharaoh 

Benjamin kept at home alone with daddy

Joseph imprisons simon till they bring benjamin

Jacob finally relents to sending benjamin

Joseph’s ruse for imprisoning Benjamin (J puts his cup in B’s sack, as if he stole it.)

Judah declares he will take Benjamin’s place in jail

Joseph repents and weeps 

Bringing Jacob to Egypt

Joseph makes everyone slaves of Pharaoh,

Mom and Daughter: Yochebed and Miriam, floating baby Moses down the Nile

Pharaoh’s daughter rescues him

Moses: grew up and killed an Egyptian for harming a Jew.

Zipporah: Moses shooed away all the shepherds who were bothering us, and then my father gave me to him in marraige

Now we switch to Reader’s Theatre: 

If you like, you can go around and each person can read a section. 

Excerpts from Exodus three through Exodus 12.

BUSH: WHEEEEE!  I’m on FIRE but I’m NOT BURNING UP!

Moshe: A bush! On fire! No way!

GOD: Moshe! Moshe!

MOSHE: “Yes???” 

GOD: “Take off your sandals. 

Sing if you’re willing …

You are standing on holy ground. 

And you know that there are angels all around.

Let us praise, praise GOD now,

You are standing in His Presence

On Holy Ground.

I, the God of your fathers, have seen my people, heard their cries, know their pain. I have come to rescue them out of slavery in Egypt, into the Promised Land, a good land flowing with milk and honey. Now, I will send you to Pharaoh; so you can lead my people to freedom.”

Moshe:  Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the people of Isra’el out of Egypt?

GOD:  I will be with you. In case you wonder: when you lead the people out of Egypt, you will worship Me on this mountain.

Moshe: But when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you’; and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” 

GOD:  “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I will be what I will be] has sent me to you. Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, tYitz’chak and Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever.Go, gather the leaders of Isra’el together, and say, ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, has said to me, “I have seen how terribly they treat you in Egypt. I will lead you out into freedom, into a land flowing with milk and honey.” 

MOSHE: But what if the people laugh at me and say, ‘You’re crazy! YHVH did not appear to you.’

GOD:  “What is that in your hand?” 

MOSHE: “A staff.”

GOD:  “Throw it on the ground!” 

MOSHE: AAAAA! It’s a snake!

God: Grab it by the tail.

MOSHE: The tail? It’ll bite me!  I’ll turn its head around and chomp on me!

God: The tail, Moshe. 

Moses: Whew! It’s a staff again! 

God:  When you do this, they will believe that i have appeared to you! Now put your hand inside your coat. 

MOSHE: Leprosy! YHVH, why?

GOD: Now put your hand back in your coat. 

MOSHE You healed me! 

God: If they won’t believe you because of the first sign, they will believe you through the second. And if they still won’t listen, take water from the river and pour it on the ground. The water will turn to blood.

MOSHE: But I’m a terrible speaker. My words come slowly, my tongue moves slowly. 

GOD:  Who gave you a mouth? Go; and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.

MOSHE:  Please, Lord, send someone else — anyone you want!

GOD: (speaking with anger)  Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s a good speaker. He’ll meet you on the Mountain of God. I will be with your mouth and his. He will be your mouth; and you will be like God to him. Now take this staff in your hand, because you will need it. 

Do every wonder I tell you before Pharaoh. He will refuse to let my people go. Then tell him: ‘YHVH says, “Isra’el is my firstborn. I told you to let my son go worship me, but you refused. Now, I will kill your firstborn son!”

Some days later. 

MOSHE: Aaron!

Aaron: Moshe!

MOSHE: Aaron! 40 years, huh? Just like YHVH promised! Meeting you at the Mountain of God! Come, let me tell you everything. Then, go gather the leaders of Israel. 

Aaron: They will believe!  They will look at the signs from God and thank Him. They will bow their heads to worship Him. Don’t be worried. Thank you, LORD, for remembering us!

Some days later, in front of Pharaoh.

Aaron: Pharaoh,YHVH, the God of the Israelites met with us and says, ‘Let my people celebrate a festival in the desert to honor me.’ 

Pharaoh: No! Who’s YHVH? Why should I listen to Him?

Aaron: He is the God of the Hebrews. Please let us go three days’ journey into the desert, so that we can sacrifice to Him. Otherwise, He may strike us with a plague or with the sword.

Pharaoh: hah! From now on, I won’t provide straw for your bricks. You provide your own. But make sure you produce the same quantity. Lazy!  You are just lazy! Ooooooo!!! I will keep you too busy to make up anymore lies.

Later that day.

MOSHE: YHVH, help!!!

God: Watch what I am going to do to Pharaoh next. With a mighty hand he will send you off; with force he will drive you from the land! ‘I am YHVH. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians, rescue you from their oppression, and redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov — I will give it to you as your inheritance. I am YHVH’”

Later that day. 

MOSHE:  Hey Pharaoh! Aaron, throw down my staff. 

Pharaoh: Ach ! A snake! But .. but … but … my magicians can do the same thing. Magicians! 

Magicians: Yes, O Pharaoh!

Pharaoh: anything else, Moshe? 

MOSHE: Look. My snake is chomping your snakes to bits. That’s what God‘s power will do to you. Eat your magic abilities for lunch. Then when I take back my walking stick and leave with all God’s people, you’ll be weak as a mouse. Aaron, pick up the snake and hand me back my staff. 

Aaron: pharaoh, we’re warning you, God said to let His people go. 

Narrator: With each of the ensuing plagues, God‘s demands upon pharaoh increase. From asking him to let the Israelites go for a three day journey to worship the Lord, to His eventual demand to let all the Israelites go free, permanently, including all the children, all the women and all the animals, each time pharaoh refuses to say yes God ups the anti. Eventually,, it is the full and complete destruction of Egyptian well-being, with multitudes of Egyptians and other slaves leaving with the Israelites.

During the first plague, with aaron and Moses working together, God turns the water of the Nile into blood. 80 years earlier, two generations earlier, another pharaoh tried to drown all the little baby boys in the Nile river. Their blood cried out to God like Abel‘s blood cried out to God. Now God turns Egypt’s water source into poisonous blood. The fish die and stink, and the frogs that live in the river jump out. Meanwhile, the magicians duplicate this miracle so they increase the pollution of the land. All of this leads to the second plague.

The plague of frogs. The frogs are now jumping all over the place, looking everywhere for water, in the kitchens, in the bathing areas, in the dining rooms, one can just imagine! There must’ve been millions of frogs from all over the Nile. According to scripture, God creates the frogs and the magicians do too. So the magicians only increase the problem.

When pharaoh asks Moses to take away the frogs, God causes them all to die. The Egyptians don’t bury them, possibly because frogs were gods, and they are piled up in heaps all over the land. With millions of dead frogs and millions of dead fish, can you imagine what happened? Lice, swarms, probably of insects, death of the livestock, boils, all logical consequences of rotting flesh, all logical consequences of the river turning to blood. And now, the magicians cannot duplicate what God is doing, nor can they stop it. 

In our own lives, we cross a threshold, when we continue to sin, where nothing except the cleansing, healing blood of Christ can stop our polluted blood from harming ourselves and others. When we kill first love within ourselves, first love of CHRIST, first love of God, everything else in our lives becomes toxic and eventually deadly. You can’t kill God’s children and prosper.

At first, Moses had asked God for help in speaking to Pharaoh and he had sent Aaron. When Aaron and Moses performed the plagues together, the plagues also impacted Goshen, where the Israelites lived. But starting with the swarm of insects, Moses gained his own authority and spoke and acted for himself, as God had originally commanded, without needing Aarons support, and from that point on the plagues no longer touched Goshen. 

There’s an important lesson in this. When God gives us something to do, if we do it halfway, perhaps out of fear, we miss God’s full protection. Double mindedness does not bring us God‘s full support. But we are always in process and when our faith increases so that we choose to single mindedly do whatever God desires, we experience His full authority and power manifesting in our lives. Look to Moses’s story to see this principle in action, from his fear of public speaking, to his parting of the Red Sea, to his leading millions of people across a desert. God’s word never comes back void, and when our words become his words and his words become our words, his words through us will always manifest his destiny. 

Going back to the story, God is now furious. Listen to His words to Pharaoh. “Let my people go, so that they can worship me. By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such severe plagues that you would have been wiped off the earth. But it is for this very reason that I have kept you alive — to show you my power, so that my name may resound throughout the whole earth. Since you are still setting yourself up against my people and not letting them go, tomorrow, about this time, I will cause a hailstorm so heavy that Egypt has had nothing like it from the day it was founded until now. Therefore, send and hurry to bring indoors all your livestock and everything else you have in the field. For hail will fall on every human being and animal left in the field that hasn’t been brought home, and they will die.”’”

God does this, and more. With the hail, he brings thunder and lightning, which sets the fields on fire. Pharaoh still doesn’t relent and after that, God brings Locusts. Together, the hail, lightning, and the locusts destroy all of Egypt’s crops. 

Remember how Joseph had interpreted pharaoh’s two dreams about the fat cows and the plump grains being devoured by the skinny cows and the impoverished grains? How he had saved all the people from starvation, in the process greatly increasing Egypt’s wealth, causing all the surrounding peoples, including the Israelites, to become pharaoh’s slaves? Now, hundreds of years later, with pharaoh abusing his workers, including the Israelites, God destroys all of Egypt’s animals and crops. 

But pharaoh is still in the dark, not putting anything together, so God brings three days of darkness that is so deep people can’t see their own hands in front of their faces. How often have we been in the dark like that and not even realized it? Only Goshen has light. Only those walking sufficiently with the Lord can see the light of what he is doing, can see their own darkness, and consider their own need for redemption. Many times, those living in darkness have no clue.

On the third day pharaoh asks Moses to remove the darkness and God does so. But when pharaoh will still not let the Israelites go, God vows to kill all of Egypt’s first born.

MOSHE: “Here is what YHVH says: ‘About midnight I will go out into Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the slave-girl at the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. There will be a horrendous wailing throughout all the land of Egypt — there has never been another like it, and there never will be again. But not even a dog’s growl will be heard against any of the people of Isra’el, neither against people nor against animals. In this way you will realize that YHVHdistinguishes between Egyptians and Isra’el. All your servants will come down to me, prostrate themselves before me and say, “Get out! — you and all the people who follow you!” and after that, I will go out!’ ” 

It is on this night that God, over a thousand years later, would cause his first born, Jesus Christ, to die, and we would go out of the land of bondage into the land of freedom.

The Passover, Excerpts from Exodus 12: 

God to Moses and the people:

You are to begin your calendar with this month; On the tenth day take a lamb or kid, one per household — or, if your family is too small, share one with your next door neighbor. Keep it until the fourteenth day and then slaughter it at dusk. Take some of its blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame of your houses.Eat the meat, roasted in the fire; with matzah and maror. Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it remains, burn it up completely.

Eat with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it quickly. It is YHVH’s Pesach [Passover]. For I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am YHVH. The blood is a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over you — when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.

For seven days you are to only eat matzah. Whoever eats hametz [leavened bread] from the first to the seventh day is to be cut off from Isra’el. On the first and seventh days assemble with God. On this day I brought you out of the land of Egypt. Observe this day from generation to generation. Eat matzah.

Narrator: 

God did what he said at midnight. Pharaoh got up in the night, he, all his servants and all the Egyptians; and there was horrendous wailing in Egypt; for there wasn’t a single house without someone dead in it. He summoned Moshe and Aharon by night and said, “Up and leave my people, both you and the people of Isra’el; and go, serve YHVH as you said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you said; and get out of here! But bless me, too.” 

The Egyptians pressed to send the people out of the land quickly, because they said, “Otherwise we’ll all be dead!”

After the Israelites and the mixed multitude left, pharaoh rejected what he had done and went to recapture the Israelites. He found them by the Red Sea, or as it is actually known, the Sea of Reeds, Yam Souf, and knew they were trapped. Now he thought he would have his revenge! When God opened the Sea and invited them through he blindly persisted, still thinking he could capture them. In so doing, God destroyed pharaoh and his entire army.

Jesus’s death upon the cross is not sufficient, Passover is not sufficient, for our complete transformation.  We also need His resurrection, we need to cross over the sea, experiencing the sting of death drowned to death as we walk freely into God‘s eternal grace life. This is the first baptism, where everything that has caused us harm, all our memories and fears of future harm, are washed away, never able to harm us again, and we are given the new life of walking fully and freely into God‘s eternal destiny for us, where the old man is destroyed, and the new man is born.

With this first cup of wine we thank God for bringing us out from under bondage to Egypt, out from under the death threat in Assyria, and, through Yeshua, bringing us out from under bondage to sin.

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” 

YESHUA: Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see I, your king am coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.

Spontaneous prayers and drink the first cup. 

Yeshua knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

YESHUA: Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Wash each other’s hands thinking about washing off anything each other is carrying. 

Pour the second cup but don’t drink it yet. 

Yeshua was nailed to the Tree about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining when Yeshua was on the cross. The curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Finally, Yeshua called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

We drink the second cup of wine. We thank God, not only for taking us out of Egypt, saving us in Assyria, and taking us out of sin, but for taking the world and sin out of us, for sanctifying us, step by step, for continuously washing us clean by his blood. 

As Yeshua is now buried, and we anticipate his resurrection, we will soon go look for the afikomen, the hidden half of the middle matzah. When it is found, we will give the person who found it a gift which represents Christ’s resurrection. But first, let us read from Matthew 28. 

Angel: Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.

Everyone: Raboni! Yeshua!

Find the afikomen, give the person who found it a small gift with spiritual significance and give thanks for Yeshua’s Resurrection. 

Each and everyone of us has been delivered from evil, completely and totally and utterly, with no strings attached and nothing holding us back. He has rid us all of our bondage. We are set free.  

Now we eat the elements of our deliverance,

Let’s eat the parsley dipped in the salt water. We have been brought into a new life, but our deliverance has been costly, and we shed tears of gratitude for what Christ has done for us.

We take a piece of matzah, symbolizing our humility before Christ and our willingness to be broken for Him, looking at its stripes and piercings, thinking of His cost in setting us free. We put upon it the horseradish, which represents the sting of knowing our own sin nature and we cover that with the CHAROSET,  representing the sweetness Christ has given us through His work of redemption, and we eat the Hallel sandwich, the sandwich of praise and Thanksgiving.

Lastly, we take a bite of lamb, Christ himself, and let ourselves be filled with His presence

Communion: 

Take a piece of matzah

Mark 14: 22 While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

do so. break it and share it with each other.

Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” 

Drink the 3rd cup of wine.

With this, the 3rd cup, the cup of our redemption, our communion with the Lamb of God is complete. First cup: He first took us out of sin. Second cup: He sanctified and purified us, taking the influence of sin out of us. Third cup: the cup of redemption. This cup is probably the last cup Yeshua drank before his passion. The fourth cup, the cup of our becoming the people of God, would await His coming into His Father’s Kingdom.

Grace and Eat Dinner

After dinner

Pour the 4th cup.

Matthew 28:18+

18 And Yeshua said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you all the days, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:19

Then, when the Lord Yeshua had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

Because Christ is in His Kingdom, we have fully become the people of God.  In the last phrase of our quote form Exodus 6, YHVH says: “I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you God, and you will know that I, YHVH your God, bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,” and we could add, “of sin.” With Christ in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit inhabiting us, we have become the people of God.

Let’s drink the 4th cup.

Closing impromptu prayers and worship.

With that, our Passover Seder is complete.