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| Kadesh
A Toast to Freedom
Fill your cup with wine (or grape juice). That's the first of four cups you'll enjoy at tonight's Seder. Make sure it holds at least 3-1/2 ounces. Everyone stands and recites Kiddush together. Now get ready for some serious relaxing - remember to recline to your left side while you drink. | |
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| Urchatz
Washing Hands
Fill a cup with water. Pour some water over your right hand three times, then over your left hand three times. (When we wash our hands again before eating matzah, we'll recite a blessing. But not now.) | |
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| Karpas
The Appetizer
We now dip a vegetable (potato, onion or parsley) into saltwater. Say the blessing for eating vegetables, and munch good; you're not going to eat for a while. The saltwater represents the tears of our people, beginning with our slavery in Egypt. We taste harshness again in order to give us the humility necessary for freedom. | |
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| Yachatz
Break the Matzah
Take the middle matzah from your Seder Plate and break it into two. Put the smaller piece back between the two complete matzahs. This piece is the "poor man's bread" over which we will recount the story of our Exodus. The larger piece becomes the Afikoman (see step 12); put it in a bag and set aside until the Seder's end. | |
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| Maggid
Retelling the Story
The Seder Plate is moved aside and the second cup of wine is filled. The story of our Exodus is now retold. Children ask the Four Questions, found in the Haggadah. No children at your Seder? Have an adult ask. Alone? You be the child and G-d, the Father. The Exodus from Egypt was much more than just an historical event. Rather it is a dynamic process that occurs daily as we emancipate ourselves from our own limitations and strive to grasp the divine. To retell the story is to express our essential self; to come face to face with who we really are. At the end of this reading, say the blessing over the second cup. | |
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| Rachtzah
Washing Hands
We now prepare ourselves to eat matzah by again washing our hands. Pour some water over your right hand three times, then over your left hand three times. Say the appropriate blessing and dry your hands. | |
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| Motzie Matzah
Thank G-d for Bread, Bless the Matzah
Raise the three matzahs together-the top one, the broken middle one and the bottom one-and say the blessing ". . . Who brings forth bread out of the earth." Then return the bottom matzah to the Seder Plate. Recite the blessing on the top and (broken) middle matzah: ". . .Who commanded us concerning eating matzah." Break off a piece from each of these two matzahs for yourself and for each of those sitting at your table. Everyone eats at least two ounces (about two thirds of a matzah). Lean to the left while you munch. | |
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| Maror
Bitter Herbs
Maror is the bitter taste of our slavery in Egypt. Dip bitter herbs (horseradish, romaine lettuce or both) in charoset, which recalls the mortar of our enslavement, and then shake off the charoset. Say the blessing: ". . .Who commanded us concerning eating bitter herbs." this time we don't recline. | |
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| Korech
Sandwich
Take two pieces of matzah, totaling at least an ounce (using the bottom matzah). Take an ounce of maror, dip it in charoset, then shake off the charoset. Place the maror between the matzah pieces and say: "So did Hillel in the time of the Holy Temple . . ." Lean to the left while eating. | |
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| Shulchan Orech
Festive Meal
It is the custom of some to begin the meal with eating the egg on the Seder Plate, dipped in saltwater. The egg symbolizes the cycle of life and is also a sign of mourning. At every festive occasion, we mourn the destruction of Jerusalem. Now you can eat. | |
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| Tzafun
Out of Hiding
At the conclusion of the Passover meal, the Afikoman (which had been set aside) is returned. Everyone eats two-thirds of a matzah, after which nothing else is consumed tonight, except for the two remaining cups of wine. | |
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| Beirach
Grace after the Meal
The third cup is now filled. We say the grace after the meal and then the appropriate blessing for wine, drink this cup while leaning to your left. Now fill a special cup of wine, the Cup of Elijah, and set it in the middle of the table. Open the front door of your home to welcome Elijah and recite the prayer, "Pour out Your wrath . . ." | |
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| Hallel
Songs of Praise
"Songs of Praise" are now offered. Sing them to your heart's content. At the end, say a blessing and drink the fourth and final cup while leaning to the left. | |
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| Nirtzah
Acceptance
The steps of the Seder have been integrated into our consciousness and accepted. Now we pause, take a deep breath, and reflect on our experience: We examined our personal challenges through the slavery of our ancestors, and we achieved a personal freedom by reliving the Exodus. We completed our part in good faith; the rest is up to you-know-Who. | |
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