All night long we have been reliving the story of the Exodus, striving to awaken our present consciousness to redemption. Moments ago the wave of the past finally broke over us, sweeping away the boundary between then and now as we burst into the praises of Hallel. Redemption was transformed from a story about our ancestors into the here and now and given life through our song. But in the midst of our excitement, a question arises. The past is gone...

Praising as a spiritual practice How is this Hallel on seder night different from all other Hallels? What are we aiming to accomplish in this Hallel of seder night? Unlike every other holiday Hallel, the Hallel of the seder (and in synagogue) is sung at night. Unlike other Hallels, it is sung without an introductory blessing, and it is recited sitting down. Unlike every other Hallel, this Hallel is divided into two parts by eating!  Why is Hallel sung at night?...

Immediately following birkat hamazon (grace after meals) we drink the third of four cups of wine. We pour the fourth cup which will be for the upcoming completion of Hallel. We also pour a fifth cup that is situated in the middle of the table called Kos Shel Eliyahu (Elijah’s Cup). This cup is left undrunk until such time as the halakhic question is answered: Do the Jews in Israel drink the fifth cup which corresponds to the fifth redemptive expression...

Tzafun from the Hebrew root  צפנ, means "hidden" and refers to the afikoman. This piece of the matza, ceremonially broken earlier in the seder, is consumed at the conclusion of the meal in memory of the paschal sacrifice of Temple times. Early on, the custom developed to hide this matza away in order to maintain the younger participants’ interest during the lengthy proceedings, as they would attempt to find it in order to earn a prize.  While we no longer are...

Who can possibly imagine Pesach seder without brisket, chicken, kugel, tzimmes, matzo ball soup and a sweet fattening dessert? Well, I can (except, perhaps, for the matzo ball soup). While "when do we eat?” is probably the most often asked question at the seder, it has often struck me”as strange that after eating copious amounts of matza, haroset, maror and karpas we sit down to a full meal. For many the meal is the highlight of the seder, but is this...

After performing most of the central mitzvot of the evening (telling the story of the Exodus eating matza and maror, etc.) and just before we are about to enjoy the festive holiday meal, the haggadah structures a moment in which we symbolically repeat the practice of Hillel the Elder who would “wrap” his portion of the paschal offering with matza and maror and eat it as a type of sandwich, in literal fulfillment of the verse “it shall be eaten on...

The question of why we eat maror would at first glance appear to be an obvious one. When I probe a little deeper, however, two questions emerge for me. First, why would I want to evoke pain and suffering on a night when I want to feel celebratory? My second question goes to the ritual itself. How is eating lettuce or horseradish supposed to help me experience or relate to the bitterness of slavery? No matter how much fiery hot horseradish...

If asked why we eat matza on Pesach, most would answer, as does Rabban Gamliel in the haggadah, that it is to commemorate the fact that we were chased out of Egypt and our bread had no time to rise; it is a symbol of redemption. This explanation, though, is not so simple. A close read of the verses in Exodus shows that God actually commanded the nation to eat matza for seven days, before they actually left Egypt. Thus, regardless...

Rahtza surely ranks as the most mundane stage of the entire seder. Not only have we already washed our hands once before, but this second hand washing is simply an application of the year-round halakhic practice of washing one’s hands before eating bread. Rahtza, then, is the one point at which this night is not different than all other nights. Nor is the significance of this ritual handwashing redeemed by considering its halakhic development. According to the Talmud, handwashing before meals...

Perhaps no other portion of the haggadah can open up discussion like the section of the four children. There are many learned interpretations to go to that analyze this part of the haggadah. However while the seder should include learned divrei Torah (words of Torah), it should primarily consist of questions. The Magid section models this for us, beginning with the four questions in Ma Nishtana and moving on to our section. Note that three of the four children ask a...

We ended our first, basic, cliff-notes version of Pesach (“Avadim hayeinu” / “We were slaves”) with an exhortation that a person is increasingly praiseworthy the more she talks about the Exodus. But what are we now supposed to talk about? We already recounted the basic facts. And why should we increasingly talk about the Exodus? We are not going to broaden our intellectual horizons or feed an additional hungry person. An answer that the haggadah provides at this point, is to...

מה נשתנה הלילה הזה Rahel Berkovits How are our questions different from the original questions? One of the main purposes of the seder is to recount the Exodus story to our children for generations[1]. The Mishnah (Pesahim 10) which outlines the structure of today’s seder, opens the section describing Magid by saying, “here the child asks the parent” and further explains that if the child does not know how to ask, the parent teaches him or her Ma Nishtana. For generations...

At this stage in the seder, the middle of the three matzot is broken and the larger half designated for the afikoman at the end of the meal. In one of many attempts at the seder to keep children attentive and interested, young participants are encouraged to stealthily steal the afikoman. The source for this custom, which seems to be counter-educational, is a passage in the Talmud which says that we grab (hotfim) the matza to make sure that the children...

Karpas is the vegetable eaten as an appetizer before the telling of the story and before the meal. Some scholars claim that it comes from the Persian karfas, meaning parsley; others claim that it derives from the Greek word karpos, meaning “fruit of the soil.” Parsley and celery are commonly used, but potatoes, radishes and even lettuce are customary as well. Early medieval commentaries (Tosafot Pesahim 114a) note the custom of dipping the karpas in either saltwater or vinegar. Interestingly, the...

They say that cleanliness is close to Godliness. This couldn’t be closer to the truth, Jewishly speaking. We are all about preparation. It is well know that holiness is all in the details. The preparation on Friday is what imbues shabbat with its kedusha (holiness). Urhatz (washing) is our ,first step in the preparation for the seder. It is both a physical and a spiritual cleansing. We are in a sense, washing away the last spiritual crumbs of hametz in preparation...

The seder opens with kiddush (the sanctification over wine). This is certainly unremarkable after all, kiddush is the opening act of every shabbat and holiday meal. But kiddush – a ritual .sanctification of time – has an intimate and unique connection to Pesach’s central theme: freedom. How so? As Israel was about to be released from slavery, God instituted a new calendar: “This month shall (mark for you the beginning of months; the first of the months of the year for...

The Mishnah in Pesahim cites a disagreement regarding how to fulfill the Torah’s commandment (to eliminate the hametz (leavened bread) on the eve of Passover (See Exodus 12:15): "משנה פסחים ב :א ”רבי יהודה אומר: אין ביעור חמץ אלא שריפה. וחכמים אומרים: אף מפרר וזורה לרוח או מטיל לים Mishnah Pesahim 2:1 Rabbi Yehudah says: "Destruction of hametz can only be accomplished through burning. But the Sages say: One may even crumble it up and throw it into the wind or...

Pesach is a time of inclusion. On seder night, there are two moments where we metaphorically open our doors and invite others in. One is at the opening of the Magid portion of the seder, when we say, “All who are hungry come and eat.” There is a beautiful message here: we were once slaves; poor and hungry, and we remember our redemption by sharing what we have with others. The other, comes towards the end of the seder, when we...