Why does the seder have an order

I am very happy to have found this site! Now that I am getting married and am planning to have children, I really wanted to re-learn a lot of the holiday.

Thanks again so much! Thank G-d I found this outline of the laws. I was a little worried as I had a summary of the Seder written down but I left it somewhere. Hopefully this will help me do all the things I need to on Sedeer night. Thanks very much. I learn so much from these notes. It is interesting to see how different or similar our customs are for this holiday. Thank you for sharing this knowledge. Your email address is kept private.

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Seder Plate The items on the Seder plate are placed in a very specific order. The Seder plate should be located to the right of the leader.

There are actually seven different mitzvot that we perform at the Seder. Laws of the Four Cups of Wine At the Seder, every Jew should drink four cups of wine corresponding to the four expressions of freedom mentioned in the Torah Exodus 6: The Blessings Kiddush should be recited while seated. You should have in mind to fulfill two mitzvot: 1 the mitzvah of Kiddush that we say on every Shabbat and Yom Tov 2 plus the special mitzvah to drink Four Cups of wine at the Seder When saying the Shehechianu blessing, you should have in mind that it applies to all the various mitzvot of Seder night.

Karpas Take the Karpas vegetable and dip it in salt water. Yachatz The leader of the Seder breaks the middle matzah in two. Notice that the two mitzvot of eating matzah at the Seder will be from the same piece. Four Questions Remove the Seder plate from the table until it is time to eat.

It is customary for the youngest person at the Seder to recite the Four Questions. At this time, we also pour the Second Cup of wine. Avadim Hayeenu The three matzot should be left uncovered for the duration of telling the Exodus story. Vi-Hee She-Amda In an expression of joy, the matzot are covered and the wine glasses are raised while reciting this paragraph. Ten Plagues Every time one of the plagues is mentioned, we dip our finger in the wine and spill a drop.

After all the drops have been spilled, the cup should be refilled. Lificach Cover the matzot, raise the cup of wine, and recite the paragraph aloud and joyfully.

Second Cup When you drink the wine, don't forget to lean. Rachtza Since we already washed our hands previously before the Karpas, you should intentionally make your hands dirty, so that the blessing on the washing here should not be in vain. Motzi It is a Torah mitzvah to eat matzah on Seder night. Don't forget to eat the matzah while leaning to the left. Matzah We recite a second blessing over matzah as the special mitzvah of Seder night.

Marror Take an amount of Marror equivalent to the size of a kezayit. If you use pure horseradish, it should be ground up before Yom Tov begins.

You should not lean while eating the Marror. It must be consumed within two to four minutes of the first swallow. Korech Take the bottom matzah remaining from the original three and make a sandwich with the Marror. Dip the sandwich into the Charoset and then shake it off. Say the paragraph of "Remembrance of the Temple. Eat the sandwich while leaning to the left. Shulchan Orech Eat a festive meal. Afikomen The Afikomen should preferably be eaten before the middle of the night. The Afikomen is eaten while leaning to the left.

Barech Everyone should rinse their wine cup clean, and then fill it for the Third Cup, which will be drunk at the conclusion of "Grace After Meals. Don't forget to lean to the left while drinking. It is customary to use the "leftovers" from Elijah's cup for Kiddush the next day. Fourth Cup It is preferable to drink the entire cup of wine. The after-blessing for wine should then be recited. Chad Gadya Although the Seder has officially ended, it is praiseworthy to continue speaking about the Exodus until sleep overtakes you.

Please donate at: aish. Share this article. Thank you for your web site;DB. It is delightful to discover our Jewish roots. Display my name? Yes No. Before eating the vegetable from the Seder plate, in-person guests perform a ritual hand-washing more appropriate now than ever before —done without soap this year, add soap!

Participants dip a vegetable representing " the hopefulness of spring "—usually parsley—from the Seder plate into saltwater, representing "the tears of slavery," and eat it. The matzo in the middle of the trio is snapped in half, and the larger piece, now called the afikomen , is hidden; the children will be tasked with finding it later in the ritual. As the second cup of wine is poured, the Exodus story is told. During this time, the youngest guest also asks four established questions predicated on this one: "How is this night different from all other nights?

Guests wash their hands a second time before the meal begins; this time, a blessing is included, too. Bitter herbs from the Seder plate—often horseradish—which represents "the bitterness of slavery" are tasted. As commanded in Numbers , participants eat bitter herbs sandwiched between matzah, and then bitter herbs and charoset between matzah.

At the end of the meal , the children search for the afikomen that was hidden earlier, which symbolizes "a move from brokenness toward healing. The leader recites a series of blessings said after meals, called the Birkat HaMazon , and the third cup of wine is poured. An extra cup of wine is also poured for the prophet Elijah, and a child opens the door of the house to symbolically invite him into the home.

At the end of the ritual, guests say " L'shanah haba'a b'irushalayim! You're Invited Franchise Logo. By Blythe Copeland Updated March 23, Break the middle matzah into two parts. Take larger part, wrap it in napkin and save for the conclusion of the meal.

Try — but not too hard — to keep it from being stolen by the children because it must be available for the end of the meal. Ready to eat, the hands are washed before the meal, as is required at any meal. It is similar to the previous hand-washing, but now all wash with the usual benediction as the hands are dried. The first food at the meal is the matzah, the unleavened bread.

The usual blessing over bread, Hamotzi, is recited. However, before eating the matzah, a second blessing thanking God for the requirement to eat matzah is recited. Small pieces of horseradish are dipped into haroset a sweet paste symbolic of mortar to indicate that overemphasis on material things results in bitterness. Before eating it, a blessing thanking God for this requirement is recited. Some people mix ground horseradish with charoset. In ancient times, the Talmudic scholar Hillel ate the three symbolic foods lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs together so that each mouthful contained all three.