Let's Start with a Poem!

Before there was a printing press, all books were written by hand, so they were very expensive. Most families couldn't afford a Haggadah of their own. If they wanted to remember the order of the Haggadah, they had to memorize the whole thing. Could YOU do that?

To help people remember, the Rabbis of a long time ago divided the Seder into 15 sections, which they wrote out in a rhyming poem. It goes like this:

Kadesh, Urchatz, Karpas, Yachatz,
Maggid, Rachtza, Motzi, Matza
Maror, Korech, Shulchan Orech
Tsafon, Berach, Hallel, Nirtzah

Activity:
Try to memorize this poem. You can work together with someone in your family. Even though it's in Hebrew, if you repeat it enough you will soon be able to say it by heart. Then when you go to the Seder, suprise everyone by showing them that you know the whole program for the evening.

Kadesh
The leader of the Seder makes kiddush, the blessing on the wine.

L'kadesh means to sanctify, or to make holy. Holy means something is special and connected to God. We make Kiddush, a blessing on wine, to show that this is a special day, and that the Jewish people are a special nation. Wine is used because it is something special, not ordinary like soda or juice. It also can make people happy.

We each fill each other's cups as if we were being served - this is to say how important each person at the Seder is. You can help pour too!

Everyone, even children, should drink 4 cups of wine (or grape juice) at the Seder. After Kiddush, everyone drinks the first cup while leaning to the left.

Question:
Why do we lean while we drink? That looks silly!

Answer:
In the olden days, in the time of the Romans, wealthy people used to eat while lying on couches. At the Seder, when we are celebrating our freedom from slavery, we lean to symbolize our status as free men and women (and children)!

Urchatz
We wash our hands with a washing cup, without a blessing, before dipping the karpas. This is to symbolize what they used to do in the days of the Temple. It is also to stimulate questions. Why? In some families, everyone washes their hands and says a blessing when bread is eaten. Now, we are washing hands, but not eating bread (matza!), or making a blessing! And if you aren't familiar with washing hands before eating bread, you might just want to know what's going on.

Question:
Ask why you're washing. Everyone will be happy that the washing is making you ask questions. Then you can surprise them by telling the answer too!

Answer:
In the days of the Holy Temple, before eating any produce (fruits or vegetables) dipped in certain liquids (including water), people would wash their hands. Since there is no Temple today, most rabbis say that the rule about dipping doesn't apply. But at the Seder, we dip to recall the Temple times. But since we don't HAVE to wash, we don't say any bracha (blessing).

Karpas
Everyone at the table dips a vegetable in the salt water.

Most people use parsley or celery, but some people use potato, because in the olden days in Europe, there were no green vegetables yet at Pesach. Sometimes it was still snowing!

Question:
Why are we dipping a vegetable?

Answer:
This comes from another custom from the days of the ancient Romans, who lived at the time when the Seder service was set by the rabbis. At the banquets of the Roman wealthy, the first course was often fresh vegetables, dipped in a sauce or dressing. We are showing that we are free and can now live the "good life" too. Except that we dip in salt water that symbolizes the tears shed during our slavery. We don't want to be like the Romans, just gorging ourselves - we eat to have healthy bodies so that we can do good things in the world.

Question:
If the Haggadah was written today, and the rabbis wanted to use something fancy as an appetizer to show that we are free, what do you think they would use? A waiter carrying hot-dog-in-a-blanket hor d'oeuvres? Little sandwiches with smoked salmon? What do you think would best show that we are free?

Activity:
Pretend you are the waiter. Walk around with a tray and a towel on your arm, and carry the salt water and vegetables to each person to let them take.

Dip the vegetable into the salt water, and say the blessing:
Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha'olam, Borei Pri Ha'Adamah.

Yachatz
The person leading the Seder breaks the middle matza and hides the larger half in a napkin.

Question:
Why are there three matzas? Why do we break one? Why the middle one? (Why are there so many crumbs? Why did you break it in three, Dad?)

Answer:
Just as the poor man sets aside something for his next meal, so we remember being poor slaves, and set aside a portion for the future.

The middle matza is set aside for the afikomen. There are three so that we can break one, and still have two, which symbolize the double portion of manna that fell in the desert on Shabbat and holidays.

Activity:
Steal the afikomen when the Seder leader isn't looking. Hide it for later! Did you know that you can't continue the Seder until everyone eats some of the afikomen? So if you hide it, you can bargain for a present, before you give it back.

Courtesy of Artscroll