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We will spend hours cleaning the house for Passover, shopping for Passover, and cooking for Passover. We will then sit down to a Seder that oft times has not had any preparation time. I’m not including the preparation of the charoset and the other Seder ritual foods. I’m referring to preparing the Seder to be as meaningful as possible. 

The Seder was created to be a didactic experience, meaning that learning would take place as a feature of the experience. The leading example from the Seder are the Four Questions, created for children to begin to explore the meanings behind the rituals and the Seder in general. 

The Passover Seder did not develop in a vacuum. Rather, it evolved based upon the environment in which it was created. That meant the rule of the Romans, as the 2nd Holy Temple was still in existence. Even though most scholars suggest that by the year 200CE the Seder was mostly set in its components, and this was 130 years after the destruction of the 2nd Holy Temple, the Roman influence was foundational to the infrastructure of the Seder. 

Romans would gather for a symposium, a scholarly conversation over food and wine. They reclined in the furniture of the day, argued and debated the topic at hand while imbibing in wine, and dipping vegetables into dips. They would continue the discussion while the main course was served. This symposium would last for several hours. My description of a Roman symposium should make you think, “Ah. I recognize the Seder elements.” They are:

• Kiddush
• Reclining
• Dipping the parsley in salt water
• Dipping the horseradish into the charoset
• Reading about the Rabbis of B’nei Brak having a lengthy discussion until sunrise
• The long Magid section features Rabbinic Midrash on parts of the Exodus story.
• The Greek influence in the Seder through the introduction of the Afikomen, which is derived from the Greek Epikomen, meaning “that which comes after”.

There are so many Haggadot published that it would be impossible to provide you with a total. However, if the purpose of the Seder is not merely to teach our children about the Exodus, as well as to re-experience it personally through the retelling of it and the use of rituals, how else might we make the Seder more meaningful. I will try to share with you some tidbits for your consideration, and hopefully this will take less time than a Seder.

1. Kadesh - Why do we start with Kiddush? Why four cups?
2. Urchatz - Why do we wash our hands twice, the first time without a bracha?
3. Karpas - Why parsley? And why salt water?
4. Yachatz - We are supposed to break the middle matzo in half and put half of it aside for the Afikomen. Why?
5. Magid - This lengthy section is rich with Rabbinic midrash. A closer examination can reveal many topics worthy of discussion. For example: Why these four questions in the Four Questions; Are there additional worthwhile questions to ask?
6. Rochtza - why do we wash our hands a second time.
7. Motzi Matza - just stop and think for a moment about the fact that you are about to eat the identical food that your ancestors ate 3500 years ago. Let that moment sink in.
8. Maror - Why do we do this?
9. Korech - Why the Hillel sandwich?
10. Shulchan Orech - what foods are a must at your family’s Seder, and why these particular foods? 
11. Tzafun - Why do we eat the Afikoman afterwards?
12. Barech - Why do we both begin our meals and end our meals with blessings?
13. Hallel - why did they add Hallel to the Seder?
14. Nirtzah - what is nirtzah about?

I hope that you find your Passover Seder to be a meaningful experience for you and your guests. Last week’s eTree listed a variety of resources to explore and recipes that I perused for your interest. Please feel welcome to reach out to me if I can be of further assistance to make your Seder as good as you wish. 

A Zissen Pesach.