Pesach Seder: How is This Night Different

[BlessedinHim]

Level: Intermediate


The best-known quote from the Pesach Haggadah http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/haggadah.htmis, "why is this night different from all other nights?" This line is usually recited by the youngest person at the table (or at least, the youngest person capable of reciting it). It is meant to express the child's confusion at the difference between a typical every-day or holiday meal and the unusual features of the seder.

The Haggadah was written by Jews for Jews at a time when most Jews observed (or at least were familiar with) Jewish law and custom. It was written with the assumption that even the youngest child the seder would know the daily rituals followed by observant Jews and would notice how this night is different from other nights. The Haggadah deliberately contradicts those expectations in order to provoke the child to ask questions about the proceedings.

Times have changed. Today, more than 80% of Jews have attended a Pesach seder, but barely half of all Jews have had any Jewish education whatsoever. In addition, many gentiles attend seders; in fact, it has become so common for churches to conduct seders that a young Catholic co-worker of mine was surprised to hear that Passover was a Jewish holiday! To much of the modern audience, the seder is a confusing mix of unfamiliar, meaningless practices. Everything is different from what they know, so they don't understand how this night is different from typical Jewish practice.

This page will provide a context for the rituals observed in the Pesach seder. If you're looking for deep spiritual insights, then you're probably in the wrong place. But if you want to understand the similarities and differences between the seder and other Jewish holidays and observances, then this is the page for you.

First, we will look at a regular Jewish weekday meal at the time the Haggadah was written (practices still followed by observant Jews today). Next, we will see how the everyday practices change for an ordinary Shabbat and holiday dinner. Finally, we will look at how the seder is different by following the outline of the Haggadah. You may find it useful to have a Haggadah handy for that section. See my discussion of buying a haggadah if you don't already have one.

[BlessedinHim]

Before eating, an observant Jew recites a blessing http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/blessings.htm acknowledging G-d as the creator of the food. There are different blessings for different classes of food: one for "bread" (including pizza, matzah, and many other foods made from dough derived from one of five grains), one for other grain foods, one for fruits, one for vegetables, one for wine and one for miscellaneous foods.

At the time that the Haggadah was written, bread was at the heart of every meal, and anything else eaten at the meal was considered secondary to the bread. Whenever bread is a significant component of a meal, the blessing over bread is recited first and covers all of the food and beverages at the meal (except wine). The blessing over bread is called motzi (pronounced "MOH-tzee"). See the text of this blessing under Shabbat Home Ritual http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/shabbat.htm#Motzi.

Before eating bread, we must also "wash" our hands. This washing is a ritual purification, not a soap-and-water washing, and is followed by a blessing called netilat yadayim ("lifting up the hands"). Immediately after this washing and blessing, without interruption, we recite motzi and begin the meal. See the procedure and the text of this blessing under Shabbat Home Ritual.

Observant Jews also recite a blessing after we eat. Like the blessing before eating, the blessing after eating varies depending on what we have eaten. Also like the blessing before eating, if bread was a significant component of the meal, there is a blessing that takes precedence and covers everything else. This blessing after a bread meal is called Birkat ha-Mazon http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/birkat.htm(usually translated as "Grace After Meals," although it literally means "blessing of the food"). Reciting this blessing is referred to as bentsching (Yiddish for "blessing"). Birkat ha-Mazon is a lengthy blessing; in fact, it is so long that some observant Jews, when pressed for time, will go out of their way to avoid eating bread at a meal to avoid triggering the need to bentsch!

[BlessedinHim]

So to sum up a typical daily meal for an observant Jew:

1 wash the hands
2 recite netilat yadayim
3 recite motzi
4 eat
5 bentsch

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On Shabbat or a holiday, a meal is more festive and more elaborate, and so are the prayers that go along with it.

The Shabbat or festival meal begins with a special blessing over wine called kiddush, which recognizes the holiness of the day and the reason that the day is special. This blessing includes within it the normal blessing over wine as a beverage (called ha-gafen). At the end of the blessing, we drink the wine. See the Shabbat Kiddush http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/shabbat.htm#Kiddush or the Sukkot Kiddush http://www.jewfaq.org/prayer/sukkot.htm#Kiddush.

Motzi is also somewhat more elaborate on Shabbat and holidays. On an ordinary day, motzi would simply be recited over the bread we're about to eat, but on Shabbat or a holiday, we have special loaves of fancy bread set aside for this blessing. We say motzi over the bread, then tear apart one of the fancy loaves and give a piece to everyone at the table to begin the meal.

In addition, bentsching is more elaborate. On an ordinary weekday, birkat ha-mazon might be recited quickly in an undertone, or with only the first and last paragraphs read aloud as a group. On Shabbat or a holiday, birkat ha-mazon is sung by the group to festive tunes.

[BlessedinHim]

A traditional child raised in an observant household would know that Pesach is a holiday, and would expect the sabbath or festival procedure laid out above, but Pesach has a distinctly different set of observances. The seder is broken into 15 parts: Kaddesh, Urechatz, Karpas, Yachatz, Maggid, Rachtzah, Motzi, Matzah, Maror, Korekh, Shulchan Orekh, Tzafun, Barekh, Hallel, Nirtzah.

[BlessedinHim]

Recite a blessing over wine in honor of the holiday.
The seder begins normally enough with kiddush. In fact, the kiddush that is recited for Pesach is almost identical to the one recited on several other festivals, with only one line different: the one identifying the holiday and its significance as "this day of the Festival of Matzahs, the time of our liberation."

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Wash the hands without saying a blessing.
Things seem to be continuing as usual with the washing of hands, but after washing, we don't recite netilat yadayim. This is the first difference that would catch a child's attention. Indeed most traditional commentaries say that the reason we don't say the blessing after the washing is so the children will ask!

[BlessedinHim]

Dip a vegetable (usually parsley) in salt water, say a blessing and eat it.
We didn't have to say netilat yadayim after washing because we're not going to eat bread for a while. That's the second difference that is supposed to catch a child's attention: instead of proceeding from wine to bread, we're eating a vegetable first. Vegetables shouldn't be eaten before bread and bread should be right after kiddush. We also dip the vegetable in salt water, which is not forbidden, but it's not a traditional practice at any time other than Pesach. Then we recite the blessing for vegetables (the same blessing we would recite any time we eat vegetables without bread), and we eat the vegetable.

[BlessedinHim]

One of the three matzahs on the table is broken. Part is returned to the pile, the other part is set aside.
The third difference comes with the breaking of the matzah. "Breaking" bread before eating it is not unusual on Shabbat or a holiday, but normally we would say a motzi before the breaking and eat the bread afterwards. On Pesach, we break the bread without saying motzi, and instead of eating it we hide a piece and put back the other half.

[BlessedinHim]

A retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the first Pesach. This begins with the youngest person asking The Four Questions, a set of questions about the proceedings designed to encourage participation in the seder.
At this point, the Haggadah assumes, the child is overwhelmed with curiosity about the proceedings, and is encouraged to ask the "Four Questions," noting four differences between this night and other nights: 1) we eat matzah instead of bread, 2) we eat bitter vegetables, 3) we dip our vegetables twice, and 4) we recline instead of sitting up straight. Obviously, this child has been to the seder before, because we haven't eaten bitter vegetables yet (although they are on the table), and we've only dipped once!

The family then joins together to tell the story of Pesach as it is laid out in the Haggadah. The Haggadah collects together a variety of materials from the Talmud talking about the meaning of Pesach. It also explains the significance of the various items found on the seder plate at the table.

Telling a story at the table before eating is not a typical Jewish practice; we normally don't delay eating!