The Rabbis decreed that a ritual wash be done without a blessing, before eating vegetables.

We wash our hands in 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, leaven, in preparation for our first taste of matzah, unleavened bread. We wash away our individual past, so we can relive our collective past.


haggadah Section: Urchatz