1. MATZAH:

Matzah is the symbol of our affliction and our freedom. For the full duration of Passover, Jews are commanded to refrain from eating any leavened bread and may eat only matzah, unleavened bread. This commemorates how the Jews were in such a hurry to leave Egypt they could not wait for their bread to rise. They made matzah instead, and we do the same today.

Matzah also has symbolic significance. Flat and deflated in appearance – especially next to a fluffy loaf of leavened bread – matzah represents the humility of poverty and slavery, and is appropriately called the “bread of affliction.”

2. BITTER HERBS:

Tradition says that this root is to remind us of the time of our slavery. We force ourselves to taste pain so that we may more readily value pleasure. The horseradish awakens our senses, so therefore it is the stimulus of life, reminding us that struggle is better than the complacent acceptance of injustice.  Let us all eat bitter herbs.

3. DIPPING:

The first time, the salty taste reminds us of the tears we cried when we were slaves. The second time, the salt water and the green help us to remember the ocean and green plants and the Earth, from which we get air and water and food that enable us to live.  Let us all dip the parsley in salt water twice.

4. RECLINING:

This question goes back to ancient times in Rome, when it was the custom for rich people to eat while lying on a couch leaning on one elbow as slaves and servants fed them. The Jewish people thought of this relaxed type of eating as a sign of freedom and prosperity, so they would lean to one side eating at the Seder on Passover, the festival of freedom. Today, we who are free eat while sitting up, even at Passover, but the question remains in the service as a reminder of how it was when our people longed for freedom.


haggadah Section: -- Four Children