So why is this night different from all other nights? On this night we are celebrating the most important time in Jewish history, when we went forth from slavery to freedom through the great power of the Lord our God. We'll start retelling that story after we answer the four questions:

1. Why do we eat the matzah? For two reasons: first, to remember the bread of affliction we had to eat when we were slaves, and second, to remember how our ancestors left Egypt in such a hurry they did not have time to let their bread rise.

2. Why do we eat the bitter herbs? We eat them to remind ourselves of the bitterness of being enslaved in Egypt.

3. Why do we dip our herbs twice? We use the salt water to remind us of the tears we cried as slaves, and also to remember how God split the waters of the sea to let us cross over. We dip the maror in the charoset to remember how the bitterness of our slavery was made sweet by our freedom.

4. Why do we recline at the table? We recline as a symbol of our freedom, for when we were slaves we could never recline in comfort.


haggadah Section: -- Four Questions