How long should the ideal Seder last. Everyone is hungry; the kids are squirmy, guests are growing impatient. You're on step 5 of 15 and dinner isn't even in sight.

It might interest you to know that originally, the meal PRECEDED the recitation of the Passover story (Maggid - step 5 of 15) and now it's at step number 11!Why? Because the rabbis were wise enough to know that few would hang around for the rest of the Seder once their appetites were satisfied. Of, course, they were correct. So, they shuffled the order of the Seder to make sure that the spiritual mitzvah of telling the sacred story was completed in its entirety before the main course, so to speak, the actual meal, was eaten.How long should the ideal Seder last? Well, that depends on the ages of the children and the tolerance of the guests, but here's a good rule of thumb:The Seder should be short enough and interesting enough to capture everyone's attention, but not so long as to hold them hostage!And therein lies the art.Happy Passover.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: Original