Our Passover meal is called a seder , which means “order” in Hebrew, because we go through 14 specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. The specific order in which these steps come was decided in Medieval Europe... and we've done it that way since then! More or less.

Some people like to begin their seder by reciting or singing the names of the 14 steps – this will help you keep track of how far away the main course is! But we're just going to node the order and move on.

Kiddush (the blessing over wine) | kadeish |קַדֵּשׁ

Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the seder | urchatz |וּרְחַץ

Dipping a green vegetable in salt water | karpas |כַּרְפַּס

Breaking the middle matzah | yachatz |יַחַץ

Telling the story of Passover | magid |מַגִּיד

Another hand-washing (we're skipping this) | rachtza |רָחְצָה

The blessing over the meal and matzah | motzi matzah |מוֹצִיא מַצָּה

Eating some bitter stuff and some sweet stuff | maror |מָרוֹר

Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter stuff| koreich |כּוֹרֵךְ

Eating the meal! | shulchan oreich |שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ

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Finding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon |צָפוּן

Saying grace after the meal and inviting Elijah the Prophet | bareich |בָּרֵךְ

Singing songs that praise God | hallel |הַלֵּל

Ending the seder and thinking about the future | nirtzah |נִרְצָה


haggadah Section: Introduction