Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either leavened bread or matza, but on this night we eat only matza?

We eat only matzah because our ancestors could not wait for their breads to rise when they were fleeing slavery in Egypt, and so they were flat when they came out of the oven.

Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables, but on this night we eat bitter herbs?

We eat only Maror, a bitter herb, to remind us of the bitterness of slavery that our ancestors endured while in Egypt.

Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip [our food] even once, but on this night we dip them twice?

The first dip, green vegetables in salt water, symbolizes the replacing of our tears with gratitude, and the second dip, Maror in Charoses, symbolizes the sweetening of our burden of bitterness and suffering.

Why is it that on all other nights we dine either sitting upright or reclining, but on this night we all recline?

We recline at the Seder table because in ancient times, a person who reclined at a meal was a free person, while slaves and servants stood.


haggadah Section: -- Four Questions