Matzah – why do we eat it during Pesach? We eat it because the dough of our ancestors did not have time to become leavened before they fled from Egypt. It is said, “They baked unleavened cakes of the dough they brought with them out of Egypt. They could not tarry and had not made special provisions for themselves.

Bitter herbs – why do we eat them during Pesach? We eat them because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. It is said, “They embittered their lives with hard bondage, in mortar and brick, and in all manner of labor in the field.”

In every generation we are each bound to regard ourselves as if we had personally gone forth from Egypt, to remember that struggle and the meaning and responsibilities of freedom. We celebrate moving from slavery to freedom, sorrow to joy, mourning to festivity, and servitude to redemption. Hallelujah!

Group sings (traditional):

Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ha-motzi lechem meen ha-aretz.

Blessed it the force that brings forth bread from the earth.

Barukh ata adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher kid d’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzeevanu al akheelat matzah.

Blessed is the force that has sanctified us with the commandment to eat unleavened bread.


haggadah Section: Motzi-Matzah