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Obligations of the Seder
Contributed by Sarah Greenberg

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Rabban Gamliel [the head of the Sanhedrin in the time of the Mishnah] would teach that all those who had not spoken of three things on Passover had not fulfilled their obligation to tell the story, and these three things are:

Point to the shankbone, and say:

The Pesach which our ancestors ate when the Second Temple stood: what is the reason for it? They ate the Pesah because the Blessed Holy One, “passed over” the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is written in the Torah: “And You shall say, ‘It is the Passover offering for Adonai, who passed over the houses of the Israelites saving us in Mitzrayim but struck the houses of the Egyptians.

Point to the matzah, and say:

Matzah - what does it symbolize in the Seder? There was insufficient time for the dough of our ancestors to rise when the Blessed Holy One, revealed to us and redeemed us, as it is written in the Torah: “And they baked the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt into matzah – cakes of unleavened bread – which had not risen, for having been driven out of Egypt they could not tarry, and they had made no provisions for themselves.”

Point to the maror, and say:

Maror.  Why do we eat Maror? For the reason that the Egyptians embitter the lives of our ancestors in Mitzrayim, as the Torah states: “And they embittered their lives with servitude, with mortar and bricks without straw, with every form of slavery in the field and with great torment.”

Therefore we are obligated, to thank, sing, praise, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, elevate and raise our voices for joy to the Blessed Holy One, Who performed all these miracles for our ancestors and therefore for us! You brought us from human servitude to freedom, from sorrow to joy, for a time of mourning to a festive day, from deep darkness to great light and from slavery to redemption! In Your presence we renew our singing as in ancient days.

Cover the matza and raise the cup of wine until it is drunk at the end of Maggid.

Therefore it is our duty to thank and praise, pay tribute and glorify, exalt and honor, bless and acclaim the One who performed all these miracles for our fathers and for us. He took us out of slavery into freedom, out of grief into joy, out of mourning into a festival, out of darkness into a great light, out of slavery into redemption.

End of Maggid.
haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
Source: Adapted from Traditional

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