Preparing for the Seder

By reading the words of this Haggadah, and by eating special food, we obey the mitzvah written in the Torah: "You shall tell the Pesach story to your children in the days to come." The story we tell is how the Jewish people were freed from being slaves in Egypt. We call this the Exodus.

The Torah tells us that Pesach was the first festival that the Jewish people celebrated more than 3,000 years ago. The special meal for Pesach is called the Seder. The word 'Seder' means 'order.' There is a set order for all the things we do during our seder as we retell the story of our ancesters' liberation from slavery in Egypt.

(All read together)

1. Kadeish: the blessing over the wine

2. Urchatz: the ritual hand-washing in preparation for the Seder

3. Karpas: dipping a green vegetable in salt water

4. Matzah Yachtaz: breaking the middle matzah

5. Maggid: telling the story of Passover

6. Rachtza: the ritual hand-washing in preparation for the meal

7. Motzi Matzah: the blessing over the meal and matzah

8. Charoset Maror: dipping the bitter herb in the sweet charoset

9. Koreich: eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb

10. Schulan Oreich: eating the meal

11. Tzafoon: finding and eating the Afikomen

12. Bareich: saying grace after the meal, inviting Elijah the Prophet, and honoring Miriam

13. Hallel: singing songs of praise

14. Nirtzah: ending the Seder and thinking about the future


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: A Children's Haggadah, JewBelong