Water is refreshing, cleansing, and clear, so it’s easy to understand why so many cultures and religions use water for symbolic purification. We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then again later, we’ll wash again with a blessing, preparing us for the meal, which Judaism views as a ritual in itself. 

To wash your hands, you don’t need soap, but you do need a cup to pour water over your hands. Pour water on each of your hands three times, alternating between your hands. If the people around your table don’t want to get up to walk all the way over to the sink, you could pass a pitcher and a bowl around so everyone can wash at their seats… just be careful not to spill!

They say that cleanliness is close to Godliness. This couldn’t be closer to the truth, Jewishly speaking. We are all about preparation. It is well know that holiness is all in the details. The preparation on Friday is what imbues shabbat with its kedusha (holiness). Urhatz (washing) is our, first step in the preparation for the seder. It is both a physical and a spiritual cleansing. We are in a sense, washing away the last spiritual crumbs of hametz in preparation for our first taste of matza (unleavened bread) in, at least, thirty days. 

The Rabbis decreed that a ritual wash be done without a blessing before eating vegetables such as those we eat for Karpas because they could become ritually unfit if touched by impure hands. This type of washing was common in Temple times. Urhatz, along with the kittle (white robe) that many wear on seder night, all hark back to an earlier time. To a time when each person who went to the Temple to make the Passover offering was considered a Kohen (priest) for the day. So in effect, we’re now going through a process that helps us become Kohanim. This is our day. Our time to do the Temple service. So, wash away your individual past, so we can relive our collective past.

Much like Israel’s first rain which washes away the top layer that has collected since the last rainy season, Urhatz washes away our layer of spiritual ‘build-up’. Similarly to the tumat meit (impurity of sleep) that resides in our fingertips when we wake up in the morning, Urhatz is a wash of our fingertips alone.

Too often during our daily lives we don’t stop and take the moment to prepare for whatever it is we’re about to do.
Let's pause to consider what we hope to get out of our evening together tonight. 

Go around the table and share one hope or expectation you have for tonight's seder.


haggadah Section: Urchatz
Source: Pardes: Rabbi Hayim Leiter