Now we will do the hand washing. 

We will wash our hands twice during our seder: now, with no blessing, to get us ready for the rituals to come; and then we’ll wash again with a blessing, preparing us for the meal, which Judaism thinks of as a ritual in itself.

The seder uses the ritualistic handling of food to manipulate spiritual truths. To do this, our hands should be clean because we are handling food. But as we wash them, it is also a symbolic ritual of purification before we engage in the sensitive, cosmic rituals to come. As you wash your hands, wash them clean of the impurities of a life in a materialistic world.

There is a pitcher in the bathroom, the ritual is to pour three small amounts of water on each of your hands to wash them. You don't need soap. 


haggadah Section: Urchatz