Before detailing the laws of the Seder, let us briefly survey the mitzvot we fulfill on the Seder night.
Two elements constitute the foci of the Seder: The first is commemoration of our exodus from Egypt and our emancipation from slavery and our reflection on the significance of Israel's freedom. The second is to transmit our tradition to the next generation. Both of these are included in the Torah's commandment to tell the story of the Exodus on the night of the fifteenth of Nisan.
In order to make this commemoration tangible, the Torah commands us to eat the korban Pesach (Paschal sacrifice), matzah, and marror on this night. The Pesach recalls God's miraculous slaying of the Egyptian firstborn while passing over the houses of the Israelites, sparing their firstborns. The matzah recalls the matzah our forefathers ate when they left Egypt for freedom. And the marror recalls the hard labor and bitter enslavement our forefathers experienced at the hands of the Egyptians.
Because the Temple is now in ruins, we are unable to offer the Pesach; we eat the afikoman in its stead. On the Torah level, the mitzvah to eat marror is contingent on eating the Pesach; when the Pesach is not offered, there is no mitzvah to eat marror. However, the Sages instituted eating marror even after the destruction of the Temple.
No change has taken place regarding the mitzvah to eat matzah. Thus, even after the destruction of the Temple there is a Torah commandment to eat an olive's bulk (kezayit) of matzah.
The Sages also instituted the drinking of four cups of wine into the recitation of the Haggadah, which we drink as an expression of joy and freedom. They also instituted that we eat matzah and drink wine while reclining, as a demonstration of freedom
THE SEDER PROCEDURE
KADDESH
The Seder begins with kiddish which expresses the sanctity of the Jewish people and of the Pesach holiday.
It is proper to set the table and arrange the Seder plate before evening, so that kiddish can be recited as soon as possible afterArvit . In this way, there is no wasting precious time when the children are still alert and can participate in reciting the Haggadah, eating the matzah, and drinking the wine. However, kiddish should not be recited before tzeit ha-kokhavim (the appearance of three distinct stars), because kiddish must be recited at a time when matzah can be eaten.
It is not necessary to delay kiddish until the time of dusk according to Rabbenu Tam, keeping this stringency detracts from the optimum fulfillment of the evening's mitzvot.
Unlike other kiddushim where only one person recites kiddish and drinks a cup of wine, on the Seder night each participant is poured a cup of wine, and after kiddish everyone reclines and drinks the wine in their cup. This is the first of the four cups of wine.
Many people say a preliminary statement of intention (le-shem yihud) before each of the four cups of wine. One should not do so between the bracha and drinking, as this constitutes an interruption. Rather, the formula should be recited before kiddish, and in the case of the other three cups, before the bracha on the wine.
The kiddish recited on this night consists of three blessings:
Yayin: The blessing of borei p’ri hagafen over the wine
Kiddish: The blessing of the kiddish itself
Zeman: The blessing of sheheheyanu
The cup must be filled with at least revi'it of wine (81 grams or 3 ounce). It is preferable that each person drink the entire cup, but if someone drinks only somewhat more than half of it, he has fulfilled his obligation.
Technically, one who wishes to drink after the first of the four cups may do so, but one should preferably not drink between the first and second cups so that you do not become intoxicated to the point of being unable to read the Haggadah with proper concentration. However, it is permissible to drink non-alcoholic beverages such as grape juice or any other juice. Many עדות have the custom of eating eggs and potatoes after the first cup of wine.
URHATZ - THE WASHING OF HANDS
Everyone must wash hands in the same manner as one washes in order to eat bread. Despite the fact that no blessing is recited, it is recommended to refrain from talking after washing until we recite the blessing over the karpas and eat it.
KARPAS - THE EATING OF A VEGETABLE.
Each person takes a piece of celery smaller than kazayit and dips it into salt water, vinegar or lemon juice. The celery must be carefully inspected to ensure it is free of infestation. Before eating it, the blessing of bore peri ha'adama must be recited. When reciting this blessing, one should have in mind for it to cover the marror that will be eaten later in the evening.
YAHATZ - BREAKING THE MIDDLE MATZAH
Three matzah are arranged on the Seder plate. After eating karpas, before reciting the Haggadah, the Seder leader (and whoever else has three matzah in front of him), breaks the middle matzah in half. One piece is saved for the afikoman, and the other is left between the two whole matzah.
The broken piece of matzah alludes to our poverty and enslavement in Egypt, and is called lehem oni (poor man's bread) (Devarim 16:3). Paupers often eat partial loaves of bread because they are unable to buy whole loaves, so in order to give expression to the poverty, we break the matzah in half. We do this before beginning the Haggadah because the Haggadah should be recited in the presence of the matzah. The term "lehem oni" also means "bread over which we 'onim' - answer or say - many things," and this means that the Haggadah must be recited while the matzah, in the form it will be eaten, is before us.
The larger piece of the broken matzah is designated as the afikoman, and the custom is to wrap it in a napkin, in recollection of the verse, The people took their dough before it was leavened their kneading leftover dough was wrapped in their robes (Shemot 12:34). Some people have a custom to place the afikoman on their shoulder for a moment, in remembrance of the Exodus, when people carried matzah on their shoulders
MAGGID - THE RECITATION OF THE HAGGADAH
After breaking the middle matzah, we uncover the matzah, and the Seder leader lifts the entire Seder plate, or at least the matzah, for all of the participants to see. While doing so, he recites the paragraph Ha Lahma Anya and explains the meaning of the words to the participants. Upon completing Ha Lahma Anya, the Seder leader places the Seder plate or matzah back on the table.
After reciting the passage of ha lahma anya and before reciting ma nishtana, we fill the cups with wine again. This also is to rouse the children's curiosity so that they will ask why we are drinking a second cup of wine before beginning the meal, If everyone at the table continues to use the same cup he used for kiddish, it is not necessary to rinse the cups before refilling them.
It is best not to pour wine into the cups of the young children at this point because they will have a hard time making it through the long Haggadah without spilling the cup. Wine spilled on the table can cause aggravation and demonstrates disrespect for Yom Tov which should be honored with a clean tablecloth and a beautifully set table. Therefore, it is best to pour wine for the children near the end of the Haggadah, shortly before drinking the second cup.
One who merely contemplates the Haggadah does not fulfill the obligation to tell the Exodus story, as it is stated, Tell your child (Shemot 13:8), say the story orally. However, it is not necessary for all participants to recite the Haggadah; the main thing is that the Seder leader or someone else recites it aloud, and the others hear it. Indeed, it was customary for the oldest participant to read and explain the Haggadah while everyone else listened. This is, in fact, the way stories are usually told.
Nowadays, in order to include everyone in the recitation of the Haggadah, it is customary for the Seder leader to read it aloud while everyone else quietly reads along with him. Others have participants take turns reading paragraphs from the Haggadah, but it is important to note that only a reader who has reached halachic adulthood (bar or bat mitzvah) can fulfill this obligation on another's behalf.
The mitzvah of reciting the Haggadah and relating the saga of the exodus from Egypt continues through the night. One should continue to discuss it and enlarge upon it until one can no longer remain awake. This is the ruling of the Shulhan Aruch: "Each person is obligated to discuss the halachot of Pesach and the exodus from Egypt, including the miracles and wonders that the Blessed Holy One performed on behalf of our forefathers, until sleep overcomes him.”
The custom for Sefardic Jews is to recite the blessing of bore peri hagefen only over the first and third cups of wine, following the ruling of the Shulhan Aruch. The custom for Ashkenazic Jews is to recite the blessing over each of the four cups.
ROHTZA - WASHING HANDS AND RECITING THE BLESSING.
After drinking the second cup of wine, each person must wash their hands in the manner of washing to eat bread, and must recite the blessing of al netilat yadavinm. if someone knows that he guarded his hands the entire time since he first washed them in order to eat the karpas and remained conscious of keeping their hands clean, they should not recite the blessing upon washing at this time.
MOTZI MATZAH - EATING THE MATZAH.
There is a Torah commandment to eat matzah on the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, as it states: "In the evening, you shall eat matzah" (Shemot 12:18). This matzah must have been guarded (shmurah), as it states: "And you shall observe (u-shemartem) the matzah" ( ibid. 17), and some poskim say it must be made by hand, with the specific intention of fulfilling this mitzvah.
Matzah is called the bread of faith because it reminds us of the faith that our forefathers displayed in journeying out of Egypt, without packing food, confident of G-d’s help.After everyone has washed their hands, the leader picks up the three matzah from the Seder plate with the broken matzah between the two whole ones. Holding them this way, he recites the blessing of hamotzi and the blessing of al akhilat matzah. The common custom, however, is that the leader puts down the bottom matzah after reciting the blessing of hamotzi and then he recites the second blessing while holding the top whole matzah with the broken matzah.
After reciting the two blessings, he should break a piece equal to kazayit from the top matzah and a piece equal to kazayit from the broken matzah, dip them into salt, and eat them together while reclining to his left.
If one is incapable of eating that amount of matzah all at once, they should first eat the piece from the top matzah for the first blessing, and once they finishes it, they should eat the piece from the broken matzah for the second blessing. If they eats only kazayit altogether, from either of the two pieces, they has fulfilled their obligation. In fact, if it would cause them discomfort to eat so much, they may plan in the first place to eat only kazayit of matzah.If there many people present at the Seder, and the matzah from the Seder Plate is not sufficient for everyone to receive a kazayit from it, they should distribute a kazayit from the middle matzah to as many people as the matzah allows, and then use other matzah shemura that was not on the Seder Plate for everyone else. In this case, it is sufficient for the other people to eat only kazayit in total of matzah. The stringency of eating two kazayot is applicable only if they are eating from the two matzah that were on the Seder Plate. Those who are eating from other matzah do not have to eat more than one kazayit altogether.
If someone is allergic to wheat, it is possible to fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah with wheat matzah made of oat flour, since oats are one of the five grains listed in the Mishna in Pesahim 35a.
MARROR
The marror symbolizes the bitterness of our forefathers lived in Egypt
After eating the matzah, each person takes kazayit of marror. The common custom is to dip some of it into haroset, and that is sufficient. If someone follows the stringency of dipping all the marror into haroset, he will receive a special blessing from Heaven. In any case, one should dip it only momentarily and not long enough to neutralize the natural bitterness of the marror’s flavor. For the same reason, it is necessary to shake the excess haroset off the marror before eating it.
The blessing of al akhilat marror must be recited, and then each person must eat his portion of marror while sitting upright and not reclining since the marror is a symbol of our enslavement in Egypt, it would make no sense to eat it in the manner of aristocracy.
KORECH
A sandwich of matzah and marror is eaten, commemorating the way Hillel used to celebrate Passover during the time of the Bet Hamikdash. After eating the marror, the leader of the Seder must take kazayit from the third, bottom matzah and combine it with kazayit of marror, dip the marror into haroset and declare the passage of “This is a reminder of the Bet Hamikdash…” The Korech sandwich is then eaten while reclining.
SHULCHAN ORECH — THE MEAL ON THE SEDER NIGHT
After eating the Korech sandwich, the table should be set for a festive meal and everyone should eat the foods he enjoys in honor of this exalted occasion.
It is praiseworthy to eat the entire meal while reclining, but it is perfectly acceptable to eat sitting up. It is wise to avoid from eating so much that they no longer have any appetite to eat the afikoman. One must certainly avoid a situation where eating the afikoman is akhila gassa, something agonizing to do. More than this, eating the afikoman should not be uncomfortable because the meal filled them already.
TZAFUN
The Afikomen is eaten after the meal in commemoration of the Pesach sacrifice, everyone must eat kazayit from the section of the broken middle matzah that was set aside as the afikoman.
After eating the afikoman it is forbidden to eat anything else so that the taste of the afikoman will remain in one's mouth.
It is permissible, however, to drink water, coffee or tea flavored with sugar, or a soft drink after eating the afikoman or after drinking the third cup of wine. It is certainly permitted to drink these beverages after completing the entire Seder. Ashkenazic Jews as well can follow this leniency as long as they continue to discuss the halachot of Pesach and the Exodus from Egypt. There is an even stronger basis to permit this after hatzot of the night.
Everyone must remember to recline while eating the afikoman. One should make it a point to remind the family to recline as well.
BARECH —BIRCHAT HAMAZON AND THE THIRD CUP OF WINE.
After eating the afikoman, everyone must rinse their fingers in water and recite Birkat Hamazon over the third cup of wine. Before filling the cup, it should be rinsed inside and out, even if it is already clean. They should pick up their cup with two hands, but before beginning to recite Birchat Hamazon they should hold it with their right hand and not use their left land to help keep the cup steady. They must raise the cup at least one tefah (8 cent./2.5 in.) from the tabletop.
HALLEL
Immediately after drinking the third cup of wine, we fill the fourth cup and recite the verses of shefokh hamatekha that correspond to the four cups of Divine punishment that the Blessed Holy One keeps in store for the nations of the world who persecuted the nation of Yisrael.
After reciting these verses, we continue to recite, with great joy, the balance of the Hallel which we began before the Seder meal.
One should hold up one's cup of wine throughout the reciting of Hallel. If someone is incapable of holding it for all that time, they may put it down in front of them. It is recommended thattheyhe hold it up at least when reciting the final passage of yehallelukha.
One should make every effort to complete the Hallel and drink the fourth cup of wine before hatzot.
NIRTZA
May it be that God will accept our service [of the Seder] to Him and that He will grant us our full reward. After the Seder has been completed, it is a mitzvah to continue to discuss the exodus from Egypt for as long as possible. Some people have the custom of reciting the book of Shir Hashirim or traditional poems such as Had Gadya. Harav HIDA testified that once someone ridiculed the custom of reciting this poem and the rabbis excommunicated him until he begged for forgiveness