How to Navigate the Haggadah
The Haggadah is one of the most well-known texts of the Jewish liturgy. It is read as part of the Passover evening meal and gives it structure. The Hebrew term for the ritual is "seder," which translates as "order." The traditional version has been in use for at least a thousand years, and hundreds of modern translations and adaptations have appeared since then. The Haggadah consists of fifteen distinct steps, and knowing exactly where one is in the seder is an important element to fully experiencing the drama of the evening.
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Instructions
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Preview the seder by flipping through the Haggadah. There are the copies of Haggadahs online (see "Resources"), but you will probably want a hard copy for the meal itself (using an electronic one at the seder is poor Jewish etiquette, and the text is long enough that a sheaf of papers would be inconvenient). Note that there are fifteen sections to the seder: higher-quality Haggadahs will have a running header or footer to let you know what section you are currently reading.
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Identify the first four sections of the Haggadah, which are essentially preparatory.
1. Kadesh/Sanctify: mark the beginning of the meal with the Passover blessing over the wine.
2. Urechatz/Wash: ritual washing of the hands before the meal.
3. Karpas/Vegetable: instead of eating bread (leavened or not), a vegetable is eaten. This departure from the normal beginning of a ritual meal is intended to pique the interest of the children and encourage them to ask questions.
4. Yachatz/Halving: break a piece of matzah in two, with the larger half set aside for the "afikoman" to be eaten at the end of the meal.
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Read the fifth and main section of the Haggadah, called "maggid" or "telling." This is the largest part of the Haggadah and describes the story of the Exodus. This section includes the Four Sons, the Four Questions, and numerous rituals such as the pouring out of a drop of wine for each of the Ten Plagues.
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Prepare for and eat the meal with steps 6-11:
6) Rachtzah/Washing: another ritual washing, this time for real, with the matzah to follow.
7) Motzi/"Who Brings Forth": recite the blessing over the bread (in this case, matzah).
8) Matzah: recite the special blessing recited over matzah (only recited on Passover).
9) Maror/Bitter Herbs: eating the horseradish or other bitter herbs as a reminder of slavery.
10) Korech/Sandwich: eating the horseradish and matzah according to the tradition of Rabbi Hillel.
11) Shulchan Orech/Prepared Table: eating the full meal.
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Conclude the meal with the ritual desert and prayers in steps 12-15:
12) Tsafun/"Hidden": find the afikomen (you may have to negotiate with the children to retrieve this) and eat it as the concluding part of the meal.
13) Barech/"Bless": recite the Blessing after Meals.
14) Hallel/Praise: recite the special sections of praise from Psalms.
15) Nirtzah/"Desired": recite the concluding prayer that the rituals were performed properly.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Pyramids at Ghiza Egypt image by Sean Wallace-Jones from Fotolia.com
