The Passover Seder

The practice

The seder is the ritual meal of Passover, the festival that remembers the Exodus from Egypt. Its name means order, because the evening follows a set order of blessings, foods, songs, and telling, guided by a book called the Haggadah.

How it is kept

At the table sits the seder plate: a shank bone, an egg, bitter herbs for the bitterness of slavery, a sweet paste of fruit and nuts for the mortar of bricks, and greens for spring. The youngest child asks four questions, the story is told, four cups of wine are drunk, and unleavened matzah is eaten in place of bread.

What it means

The seder makes memory something a child can taste. Every generation is told to see itself as if it personally came out of Egypt, so the story of liberation is never only history; it is an obligation to notice slavery wherever it stands today.