The Order of the Pesach Seder attempts to show how the seder falls naturally into four sections. Each section ends with drinking one of the cups. Based on this it is easy to understand a halacha about the four cups. The drinking of the four cups is not fulfilled simply by drinking four cups one after the other. Rather each cup must be drunk in its proper place at the end of its section of the seder.
The second document is the Outline of the Maggid Section of the seder. It is so easy to get lost in Maggid. One mistake people often make is spending lots of time at the beginning of Maggid and then rushing through the last few steps. The real "meat" of the Maggid section is steps 8-14. See Rambam Mishne Torah Hilchot Chametz and Matza chapter 7 halacha 4. It is worthwhile to pace ourselves at the beginning and be sure to devote time to these sections.
By the way, I'm not suggesting that step 17 be slighted. It is certainly important that all participants at your seder be present for the recital of step 17!
The final document is called The Four Parts of the Seder. This chart is based on the book Torah Patterns by R. Moshe Shlomo Emanuel. We are all familiar with the concepts of past, present and future. That which precedes any intentional creation is purpose. Purpose also gives the past, present and future meaning. In the case of the Jewish people, God first determined to create a Holy Nation and that overriding purpose has influenced our past and present and will continue into our future.
The Kadeish section of the seder is the expression of purpose. Kiddush stresses the concept of kedusha which comes from the mitzvot. The purpose of the Exodus is that the Jewish nation should attain kedusha.
In the Maggid section we relate what happened in the past. Maggid ends with reciting two sections from Hallel. These parts of Hallel, more than the rest of Hallel, mention the Exodus. Also, the final blessing of the section is "Who redeemed Yisrael" in the past tense.
The focus of the Seudah is the present and our present freedom. The eating of the matzah and marror do relate to the slavery and bitterness of Egypt. However, by eating them we personally experience that servitude and bitterness and thus pull the past into our present.
The final section of the seder, Hallel, relates to the future. We start out by opening our doors which shows that we are looking forward to a time when no one would dare to intrude and take advantage of any perceived weakness. We ask Hashem to pour out His wrath on those nations who have oppressed us. Also, we pour Elijah's Cup, to show our faith that soon Eliyahu will come and announce the arrival of Mashiach. We recite those parts of Hallel that we didn't say before. This half of the Hallel focuses on the future redemption of the Jewish people.
The other lines of the chart have similar explanations, but I don't have time to write more about them now.
If you have access to the book Torah Patterns, I highly recommend spending time with it.
Chag kasher v'sameach
No comments:
Post a Comment