14. Rachatz – Washing Hands Before Eating Karpas
After kiddush we eat the karpas, a vegetable. The Sages instituted eating karpas to create a change that will cause the children to ask why it is that tonight, unlike all other nights, we are eating a...
View Article15. Karpas
As noted, the Sages ordained eating a vegetable dipped in liquid between kiddush and the recitation of the Hagada in order to change routine; all year long, we eat vegetables during the meal, after...
View Article16. Yachatz – Breaking the Middle Matza
Three matzot are arranged on the Seder plate. After eating karpas, before reciting the Hagada, the Seder leader (and whoever else has three matzot in front of them), breaks the middle matza in half....
View Article17. Magid – Beginning the Hagada
After breaking the middle matza, we uncover the matzot, and the Seder leader lifts the entire Seder plate, or at least the matzot, for all of the participants to see. While doing so, he recites the...
View Article18. Laws of Reciting the Hagada
One who merely contemplates the Hagada does not fulfill the obligation to tell the Exodus story, as it states, “Tell your child” (Shemot 13:8), i.e., express the story verbally. However, it is not...
View Article19. Customs Regarding the Recitation of the Hagada
As stated, the custom is to refrain from reclining while reciting the Hagada, because it must be recited with seriousness and reverence (MB 473:71, based on Shlah). However, this seriousness...
View Article20. The Mitzva to Recite Hallel on The Seder night
When the Temple stood, people would recite Hallel while offering the korban Pesach, and again while eating it (Pesachim 95a). The main reason for reciting Hallel on the first night of Pesach is to sing...
View Article21. The Laws of the Second and Fourth Cups
The only significant practical difference between communal customs regarding the laws of the Seder pertains to the berakha over the second and fourth cups. Many Rishonim maintain that “borei pri...
View Article22. The Mitzva to Eat Matza
There is a Torah commandment to eat matza on the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, as it states: “In the evening, you shall eat matzot” (Shemot 12:18). This matza must have been guarded (shmura), as it...
View Article23. Calculating the size of a Kezayit for Torah Commandments
The long exile gave rise to uncertainty regarding the size of a kezayit. According to Rambam, a kezayit is slightly less than a third of the volume of an egg; according to Tosafot, it is about the...
View Article08 – Modim D’Rabbanan and Additional Laws
When the chazan reaches Modim, the whole congregation bows with him and recites Modim d’Rabbanan, whose nusach differs from that of the Modim in the Amidah, as clarified in the Talmud (Sotah 40a). The...
View Article09 – Is It Possible to Make Up the Amidah Repetition?
Ten men who each prayed individually and later gather in one place do not have the status of a minyan and cannot recite Chazarat HaShatz since they each already prayed as individuals (Radbaz; Mishnah...
View Article29. Those Who Have Difficulty Eating Matza
As we have learned, a kezayit of matza is about a third of a machine matza, and on the Seder night we must eat four or five pieces of this size. After the berakhot of “ha-motzi” and “al akhilat matza,”...
View Article30. Those Exempt from Matza and Maror
One who is incapable of eating a kezayit of matza (one third of a matza) should at least try to eat a portion of matza equivalent to a modern-day olive, because some poskim maintain that this is the...
View Article31. The Time for Eating the Matza, Maror, and Afikoman
The matza and maror must be eaten by midnight (the midpoint of the night, regardless of the time on the clock), but if one was unable to eat them before midnight, he should eat them after midnight...
View Article32. Meal Customs: Roasted Foods, Eggs
During the time of the Mishna, some communities had a custom to refrain from eating roast meat on Pesaĥ night, since it would look like they were eating the meat of the Paschal sacrifice – which must...
View Article33. Tzafun – the Afikoman
After the Seder meal, we eat a kezayit (about a third of a machine matza) of the broken matza that was set aside at the beginning of the Seder. This matza is called the afikoman. After eating the...
View Article34. The Afikoman: Two Reasons, Two Kezeytim
As we have seen, according to most authorities the afikoman commemorates the Paschal sacrifice, which was eaten at the end of the meal (Ha-ma’or, Ramban, Or Zaru’a, Rosh, etc.). However, according to...
View Article35. Hallel, the Great Hallel, and the Concluding Berakha
After Birkat Ha-mazon, we drink the third cup of wine and then pour the fourth cup, over which we recite Hallel and “the Great” Hallel (“Hallel Ha-gadol”). Before Hallel we recite the paragraph...
View Article36. The Fifth Cup – Eliyahu’s Cup
A significant halakhic uncertainty arose concerning the fifth cup. Some say that there is an extra special mitzva to drink a fifth cup; the fourth cup should be drunk at the end of the Hallel and the...
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