Passover night is about freedom, but freedom is much misunderstood. The freedom to serve God and nothing else!
There are 15 Steps to the Passover Seder and in a traditional Haggadah they will be titled by the bolded names.
1. Kadesh: By making Kiddish we separate ourselves from the rest of the world. You are separating yourself out as unique. There has been no one like you and there never will be anyone like you. You are needed now in this generation! God doesn’t make anything extra. Egypt means boundaries, tonight there are none. Tonight, you are exploring your reason for being and you are on a jailbreak escaping towards it. What is it?
2. Urchatz: We wash our hands to arouse curiosity in the children and in ourselves. Are we still curious with this world or bored until my next notification hits my Smartphone? Be fascinated with living. Tonight, I am going to pretend I am holy. I will wash my hands before I eat even a vegetable just like they used to do in the days of yore. Tonight, I have the freedom to be whoever I want to be.
3. Karpas: Having vegetables on your table used to be a sign of wealth. But even so, I dip the vegetable in salt water to symbolize there are those who have less than me. We are so blessed in so many ways. Take stock of your blessings. Don’t take ANYTHING for granted.
4. Yachatz: A wise and disciplined person puts the best aside for the future. The ultimate freedom is to be able to envision the future and achieve it. Though the future very often is like the Afikomen, meaning it is “hidden” from us, and we may have to “pay” (our kids for finding it) more for it than we previously imagined.
5. Maggid: It’s such a blessing to be able to tell over our family’s history and pass it down to subsequent generations. Many Holocaust survivors have no family pictures. But as a People/Nation we have the most well defined past and most certain destiny. Because we understand where we come from, we know where we are going – which puts us miles ahead of the world. No wonder for us it’s the year 5784 but for the rest of the world its only 2024.
6. Rachtzah: By this point in the evening, we have spoken out the Haggadah and we are famished! But we cannot become enslaved to the forthcoming meal. Therefore, before we eat the matza, we wash our hands of our animalistic impulses and distance ourselves from making this into just another dinner. We are in control. Freedom is the ability to live by my mind, rather than my stomach.
7. Motzie: Man has the unique ability to take the material world and convert it into the spiritual. And at the same time, we are still, in effect, receiving Manna from Heaven. Take a moment before you make the blessing on the matza. We say, “He, Who brings forth bread from the ground”. That is like saying, “He who brings forth computers from steel, glass, silica, sand, iron ore, gold, bauxite and a lot of other stuff.” We can transform this world from raw materials via technology into infinite products. In your hand you are holding a miracle that we can take for granted.
8. Matzah: At this point we have come to the moment when we finally can have the first bite of matzah. Matza is Pesach in its perfection. Not a drop of leaven product/chometz in sight. It does not take an enormous force to create spiritual destruction. Any bit of physical indulgence can corrupt a pristine spiritual state. As Rabbi Avraham Twerski writes, “A single drop of alcohol can quickly undo years of a recovering alcoholic’s life.”
9. Marror: Jews also make a blessing on bitterness itself. Our national memory is filled with bitter suffering and yet because of it, not despite it, we Jews continue to build, create and prosper. We must appreciate the living miracle that the timeless existence of the Jews throughout every age demonstrates to the world.
10. Korech\The Hillel Sandwhich: The sandwich of unity. The entirety of the Passover experience in one mouthful. We try to cement it back together as a whole with the Charoses. For in the merit of Unity we were redeemed, and, in that merit, we shall be redeemed once more. And who better than Hillel to remind us.
11. Shulchan Orech: There is no meal eaten with more gusto, appetite, and relish than the Seder meal. During the Seder everyone has something to say, and it makes it a long night. I have found a way to speed up the meal is by stating in the sincerest way, “That’s a fascinating idea. Let’s discuss it over the brisket.” Funny how no one brings up again their brilliant insights once the food is served.
12. Tzafun: We don’t eat the Afikomen out of appetite but purely as a spiritual pursuit. It tastes like the memory of our Seder, and it will linger long after the experience is over. It is pure soul food. I try, with difficulty, to contemplate my true self while simultaneously and miraculously, stuffing it down in 2 minutes!
13. Barech: The After Blessing of the meal. We say when the Redemption comes, we will be like dreamers. As with Joseph and Jacob, whose dreams were not fulfilled in exact detail, so too the Final Redemption will not follow a perfect script. So much is unknown. Rather it’s our job to anticipate with 100% faith and not be discouraged by current events.
14. Hallel: There’s a dispute (of course!) if the Seder requires 4 or 5 cups. So, we pour the cup of Elijah, because he will appear at the beginning of the Final Redemption and will resolve all the disputes including this one. Elijah heralds great beginnings, so he appears at every Bris/circumcision. And he heralds great hope, so he is present at every Seder. By this stage in the Seder, you should see yourself filled with this selfsame optimism of what is to come.
15. Nirtzah: We express our gratitude for the opportunity of the Seder. We did it! We must learn to celebrate our small victories along the road of life and not always wait for the Big Goal to be achieved. Come next year may we be in Jerusalem, all together, celebrating. For even if I cannot participate in such an endeavor right now, at least after tonight, I understand even deeper the purpose of the Jewish People and the role God wants me to play. What a gift!
