We begin the Seder with Kiddush. On normal Shabbatot, Kiddush may be recited at an earlier time than nightfall. However, on Seder night, it cannot be said earlier because the mitzvah of drinking four cups of wine is simultaneous and we cannot drink the first cup before nightfall. Thus, the Mitzvah of Kiddush and the Mitzvah of “the four cups” are carried out in one action. All the Mitzvoth of the Seder must be observed after nightfall because the final Redemption in Egypt began at night. Indeed, Pharaoh realised at midnight that all the firstborn of his country had been struck down. He was in a panic and got up to search for Moses to order him to leave immediately with all his people.
Every participant, including young children, must drink all the four cups of wine. Young children are usually exempt from the Mitzvoth, but the Seder is exceptional. Rabbi Joseph Baer Soloveichik’s maintains that people who don’t like wine may drink grape juice. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, one of the great Halachic authorities in the second half of the 20th century, disagrees. He rules out grape juice because he argues that it is only wine reminds us of our freedom. He considers grape juice to be an ordinary drink. As a compromise, some people mix wine with their grape juice.
The Code of Jewish Law also prescribes the amount of wine. Participants must fill up their cups to the brim and drink most of the contents each time. The specified quantity is known as Revi’it. The predominant view is that the Revi’it amount equals 86 millilitres. The more stringent view is that it equals 150 millilitres. It is interesting that Gematria supports both opinions. Thus, the Hebrew word KOS, CUP, on its own, adds up to 86, whereas the two words KOS HAGUN which mean A FULL CUP add up to 150. The larger measurement is the based on the calculations of the Chazon Ish, who was the leader of orthodoxy in the middle of the 20th century. His opinions are followed chiefly in the town of Bnei B’rak where he lived after he immigrated to Israel before the Second World War. But his influence has spread amongst Orthodox Jews everywhere.
It is forbidden to drink out of the bottle because this is considered undignified. A unique custom on Seder night is that we must refrain from pouring the wine into the cup for ourselves. Instead, we ask another person to do this task for us. This custom symbolises freedom. It is as though we have a waiter at our disposal. When drinking the wine, it is essential to recline sideways to the left side, preferably on a cushion. This law also symbolises the concept of freedom, because in the days of the Mishnah, when the Seder, took its present form, it was customary amongst the Roman aristocracy, to eat and drink in a reclining position. Most authorities maintain that the Mitzvah of drinking the 4 cups is invalid unless one reclines.
The four cups also symbolise our joy and our gratitude to God for his love and mercy. In instituting this Mitzvah, our sages had no intention of encouraging us to become intoxicated. They were all too familiar dangers of drunkenness and alcoholism. They explained that one of the reasons for the use of red wine is to remind ourselves of the shame that we could bring upon ourselves when we drink too much wine. The red wine also reminds us of the fact that severe drunkenness can even lead to murder; e.g. if a drive in that state or if we completely lose control of ourselves.
There are other hugely significant events where the drinking of wine is important. Our rabbis believed that there is nothing entirely good or entirely bad in God’s creation. When we drink wine in moderation and with the intention of fulfilling the Almighty’s will, wine is conducive to holiness. However, when, God forbid, we drink wine purely for pleasure and in excess, it can be harmful and even result in tragedy. According to one opinion in the Midrash, the two older sons of Aaron, who were killed by fire from the altar, on the day of their consecration, were guilty of drunkenness. The Torah separately emphasises that we have no obligation to shun physical pleasures, provided that we enjoy them in a spiritual manner.
The difference between drinking for the sake of a Mitzvah and drinking which leads to drunkenness is this: If you feel that your life has no purpose and no hope, that wine will fill up the gap with happiness, the wine will make you unhappy and may even ruin your life. However, if you lead a happy and fulfilled life of Torah and Mitzvoth, the consumption of wine enhances your Simcha Shel Mitzvah, (or joie de vivre).
From Kiddush, we move to the section of Maggid, which is the heart of the Haggadah. It means telling the story of the Exodus to our children. This is done by encouraging them to ask questions about the slavery and the redemption and offering them the Torah’s answers. According to the French philosopher, Andre Neher, after suffering the Holocaust, we can now comprehend the meaning of the phrase “The House of Slaves” and the extent of the suffering that our ancestors had to endure for 210 years. The Egyptian House of Slaves, he says, resembled Auschwitz. One and a half million children were brutally murdered in Auschwitz. Likewise, Pharaoh ordered the arbitrary killing of all the Jewish boys by drowning them in the Nile. In Auschwitz, the Nazis treated the Jews as slaves and did not give them the raw materials which they needed for their work. The same happened in ancient Egypt. In Auschwitz, the Jews experienced the cruellest form of policing, when Jews themselves were appointed as Kapos, in charge of their fellow Jews. In the same way, Pharaoh appointed Shoterim from amongst the Israelites to oversee the work. If the work was not done, the Egyptian task masters hit and humiliated them.
The miracle in the story of the exodus is that, despite the horrific conditions and Pharaoh’s conviction that we would disappear, we became a great nation. This development confused Pharaoh and caused him great distress. The increase in the Israelite population was an unprecedented occurrence in history. However, it also happened in the 17th century when the number of Jews in the world increased extremely dramatically. Three years after the Holocaust, the new Israeli nation rose, again, against all expectations. Nowadays, we are witnessing the astonishment of the countries of the world which did not expect Israel to succeed and excel. This is causing the resurgence of Anti-Semitism. All these events demonstrate that the standard rules of history do not apply to us and that our people exist due to invisible and incalculable mysterious spiritual forces. We are a unique nation in the world. Therefore, we fail in our duty if we don’t realise on Seder night, that the Exodus is, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest turning point in the history of civilisation.
It is for this reason that our rabbis urged us to extend the Seder night for as long as possible and to make sure that the children remain awake. The more extended the Seder, the greater the Mitzvah. We are told to learn from the example of Rabbi Akiva’s whose Seder lasted the whole night and continued until dawn broke. These rabbis were so focused that they were not aware that they had to start a new day.
The famous Maggid, or preacher, of Dubno, (who flourished in Lithuania in the 17th century) illustrated, with a parable, the words of the Haggadah that it is most praiseworthy to spend as much of the night in telling the story of the exodus. The parable is about a ship which was caught up in huge waves in the midst of a severe storm. The passengers were in great danger, and their end seemed nigh. However, they survived and arrived home safely. Initially, all of them gathered in the synagogue and offered thanks to God in the synagogue. However, as time went on, some passengers left, and only a few remained. They wanted to continue to praise God for their return home. They were wealthier and therefore they had more reason to be grateful. Similarly, the quality of our Thanksgiving at Seder night depends on our spiritual wealth. The more we feel that we have gained from our deliverance, the more intensely we feel the meaningfulness of the Seder, and the longer we wish it to continue.
Before the meal, we dip the Maror into the Charoset. What is the purpose of this act? There are three opinions: According to one opinion, the Chroset commemorates the Tapu’ach tree which is mentioned in the biblical Scroll of Shir Hashirim, Song of Songs. In this context, Tapu’ach does not mean apple, as it does in Modern Hebrew, but a citrus fruit. In the view of our rabbis, this love poem is particularly appropriate during the festival because, according to their interpretation, the song represents a metaphorical depiction of the love between God and Israel, which began with the deliverance from Egypt. The poem describes how Jewish women sat under the Tapu’ach tree and supported their husband in their forced labour. They exhorted them not to abandon hope, despite the great strain. Given this interpretation, some authorities maintain that the recipe for Charoset should include some citrus fruit. The Gaonim, (the rabbinic leaders in Babylonian, from the seventh century until the 10th centuries) suggest that the Charoset should consist of all the fruit to which Shir Hashirim refers. These are pomegranates, figs, dates, nuts and almonds.
Another interpretation is that the Charoset symbolises the mortar and serves as a reminder of the slave labour. Yet a third opinion is that the Charoset is a remembrance of the Israelite blood, which was spilt during the 210 years suffering, Zecher Ladam. According to this opinion, the Charoset should be mixed with red wine. Tosafot, the Talmudic commentators, add that the Charoset should be a thick paste, to resemble the mortar.
The section which precedes the Grace after Meals is called Zafun, which means concealment. The leader of the Seder searches for the Afikoman, which was hidden earlier by one of the children. One of the ideas which this custom represents is that there is always something new to be discovered in Torah. Every Mitzvah has many hidden meanings.
The story is told that when the Ba’al Shem Tov had a difficult task ahead of him, he would go to a certain spot in the woods, near his home, light a fire and meditate in prayer, and then get on with the task. A generation later, the Maggid of Mezerich would go to the same spot in the wood when he had to carry out a difficult task.
There he would say: “We no longer know how to light the fire, but we can still recite the prayers and carry out what we need to do. The story repeated itself in the next generation. Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov would also go to the same spot in the woods. He would say: we don’t any longer know how to light the fire; we no longer know the profound meditations connected with the prayers, but we do know the precise spot in the wood where the prayers were recited. This was sufficient. Another generation passed. Rabbi Israel of Rishin was called upon to carried out the difficult task. He would sit down on his golden chair in his castle and say: “We cannot light the fire, we cannot recite the prayers, we do not know the right spot, but we can tell the story of how previous generations carried out their difficult tasks.” And when he told the story he had the same effect as the actions of the three great Chassidic masters who had preceded him. On Seder night, we continue to recount the story.