{"id":36616,"date":"2015-02-17T16:23:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-17T16:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=36616"},"modified":"2020-09-08T15:13:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T15:13:58","slug":"passover-seder-practical-halacha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/passover-seder-practical-halacha\/","title":{"rendered":"The Passover Seder: Practical Halacha"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><u>Principles<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is praiseworthy to tell the story of Passover even if you know all the details and interpretations (as did the great rabbis of the Talmud), because of the principle of \u201cin order to remember\u201d (lema\u2019an tizkor): that we should remember everything God did for us when taking us out of Egypt.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>The Three Discussion Points<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The most important part of the seder is discussing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Passover offering (Pesach),<\/li>\n<li>Unleavened bread (matza), and<\/li>\n<li>Bitter herbs (maror).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These three segments should be read from the Passover hagada in the Hebrew. If anyone does not understand the Hebrew, these paragraphs and the concepts they express must be explained in whatever language he or she can understand.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Children at the Seder<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Children are an integral part of the seder. We try to get children to ask questions and then we teach them the answers. The Torah says to do this!<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Acknowledging God\u2019s Miracles<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We acknowledge God\u2019s miracles in sending the plagues against the Egyptians and their gods and in taking the Children of Israel out of slavery and Egypt.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Telling Our History<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We tell our history beginning with Jacob (Yaakov) and Laban (Lavan) and on to slavery and, finally, to achieving freedom.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Halachot<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every male (13 years old and above) at the seder is required by halacha to lean to the left side while:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drinking each of the four cups of wine.<\/li>\n<li>Eating matza for each of these mitzvot: motzi, matza, koreich, afikoman.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ideally, lean onto something to your left, such as a chair or couch. A pillow is nice but optional.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Women and girls are not required to lean at any time during the meal.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Customs<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here are some seder customs:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Have someone else pour the water over your hands for washing before karpas.<\/li>\n<li>Have someone else pour your wine for you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong><u>Seder Plate<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Seder plate consists of five foods:<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Shank Bone<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Shank bone, meat, or a neck represents the Passover lamb offering.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Any part of any kosher animal or bird may be used for this purpose except liver. You may even use roasted lamb, but you may not eat it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Egg<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Egg represents the holiday offering (chagiga).<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Bitter Herbs<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bitter herbs (maror), such as romaine, horseradish, or endive, represent the bitterness of slavery.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Charoset<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Charoset (sweet mixture of nuts and fruits) reminds us of the mortar the Jews used to build the Egyptian storage cities.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Vegetable<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Vegetable such as parsley or potato (karpas). The vegetable does not represent anything and is there to motivate the children to ask questions.<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Three Matzas<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The seder table also has a stack of three matzas (matzot), representing, among other meanings:<\/p>\n<p>* Cohen-Levi-Yisrael: The three divisions of Jews<\/p>\n<p>* Abraham-Isaac-Jacob: The three forefathers<\/p>\n<p>These matzot are used later in the seder for the steps of Motzi and Matza (top and middle matzas); the middle matza becomes the \u201cAfikoman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Seder: Steps<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kadeish<\/li>\n<li>U&#8217;rchatz<\/li>\n<li>Karpas<\/li>\n<li>Yachatz<\/li>\n<li>Magid<\/li>\n<li>Rachtza<\/li>\n<li>Motzi<\/li>\n<li>Matza<\/li>\n<li>Maror<\/li>\n<li>Koreich<\/li>\n<li>Shulchan Oreich<\/li>\n<li>Tzafun<\/li>\n<li>Bareich<\/li>\n<li>Hallel<\/li>\n<li>Nirtza<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Kadeish: Making Kiddush<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Passover, like all Jewish festivals, is differentiated from weekdays by saying kiddush.<\/p>\n<p>At the Passover seder, all Jews above the age of bar mitzva or bat mitzva (including women&#8211;unlike on other Jewish festivals) must drink wine for kiddush and for the other three times in the seder when the borei pri ha\u2019gafen blessing is said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0On the other Jewish festivals, only one person needs to drink the wine when kiddush is said, and that will cover and fulfill everyone else\u2019s requirement for that kiddush.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Only children and people who will get sick if they drink alcohol are permitted to drink grape juice at seder.<\/p>\n<p>You may dilute the seder wine to a minimum of 4% alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>If you have equally good red wine and white wine, the red is preferred for the four cups at the seder. If your white wine is better or if you prefer white wine, use that.<\/p>\n<p>You may drink more wine between the first and second cups, between the second and third cups, but not between the third and fourth cups.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Four Cups, Four Roles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Each of the four cups has a different role:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First Cup: Kiddush to sanctify the holiday.<\/li>\n<li>Second Cup: Sanctifying the hagada.<\/li>\n<li>Third Cup: Sanctifying Birkat hamazo.<\/li>\n<li>Fourth Cup: Sanctifying Hallel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Four Cups, Four Expressions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The four cups of wine relate to the four expressions God used when telling what he would do to bring the Israelites out of Egypt:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>V&#8217;hotzeiti I will send them out.<\/li>\n<li>V&#8217;hitzalti I will save them.<\/li>\n<li>V&#8217;ga\u2019alti I will redeem them.<\/li>\n<li>V&#8217;lakachti I will take them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Fifth Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fifth cup of wine at seder, for Eliyahu (Elijah) the prophet, symbolizes v\u2019heiveiti&#8211;\u201cI will bring them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0In the future, everyone will drink five cups of seder wine. (Some say the term v\u2019heiveiti is not part of the redemption and some say it is a stage that has not happened yet.)<\/p>\n<p>The cup of Eliyahu (which is not intended to be drunk by Eliyahu) should be used for kiddush the next morning. Various customs dictate when to fill Eliyahu\u2019s cup; it may be filled anytime from the beginning of the seder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Much To Fill and Drink<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Minimum wine to fulfill the seder mitzva:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Each person must drink four cups of wine at the seder;<\/li>\n<li>Each cup must hold at least 4 fl. oz. (119 ml);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For each blessing on the wine, you must drink at least 2 fl. oz. (59 ml) within 30 seconds of when you begin to drink each cup.<\/p>\n<p>The seder is the only time in the year that you must drink most of your cup (rov kos) of kiddush wine. (For kiddush on Shabbat and Jewish festivals, you need drink only 2 fl. oz., or 59 ml). So if you have a cup larger than 4 fl. oz. (119 ml), you may have to drink a lot of wine&#8211;more than half of each cup for four cups!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0You may drink other liquids between the first and second cups of wine at the seder, but it is not recommended.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leaning To Left<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every male at the seder is required to lean to the left side while drinking each cup of wine.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">U&#8217;rchatz: Wash Hands (No blessing)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Wash hands from a cup of water but do not say a blessing on washing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0We are about to eat food that is wet and Jews may not eat wet food if their hands have spiritual impurity (tum\u2019a).<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Karpas: Eat the Vegetable<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Dip the karpas in the salt water and say the blessing borei pri ha\u2019adama; keep in mind that this blessing will also apply to the bitter herbs you will eat later in the seder.<\/p>\n<p>Eating any amount of karpas fulfills the mitzva of eating karpas at seder, but you may not eat more than 0.6 fl. oz. (17 ml, or 1\/12 cup).<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Yachatz: Break the Matza<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Break the middle of the three matzas and hide the larger part.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0As with most of the actions we do at the seder, this is to evoke curiosity in children. It also represents the idea that poor people can\u2019t afford a whole loaf of bread or might save some food for the next day.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Magid: Tell the Story<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Four Questions are actually only one question and that question is:<\/p>\n<p>Why is this night different from all other nights?<\/p>\n<p>The teachers in Bnai Brak were so engrossed in telling the Passover story that they did not notice that it was after sunrise.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0They may have been in a windowless room since they were risking their lives by celebrating Passover, against Roman law.<\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says he is \u201clike 70 years old\u201d because even though he was only 18 years old, his hair turned white overnight as if God approved his appointment as Sanhedrin head.<\/p>\n<p>Only three of the Four Sons\u2019 questions are mentioned in the Torah (which all related to the Passover sacrifice), since the fourth (smallest) child cannot ask questions. Regarding this child, the hagada says, &#8220;Aht p&#8217;tach lo&#8221; (in the feminine).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:\u00a0<\/strong>The mother is supposed to be a child&#8217;s primary teacher while the child is young.<\/p>\n<p>There is a difference in attitude between the wise son and the evil son: The wise son says &#8220;Eloheinu&#8221; (OUR God); he is asking a question and seeking and answer. The evil son makes a statement (sort of a rhetorical question), instead of asking a question for which he seeks an answer. Yet, regardless of the sons&#8217; level of observance, it is a commandment to teach them about going out of Egypt.<\/p>\n<p>God told Avraham (Abraham) that his children would be living in \u201clands not their own\u201d and would be enslaved for 400 years, yet the Torah states that the Israelites were in Egypt for 210 years. So we say God \u201ccalculated the end\u201d (chisheiv et ha\u2019keitz) of the enslavement: He started the counting from the birth of Avraham\u2019s son, Yitzchak (Isaac), until the Exodus (a total of 400 years), as follows:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time from Birth of Avraham\u2019s Son to Going Down to Egypt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yaakov (Jacob) was born when Yitzchak was 60 years old.<\/p>\n<p>Yaakov told Par\u2019o (Pharaoh) (when he and the rest of his family entered Egypt) that he was 130 years old.<\/p>\n<p>60 + 130= 190 years before going down to Egypt<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time in Egypt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>210 years in Egypt<\/p>\n<p><strong>Time from Birth of Avraham\u2019s Son to Exodus<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>190 Before going down to Egypt<\/p>\n<p>+ 210 In Egypt<\/p>\n<p>= 400 years from Yitzchak\u2019s birth to the Exodus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Yitzchak and Yaakov did not yet \u201cown\u201d Eretz Yisrael. Since the Israelites were not given Eretz Yisrael until after the Exodus, Avraham\u2019s offspring were living in \u201clands not their own\u201d for 400 years.<\/p>\n<p>When we lift up our wine cups at v\u2019hi she\u2019amda and at lefichach, we cover the matza.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0So the matza won\u2019t feel \u201cembarrassed,\u201d since bread\/matza is more important than wine.<\/p>\n<p>Hava nitchakma (let us deal cleverly) was an attempt at a clever way to keep the Israelites as slaves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0The Egyptians were afraid the Israelites might join the Egyptians\u2019 enemies in a war.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the plagues was against one of the Egyptian gods, to show that they were actually powerless.<\/p>\n<p>We spill 10 drops of wine when reading the list of plagues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0Wine symbolizes happiness and so we drink less wine to show that we are sad that the Egyptians suffered.<\/p>\n<p>In &#8220;the plague of the first-borns&#8221; (makat bechorot), did the first-borns suffer by dying or did their families suffer more?<\/p>\n<p>In Rabbi Yehuda\u2019s abbreviations of the ten plagues, d\u2019tzach-adash-b\u2019achav, the abbreviation ends with the Hebrew letter \u201cvet\u201d for bechorot (first-borns), implying that it was the families who suffered, since if it ended with a \u201cmem\u201d for makat bechorot, it would have been the first-borns who suffered.<\/p>\n<p>In dayenu, we say that at each level of what God did for us, it would have been enough. Since we didn\u2019t get the Torah until one of the last stages, this seems incorrect, since of what value is money, wandering in the desert, and all of the other details if we don\u2019t have the Torah?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is that we need to be grateful to God for each miracle that we received, and that at each stage, we owe praise and thanks to God.<\/p>\n<p>Also, in one sense, we already had the Torah (in some version, even though not in the form in which Moses\/Moshe wrote it later).<\/p>\n<p>Pesach, matza, and maror should be read and explained with special attention.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0They are the main parts of the seder and of the commandment to have a seder.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong>\u00a0Why didn&#8217;t the Israelites bake bread (the Torah says that they did not have time for the dough to rise)? They knew 14 days ahead of time (on Rosh Chodesh Nisan) that they would be leaving, and they knew it would be middle of night (since God said that is when they would leave).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Answer:<\/strong>\u00a0The Israelites did not do anything to prepare, except what God told them to do: the Passover offering and putting blood on their doorposts.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Rachtza: Wash Hands (With a blessing)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>To wash hands for rachtza:<\/p>\n<p>Fill the washing cup with at least 3.3 fl. oz. (99 ml) of water.<\/p>\n<p>Pour enough water (may be as little as 1.3 fl. oz.&#8211;39 ml, or 1\/6 cup) from the washing cup to completely cover your entire first hand (either hand may be first, but it is the custom to wash your right hand first).<\/p>\n<p>Pour enough water to completely cover the second hand.<\/p>\n<p>You do not need to pour more than once per hand and you do not need to break up the revi&#8217;it into more than one pour for each hand.<\/p>\n<p>Say the blessing on washing hands, ending in al netilat yadayim.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Motzi Matza: Bless on\/Eat Matza<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Matza represents:<\/p>\n<p>* Food of poor people, and<\/p>\n<p>* The unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when leaving Egypt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0A pun reflects this dual meaning of poor bread plus the story of leaving Egypt, since \u201clechem oni\u201d may mean \u201cbread of poor people\u201d or \u201cbread of (many) answers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matza: What Kind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The only time you must use shmura matza is for the four commandments of motzi, matza, koreich, and afikoman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0You may use any other kosher for Passover matza, even for the rest of seder. There is no need for using shmura matza for the other days of Passover.<\/p>\n<p>Hand shmura matza has some advantage in that it was made with the intention of being for a mitzva, but machine shmura matza has the advantage of being less likely to become chametz since it is automated and not touched by human hands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matza: How Much<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Motzi, Matza<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For motzi and matza together, you must eat at least 1.9 fl. oz. (56 ml) of matza within a 4-minute period from when you begin eating.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Afikoman<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For afikoman, you must eat another 1.9 fl. oz of matza; b\u2019di\u2019avad, at least 1.3 fl. oz. (39 ml, or 1\/6 cup) is sufficient.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0This amount is about 1\/2 of a machine shmura matza, or 1\/3 of a hand shmura matza.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0If your mouth is too dry to eat that quickly, you may drink water with the matza.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Motzi\/Matza: Blessings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We say two blessings over the matza: ha\u2019motzi lechem min ha\u2019aretz and al achilat matza.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0The blessing on motzi is one of enjoyment (nehenin); the blessing on matza is a blessing on a commandment (mitzva).<\/p>\n<p>The seder leader says the blessing \u201cha\u2019motzi\u201d while holding the three (which are now 2 1\/2) shmura matzas, drops the bottom one, and says the next blessing, al achilat matza. Everyone takes a small piece from the two top matzas and eats it, along with enough additional shmura matza to fulfill the minimum requirement.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Maror: Eat Bitter Vegetable<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The ideal bitter vegetable for maror at the Passover seder is horseradish. Horseradish for maror:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Must be fresh enough to be sharp.<\/li>\n<li>Should be ground (if ground ahead of time, it must be stored in a covered container until the seder).<\/li>\n<li>Must not have liquid (horseradish with beets added is not suitable for use as maror).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Many people have the custom to use romaine lettuce for maror (be careful to check for bugs on the romaine).<\/p>\n<p>The minimum amount to fulfill the mitzva of eating maror at seder is 0.65 fl. oz. (19 ml), or about the volume of 1\/3 of an egg.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0If you choose to use romaine instead of horseradish for maror, the minimum amount is about 2-3 stems (depending on their size), or enough leaves if crushed to make up 0.65 fl. oz.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0It is even better to eat at least 1.3 fl. oz. (39 ml, or 1\/6 cup).<\/p>\n<p>Say the blessing \u201cal achilat maror.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dip the maror into the charoset and shake off all but a little bit of the charoset.<\/p>\n<p>Do not lean when eating the maror.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0The blessing for maror was included in the borei pri ha\u2019adama blessing, which was said on the karpas earlier in the seder.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Korech: Eat the Sandwich<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You need eat only 0.95 fl. oz. (28 ml) of matza within four minutes of beginning to eat it to fulfill the commandment of koreich.<\/p>\n<p>For koreich, use the same amount of maror as for the maror commandment.<\/p>\n<p>To eat the koreich:<\/p>\n<p>* Put some bitter herbs on the matza.<\/p>\n<p>* Lean to the left when eating the koreich.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Shulchan Orech: Eat the Festival Meal<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Don\u2019t eat roasted meat of any kind at the seder, including roasted poultry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0So it will not be confused with the Passover offering.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0You may eat lamb as long as it is not roasted.<\/p>\n<p>Meat is not considered to be roasted if, when the baking began, there was at least 1\/4&#8243; of liquid in the cooking utensil with the meat.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Tzafun: Hidden (Afikoman)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You should ideally finish afikoman by midnight at the Passover seder, but you may eat it later than midnight if you have not finished (or even started!) your meal by then.<\/p>\n<p>After eating the afikoman on Passover, you may not eat again until daybreak, but you will still drink two more cups of wine and you may drink water anytime through the night.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bareich: Say Birkat HaMazon<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you said birkat ha\u2019mazon at the seder but had forgotten to eat the afikoman, you must:<\/p>\n<p>* Wash your hands,<\/p>\n<p>* Say ha\u2019motzi,<\/p>\n<p>* Eat at least 1.3 fl. oz. (39 ml, or 1\/6 cup) of matza,<\/p>\n<p>* Say birkat ha\u2019mazon again, and then<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drink the third cup of wine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Open the door at this point.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reason:<\/strong>\u00a0To show our trust in God to protect us, since the first night of Passover is called a night of watching (leil shimurim), when God provides special protection for the Jewish people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0You should open the door unless you are in an unsafe neighborhood. If the neighborhood is dangerous, it may be forbidden by Jewish law to live there at any time.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Hallel: Saying Hallel Psalms<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>At the seder, hallel is divided into two parts. The first two psalms, read before the meal, deal with the exodus from Egypt. The remaining psalms, read after the meal, concern other miracles and the future of the Jewish nation.<\/p>\n<p>There are many opinions as to why we read hallel at night: most are related either to praising God for saving the Jewish people or to accompanying the Passover sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Nirtza: Accepted<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We hope that God accepts our seder and all of the commandments that we have done on this night.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Copyright 2015 Richard B. Aiken. Halacha L\u2019Maaseh appears courtesy of\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalhalacha.com\/\">www.practicalhalacha.com<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Visit their web site for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This material is provided for informational purposes only \u2013 not a substitute for the consultation of a competent rabbi.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Principles It is praiseworthy to tell the story of Passover even if you know all the details and interpretations (as did the great rabbis of the Talmud), because of the principle of \u201cin order to remember\u201d (lema\u2019an tizkor): that we should remember everything God did for us when taking us out of Egypt. The Three [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132976,"featured_media":41932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-passover"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Passover Seder: Practical Halacha - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A seder primer including: the most important concepts, the customs and mitzvot at the seder, the seder plate, and the order of the evening.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/passover-seder-practical-halacha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Passover Seder: Practical Halacha - Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A seder primer including: the most important concepts, the customs and mitzvot at the seder, the seder plate, and the order of the evening.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/passover-seder-practical-halacha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-17T16:23:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-08T15:13:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Seder-Plate-6-e1474458977326.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1182\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard B. 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