B"H
Monday, Nissan 9, 5781 / March 22, 2021
Questions & Answers about the Passover Seder
Q. The Seder plate consists of three matzot. What do these three matzot represent?
A. They represent the three categories of the Jewish people: Kohen, Levi, Yisrael. They also represent the Three Patriarchs of the Jewish people: Abraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov.
Q. At the beginning of the Seder, before reciting the Hagadah, we break the middle matzah. The bigger piece is hidden for the Afikoman and the smaller piece, which reminds us of the “bread of affliction,” is put back between the two whole matzot. Why do we break the middle matzah?
A. There is a rule that when a mitzvah comes to your hand do not skip over it. Later, in the Seder when we will wash our hands and make the blessings over the matzah, we have to make the blessings over a whole matzah, not a broken one. If the top matzah would be the broken one, we would have to “skip” that one and go for the next one to perform the mitzvah of eating matzah. This would constitute “skipping” over the mitzvah. Thus, we leave the top matzah whole and break the middle one.
Q. We drink the second cup of wine later in the Seder, after reciting the Hagadah. So why do we pour the wine into the cup at the very beginning of the Seder, before the children ask the four question and before reciting the Hagadah?
A. This is done in order to make the children curious and ask this question and as a result they will ask other questions, including the four questions. It is important on this night to do things which will make the children ask questions, so they will be interested in sitting at the Seder and hear the story of the Exodus.
Q. During the reading of the Hagadah, when we enumerate the Ten Plagues with which G-d punished the Egyptians, we spill out a drop of wine from the cup. What is the reason for this?
A. This indicates that, although at the Seder we celebrate our freedom from Egyptian bondage, yet our cup of joy cannot be complete, when remembering the pain which the Egyptians suffered as a result of enslaving the Jewish people.
Q. During the year, after reciting the blessing over bread (“Hamotzi”), we dip the bread in salt before eating it. Also, during the other Passover meals, we place salt on the matzah, after the blessing. Why, at the Seder, when we make the blessings over the matzah, many do not put salt on the matzah?
A. Eating the matzah at the Seder is a very special mitzvah, for which a special blessing is recited. Because of the importance of this mitzvah, we do not want to take away from the taste of the matzah. We want to get the pure taste of the matzah, without any additives. It shows our love for this mitzvah.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY