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We heading out on a journey together tonight.  We are asked not just to remember or recite or rehearse a journey, we are to feel as if we are in reality leaving Egypt, Mitzrayim in Hebrew, the Narrow Places.

It is said that after living in the Narrow Places for so many generations, we forgot so many things.  The only thing we really remembered was our names.

So tonight, at the Seder table, as we prepare to leave these Narrow Places, share your names and the story of at least one of those names.

As with anything, there is a proper order for things. Our Passover meal is called a seder, which means “order” in Hebrew.   Just as a tree must be a tiny seed, then a sapling, before it becomes a tree, we must go through an order to grow and change. This is the order of the Seder:  because we go through 14 specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt.

קַדֵּשׁKiddush (the blessing over wine) | kadeish |

וּרְחַץRitual hand-washing in preparation for the seder | urchatz |

כַּרְפַּסDipping a green vegetable in salt water| karpas |

יַחַץBreaking the middle matzah | yachatz |

מַגִּידTelling the story of Passover | magid |

רָחְצָהRitual hand-washing in preparation for the meal | rachtza |

מוֹצִיאמַצָּהThe blessing over the meal and matzah | motzi matzah |

מָרוֹרDipping the bitter herb in sweet charoset | maror |

כּוֹרֵךְEating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb | koreich |

שֻׁלְחָןעוֹרֵךְEating the meal! | shulchan oreich |

צָפוּןFinding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon |

בָּרֵךְSaying grace after the meal and inviting Elijah the Prophet | bareich |

הַלֵּלSinging songs that praise God | hallel |

נִרְצָהEnding the seder and thinking about the future | nirtzah |