Clip

Welcome to the annual Leisure World community seder. The Leisure World Jewish Community conducts this seder not only for its own members, but also for all residents of Leisure World of Virginia who might wish to know more about this essential aspect of the Jewish tradition. The book you are reading is called a Haggadah, which is a book containing the story of the Exodus and the ritual of the Seder, read at the Passover Seder for nearly two thousand years. The traditional Haggadah has changed over the centuries, but it has been so culturally important that many communities develop their own to emphasize the aspects of the Passover story and rituals that are important to them. This Haggadah is ours. Our Passover meal is called a seder, which means “order” in Hebrew, because we go through 14 specific steps as we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. Some people like to begin their seder by reciting or singing the names of the 14 steps – this will help you keep track of how far away the main course is! קַדֵּשׁ Kiddush (the blessing over wine) | kadeish | וּרְחַץ Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the seder | urchatz | כַּרְפַּס Dipping a green vegetable in salt water| karpas | יַחַץ Breaking the middle matzah | yachatz | מַגִּיד Telling the story of Passover | magid | רָחְצָה Ritual hand-washing in preparation for the meal | rachtza | מוֹצִיא מַצָּה The blessing over the meal and matzah | motzi matzah | מָרוֹר Dipping the bitter herb in sweet charoset | maror | כּוֹרֵךְ Eating a sandwich of matzah and bitter herb | koreich | שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ Eating the meal! | shulchan oreich | צָפוּן Finding and eating the Afikomen | tzafoon | בָּרֵךְ Saying grace after the meal and inviting Elijah the Prophet | bareich | הַלֵּל Singing songs that praise God | hallel | נִרְצָה Ending the seder and thinking about the future | nirtzah | In Leisure World's tradition, we end the seder with the meal and thus have moved some of the ideas and stories from the end of the seder to the earlier sections. We begin