Seder 101: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Passover’s Big Night

The Seder: Why the Name—and What the Night Looks Like

The Seder is the umbrella term for the mitzvot and the festive holiday meal on the first night of Passover. Outside of Israel, this meal is also held on the second night of Passover. Families typically gather to fulfill the night’s unique mitzvot, including eating matzah, drinking four cups of wine, telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and more. For more about the Seder, click here. 

The 15 Steps of the Seder

We call it a "Seder"—order—because the night follows a set sequence. As early as the medieval period, concise markers were composed for the Passover Haggadah to outline the flow of the night. There are 15 steps that include the entire evening:

Kadesh – Make Kiddush and drink it while reclining. The Kiddush cup is one of the four cups, so not only the person reciting Kiddush drinks; everyone at the table drinks their cup. For that reason, before beginning Kiddush, pour wine for each person, and when it ends, everyone drinks. Some have the practice for each person to recite their own Kiddush, and some say the words of Kiddush together with the leader.

Urchatz – As preparation for karpas (a vegetable dipped in liquid), wash hands without a blessing. The Sages instituted washing before eating fruit or vegetables that are moist from one of the seven liquids; therefore, before karpas we wash. However, because nowadays we are all considered ritually impure from contact with the dead, washing before eating something dipped in liquid is not obligatory. Since this is a matter of debate, we wash but do not recite a blessing.

Karpas – After Kiddush and before the Haggadah, eat a vegetable dipped in liquid. Common customs are celery, potato, or cucumber dipped in salt water. Before eating karpas, recite the blessing "Borei Pri Ha’adamah" (Who creates the fruit of the earth), with intention for it to also cover the maror eaten later in the meal. Do not eat more than a kezayit (olive’s volume) so as not to require an after-blessing, and there’s no need to recline for karpas.

Yachatz - After eating karpas, the leader breaks the middle matzah of the three in front of them. The larger half is set aside for the afikoman, and the smaller half remains between the two whole matzot.

Maggid – Fulfill the Torah’s command to tell, on the night of the 15th of Nisan, the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The core of the mitzvah is for parents to tell their children; even when there are no children present, there is still a Torah obligation to tell the story this night. The telling follows the order of the Haggadah and includes the famous questions, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" After the questions come the answers—covering all the stages of the Exodus. It’s fitting to elaborate here, because "whoever increases the telling of the Exodus from Egypt is praiseworthy."

Rachtzah – Before fulfilling the mitzvah of eating matzah, wash hands with a blessing.

Motzi - After washing, the one who breaks bread takes the three matzot from the plate that accompanied the Haggadah and recites the "HaMotzi" blessing.

Matzah - After the blessing, eat the matzah while reclining. Eating matzah at the Seder is a positive Torah commandment, as it says: "In the evening you shall eat matzot." Over the course of the night, we eat matzah three times: now; again for korech; and finally for tzafun (the afikoman).

Maror - After eating matzah, take a kezayit of maror, dip it in charoset, recite the blessing, and eat without reclining.

Korech - After eating the maror, wrap a kezayit of maror inside a kezayit of matzah (after dipping in charoset) and eat while reclining.

Shulchan Orech – Now it’s time for the meal. It’s proper to eat a festive meal in honor of the holiday, while trying not to eat or drink so much that you can’t finish the afikoman "when satisfied" and continue with Hallel, songs, and more storytelling without feeling weighed down.

Tzafun - Eat a kezayit from the broken matzah set aside at the beginning of the Seder. This matzah is called the afikoman. Over time, the term afikoman became standard. The commonly cited etymology is the Aramaic "afiku man"—"bring out the desserts," i.e., bring out the hidden afikoman. After the afikoman, we don’t eat anything until sleep so that the taste of matzah remains. Drinking water is permitted.

Barech - After finishing the afikoman, recite Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals). Afterward, drink the third cup.

Hallel – After Birkat HaMazon, pour the fourth cup and recite Hallel over it. Before Hallel, we say: "Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You, and upon the kingdoms that do not call upon Your Name. For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation. Pour out Your indignation upon them, and may the fierceness of Your anger overtake them. Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of Hashem." It’s customary to open the door while saying these verses—to show that this night is a protected night, that we are not afraid of our enemies, and that in the merit of this faith the Messiah will come and pour out wrath upon the wicked who hate Israel.

After that, we say the second half of Hallel; the first half was included at the end of Maggid.

Nirtzah - After Hallel, it’s customary to recite various songs composed in the medieval period, such as Chad Gadya, Echad Mi Yodea, and Vayehi BeChatzi HaLayla.

How do you run the Seder? For a detailed halachic guide, click here. 

How do you turn the Exodus into a lived story? How do you help kids feel as if they themselves left Egypt? Click here for tips.

Drinking the Four Cups

On the night of the Seder, everyone is obligated to drink four cups of wine during the meal. When drinking the four cups, recline slightly to the left.

The four cups correspond to the four expressions of redemption in the Torah’s promise of deliverance from Egypt by Hashem: "I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt; I will save you from their service; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm; and I will take you to Me as a people."

Telling the Exodus Story

On Seder night there’s a special mitzvah to tell the family the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Its importance lies in the birth of the Jewish people, clarifying the foundations of our faith, and the beginning of our national journey toward purpose. Storytelling is the backbone of the Haggadah, and "whoever increases the telling of the Exodus from Egypt is praiseworthy." The mitzvah especially rests on parents to pass the story on to the next generation.

Rabbi Zamir Cohen — all the basics of the Seder in one short video. Watch

Telling the Exodus All Night

It’s a mitzvah, on the night of the 15th of Nisan, to keep telling the story of the Exodus until "sleep overtakes us," and at least until halachic midnight.

After the Haggadah, some have the custom to read the Scroll of Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs), which alludes to the love between Hashem and the Jewish people revealed in the Exodus.

At bedtime, it’s customary to say only the Shema and the Hamapil blessing, without the additional verses often said as part of the Bedtime Shema. The reason is that those verses serve as protection from harmful forces, and this night is called a "Leil Shimurim"—a protected night—kept safe from such harm.

The Haggadah

To fulfill the mitzvah of telling the Exodus story, we use the Haggadah. The name "Haggadah" comes from the command "And you shall tell your child." Through the Haggadah, we perform the mitzvah of telling. During the telling, children ask, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"—meaning: why are there special changes tonight? The answer: we were slaves in Egypt, and Hashem took us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.

After the timeless section "Vehi She’amda," a substantial midrashic passage expands and explains the Torah’s concise Exodus narrative. It concludes with the reasons for the Passover offering, matzah, and maror, a hymn of praise to the Creator of the world, and the hope of redemption—"Next year in Jerusalem."

Reclining

We eat matzah and drink the four cups while reclining—the posture of free people—to emphasize that "tonight we are free." Recline by leaning on a cushion to the left (placing a chair and a pillow against its back works well). Women are not accustomed to recline.

The Seder Plate

One of the night’s key symbols is the plate. On the Seder plate are foods connected to the night’s rituals. The plate holds:

Zeroa — a chicken neck with a bit of meat on it, roasted over a flame. It recalls the Passover offering (Korban Pesach) once brought in the Temple. Prepare it on the eve of the holiday. We do not eat the zeroa.

Beitzah — a hard-boiled egg, in its shell. It recalls the festival offering (Korban Chagigah) brought in the Temple. It’s eaten after korech, at the beginning of the meal.

Karpas – a piece of vegetable (celery, potato, cucumber, or onion).

Maror — lettuce leaves and the chazeret root (khrein). The maror recalls the bitterness of our ancestors’ lives in Egypt and is eaten during the Seder.

Charoset — a sweet dip in which we dip the maror, in memory of the mortar. It’s made from apples, pomegranates, walnuts, almonds, and dates, with wine. The charoset evokes the mortar our ancestors used in Egypt.

Chazeret — same as above under maror. The chazeret is eaten in korech—that is, inside the matzah—recalling Hillel the Elder, who would wrap matzah and maror together.

For more about the Seder plate, click here. 

Everything about the Seder is organized on the plate. Rabbi Zamir Cohen explains exactly what goes on the plate, how, and why. Watch:

Spilling Wine

While reciting the Ten Plagues during Maggid, it’s customary to spill a bit from the cup into a vessel. This custom has reasons rooted in Kabbalah.

Afikoman

At the end of the Seder, we eat a piece of matzah called the afikoman. This recalls the Passover sacrifice that was eaten at the end of the night in Temple times. Since nothing was eaten after the Passover offering (so that its taste would linger), we also refrain from eating after the afikoman.

The common etymology of "afikoman" is the Aramaic "afiku man"—"bring out the desserts," meaning: bring out the hidden afikoman. Finish eating the afikoman no later than halachic midnight.

Elijah the Prophet

When we say "Shefoch Chamatcha" ("Pour out Your wrath"), it’s customary to open the front door. The reason is to demonstrate that this is a "Leil Shimurim"—a protected night—and there’s no need to fear. According to Kabbalah, this is a moment when heavenly gates are opened. It’s widely held that Elijah the Prophet visits Jewish homes at this time, when the doors are opened.

What’s the difference between chametz and matzah? How does matzah symbolize truth and humility? Rabbi Zamir Cohen explains the spiritually opportune time of Passover to refine our character. Watch: