In this short yet informative video (03:39), Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald briefly explains each of the fifteen steps of the Passover seder in order. The steps are as follows:
-
Kadesh — sanctification of the day over wine
-
Urchatz — ritual handwashing with no blessing
-
Karpas — eating the green vegetable (symbolic of spring) dipped in salt water (symbolic of the tears of our enslaved ancestors)
-
Yachatz — breaking the middle matzah of the three matzot piled together — the larger half is reserved as the afikomen, eaten at the end of the meal
-
Maggid — telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt
-
Rachtzah — ritual handwashing with a blessing)
-
Motzi — blessing before eating matzah
-
Matzah — eating the matzah (the bread of affliction, symbolic of how quickly the Children of Israel left Egypt, symbolic of humility, and more)
-
Maror — eating the bitter herb, symbolic of the bitterness of slavery
-
Korech — «Hillel’s sandwich,» made of matzah, maror and charoset (symbolic of the mortar used by our ancestors in Egypt)
-
Shulchan Orech — eating the festive meal
-
Tzafun — eating the afikomen, symbolic of the Passover sacrifice
-
Barech — blessing after eating
-
Hallel — songs of praise
-
Nirtzah — conclusion, including the prayer for «Next Year in Jerusalem» and other songs