Practical Ideas for the Seder

The word Seder literally means order. This night open your mind to seeing “order” in a different light. Most of the time that word conveys the concept of putting things in a rational design. This can mean in terms of time priority (first things first) or aesthetic design (taller plants behind shorter ones). Time and space can be tough masters. The order of the seder is not bound by time and space, but rather by Hashem’s design for you personally, for the Jews, and for the world as a whole. You begin with Kadesh, which means sanctification, since this is the first step toward freedom. You move from there to Urchatz which is washing your hands ritually but without the usual blessing. This is done in preparation for the next step which is eating the vegetable that is dipped in salt water. The entire procedure is highly unusual and is designed to almost force a question out of your mouth. What that tells us is that there is another step towards freedom which is being willing to ask questions.

One of the “four sons”who are presented to us in the Haggadah is the son who doesn’t know how to ask a question. While this is sometimes perceived as innocence, in fact it can be apathy in disguise. We all know people who “just don’t get it”. In fact, the person in question can even be you. Learn to ask how sincere your search is, how open your mind really is to hearing a voice that isn’t your voice. Another one of the four sons is the wicked son. When I was growing up back in Brooklyn, it was cool to refer to something that was good, but really good, as being “bad”. “Man,that was wicked” roughly translated as , “Yes indeed. That provided a great deal of pleasure”. I always felt a sort of inappropriate empathy with the wicked son just because of his title. He like the son who can’t ask a question only hears one voice, his own. He is the eternal slave. I am sure that you have met a few slaves here and there. Some of the slaves are enslaved to their egos that never let them either question anything or hear answers. The simplicity of the vegetables that we dip, and the depth of tears of longing are both lost on them.

There are two other sons. The wise son seeks knowledge that comes from beyond himself. He wants to know what G-d wants of him and is willing to silence his own inner voice to hear the answer. He isn’t hung up on wanting to know only the “mishpatim”, the laws that are rationally accessible, but also the “chukim”, the laws that are “too big”so speak to fit into the narrow confines of our intellectual capacity. The “tamm” which means the “whole” son, the one who is described as “simple” in the same sense that a chemical is “simple” if it is not adulterated, also lives within us. It is the part of you that wants to be real, so that the mind, body and emotions are all on the same page, none of them distorted by ego or silenced by complacency.
Eat the matzah, feel the freedom and the exile.

Feel not just know.

Hashem’s love when He turns either face

To you

Embrace the moments of exile because

They open the door

To freedom