Parts of the Seder

The Passover seder is traditionally divided into 15 steps, sometimes viewed as the steps from slavery toward freedom. In addition to the traditional 15 steps, our listing provides the constituent parts of maggid, the telling of the Passover story, as well as several other rituals commonly found at the seder.

One of the crucial elements of slavery was that the Jews were not able to form themselves as a viable community. Egyptian taskmasters rigidly regulated their lives, preventing any sense of communion and solidarity. And so, on Pesach night, the essence of the seder is to constitute ourselves as a Jewish community.

Three quintessential acts define Jewish community, and all three of those are at the core of our seder experience:

We break bread, demonstrating our covenantal relationship to each other and to God.
We learn Torah.
And we invite the poor and hungry to share our meal with us, demonstrating that our community is one which extends itself to those in need.

Photo by Jordan Cassway

Ten Plagues of Jewish Women

Ritual Component

The traditional ten plagues of Passsover recast as ten plagues which hurt Jewish women today [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder

Tags: ten plagues

Recognizing Abused Women

Ritual Component

Acknowledges the plagues of battered women and children who live within our midst [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder, Healing from Trauma & Abuse, Theme Seders

Tags: ten plagues

The Four Daughters

By Tamara Cohen, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, and Ronnie Horn | Reading

A reading placing the traditional four children in the context of four daughters and their attitude toward a women's seder [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder, Theme Seders

Tags: four children, Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Tamara Cohen

The Four Children

Reading

Questions of the wise, irreverent and assimilated daughter and the son who is unable to ask [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder, Theme Seders

Tags: four children

Four Daughters: Wise, Wicked, Simple, and Silent

Reading

A Passover reading using four daughters instead of the traditional four sons [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder, Theme Seders

Tags: four children

Four Daughters: Wise, Angry, Simple and Unable to Enquire

By Rabbi Dalia Marx and Rabbi Tamar Duvdevani, translated by Orna Meir | Reading

An interpretation by two Israeli rabbis [more]

Found In: Parts of the Seder

Tags: four children

Four Daughters: from the Sources

By Rabbi Einat Ramon, Ph.D. | Ritual Component

The questions as posed by Miriam (wise of heart), Tamar (rebellious), Ruth (simple and pure), and the "beautiful captive" (the one who cannot ask) [more]