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.