Page 18 - Passover 2020 Haggadah
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MATZAH - EATING THE MATZAH
This is one time during Passover in which you have to eat matzah. Why do we eat matzah? Because during the Exodus, our ancestors had no time to wait for dough to rise. So they improvised flat cakes without yeast, which could be baked and consumed in haste. The Matzah reminds us that when the chance for liberation comes, we must seize it even if we do not feel ready—indeed, if we wait until we feel fully ready, we never act at all.
Take the plate with three pieces of matzot in hand. Make sure the middle one is broken and the others are still whole. Recite the blessing for all forms of bread – the “motzi” – and the special blessing for matzah – “al acheelat matza”
ָ ְברוּךְ ַא ָתה ְי ָי, ֱאלֹ ֵּ ֵֽהינוּ ֶ ֵֽמ ֶלךְ ָהעוֹ ָלם, ַהמּוֹ ִּציא ֶ ֵֽל ֶחם ִּמן ָה ָ ֵֽא ֶרץ: Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who brings bread from the land.
ָברוּךְ ַא ָתה ְי ָי, ֱאלֹ ֵֵּֽהינוּ ֵֶֽמ ֶלךְ ָהעוֹ ָלם, ֲא ֶשׁר ִּק ְד ֵָֽשׁנוּ ְב ִּמ ְצוֹ ָ ַתיו ְו ִּצֵָֽוּנוּ ַעל ֲא ִּכי ַלת ַמ ָצ ה :
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu
al achilat matzah
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who made us holy through obligations, commanding us to eat matzah.
Each person take a piece and eat from the top and middle matzah, while reclining left.
MAROR - EATING THE MAROR
Why do we eat maror? Maror represents the bitterness of bondage. Why do we eat charoset? It symbolizes the mortar for the bricks our ancestors laid in Egypt. Though it represents slave labor, charoset is sweet, reminding us that sometimes constriction or enslavement can be masked in familiar sweetness. Eating the two together, we remind ourselves to be mindful of life with all its sweetness.
Take a piece of maror (endive) and dip the maror in the charoset. Recite the blessing, eat and savor the maror but do not recline. Reclining is a custom of the free, while maror and charoset remind us of persecution.
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