SEDER: Act 2


There is an old piece of folk wisdom that if you want people to really learn something, first you tell them what you're going to tell them; then you tell them; then you tell them what you told them. The Haggadah retells the story of the redemption of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt in four recitals.

The first "telling" is prompted by the recitation of the renowned Four Questions. That recitation is customarily assigned to a child or the young person present at the table. The core of the answer to those Four Questions is: "We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but our God brought us forth with an outstretched arm." This first "telling" is but a warm up for what's to follow.

The second "telling" like the first is prompted by a foursome symbol: the apocryphal Four Children -- one wise, one wicked, one slow and one silent. Each represents a different challenge to the telling of the Haggadah legend. In responding to the challenges posed by each type of "learner" the telling grows in depth and complexity. Where one needs to hear the ritual significance of symbols, the other needs to understand the philosophical significance of the Passover celebration; still others need to know the history -- and some just need the reassurance that they are actually free to ask anything they want to.

The third "telling" is a recitation of the story in the form of songs for those who need the emotional fulfillment of re-experiencing the story. Best known among these is the "Dayeynu" song which recounts all the ways that G-d showed favor to the Israelites -- each of those favors punctuated by the exclamation of "Dayeynu", which means "it would have been enough".

Finally, the fourth "telling" reduces the story to its core symbols: Pesach, matzah and maror. The Pesach refers to the sacrificial lamb symbolized on the seder plate by the burnt shank bone. The matzah is the bread of affliction, and the maror is the bitter herb/horseradish which recalls the bitterness of slavery.

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