Timeless Torah

HaKol B’Seder…Everything is okay (in the Seder). Pesach Seder: An Oxymoron. Pesach means “To Passover,” a quantum leap that ignores the previously set order. Seder means “an Order,” a progression that follows rules. Pesach Seder means to create a structured order that helps us Passover all the rules of order.

The second verse of the Torah: “The earth was null and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Bereishis 1:2) This chaotic stage was a primordial “cholent” called Tohu. Why introduce chaos? The answer is in the next verse, “G-d said, ‘Let there be Light!’” (Bereishis 1:3) This means: The natural state of this Perfectly Imperfect world is chaos, not order. Our battle is to bring order (seder) to that chaos, just as G-d did with His light. Otherwise we doom Creation to darkness. This is the structure of the Pesach Seder. The world’s Seder is imperfect and dark. We Passover its rules.

Seder itself is like an envelope. The 15 steps are the messages inside. Possessing the envelope is essential, but you need to read what’s inside to get the full message.

1. Kiddush: Sanctify, Make Holy Kiddush (and Havdalah) represents the power to separate between holy and profane. True liberation is not synonymous with unrestricted indulgence in the material world. Four Questions teach children to notice differences. This separation is in the mind (chochma-wisdom). The beginning of all journeys is separation. You’ve got to leave somewhere to go somewhere else. Ignore the mocking voice of Pharaoh, “Who are you to begin such a journey?” Set yourself aside from society, or the personal Mitrayim (limitations), that holds you back This might require a little help. Try a cup of wine.

2. Urchatz: Cleanse (Isn’t holiness enough?) Only step that begins with the prfix vov-ו (a connecting and), a reference to Binah-Understanding. Binah expands the original idea (chochmah). Water also makes things grow (expanding our ideas). First we create the proper mind-set. Then we wash our hands, as they are the primary tools to interact our ideas with our environment. Shouldn’t Urchatz (cleaning ourselves) come before Kadesh (separating the holy)? (A) Kadesh is the goal that must be stated from the outset. (B) One cannot be come clean while in the mud. What has become dirty in your life? Your willingness to separate from that past requires a plan that has application.

3. Karpas: Vegetable in salt water (Don’t be completely disengaged.) We’re doing everything we can to spark questions. Child asks, “If we are removing ourselves from the world, what further involvement do we have with it?” If your child asks (this), you know you’re doing things right. What do you answer? “We’re doing this so you will ask questions.” And if they say, “So what’s the answer?” - Just repeat, as above.

The vegetable closest to the ground represents our earth-bound lives and our need to merely “dip” into it.
Don’t dive in and drown as all things physical eventually bring bondage. (All things spiritual bring freedom.) The salty water represents is this world. What we grow (achieve) is what we bring to the world. This job can bring one to tears.

Karpas symbolizes the crushing labor our people endured (forcing the men to do the job of women and vice versa). One achieves freedom by expressing ones own particular role; not by swapping it for another. SLAVE MENTALITY: That guy has a glamorous job. How did I ever get stuck with the job that I have? FREEDOM MENTALITY: What can I accomplish through my life and talents? What is my unique contribution? 4. Yachatz: Break the Middle matzah (Life in two parts) Even if you only see the small pieces of your life, Hashem has hidden away the larger reward. The smaller half is also covered. If you succeeded financially (Karpas), hide it. SLAVE MENTALITY: I would love to happy and free but I lack so much. FREEDOM MENTALITY: I may not have much, but I’ll give it my best.

1. Maggid: Tell over the story (Share the message) This takes up most of the Seder of Life. Follows format of question and answer. Allow the child (within you) to ask how you got stuck in your mitzrayim. Don’t always expect a ready answer. Involve your family and close friends. This self-honesty might require a little loosening up. Take a second cup of wine.

2. Rochtzoh: wash hands a second time (with a bracha) Did they get dirty again? In spirituality it’s not about going from dirty to clean but from clean to cleaner. (Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur) Now we are able to say a bracha (after initial immersion, similar to a convert).

First five steps are meditative. The next five steps (6-10) constitute avodah-service (action and no lip service). We’re ready to physically wash our hands from what we mentally prepared ourselves to do. Mental preparation does not require a bracha. Avoda (service to G-d) does.

1. Motzi: (Extract the spark) A clean set of hands aided by bracha eats bread differently than before. “Man does not live by bread alone but by the word of G-d.” Not the (body of the) bread alone, but the spark of G-dliness (soul of the bread) sustains man. Hamotzi lechem min Ho-oretz (Who brings forth the bread from the earth). Service: Extract the spark (the soul) from the physical (the body). What originally brought you to tears (karpas) is now translated into a real plan of spiritual action.

2. Matzah: Food of Faith Until now we’ve recognized that there must be a tension between the physical and the spiritual. Zohar: Food of Faith. We now use our most physical tendency (eating) as an exercise in spirituality. We eat matzah not because it is appealing (it is not), but simply because it’s a mitzvah. We’re not denying there is a physical realm, but it no longer a negative and a barrier to spirituality.

3. Maror: Bitterness (Coping with Bitterness) Even bitterness is not a barrier to serving G-d (Biblical vs. Rabbinic).

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