In the four questions, we ask "on all other nights, we don't dip, even once, but on this night, we dip twice" How can we ask this if we dip challah in salt on Shabbat (and other days)?

In the Siddur of Rav Saadia Gaon on page 136, where he discusses the Pesach Seder, he says that when we do Orchatz we are supposed to make a bracha, and after Karpas to say Borei Nephashot. However, Ashkenazim and Sefaradim do either. If to do this was the norm then, why do Ashkenazim and Sefarad...

That which by the Seder on Pesach we eat "karpas", what does this word actually mean and where does it come from?

Every seder I've ever been to has used ground horseradish for maror, and "dipping" it in the charoset ends up being implemented as putting both maror and charoset on a piece of matzah and eating that. In reviewing the haggadah today, though, it struck me that this takes away from the symbol of t...

As far as I know mitzvot such as eating marror or saying hallel at the Pesach seder are only rabbinic (the marror was biblical previously but I am told that is no longer so). If this is the case and if it is the case that the second day of Pesach is treated as a yom tov (in the diaspora) because ...

Wait wait, it's not a question for Seasoned Advice. :-) I have a vegetarian (not vegan) coming to my seder this year. Most of the vegetarian staples (as far as I know) are chametz or kitniyot. For a yom tov meal I want to strive for "festive", something that will be as appealing as the meat th...

The haggadah (several copies that I've looked at, so I'm assuming this is universal?) tells us when eating certain foods at the seder to recline or lean to the left. I understand why we lean (the haggadah tells us that), but why the left in particular? Is this because of historical practice (ma...

I've participated in only 3 different families' Passover Seders, so my experience is limited in terms of different families' traditions. How widespread is the custom of eating a hardboiled egg in salt water at the Seder, and what are the source and reason behind it? EDIT: Is it codified anywhere?

Today we observe what we call "Passover" or "Pesach" beginning on the evening of the 15th of Nisan, and then for seven days in Israel and eight days elsewhere. But the Torah, at Lev. 23:5 and Exodus 12 describes "Passover" or "Pesach" as the day the Pesach offering was brought in the Temple -- t...

An invitation was given to someone to a Seder on Pesach and they show up with a nice, expensive bottle of Single Malt Scotch Whisky (which is unquestionably barley-based if you don't want to check the link). What Halachicly acceptable alternatives does the host have to react to such a gift at tha...

Before Pesach we burn whatever chametz we have not sold or otherwise removed from our ownership. Why specifically do we burn it instead of finding another way to dispose of it? Perhaps a lest wasteful way would be to feed it to fish or other ownerless animals.

In which year, or decade, was the last Korban Pesach performed by Jews on Har Habayit? So far, my research has found Rabbi Gamliel of Yavneh, and his slave Tevi, which would be around 80-120 CE. But I wouldn't know where to look for the actual answer.

I often hear that Passover programs are fraught with potential issues, primarily in the area of kashrus, but also with the reliability of the Rabbanim there and other issues. How can one go about looking into a Pesach program to find out if its high standards extend past how good the food is? I...

Almost every small Jewish child learns the Mah Nishtanah sometimes even in multiple languages the questions remains is that the question remains. Where in the Haggadah are the four questions answered (please do not tell me "Ha Lach Mianya" and if you do please tell me how it does) where in the Ha...

The first of four questions specifically says, "On all other nights we eat chametz or matza, why on this night only matza?" While I understand that it's halakhically acceptable to eat matzah when it isn't Pesach, was there a time when people regularly ate matzah outside of Passover?

The Haggadah was written during the Talmudic period, so I would expect it to be written in Aramaic. Especially since the entire purpose of the Haggadah is the telling over of the story of yetziat-Mitzrayim in order to fulfill the mitzvah of remembering the Exodus, I would expect that it would be...

מצה embodies two ideas: poor man’s bread (slavery) and free man’s bread (the bread that made in haste when they left Egypt). These ideas seem to contradict one another; how can they both exist in one חפצא של מצוה, object of the commandment? Furthermore, if you look at Rabbi Gamliel’s statement...

As quoted in the Hagadah, Yehoshua 24:2 reminds the Jewish people that, “Your ancestors lived across the river: Terach, father of Avraham and of Nachor; and they served strange gods.” God then reminds the people how Esav’s descendants had been living comfortably on Mount Seir for centuries while ...

If Hashem brought about Macos Bechoros by himself, with out any angel, then what is the משחית that would not harm the Bnei Yisroel mentioned in Shemot Chapter 12, Verse 23? Premises based on the following sources: Rashi on Exodus Chapter 12, Verse 12 says "I by myself and not through a intermed...

In the haggadah (Mechon Mamre's edition of the Hagadah at the end of Hilkhot Chametz u-Matzah and in some editions of the Mekhilta on Shemot 13:14), regarding the wicked son it states וּלְפִי שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל וְכָפַר בָּעִיקָר I would like to know what עִיקָר the wicked s...

I was taught that it's important not to make an interruption between a b'racha and its fulfillment, such that we don't say anything between making motzi and eating the bread. To me the b'racha is "attached" to the bread. At the seder we say al achilat matzah because of the specific mitzvah of e...

Somebody asked at my seder this year why Moshe is largely absent from the magid. I have heard that the reason is because we're supposed to focus on God, and also that Moshe was very humble and there might be a midrash about him asking not to be in it. But I can't source any of that. Are those ...

Who is the author or what is the origin of the song commonly found in the haggadah called Echad Mi Yodeya?

The Haggadah tells us that Rebbi Yehuda came up with a mnemonic for remembering the Ten Plagues: Dtzach Adash B'Achav Why was the mnemonic necessary? It doesn't seem to me to be that difficult to remember the plagues. Moreover, there are many other things for which there is no mnemonic (eg. 12 t...

In the halachma anya of the Passover Hagada it says "Let all who are hungry come and eat". Why don't we say this before the kidush? Makes more sense that we should invite people before starting the kidush.

From the hagada: חָכָם מָה הוּא אוֹמֵר מָה הָעֵדֹת וְהַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ א׳ אֶתְכֶם.‏ וְאַף אַתָּה אֱמָר לוֹ כְּהִלְכוֹת הַפֶּסַח אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן.‏ The wise one, what does he say? "What are the testaments and decrees and rules that G...