What religious things will you do at a Passover meal?

Answer 1

Personally, I hope to be alive and able to do the following:

-- recite the blessing over wine, and drink the majority of the cup, four times;

-- pour a fifth cup but not drink it, in hopes that when the Prophet Elijah arrives to

announce the coming of the Messiah, he will begin to answer the questions of

Jewish law on which our sages have never been able to agree, one of them being

whether or not we should drink a fifth cup on this occasion;

-- wash my hands at the table twice but say the corresponding blessing only once;

-- add a cushion or a small pillow to my chair, and recline comfortably on it as I eat

and drink;

-- recite the blessings that accompany eating bread and the fulfillment of the commandment

to eat matzah, and then eat matzah;

-- recite the blessing and eat greens dipped in salt water;

-- recite the blessing and eat home-brew horseradish;

-- recall and repeat the tradition of Hillel the Prince, who ate matzah and bitters together,

in accordance with the Biblical verse that commands eating both on this night;

-- invite any poor or needy to commemorate the Passover with us at my table;

-- listen carefully as the traditional "four questions" are repeated by the youngest

at the table who is able to do that ... either our baby daughter (26) or else our

baby son (23);

-- watch our daughter's son ... our first grandson ... for any sign that he might consent

to sit on my lap for a moment, some time before he falls asleep;

-- re-tell the story, the history, and the events that culminated in the Exodus from Egypt;

-- partake of an elaborate meal of many courses, flavors, and textures;

-- say Grace after the meal;

-- open the door, to make our ritual visible to passersby in the street;

-- sing traditional songs on the theme of the Exodus in particular, and the many kindnesses

in general with which we have been favored; For not only our ancestors experienced

the ultimate existential threat, but in every generation they rise up against us to destroy us,

and the Holy One rescues us from their hand.

-- pitch in to clear the table;

-- stay up for a while after everyone else has shut down, to prepare the Torah portion

that I'll read during the next morning's holiday service in the synagogue.

Those are some of the things that I hope to be able to do on the first and second

nights of Passover.