The storytelling is done; it's time for food. That little bite of karpas was only an appetizer. Now we explore the many edible symbols of the holiday. But first, we need to take that moment of transition, washing away the last of Egypt's dust and readying ourselves for the meal ahead.

Our hands were touched by this water earlier during tonight's seder, but this time is different. This is a deeper step than that. This act of washing our hands is accompanied by a blessing, for in this moment we feel our People's story more viscerally, having just retold it during Maggid. Now, having re-experienced the majesty of the Jewish journey from degradation to dignity, we raise our hands in holiness, remembering once again that our liberation is bound up in everyone else's. Each step we take together with others towards liberation is blessing.

—Rabbi Menachem Creditor, Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley, CA

Blessed are you, י ה ו ה, spirit of the universe, who creates sacred opportunities for right and holy actions, and directs us to come to this table with clean hands.

We come together in celebration of our shared determination to act in rightness, and pause before the meal to clean our hands.


haggadah Section: Rachtzah