The Word of the Day

seder \SAY-der\ noun
: a Jewish home or community service including a ceremonial dinner held on the first or first and second evenings of the Passover in commemoration of the exodus from Egypt

Example sentence: Ari enjoys the stories, songs, and ceremonies that accompany dinner on the night of the seder.

Did you know? Order and ritual are very important in the seder, so important that they are even reflected in its name; the English word "seder" comes from a Hebrew word that means "order." The order of courses in the meal, as well as prayers, stories, and songs, are recorded in the Haggadah, a book that retells the story of the Exodus and relates the events of the seder to it. Each food consumed as part of the seder recalls an aspect of the Exodus. For instance, matzo (unleavened bread) represents the haste with which the Jews fled Egypt; maror (a mix of bitter herbs) recalls the bitterness of life as a slave; and a mixture of fruits and nuts called charoset (or haroset) symbolizes the clay or mortar the Israelites worked with as slaves.