Every seder looks a little different. Some are all in Hebrew, some are 15 minutes long, some use the Harry Potter Haggadah. But this week at every seder, we will all ask the Four Questions and we will all enumerate the Four Children.
On the second night, toward the end of Hallel after the meal, we will also recite the blessing for the first night of the omer. Keep an eye out for it in your Haggadah - it can be easy to miss at the end!
The omer is the seven-week period between Passover and Shavuot. Mystically, it is a time of reflection and introspection, as we move through time and space from the slavery of the Passover narrative to the covenantal relationship with God that we experience at Sinai. But we don't wait for the end of the second seder to begin self-reflecting, no! The reflection begins early in the first seder with the Four Questions and the Four Children.
The Four Questions prompt us to be aware of our circumstances. The questions all essentially ask: how does context us make us act differently? One morning, the Israelites woke up in bondage and the next morning we were free. How do the events happening around us change us?
The Four Children make us wonder: which child am I? How have I been wise or wicked? When have I been simple? What do I not even know enough to know? The Four Children are models for how to engage with the world and with the people around us.
Counting the omer places us at the seder, seeing ourselves as newly freed slaves, and asks us to reflect on what that journey to freedom and the journey to God will stir in each of us. Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) attaches seven sephirot (attributes of God) to each of the seven weeks of the omer, to facilitate our reflection and spiritual growth.
The seven sephirot are:
1. Chesed (חסד): loving kindness
2. Gevurah (גבורה): strength, power, justice, bravery
3. Tiferet (תפארת): beauty, balance, compassion
4. Netzach (נצח): eternity, endurance, victory
5. Hod (הוד): splendor, majesty, glory, humility
6. Yesod (יסוד): foundation, connection
7. Malchut (מלכות): leadership
Each week and each day have an attribute. The first week is the week of chesed. The first day is chesed, the second is gevurah, and so on, so that each attribute will be paired as we count. You'll see it in action this week as we begin counting together.
Chag Kasher v'Sameach - Happy Passover!
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