[Avodah] running a seder

[Micha Berger]

RETurkel wrote in the name of a rabbi from Shilo:
> 3. The main part of the seder is questions and answers for the children
> and not the recitation of the hagadah. In fact arami oved avi is the
> centerpiece.

If the main part is the questions and answers, wouldn't the centerpiece
be Mah Nishtanah and the answers to that question? That gets us to the
machloqes Rav and Shemu'el as to whether the maschilim begenus umsaymim
beshevach is "avadim hayinu" (Shemu'el) or "bit-chilah ovedei AZ" (Rav).
And according to Rabban Gamliel, the centerpiece would be a third piece
of Maggid.

But none of these members of Chazal place Vidui Bikurim as the ikkar
mitzvah.

Vidui bikurim is placed on a pedestal by a bit of Brisker Torah which
explains that vidui bikurim is used because onlike seifer shemos, it
requires using both miqra and TSBP (Sifri) to tell the story. I forgot
the significance of using the two together in particular. Perhaps a talmid
of RYBS, RAS (you still around RHM?) or another Brisker can chime in.

I'm attaching the seider of the seder, as seen IMHO. I think the only
controversial point is that it requires moving Ha Lachma Anya from the
beginning of Magid to being the explanation of Yachatz. That allows (1)
a grouping of the 15 steps of the seder based on when we refill the kosos,
and (2) opening Maggid with questions, not a declaration.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

Most of us have many divrei Torah on various points in the seder, but
since the very name of the meal, "seder", points us to pay attention
to its order, I thought I would layout the overall structure, as I see
it. We can divide the seder into four parts if we pay attention to when
we fill and drink each cup of wine.

I - First Cup (primarily reenacting the initial servitude)
    1 - Kadeish
    2 - Urchatz
    3 - Karpas
    4 - Yachatz

This proposed structure places Ha Lachma Anya as part of Yachatz. We
break the matzah, and discuss the "bread of suffering". The cup is
refilled after it, before Mah Nishtanah.

II Second Cup (retelling the story of redemption)
    5 - Maggid

    There are three opinions amongst tana'im about what is required for
    Maggid. Rav and Shemu'el both say that Maggid should begin with
    describing the suffering, and end on a happier note. The difference
    between them is that Rav says that this is on a spiritual level,
    starting with Bitechilah ovdei avodah zarah  - in the beginning, our
    ancestors were idolators. Shemu'el says it on a physical level.
    Avadaim hayinu  - we were slaves, but now we are free. Rabban Gamliel
    doesn't operate within that model at all. Instead, he requires that
    Maggid must discuss the three mitzvos of the evening: Pesach, Matzah,
    and Marror. We include all three haggados in our seder.

    a - Introduction
	This includes Mah Nishtanah, and Avadim Hayinu (Shemu'el's
	haggadah). The introduction ends by noting that this mitzvah is
	retelling the story of the Exodus, beyond the usual requirement
	to remember it "kol yimei chayecha - all the days of your life".

    Rav Chaim Brisker asks how the mitzvah of retelling the story at the
    seder differs from the daily requirement to it. The next three sections
    provide elements that he considers unique to the mitzvah of the night.

    b - The obligation to tell the story to others in Q&A format: This
    includes the four sons through Yachol meiRosh Chodesh.

    c - The chain of events: Rav's haggadah - the spiritual redemption
    from "Bitechilah", through the plagues, crossing the Red See, and
    the miracles in the desert.

    d - Reasons for the mitzvos of the night: R' Gamli'el's haggadah

    Then, after fulfilling the specific retelling of the evening as per Rav
    Chaim, we conclude with
    e - Expressions of praise  - the first part of Hallel

III Third cup (we just retold the story verbally, here we reenact it)
    6 - Rachtzah
    7 - Motzi
    8 - Matzah
    9 - Maror
    10 - Koreich
    11 - Shulchan Oreich
    12 - Tzafun
    13 - Bareich

IV Fourth cup (now that we were redeemed, we are in a position to praise
   Hashem)
    14 - Hallel
    15 - Nirtzah

There were 15 semicircular steps up to the last courtyard before the
Temple. The levi'im would stand on them and sing. When ascending them
for certain ceremonies, they would pause at each step and sing the 15
chapters of Tehillim that begin Shir haMaalos (a song of ascents) or Shir
laMa'alos. 15 then is a number by which we sing G-d's praises, and speak
of his loftiness. For this reason there are 15 things that Hashem did for
us in the Exodus which we count out in Dayeinu - any one alone would
justify the seder night. And there are therefore 15 steps in the seder.