Credit: Ri_Ya, Washing of Hands, Pixabay License, Free for commercial use, No attribution required
וּרְחַץ
נוטלים את הידים ואין מברכים "עַל נְטִילַת יָדַיִּם"
And Wash
Wash your hands but do not say the blessing "on the washing of the hands."
Credit: Tricholome, Parsley, CC BY-SA 4.0
כַּרְפַּס
לוקח מן הכרפס פחות מכזית – כדי שלא יתחייב בברכה אחרונה – טובל במי מלח, מברך "בורא פרי האדמה", ומכווין לפטור בברכה גם את המרור. אוכל בלא הסבה.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה.
Greens
Take from the greens less than a kazayit [the size of an olive] - so that you will not need to say the blessing after eating it; dip it into the salt water; say the blessing "who creates the fruit of the earth;" and have in mind that this blessing will also be for the bitter herbs. Eat without reclining.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.
***
Why do we do these things?
We wash our hands because of an argument in the Talmud (which we can see here in Tractate Pesachim, 115a) and among later authorities, concerning tum’ah [ritual impurity], and whether it can be transmitted by dipping food into liquids, and thus should require handwashing [for purification] before doing so.
אמר רבי אלעזר אמר רב אושעיא כל שטיבולו במשקה צריך נטילת ידים...
Rabbi Elazar said that Rav Oshaya said: Anything that is dipped in a liquid before it is eaten requires the ritual of washing of the hands. The obligation to wash one’s hands was instituted to preserve ritual purity and to prevent people from causing teruma [tithed] food to contract ritual impurity. Hands are generally considered impure to the second degree of ritual impurity, and they confer impurity upon any liquid with which they come in contact. Liquids that become ritually impure are automatically impure to the first degree and will therefore transfer ritual impurity to any food that is dipped in them.
There was never a decided halachah that this is something always mandatory; and since in post-Temple times we are not usually concerned with matters of ritual purity (since most types of ritual impurity only affected one's ability to visit the Temple), washing hands before eating vegetables or other foods dipped into liquid has fallen by the wayside, save in some extremely strict and punctilious households; and when done at all, is not done with a beracha beforehand, as there is no clear mitzvah which one fulfills by doing it.Why we continue the practice during the seder is, of course, a matter of debate, but one good answer is provided by the Arukh HaShulchan (the halachic legal code of R’ Yechiel Michel Epstein, 1829-1908):
(יח) ואחר שיקדש – נוטל ידיו לצורך טיבול הראשון, ולא יברך "על נטילת ידים". ואף מי שאינו נזהר בכל השנה בטיבולו במשקה ליטול ידיו – בפסח יטול ידיו, שהרי כמה שינויים אנו עושין בליל זה.ועניין הטיבול הוא כדי שישאלו התינוקות למה זה טובלין קודם האכילה, מה שאין דרך לעשות כן. דכבר נתבאר דהתורה הקפידה בליל זה על שאלת הבנים.
And after he makes kiddush, he washes his hands, because of the first dipping [of karpas vegetables into the salt water], and he does not make the brachah “...concerning washing the hands.” Even one who is not so scrupulous the rest of the year as to wash hands before dipping [food] into liquid, on Pesach he washes his hands, for we do many things differently upon this night. And the reason for this dipping is so that children will ask, “How come we’re washing before eating [karpas]-- we don’t usually do that?!” For the Torah has already clarified precisely concerning this night and children asking questions [i.e., they should do so]....
ACTION
- Before the seder, ask the children to help by making the bowls of salt water. This is a good opportunity to talk to them about what it means to suffer, and for us to remember the suffering of our ancestors.
- If your household has regular customs surrounding typical hand-washing before saying hamotzi, ask those assembled to make suggestions about how this handwashing can be differentiated: Alternate practices? Invert the customs?
- Every verse of “Dayenu” takes about 20 seconds to sing: this year, being a Pesach in quarantine, how many verses will your family get through if your Urchatz is done to CDC handwashing guidelines? You might also try asking your kids how they relate to hand-washing now.
(***
There are many commentators who find or create midrashic or philosophical explanations for eating karpas at all-- some quite creative-- but the simplest reason is that the Rabbis of the Talmud designed the Pesach Seder as an adaptation and sanctification of the Greco-Roman Symposium.Symposia, which were popular in the times of the Tannaim (the rabbis of the Mishnah), were elaborate dinner parties at which people drank wine, ate an hors d’oeuvre course of fresh vegetables dipped in salty or vinegary sauce, followed by a fancy meal, and discussed philosophy. Sounds a bit familiar, no?
Credit: Mosaic of a Symposium with Asarotos Oikos, 3rd Century CE, Phoenix Ancient Art
Many Ashkenazi Haggadot have directions like the one above, to use a green, such as parsley (or a root like a potato), take less than a k’zayit [an amount the size of a single large olive, one of the typical minimum quantities for fulfilling food-related mitzvot], and move on.They direct less than a k’zayit to avoid recitation of the after-beracha for the vegetables [all foods traditionally have an after-beracha, essentially a very abbreviated grace after meals], which may seem odd, considering that the after-beracha is fairly quick, and traditional seders often last far into the night anyhow.
The traditional Ashkenazi use of a sprig of parsley (or onion or potato) for Karpas can often result in the “When do we eat?!” noodging from children (and sometimes from adults), that so often leads to rushing Magid, the story-telling portion of the seder. And this is perhaps ironic, since the original purpose of Karpas was to be a full course. And that purpose brought many benefits: primarily, a big Karpas course of fresh and cooked vegetables, with the platters of veggies left out through Magid, encouraged noshing, and alleviated the kvetching about getting to Shulchan Orech. Secondarily, since one was noshing one’s way through to the matzah, maror, charoset, and meal, the worry about an after-beracha for the vegetables was nullified, since there was no interval between the Karpas course and the rest of the food.Interestingly, some households and communities are today reviving the full-course Karpas.
Credit: Weldis, Pinzimonio, CC BY-SA 4.0
ACTION
- Parents with good knife skills may want to cultivate their kids' interest in Karpas by carving vegetables into amusing shapes or figures.
- Discuss: What three things do, or could, particular vegetables symbolize to you?
- Fresh vegetables are often connected to Spring, and renewal: for whom do you wish renewal this Pesach? How do you wish to be renewed?