Haggadah:Simanei HaSeder – Components and Mnemonics/0

The Seder's Components and Their Mnemonics

Introduction

We open our Seders with a table of contents for the evening in the form of "סימני הסדר".   The most familiar version lists fourteen-fifteen¹ sections:
 
קַדֵשׁ | וּרְחַץ | כַּרְפַּס | יַחַץ | מַגִּיד | רָחְצָה | מוֹצִיא-מַצָּה | מָרוֹר | כּוֹרֵךְ | שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ | צָפוּן | בָּרֵךְ | הַלֵּל | נִרְצָה
 
There are many variations of this list.  Some are quite verbose, containing explicit directions and halakhot for each component,² while others are concise mnemonics,³ enigmatic to those unfamiliar with the rites.  The differences between the lists often reflect varying customs of the Seder.

The Signs of R. Meir of Rothenburg

R. Meir's list varies is some aspects from the above:

• Legal directions – As opposed to the above, R. Meir's signs incorporate legal rulings.  Thus, for example, he explains the order of blessings when Pesach falls out on Saturday night and one must incorporate the havdalah service into the Kiddush, directs one when to say certain blessings, and includes the obligatory measurements for matzah and maror.
• Varying customs
• Final Blessing after Kiddush – The Maharam directs one to say a blessing (ברכה אחרונה) after Kiddush.  This reflects an understanding that each of the four cups of wine constitutes its own individual obligation, requiring its own blessing both before and after.⁴  For elaboration, see Four Cups.
• Blessing after first hand-washing – Today most people⁵ do not make a blessing over the washing of hands before the dipping of karpas, but the earlier practice, attested to by the Gemara, Geonim and early Rishonim,was to make one. It is first in the twelfth century that authorities raise the idea that the blessing should be eliminated since the laws of impurities are no longer kept.⁶
• Pouring of Second Cup - R. Meir notes that one pours the second cup after saying "הא לחמא עניא"
• Nirzah - There is no mention of tehse added praises

¹ This depends on whether one counts "מוֹצִיא-מַצָּה " as one or two components.

² See, for instance, the signs of the Terumat HaDashen brought in Leket Yosher which consist of several full paragraphs.

³ See, for example, the list of R. Ovranik brought in Leket Yosher: קר"י חכמ"ה ב"ן המל"ך אמ"ן. The letters of the acronym are then explained: ק' קידוש, ר' רחיצה, י' ירקות, ח' חולק, כ' כהא, מ' מוזג, ה' הגדה, ב' ברכת יין, נ' נטילה, ה' המוציא, מ' מצה, ל' לטיך, כ' כריכה, א' אפיקומן, מ' מים אח', נ' נברך.

⁴ He notes that after the second cup one does not say a final blessing, but this is only because he maintains that ברכת המזון (the final blessing after bread) also includes any wine that is drunk immediately before a meal.

⁵ The Yemenite community is an exception.

⁶ Interestingly, though R. Meir of Rothenburg directs one to say a blessing here, he himself was not accustomed to doing so, and explained that that the law was no longer applicable.