First Handwashing

We wash our hands. It is customary to pass along the table a jug of water
(with bowl underneath), with which each person washes the hands of the
person to their left, in a sign of freedom. There is no blessing over this washing.

On other nights, we follow kiddush by washing our
hands—with a blessing—so that we may begin to eat.
But tonight, we do not eat the bread we break; not right away.

Why begin the process of starting our meal,
only to stop and tell the story of Exodus?

Because tonight, we must understand our meal in order to
savour it. We must first understand what is bringing us to the
table together, as our ancestors did and as our descendants will.