The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Haggadah of the Inner Seder

The Haggadah of the Inner Seder reveals the deep structure of the seder. It includes commentaries that explain not just what things mean but how the seder works as a spritiual technology. You'll find signposts and cues indicating where important transformations of the seder's symbols take place, helping you to follow the process of liberation. And you'll learn about different customs from different communities. You can download a Word DOC file or a PDF file. The Haggadah of the Inner Seder can work as your main haggadah, but it's also a great supplement alongside other haggadot. And understanding the deep structure of the haggadah will help you create and lead your own seder. Learn more about the seder's structure from the lessons below.

Earth Day comes during the week of Pesach this year. Find Earth prayers on neohasid.org here. Also get the Omer Counter app, Omer widgets, and other resources here! The 2019 version includes corrections from 2018. Like 2018's haggadah, it also includes: Torah quotes about taking care of refugees Earth-centered kavvanot and prayers An abbreviated but halakhically complete Birkat Hamazon full Hallel (transliteration only) more midrash Commentaries related to peace and Israel The Haggadah is 19 pages long (plus cover) Haggadah of the Inner Seder does not (yet) include all the fun songs like Chad Gadya - so make sure you supplement! Download the Haggadah of the Inner Seder DOC file | PDF file The PDF is about 30 MB and make take a bit of time to download/display. Another Haggadah that goes deeply into the process of the haggadah, which you can order from Amazon, is Michael Kagan's "Holistic Haggadah".

⟹ Here is a description of the main ideas in the traditional haggadah that are featured in the Haggadah of the Inner Seder. You can use this as a guide on its own or with the Haggadah of the Inner Seder:

Many things happen in fours in the traditional haggadah besides the obvious ones of four cups, the four questions and the four children.  These include the four times we do something ritually with the matsah, and the four times we explain Exodus 13:8. We start telling the story four times before we actually get going (Ha lachma, Avadim hayinu, Mit'chilah and Arami oved avi). And we transform the three matsot into four at the beginning of the seder in Yachats. The number four corresponds to the four verbs for redemption used in one verse, but it means much more than that.

The secret of the fours in the haggadah is that each symbol or motif is gradually transformed from a symbol of slavery into a symbol of freedom. For example, matsah starts out as a symbol of slavery (ha lachma anya or poor bread הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם), then becomes a symbol of redemption from Egypt (matsah zo al shum mah "For what reason do we eat matsah? Because our ancestors didn't have time to let the dough rise..." מַצָּה זוֹ שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים, עַל שׁוּם מָה? עַל שׁוּם שֶׁלֹא הִסְפִּיק בְּצֵקָם שֶׁל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ לְהַחֲמִיץ עַד שֶׁנִּגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים), then becomes the bread of political freedom that we ate when the Temple was standing (the "Hillel sandwich" זֵכֶר לְמִקְדָּשׁ כְּהִלֵּל) and finally the afikoman, the hidden part, which is the missing piece that completes the whole, also symbolizing that what is invisible is greater than what is visible – this is the bread that we will eat when Messiah comes.  As we transform the meaning of matsah, we and it move from slavery to freedom. Of course matsah always means all of these things, but we put them in a specific order, in order to create this transformation. That's the real secret of the seder, and that's why it's called a seder.

This principle also applies to the four times we quote the verse "Because of this which Adonai did for me in taking me from Egypt."
וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה יְיָ לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם

Here are the times it's quoted.

1) to reprimand the "wicked son/child" *: רָשָׁע מָה הוּא אוֹמֵר? מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת לָכֶם? לָכֶם - וְלֹא לוֹ. וְאַף אַתָּה הַקְהֵה אֶת שִנָּיו וֶאֱמֹר לוֹ: בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה יְיָ לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם.

2) to open up to the one who doesn't know to ask: וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִשְׁאוֹל - אַתְּ פְּתַח לוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה יְיָ לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם.

3) to explain why we tell the story at night on the full moon: יָכוֹל מֵרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר בַּיוֹם הַהוּא, אִי בַּיוֹם הַהוּא יָכוֹל מִבְּעוֹד יוֹם, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר בַּעֲבוּר זֶה - בַּעֲבוּר זֶה לֹא אָמַרְתִּי אֶלָא בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁיֵּשׁ מַצָּה וּמָרוֹר מֻנָּחִים לְפָנֶיךָ

4) to remind us that we ourselves left Egypt: בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה יְיָ לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם.

The verse at first is used to exclude others, but by the end it is used to include ourselves on the deepest level. The one who is transformed is the teacher.

One more less obvious meaning of one of the fours of the haggadah: we usually think that the children are in some kind of decreasing order of virtue or intellect, with the first being the best. It can actually be seen as the opposite: the "wise one" is at the bottom, unable to penetrate the meaning because he cannot see more than the rules. The response he gets, "explain to him the laws until 'we don't add after the Pesach offering an afikoman' ", represents an acceptance of the fact that this one cannot reach towards redemption. The wicked one has entered the gates, understanding that avodah/service must mean something, though he/she is too full of ego to easily partake. The simple one and the one who doesn't know to ask have reached higher states, and the one who doesn't know to ask is closest to enlightenment and redemption. But each of these is no more than a symbol for who we each are at different times. If we truly reach the level of "in every generation one must see him/herself as if he/she left Egypt" – which comes when all four children, i.e. all parts of ourselves, are brought together into the experience – then we have attained the purpose of the seder.

For further exploration of the haggadah see "The Mystery of Charoset". You can also listen to the class sessions that this haggadah is based on below. What follows are the .mp3 files from the Beit Midrash Ruach v'Lev session on "Unlocking the Mysteries of the Haggadah" held at Chochmat Halev in Berkeley CA, around 2004, led by me (Rabbi David Seidenberg).

Part 1 – the obvious fours of the haggadah, what they mean, and a list of the hidden fours to be discussed.

Part 2 – the first two meanings of matzah, the true meaning of "seder", and the transformation of the symbol of matsah.

[The following sections are truly unedited and the end of the class has yet to be filled in. Someday with God's help all that will happen.]

Part 3 – the second two meanings of matzah; redemption and the afikoman.

Part 4 – the transformations of the verse "Ba'avor zeh..."; psychological dimensions; beginning of discussion of the four sons/children (last section incomplete).

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006