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I have always wondered something about the Passover seder. Is the host being motzi everyone with his seder plate, or does everyone/every head of household* need to make a plate and personally carry out the entire seder? If not, what parts of the seder must be performed individually? (For example, those listed here? ... Karpas? Yachatz? Motzi matzah? Korech? ... Other parts?)

*I am also wondering if a husband would be motzi his wife and children over bar mitzvah, or if either of them would need to make their own seders.

Related: At the seder, does everybody make kiddush?

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SAH
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  • I'm confused what obligation you think the plate fulfills. Plates are just convenient places to keep food. – Double AA May 26 '16 at 13:45
  • What parts of the seder are not performed by everyone in your experience? Yachatz? I can't think of anything else. – Double AA May 26 '16 at 14:44
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    "I'm confused what obligation you think the plate fulfills. Plates are just convenient places to keep food." While that is surely true according to the G'mara, modern hagados definitely refer to a seder plate, and such a plate is so well known (by those who know about the seder) that I don't think it requires an explanation. Is there something you think can be improved w.r.t. the plate reference in this post? I think it is perfectly fine as is. – msh210 May 26 '16 at 17:26
  • @DoubleAA I am just asking because there is often, at seders where I am a guest, a question of whether everyone makes his own seder plate. This year, I was told "the rabbi is doing it for everyone" or something to that effect and that I didn't need a plate. I didn't see any other guest making one, either. You are right that the plate itself is a separate question from whether each mitzvah needs to be done individually, but I think the issue is closely enough related to keep here. – SAH May 26 '16 at 17:45
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    @DoubleAA not a seder plate issue, but I have definitely heard of sedarim where only the leader washes before karpas. If one isn't observant of washing for wet vegetables all year long, one person washing may well achieve whatever purpose this washing has (eg raising kids curiosity, symbolism with temple ritual & purity, etc). – Ze'ev misses Monica Jul 14 '17 at 06:09
  • @Ze'evFelsen So you are saying that if one doesn't have the custom (halacha?) to wash for wet vegetables, he should not do so at the seder table? And this other person's doing it on everyone's behalf will cover them all for the whole year? (Not questioning what you say; I simply don't get it) – SAH Jul 20 '17 at 03:24
  • @SAH If one doesn't wash for wet veg normally, he isn't washing at the seder for that presumably. If he is washing so kids ask, won't they ask if one person does it too? If it is symbolic of a return to the Temple & its rituals, couldn't one person washing do that? I'm not saying that one person washing once covers everyone for every wet vegetable they eat all year long. – Ze'ev misses Monica Jul 20 '17 at 03:30
  • @Ze'evFelsen Oh OK ... maybe. Why would someone on principle not be makpid to wash during the year before wet vegetables? Although -- do we really ever eat them besides Pesach? – SAH Jul 21 '17 at 18:50
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    @SAH Pickles any time of year? – Ze'ev misses Monica Sep 24 '17 at 04:23
  • @Ze'evFelsen You win. – SAH Sep 24 '17 at 18:14
  • Also anything dipped in any other liquid any time of year – SAH Sep 25 '17 at 15:10

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