Glossary Of Terms
- Chametz: Leavened foods, prohibited on Passover.
- Charoset: a paste made of apples, pears, nuts and wine, in which the maror is dipped
- Dayenu: "It is enough for us"--the refrain in a song in the Haggadah.
- Haggadah: (lit. "narration") the text that is recited at the Seder.
- Karpas: (lit. "greens") the vegetable, dipped in saltwater, eaten at the beginning of the Seder.
- Kiddush: (lit. "sanctification") the sanctification of Shabbat and Festivals with a blessing recited over a cup of wine.
- Maror: bitter herbs.
- Matzah: (pl. matzot): unleavend bread.
- Mitzvah: (pl. Mitzvot): "commandment"; the precepts of the Torah; also used to mean "good deed".
Seder: (lit. "order") the gathering and meal which takes place on the first two nights of Passover and follows a specific order. - Shehecheyanu:(lit. "Who has made us live") the blessing recited over eating new fruit, wearing new clothing, or performing a mitzvah for the first time that season.
- Shmurah matzah: (lit. "watched" or "guarded" matzah). Matzah which has been made from grain which was guarded from the time of either reaping or grinding to ensure that it never came into contact with water or other liquids, to prevent it from rising.
- Tzafun: (lit. "hidden") the twelfth activity of the seder--to eat the afikoman which has been hidden away since the beginning of the seder.
- Yachatz: (lit: "divide") the fourth activity of the seder--breaking the middle matzah in two.