Preface to 3rd Edition

I published the first edition of Bringing Order to the Seder just one day before Pesach 2019. This was a project dear to my heart, so I decided to proceed with publication, even though I had to forgo the inclusion of certain material due to printing deadlines and other constraints.

I published the second edition during the COVID pandemic, adding questions at the beginning of each chapter as well as a commentary on the actual Haggadah in an appendix.

In this edition, I included a summary of each chapter at the beginning, along with a few edits to clarify the text.

I am writing this about 500 days after October 7, a day that changed our world. We feel like Mashiach is on the way, yet the pain from October 7 is so overwhelming that it’s hard to imagine redemption. But I think that the seder teaches us that Mashiach will come how and when we least expect it. We must recognize that every detail is part of the intentional process of redemption. God willing, the process will culminate in a surprising moment, and we will realize that hayinu k’cholmim—that we were like dreamers—that all the horrors of exile were but a dream, and we will awaken to the reality of redemption, more wonderful than we could ever imagine.

With yearning for the true and final ‘Season of Our Freedom' to arrive swiftly,

Eliezer Hirsch

Center City Philadelphia, PA

March 2025

Nisan 5785