When Seder is on a Saturday Night, and other Time-Related Erev Pesach Details
Beginning Pesach as Shabbat ends (at 8:19pm this year) involves special planning. Here are a few guidelines that may be helpful for you.
Chametz - Although chametz may be eaten until Shabbat morning, the work of preparing for Pesach (ridding your home of chametz) should be done before Shabbat. Therefore, many find it simplest to eat chametz-free meals on this Shabbat. Shabbat dinner and lunch fall during the time before regular matzah can be eaten and after your home is chametz-free. What to do? The Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards recommends using matzah ashirah (often called egg matzah) for motzi for these Shabbat meals.
Shabbat Kashrut - So as not to cook on Shabbat, prepare everything requiring cooking before Shabbat begins. Then, using timers or appliances that can safely stay on starting on Friday evening, warm your cooked seder food so it is ready to eat when you get to the meal portion of your seder. It is permissible on Shabbat to prepare “cold” food that does not require cooking.
Seder Start Time - If starting your Seder after Shabbat ends (at 8:19pm) doesn’t work for you, consider some combination of these alternatives:
(a) Start with the Maggid (telling) section – the four questions, the four children, stories, midrash, etc. Then, at nightfall (8:19pm this year) or later, light the yom tov candles, make Kiddush, and progress through your seder, skipping over the parts of the Maggid you’ve already done.
(b) Do nearly all of the Maggid, then make the simple brachah of “borei p’ri hagafen” (not the full Kiddush) over a cup of wine or grape juice. Continue with Ur’khatz (the first hand washing) and Karpas. After eating your green vegetable dipped in salt water, eat your Seder meal, BUT save the matzah, maror, Hillel sandwich, and dessert for later. Fill the time between the end of your meal and the end of Shabbat (8:19pm) by singing Seder songs (such as those at the end of the Haggadah) or whatever amusement makes sense for you. At 8:19pm, light your yom tov candles, make a full Kiddush and go on to Yachatz (breaking the middle matzah). Proceed through the order of the Seder, covering any part(s) of the Maggid that you did not do earlier. After you eat your matzah, maror, and Hillel sandwich, enjoy your dessert and the afikoman, and conclude your Seder with the remaining sections, following the Haggadah. In this scenario, when you come to the “4th Cup,” you will realize it is your 5th cup. At that point, you might:
1) share a rabbinic understanding of the significance of each cup relative to its placement in the Seder. (Hint: our sages started with 3 cups, then debated between 4 and 5, before settling on 4. This makes for an interesting discussion!)
2) create and share a meaning for the 5th cup, and enjoy your fifth cup of wine or juice.
3) drink a cup of water in honor of Miriam the Prophet, and say the “shehakol nih’yeh bid’varo” brachah (instead of borei p’ri hagafen).
4) skip it since you’ve already had 4 cups.
(c) Start as above (with most of the Maggid), then go to the beginning of the Haggadah. Make the simple brachah of “borei p’ri hagafen” (not the full Kiddush) over a cup of wine or grape juice. Continue with Ur’khatz and keep going as usual. When you get to Maggid, do whatever bit(s) you skipped earlier. When Shabbat ends (at 8:19pm), light your yom tov candles. If you have already completed your seder, make a full Kiddush over a cup of wine or grape juice. If your Seder is still in progress, you will end up with a 5th cup. At that point, consider the four options listed above. The difference between (b) and (c) is that in (b), matzah, maror, and Hillel sandwich happen after (not on) Shabbat. At 8:19pm, light your yom tov candles and make a full Kiddush.
(d) Start your Seder with the full Kiddush or the simpler “Borei P’ri Hagafen” brachah over the first cup of wine or grape juice. From there, proceed through the entire Seder. If your circumstances permit, at 8:19pm, whether your Seder is still in progress or not, light your yom tov candles and recite the Kiddush for Pesach over a new cup of wine or grape juice. If this would mean that you are drinking a fifth cup during your Seder, consider any of the four options listed above.
We have many practices that would be hard to imagine if we were not accustomed to them. This year’s Seder can be an opportunity to explore what might be new-for-you approaches to Seder following Shabbat. Perhaps you will find a creative way to “remix” these ideas in meaningful ways.
More information:
The Rabbinical Assembly Pesach Guide 2025: https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/pesah-guide-5785_0.pdf
When Passover Begins on Saturday Night: https://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/assets/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19912000/abelson_saturdaynight.pdf