Alternative Mnemonic Order of Simanim for the Pesaḥ Seder, following Maimonides

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer and Moshe ben Maimon

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1 April 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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haggadah supplements, mnemonic, Seder intro, סימנים simanim, Yemenite Jewry

I wrote this back in 2023 when it was pointed out to me that none of the attested mnemonics for the seder follow the Maimonidean practice, which lacks breaking the matzo. According to the Rambam, the matzo is only divided right before the blessings. This means that Yemenites recite a mnemonic that doesn’t follow their practice! I decided that was unfair and wrote an alternative that follows the Rambam’s instructions. (That being said, I’m still doing yaḥatz at mine.)

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)	Description (English)
קְדֻשָּׁה	Sanctity	Qiddush
נְטִילָה	Lifting	Washing hands
יְרוֹקִים לַאֲכִילָה	Greens for eating	Vegetables
נִמְזָג כּוֹס	Cup is mixed	First cup
נִשְׁתַּנָּה	“Makes distinct”	Four questions
מֵהַגְּנוּת בִּתְחִלָּה	From reproach at the start	Opening of the maggid
מְסַיְּמִים בִּגְדֻלָּה	Finishing in greatness	Close of the maggid
שְׁנֵי מִזְמוֹרֵי תְּהִלָּה	Two psalms of praise	The first psalms of hallel
כּוֹס שֵׁנִי	Second cup	Second cup
גְּאֻלָּה	Redemption	The “who redeemed us” blessing
עוֹד פַּֽעַם נְטִילָה	Yet again lifting	Washing hands
מַצָּה נִשְׁבְּרָה	Broken matzo	Breaking the matzo^[1] Done here in the Rambam’s practice as well as in modern Yemenite practice.
כִּכָּר וָחֵֽצִי הַבְּרָכָה	Piece and a half blessing	HaMotzi and al akhilat matza
מָרוֹר	bitter herbs	bitter herbs
כְּרִיכָה	Wrap	Hillel sandwich
וְעַד כֵּן הַסְּעוּדָה	Until here the meal	The meal
מַצָּה אַחֲרוֹנָה	The final matzo	Afiqoman
כּוֹס שְׁלִישִׁי לִבְרָכָה	The third cup for blessing	Birkat haMazon over wine
הַלֵּל הַלְלוּ־יָהּ	Praise hallelujah	The rest of the psalms of hallel
בִּרְכַּת הַשִּׁיר נִבְרְכָה	The song-blessing is blessed	Birkat haShir (post-hallel blessing)
רְבִיעִי	Fourth	Fourth cup
הוֹדָיָה	Thanksgiving	Hallel haGadol (Psalms 136)
עַד סִיּוּם הַסִּדְרָה׃	To the end of the order	That’s it

Notes

Notes
1	Done here in the Rambam’s practice as well as in modern Yemenite practice.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic texts, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Moshe ben Maimon

Mosheh ben Maimon (משה בן מימון), called Moses Maimonides (/maɪˈmɒnɪdiːz/ my-mon-i-deez) and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn (Arabic: موسى بن ميمون‎), or RaMBaM (רמב"ם – Hebrew acronym for "Rabbeinu Mosheh Ben Maimon" – English translation: "Our Rabbi/Teacher Moses Son [of] Maimon"), was a preeminent medieval Spanish, Sephardic Jewish philosopher, astronomer and one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He was born in Córdoba (present-day Spain), Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve, 1138, and died in Egypt on December 12, 1204.Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics were met with acclaim and gratitude from most Jews, even as far off as Iraq and Yemen, and he rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, there were also vociferous critics of some of his writings, particularly in Spain. Nevertheless, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, his copious work comprising a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. In the Yeshiva world he is called sometimes "haNesher haGadol" (the great eagle) in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah.(from "Maimonides" on wikipedia)

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“A Yemenite Habani family celebrating the Passover seder at their new home in Tel Aviv” (credit: Zoltan Kluger, license: PD)

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Alternative Mnemonic Order of Simanim for the Pesaḥ Seder, following Maimonides

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