Before proceeding through the Seder on the first two nights of Passover we recite a fifteen word outline of what is to come.

The simple reason for this introduction is to make sure that the Seder, which means order, shall indeed proceed in an orderly and organized fashion.

And if you shall ask why this night is different from all other nights; why is the disorganized religion of Judaism all of a sudden becoming so organized, the answer is: the children. Passover, especially the first two nights of Passover, highlights the importance of imbuing our children with the knowledge of the Exodus and what it means to us today. In order to get our message across it is crucial that we do things in an organized fashion.

However, some commentators provide a commentary on the fifteen items emphasizing that they form a basic introduction to the spiritual dimension of Passover. We will explain the first six items and leave the rest for another occasion, G-d willing.

The first symbol is "Kadesh," which at first blush, refers to the prayer we recite over a cup of wine at the beginning of every Shabbat and Jewish holiday.

However the word kadesh conveys a spiritual message as well: Be holy! Passover might be a fun and Joyous time for all; a time when we connect to our families, friends and invited guests. But we should not forget that it is a holy time; a time for us to connect to G-d who transcends us; to make Him a part of our Seder and lives.

But Kadesh is followed by "Urchatz," which means to wash or cleanse ourselves. And while the notion of connecting to G-d is an expression of our love for Him, nevertheless, to get close to G-d we must also cleanse ourselves from the undesirable aspects of our lives. And although the focus is on the positive - "Kadesh-be holy" - one must not neglect the "Urchatz," i.e., the disengaging from all that which is impure.

However when dealing with cleansing ourselves there are two approaches. One is to reject evil out of fear of what it can do to us, and the other is to reject evil out of love; of wanting to get closer to G-d. When it is the former the sins will be removed and obliterated; when it is the latter the sins themselves become spiritual adornments for us.

Hence the next item in the introduction to the Seder is "Karpas," which simply refers to the vegetable that we dip, but also has the translation of "a beautiful royal garment." When we return to G-d because of our desire to get closer to Him rather than out of fear of the destructive nature of evil, the sins themselves become transformed into badges of honor.

The corollary of these two approaches is that when we reject evil because it is so repulsive to us, we tend to become extreme in the way we view our undesirable traits, and we throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water. We attempt to rid ourselves of every trace of our past. The next symbol of "Yachatz," - which literally means to break the Matzah into two parts, one to remain with us during the Seder and the other put away - is representative of the idea that when one returns to G-d out of love they need not totally disavow their negative traits; instead they can channel them into the right area. For example, if you are plagued with jealousy, convert into a desire to emulate those who are better than us. If one has a passion for something that is less than worthy, don't destroy your passion; just convert it into passion for good.

There are many people who keep the lessons of life and of Judaism to themselves. They believe in personal growth, but the emphasis for them is on the word "personal." The next symbol of the Seder is, therefore,  "Magid," which means "to tell."

Judaism in general and Passover in particular makes it imperative to teach and preach. And even if we ourselves are not up to par, that does not exempt us from imparting whatever knowledge we have to others. That knowledge does not belong to us exclusively. Indeed, our sages liken the one who withholds knowledge to the person who withholds food from the hungry.

But there is a catch. Even though becoming clean ourselves is not a prerequisite to teach others, we will discover that in order to inspire others with that knowledge we must cleanse ourselves even as we tell others to do the same.  When others see how we are interested in cleansing ourselves, they will want to follow our example. We all know that we can be far more effective in imparting values to others as good role models than with just words.

But, by far the most effective approach in reaching and touching others is when we combine the two: "Magid," which means to tell, and the next symbol "Rachtzah," which means to cleanse; i.e. to cleanse oneself as part of the teaching process.

This explains why the symbol of cleansing is mentioned twice. The first one is directed to ourselves; we must cleanse ourselves in order to get closer to G-d. The second is directed towards our position as role models; the way we impart our values to others.

All of these symbols can be applied to the preparation for the future Redemption which the Torah models after the first Redemption from Egypt.

The focus now is to introduce holiness (Kadesh) into our lives as a preparation for the time when the entire world will be filled with the Divine presence. But, we cannot forget that we are still living in an imperfect world that requires the process of cleansing (Urchatz). So while the focus must be on the "Kadesh" the holiness, we must also work on cleansing ourselves.

In the Messianic Age, when evil will cease to exist, it will not simply disappear. All of the negative energies will actually be transformed into positive forces that will adorn us (Karpas). The destructive evil forces will be eliminated but the positive sparks within evil will be "liberated" and harnessed for the good.

At that time we under the direction of Moshiach, will turn to the rest of the world and teach them to serve the one G-d, and to cleanse themselves from all of the undesirable influences of the past, so that the entire world will experience the fulfillment of the prophetic prediction: "And the spirit of impurity I will remove from the land."