Seder

Jewish Calendar

The seder is a ritual dinner and discussion held on the first or first two nights of Passover. Attendees retell the story of the exodus from Egypt and eat special foods to mark the occasion.

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Why So Much Wine?

TALMUD

Four cups of wine are drunk at the seder, but why? The Jerusalem Talmud provides many different possibilities, connecting the cups to the core ideas of the evening.

From where the Four Cups? Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Benaiah: Corresponding to the four deliveries: Therefore, say to the Children of Israel, I am the Eternal, and I shall take you out, etc. And I shall take you as My people, etc. I shall take you, I shall save you, I shall free you, I shall take you. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, corresponding to the four cups of Pharao: The cup of Pharao was in my hand; I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharao ’s cup, and gave the cup in Pharao ’s hand. You will give the cup in the hand of Pharao…

Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1:7

Telling a Fruitful Story

MUSAR

Everyone loves a good story, and the seder is all about story-telling. Explore the purpose of telling the story of the exodus from Egypt through this 19th-century ethical work.

And it is [good to add ethical teachings] especially when reading the Haggadah on the night of Passover, which is a commandment from the Torah - as it is written (Exodus 13:8), "And you shall tell your son." 'And anyone who adds [and spends extra time] in telling the story of the exodus from Egypt, behold he is praiseworthy.' And the main part of the commandment is to tell over in fine detail, to his children and his wife, the deeds of the Lord and to add in the telling over of the Omnipresent's praise and the magnitude of His ability and providence over the individual…

Pele Yoetz 88:3

We All Have the Same Questions

CHASIDUT

At the seder, we tell the story of four children who each have a question to share. Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter (19th century, Poland) understands these four children as representative of spiritual concepts.

CORRESPONDING TO FOUR CHILDREN, ETC. This seems to correspond to the four expressions of redemption, for the redemption was from all four of the exiles [Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Rome]. And these questions apply to every Jew. [Hacham] With regard to intellectual analysis, since through this means, the evil inclination doubts the hukkim. And to this, the answer must be prepared in the person's mind -- that carrying out the will of God, may He be blessed, brings greater pleasure (ta'am) and joy than understanding the rationale (ta'am) of the mitzva…

Sefat Emet, Leviticus, Passover 4:3

An Ancient Discussion Guide

COMMENTARY

The four questions are traditionally asked by the youngest child at the seder, but all participants are actually encouraged to ask questions. In his contemporary commentary on the Haggadah, Dr. Joshua Kulp explains the development of what today is known as the “Mah Nishtanah”.

If the son lacks the intelligence to ask, his father instructs him: On all other nights we dip once, on this night we dip twice? On all other nights we eat hametz or matzah, on this night only matzah. On all other nights we eat roasted, stewed or boiled meat, on this night only roasted. The son is supposed to freely form his own question. The mishnah does not provide him with a list of questions which he must ask. I repeat, the “Mah Nishtanah” which we will examine below is not a list of questions which a child must ask but originally was a list of prompts…

English Explanation of Mishnah Pesachim 10:4:3

What Did Moses Know?

CHASIDUT

Moses played a key role in the process of the redemption from Egypt. In the mystical tradition, as explained by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (18th-century, Ukraine) this leader is connected to the kabbalistic concept of knowledge.

The redemption from Egypt therefore came through Moshe, because the essence of redemption is through daat (know ledge), as it is written, “and you will know that it was God Who took you out of Egypt” (Exodus 16:6) ; “so that they might know” (Leviticus 23:43) .

Likutei Moharan 56:8:4

How Many Times Do I Have To Eat That?

COMMENTARY

Certain foods define the seder experience, but how exactly should these foods be eaten? Tour some of the options through the talmudic rulings of Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi (11th century, North Africa).

It was taught (in a baraita), "They said about Hillel that he would wrap matzah and bitter herbs together and eat them, because it is stated (Numbers 9:11), 'They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs.'" Rabbi Yochanan said, "His colleagues disagree with Hillel, as it was taught (in another baraita), 'One might [have thought] that he should wrap matzot and bitter herbs together and eat them in the manner that Hillel eats them; [therefore] we learn to say, "They shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs" - even this by itself, and that by itself…

Rif Pesachim 25a:4

The Seder Foods Tell Their Own Story

HALAKHAH

There’s a lot of complex choreography around eating symbolic foods, like bitter herbs, at the seder. The Ben Ish Chai (19th-century, Baghdad) offers how-to’s and reasons for the customs.

One takes less than a kazayit (the size of an olive) of karpas - so that he not become obligated to recite a final blessing for it - and recites the blessing, "who creates the fruit of the ground," upon it and dips it in vinegar. Then he eats it without reclining, which is as was written by the Gaon, Chida (Chaim Yosef David Azulay); and also like our custom from the time of the crown of my head, the teacher and Gaon, my master grandfather, may his memory be for life in the world to come - to eat it without reclining…

Ben Ish Hai, Halachot 1st Year, Tzav 32

Pulling an All-Nighter

COMMENTARY

The seder can take a while, and the first night of Passover is traditionally considered to be one that doesn’t include a lot of sleep. Ibn Ezra (12th century, Spain) delves into the idea that this is a sleepless “night of watching.”

IT WAS A NIGHT OF WATCHING UNTO THE LORD. Since Scripture notes, it was a night of watching unto the Lord, and concludes by saying, this same night is a night of watching unto the Lord for all the children of Israel throughout their generations, the plain meaning of our verse appears to be: since God watched them and did not suffer the destroyer to come into their homes to plague them, the Lord commanded that this night be a night of watchingfor all the children of Israel throughout their generations through the eating of the paschal lamb according to its ordinance…

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 12:42:1

Time to Make the Matzah

HALAKHAH

As an essential component of the seder, matzah needs to be prepared in advance. The Tur, a 14th century legal code, reports on matzah baking in Barcelona to answer the question of when the baking should happen.

We do not begin to occupy ourselves with the bread (matzah) on the fourteenth [of Nissan] until after six hours. And it is found in a responsum: There is a story about someone who baked matzah before four hours (into the day), and he had already destroyed his chametz; and our rabbis forbade the matzah, since it is compared to the Passover offering - since the Passover offering is only slaughtered from six hours onwards, so too is it with the matzah. But Rabbenu Eliezer the Great and Rabbi Shmuel HaKohen allowed [it]…

Tur, Orach Chayim 458

The Promise of Redemption

JEWISH THOUGHT

Elijah the prophet is one of the stars of seder night. In this sermon from the 1930s, Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel (20th century, Antwerp) explores the connection between Elijah and the theme of redemption that is part of the celebration.

The Holiday of Eliyahu (Elijah) the Prophet The holiday of Passover is the holiday of Eliyahu the Prophet in particular. When we, God willing, will sit at the Seder in another few days, we will see the cup of Eliyahu before us. The door will open, and the honorable Eliyahu himself will come in as we greet him with, welcome! Then he hears our gut-wrenching and heart-breaking prayer, "Pour your wrath upon the nations that did not know You and upon the kingdoms that did not call upon Your Name! Since they have consumed Yaakov and laid waste his habitation (Psalms 79:6-7), etc…

Sermons Unto My People, Chanuka, Purim, and Special Shabbatot 24:4-6

Who Has a Passover Birthday?

TALMUD

Seder night doesn’t only mark the anniversary of the Exodus. The rabbis of the Talmud determine that Isaac was born on Passover, based on some Biblical math.

It was taught in the baraita: On Passover Isaac was born. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? As it is written that the angel who informed Sarah that she would bear a son told Abraham: “At the appointed time [mo’ed] I will return to you, at this season, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14). This is understood to mean: At the time of the next Festival [mo’ed]. When did the angel say this? If we say that it was on Passover and he said to him that Sarah would have a son on Shavuot…

Rosh Hashanah 11a:13

Freedom of Body and Soul

JEWISH THOUGHT

Passover is traditionally referred to in Jewish prayer as “the time of our freedom.” Freedom can have a range of meanings, and Rav Kook (20th-century, British Mandatory Palestine) explores the different nuances in his commentary on prayer.

Our freedom and burning chametz. These are the two primary symbols for the holiday of redemption - the holiday of Passover, our time of freedom. What is the lasting lesson for all generations that we can learn from these two, interdependent themes? The everlasting answer is that there are two components of redemption: 1) Freedom of the self - the body's freedom from all foreign enslavement, from any enslavement that forces the Divine Image within a person to be subjugated to any power that diminishes their value, the glory of their greatness, and the beauty of their sanctity…

Olat Reiyah, Pesach 1

An Event of Astronomical Significance

RESPONSA

Jewish months follow the phases of the moon, and the seder always occurs on the night of the full moon in the Hebrew month of Nisan. Maimonides (12th century, Egypt) provides a detailed explanation as to why the timing of the holiday is important.

The second section - about the knowledge of the years of a cycle and their number, and why this was such; and knowledge of the regular and intercalated [years]: You should know that from the time that the moon aligns to the same degree (in the sky) as the sun until they align a second time is twenty-nine days, twelve hours and 793 parts. This is the time of the new moon. And when you multiply this sum by twelve months, which is the sum of the months of the year, the result is 354 days, eight hours and 876 parts.

Iggerot HaRambam, Maamar HaIbur 7

We Are All In This Together

JEWISH THOUGHT

How does the observance of Passover cultivate community? Contemporary scholar Dr. Erica Brown offers an explanation of the convening power of the Passover sacrifice.

Sacrifices generated community because many were offered on behalf of a group and were, in part, consumed by a group. The one sacrificing was often mandated to share the cooked ox or sheep remains with his entire household and the needy. Thus, one of the most basic mechanisms for creating community in Exodus and then later in Joshua was the offering of the Paschal lamb – a rite that only a foreigner with circumcision could observe (Ex. 12:47–48 and Num. 9:13–14). This desire to be part and parcel of a community is reinforced in the very same chapter of Numbers with regard to a communal…

Leadership in the Wilderness; Authority and Anarchy in the Book of Numbers, Part I, Chapter 5; Leaders and Strangers 9

Passover, Mathilde Hahn Meyer. Germany, late 19th to early 20th century. CJH Museum Collections. PD

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