JEWISH CULTURE: Part 2

The Origins and Meaning of the Seder

March 3, 2016

What components appeared in the original Passover seder?

The Mishnah lists the seder's parts, as they were performed by Jews in the later part of the second century c.e. Here they are:

Mishnah Pesahim chapter 10

1. Don't eat anything until nightfall of the seder night.

2. Every person must have 4 cups of wine.

3. Say the blessing over the wine first (... borei p'ri hagafen), then the blessing for the day (the longer blessing, ending with ... Baruch atah Adonai m'kadesh [haShabbat v']Yisrael v'ha'z'manim.) Drink the wine.

4. Karpas (vegetables), [which formerly was lettuce, now parsley] with a blessing (... borei p'ri ha'adamah), brought with matzah and haroset.

5. Pour the second cup of wine.

6. Son asks questions. There were 3, not 4.

7. "According to the understanding [level] of the son, the father instructs him, beginning with the reading of (Deuteronomy 26:5ff) "A wandering Aramean was my father ... " and reads the entire section.

8. The participants in the seder must explain at least 3 things to complete the seder: Pesah (the Passover offering, no longer sacrificed on the altar, but replaced by a symbol, a bone, after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 c.e.), matzah (unleavened bread), and maror (bitter herbs).

9. Because of the command in Exodus 13:8, every generation must see him or herself as though s/he personally left Egypt, and explain that to the children.

10. Recite: "Therefore we are bound to give thanks, to praise, to glorify, to honor, to exalt, to extol and to bless him who wrought all of these wonders for our fathers and for us. He brought us out of bondage to freedom, from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to Festival day, and from darkness to great light, and from servitude to redemption; so let us say before him Hallelujah." This prayer fulfills the obligation in #9 to see ourselves as though we, personally, left Egypt.

11. Recite the psalms called Hallel, to the end of Psalm 114, which celebrates the exodus from Egypt.

12. Recite a prayer for Redemption. The closing blessing is "Blessed are You, Lord, whas has redeemed Israel."

13. Mix the third cup. Bless the wine.

14. Bless the meal (implied are blessings for matzah, maror, and the prayer "hamotzi.")

15. Mix and pour the fourth cup, finish the Hallel psalms (115-118). Before drinking the wine recite the blessing, "Birkat Ha-Shir," which follows the psalms of Hallel.

16. Recite a prayer thanking God that God brought us out of slavery.

17. After the meal, nothing else may be eaten and no partying.

All of the components of the seder, now and later, are answers to logical questions about how to celebrate the "root experience" of the Jewish people, the exodus. How does a people keep alive their most important lesson, "That God brought us out of Egypt." That is the overall problem solved by the Passover seder.

The Passover holiday is designated as a holy time (Leviticus 23:6). How do we set aside sacred time and demarcate it from secular time? Answer: Say a blessing and drink wine. The first blessing is for the wine, and the second blessing demarcates the day.

The first night of Passover is a special time, a "Night of Watching," on which all future redemptions are also slated to occur. (Exodus 12:42) Therefore we must celebrate it, in accordance with a special, elaborate "symposium meal" that the Romans practiced. To make the meal more elaborate, an extra hors d'oeuvre of vegetables was added, necessitating a blessing for that which is grown in the ground.

The lessons must be perpetuated to the next generation, therefore much was done to encourage questions, both to keep the children awake and interested. Hence, the children were encouraged to ask questions, and if they did not, questions were already prepared.

What, then, is the story of the exodus? A section from the fifth book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, was selected to explain the message of the day, fulfilling the command in Exodus 13:8 and other places to "explain to your son on that day."

But is that story sufficient to explain the gathering? Not only the story must be recounted, but the symbols commanded by the Torah must be explained. According to Rabban Gamaliel, the leader of the community at the end of the first century c.e., the biblically commanded foods, Passover offering, matzah and bitter herbs also must be explained. (Numbers 9:11; Leviticus 23:5)

It is the obligation of every Jew to view him/herself as having been a part of the Exodus. Therefore we say that as part of the service. Then we must praise God for God's goodness, primarily by reciting Psalms of praise, but also through prayer.

We thank God that we have been redeemed by God from servitude, and the ceremony ends.

Here we see the basic symbols and the story of Passover portrayed, conveying the central message of Judaism to a new generation and reaffirming it in every Jew: God brought us out of slavery and made us God's own. Every part of the service has a good reason to exist. Yet, as we will see, there will be more questions and additional parts of the service to answer those questions. We will build on what exists, and fully explain the meaning of Jewish existence to ourselves and our guests.