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Passover
Introduction
Passover is the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday of the year. More Jews celebrate this Festival of Freedom (Hebrew “herut ) than even Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
I understand how easy it is to get information from the Internet as to Passover observance. There are so many wonderful resources of the “how to make Passover “and “how to make a Seder”, that I’ll refrain from providing you with such information, unless you call, email or ask.
Rather, what I want to do in this forum is to set a table of the classic rabbinic literatures of Mishnah and Talmud that will allow you to explore the ethics, values, and even theologies encoded in our tradition. By taking 15 minutes each day, between now and Passover, and reflecting on this material, you will have a better understanding of who we are and why hold certain values and ethics so close to the heart and for so many generations.
Let me take a moment and explain to you why I have chosen the “Mishnah” and “Talmud” as the two primary sources to share with you in our learning together.
The Mishnah is based on the rabbinic idea that there were two Torahs given at Mt. Sinai. One was written; that is what we commonly refer to as the Torah that we keep in the Ark (Hebrew “ah-ron”).
The other was Oral (referred to in Hebrew as the Torah Sh’baal Peh – literally the Torah of the Mouth). This Oral law in most instances helps explain the written law. For example, there is nothing in the Torah that tells us how to make a mezuzah that we hang on our doorposts. However, this “Oral law” goes into great detail about how they are to be constructed and even placed on the doorposts. This Oral law was passed on to successive generations, according to religious tradition from the time of the giving of the Torah (1300 b.c.e.) until 200 c.e.
As this is an introduction, allow me to address the issue of “authenticity” and dating of this material. There is little independent proof of the revelatory event at Sinai (even the Mishnah does not lay claim that it was given from God to Moses and then recorded perfectly in 200 c.e., 1500 years and 2 exiles later. This ‘doubt’ that these events actually happened is why we have Reform Judaism; anything not Orthodox to my way of thinking is Reform. If we actually believed deeply in our hearts that the Torah was the actual word of God given to Moses at Mt. Sinai and that the Oral Law is the description of how to apply the written law, then we would all be Orthodox. But such is not the case for many (my own personal beliefs aside for the moment).
Therefore, the question for us to consider is how then to read this material. Let us view it as sacred literature. The opinion of most Biblical Scholars is that the Torah in the Aron (ark) was completed by 425 b.c.e. upon the return of the Children of Israel from Babylonia with Ezra, the Scribe. Some scholars date it as early as 650 b.c.e. But what is a few hundred years among friends. It is at least 2400 years old and still read every Shabbat morning at our Center for Jewish Life and in synagogues and Temples throughout the world. I will venture a guess that the Bible is the most widely read book in the world.
Let us now turn to the Oral Law; this Mishnah. At a minimum, the Mishnah is now 1800 years old and, as you will see, a very viable and wonderful set of teachings. You will see so many current practices reflected in this text that I assure you, once you get the “hang” of reading this literature, you will treasure it.
By treating both Torahs as sacred, I think we avoid the differences that divide us and focus on these teachings as something that we all share. It is one of the things that allow me to learn, on occasion, with my colleague and friend, Rabbi Moshe Gray of Chabad. So if this Reform Rabbi can study with a Rabbi from Chabad, there is hope for a messianic era.
But let us return, for a moment, to how the Mishnah came into existence, because this we do have some understanding. Because of difficult times that included exile and the beginning of the Diaspora, the fear among religious leaders was that this Oral tradition would be lost. Therefore, a group of Rabbis, led by Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi (Judah the Prince) compiled an edited version of this Oral Law that they titled “Mishnah.”
Keep in mind that the Mishnah was and is not the entire Oral Law. Midrash is also considered part of the Oral tradition as well as other teachings that did not make its way into the “final cut.”
After the Mishnah became written, generations upon generations of rabbinic scholars studied this work and even began recording some of the dialogues and teachings. This ‘written record” of the discussion, which included aspects of the oral law not included in the Mishnah is called the Gemara. The Talmud (lit. learning) consists of these two works (Mishnah and Gemara). There are two Talmuds. One is the Talmud Yerushalmi (the Jerusalem Talmud) which was composed between 350 and 400 and then the Babylonian Talmud, which was composed over a more extensive period, 425 to 600, with some scholars extending the date to even 700 c.e. The Babylonian Talmud is the one most widely used and is certainly far more voluminous than the Jerusalem Talmud.
In this short series leading to Passover, I want to share with you some of the early writings of our Sages who compiled the Mishnah (circa. 200) that discusses the Seder and those latter Sages that commented on these later Mishnayot in the Talmud of the 5th and 6th Century. In immersing myself in these writings prior to the Festival of Freedom (Herut in Hebrew), I have always found the Seder experience and the Haggadah narrative to be ever the more meaningful. These can be found, for those wishing to check my sources, in the 10th Pereq (Chapter) of the Talmud Pesachim (lit. the Paschal Offering). So for the next seven days leading to the first night of Passover, each I will set-forth a Mishnah, capture a small part of the Talmud’s discussion, and then conclude with a series of questions designed to stimulate discussion amongst your family, either prior to or during the Seder.
Day I
Mishnah I
As the time for the afternoon service (Hebrew minchah, about 4:30 p.m. prior to the start of Passover), a person should not eat until nightfall. Even those who are poor among the Children of Israel should not eat until s/he reclines. And s/he should not be given less than four cups of wine, (and this holds true), even if one receives his or her sustenance from the communal charity plate.
Rashi (an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Ben Yitzchak, the Biblical and Talmudic Commentator par excellence, who lived between the 11th and 12th century. It would be chutzpah (there isn’t an accurate English word that captures this famous Yiddish word) on my part to try to explain this passage without Rashi as our guide.) He comments on the italicized parts of the Mishnah. The first is the time period that begins shortly before the ‘little Minchah
Rashi explains that with regards to the prohibition of eating from that point until nightfall, it is in order to beautify the mitzvah of eating the Matzah on the first night of Passover. One should approach the Seder with a robust appetite. The poor person must recline as the way of a free person, remembering the freedom either by lying down in bed or upon the table. The four cups of wine correspond to the four types of redemption that are referred to in the Torah. These include v’hotzeiti (I brought you forth), v’lakahti (I took you), v’hitzalti (I saved you), v’gaalti (I redeemed you). All of these may be found in the Torah portion Vaera in the Book of Exodus.
The first part of the Talmud distinguishes between Passover, on the one hand, and the Sabbath and all the other Festivals (e.g. Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and Shavuot) on the other. The Shabbat and other holidays should also be approached with an appetite, but it is only so as to enjoy the meal. But Passover is distinct, in that the appetite is not directed towards the meal, but rather towards hidur mitzvah shel matzah (making the mitzvah of the eating of the matzah more beautiful).
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS AT THE SEDER
1. The discussion in the Mishnah and in Rashi’s commentary place great emphasis on those who are poor and to ensure their inclusion in the celebration of Passover. What values do you see emanating in directing the focus of the ‘average Jewish person” on those among us who are impoverished and their celebration of the Passover? How can you include the poor in your Passover observance?
2. The Passover “matzah” is offered described as lechem oni, which can be translated as either a “poor person’s bread” or the “bread of affliction.” How is poverty and affliction as ideas similar and how do they differ? What are the paths leading out of poverty and what are the paths leading out of affliction? Affliction can include physical, emotional, and spiritual affliction. How does one person’s poverty or affliction differ from that of an entire group?
3. The four cups of wine represent the four types of redemption from Egypt. They include “the going forth” (the Hebrew hitzalti means I brought you forth, and comes from the same Hebrew root as hamotzi, used for blessing of bread), “the taking”, the “rescuing”, and finally “the redeeming”. How do each of these concepts relate to freedom, both physically and spiritually?
4. Describe ways in which you have made the mitzvah of making Passover more beautiful (hidur) than what is simply called for in the Bible; i.e. the telling of the Exodus from Egypt?