The Original Birthright: Seder Night in Jerusalem

t is no secret that the seder is designed to transport us across space and time. In the famous Rabbi Daniel Yolkut Iwords of the Haggadah: Rabbi, Congregation Poale Zedeck, Pittsburgh, PA בְּכָ ל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַ יָּב אָדָ ם לִרְ אוֹת אֶ ת־עַצְ מוֹ, כְּאִ לּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּ צְרָ ֽ יִם. In every generation, each person is comes to korech, to reenacting Hillel’s eating a korban is tantamount to obligated to view himself as if he went approach, and doing as he did at the sharing a meal with Hashem, and out of Egypt. time of the Beit haMikdash, namely hence conducted with the greatest 3 On the night of Pesach we are eating matzah and maror together. gravitas, it surely included wearing obligated to see ourselves as if we But korech is just one example. Based special garments. By wearing a ourselves had endured the bondage on this approach of the Netziv, it is kittel, we attempt to recapture that of Egypt1 and we ourselves had fascinating to see how reverberations atmosphere. been redeemed, and this theme of the Beit haMikdash echo through manifests itself in a variety of practices the ages throughout the seder night. Seder Plate throughout the evening.

2 Hallel in Shul The Talmud Pesachim( 114b) At the same time, the Netziv taught tells us that we need to have two that hidden in plain sight there is an Many communities recite Hallel in cooked foods at the seder, one to additional motif to our seder as well: shul on the evening of Pesach before commemorate the korban Pesach to try to recreate the observance returning home to the seder, which and one to commemorate the korban of Pesach at the time of the Beit is the only occasion during the year chagigah. The korban chagigah haMikdash in Jerusalem. We cannot that Hallel is recited at night. TheSefer brought on erev Pesach was not fail to notice this element when it haMichtam4 (Pesachim 116b) suggests brought on the first Pesach in Egypt, comes to korech, where we proclaim that it is a way of remembering but is a later, Rabbinic mitzvah, and aloud: the chanting of Hallel in the Beit hence the egg is another way we haMikdash during the slaughter of the remember Pesach in Jerusalem on the זֵכֶר לְמִקְדָּ שׁ כְּהִ לֵּל: כֵּן עָשָׂה הִ לֵּל בִּ זְמַן שֶׁבֵּ ית .korban Pesach. seder night הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָ יָה קַ יָּם ... We are remembering the Mikdash, The Gra5 suggests that this is the according to Hillel, and doing as he did Kittel underlying reason for the custom to in the time that the Beit haMikdash eat eggs at the beginning of the meal; stood. The Netziv suggests that the reason that, like the egg on the seder plate, And indeed, this is explicit in the for wearing a kittel at the seder is to they represent eating the korban Gemara (Pesachim 115a) when it recreate the atmosphere of eating chagigah. sacrificial meat in Jerusalem. Since

As this volume is dedicated to Cantor Jerome L. Simons, it is fitting that Rabbi Yolkut, who has close connections to the Simons family, write this article in his memory.

38 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Pesach 5776 Urchatz Kol Ditzrich at the beginning of the seder as an additional way of remembering the On Pesach, we wash before eating Many commentators on the Haggadah Beit haMikdash. the karpas, which is not our standard are puzzled by the opening passage procedure. Typically we wash only in maggid that seems to invite guests Maror for bread. During the time of the after the seder has already begun. In Beit haMikdash, the requirement his commentary on the Haggadah, the Technically speaking, the biblical 6 to wash one’s hands for food was Shibbolei haLeket suggests that the mitzvah of maror is only obligatory much broader. The Netziv suggests invitation originated in the process of when eating the korban Pesach,7 but that holding ourselves to a higher assembling chaburot (groups) in the Chazal created a Rabbinic obligation standard of the laws of ritual impurity time of the Beit haMikdash. While to continue to eat maror at the is another way that we try to recreate the actual invitation occurred before seder. This could be explained as a the atmosphere at the time of the Beit the korban Pesach was offered, we way of perpetuating as much of the haMikdash. have retained a vestige of that practice experience of the korban Pesach as

DOUBLE DARE - TEN PLAGUES A seder activity for kids

Split the participants into two teams. Kinim: fill up a spoon of Barad: Buy two bags of For each round, call up a volunteer marshmallow fluff, and stick in marshmallow, mini or large and have from each team. Ask a question to around 15-20 mini chocolate chips, the volunteers stuff their mouth, volunteer A, if he does not know the volunteers have to guess how whoever fills the most, wins. the answer, he can either: dare the many chips there are, (this only Arbeh: Buy a package of Passover other team to answer, which means works if you put in a lot of chips, candy that comes in long strands. volunteer B can now answer the otherwise it’s not that funny). There are two variations of the game. question, (if B answers the question, Chocolate chips kind of look like lice, he gets the point and it is now team and marshmallow fluff kind of looks 1) You tie two separate ropes of about B’s turn again) or double dare - like skin 5 strands of candy tied together, which means they perform a ‘dare’ Arov: Fill up a plate of around the volunteers have to eat the ropes against each other. 10 gummy bears and have the with their hands behind their back, whoever finishes first wins. Whoever answers the question gets volunteers eat them with chopsticks a point. Whoever wins the double only. First one to finish wins. 2) You make one long rope of about dare, gets two points. Dever: This is a relay race, have the 10 strands of candy, and they each put one end in their mouth, whoever gets The double dares are as follows. volunteers hold onto their ankles and run across them room, if they to the middle first, wins. Dam: Prepare two pans of red jello fall they have to start over. The locust ate all of the crops filled with about 10-15 jelly fish. The The animals died and fell over. Choshech: For this game, you need two volunteers have to take the fish 2 volunteers. have one blindfolded out with their mouths only, the one Shchin: Have each volunteer put an and the other sitting, the blindfolded to finish all the fish first - wins. ‘after-8’ chocolate on their forehead, one has to feed the other one During the plague of blood, all of (or something of that size and applesauce, whoever finishes the the water in the sea turned to blood, shape). They need to get it from their bowl first, wins. causing the death of all the fish forehead to their mouth without using their hands. (the trick is to get Makat Bechorot: You have to try Tzfardeah: A good ‘ol game of it over the eye) and get the volunteers to laugh, the leapfrog first one to laugh is out.

Activity by Gaby Scarowski, Executive Director of Ottawa NCSY For more educational infographics and materials from NCSY, please visit: education.ncsy.org

39 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Pesach 5776 possible. In fact, R’ Shneur Zalman and the final Divine kindness Orach Chayim 476:2. 8 of Liadi refers to our contemporary celebrated in Dayyenu is the Beit 6. R’ Tzidkiyah ben Avraham Anav, 13th c. mitzvah as zecher le-Mikdash — a HaMikdash. Interestingly though, Italy. remembrance of the Beit haMikdash. there is a midrash that on the very first 7. The linkage of the Biblical obligation of Pesach, the Jews were mysteriously maror to the korban Pesach may support Afikoman transported to Jerusalem to eat the the idea that bitter herbs were served as a korban Pesach and then returned condiment or complement to the meat of the to Egypt for the Exodus.12 The old korban, and hence were superfluous without There is a consensus among Rishonim the korban Pesach. (cf. Or haChaim, Shemot that the final piece of matzah practice of German Jews was to greet 12:8) consumed at the seder recalls the each other on the night of the seder 9 13 8. 1745-1812 (Shulchan Aruch haRav, OC eating of the korban Pesach. with the words “Bau Gutt,” meaning 475:15). “build well,” an allusion to the prayer R’ Chaim Soloveitchik10 is reported expressed in Adir Hu14 that Hashem 9. How exactly is a matter of some debate. to have taken this representation so Rashi (Pesachim 119b) maintains that the quickly build the Mikdash. Part of the seriously that he insisted on keeping afikoman recalls the matzah that accompanied unique magic of the seder night is the the afikoman under his watch the the korban Pesach, while the Rosh (Pesachim ability to somehow, like our ancestors 10:34) and others believe that it is a symbol of entire seder, based on the idea that a in Egypt, find ourselves transcending the korban Pesach itself. TheMishneh Berurah korban becomes disqualified byhesech our surroundings and building the (477:1) suggests, based on the Bach and other ha-da’at (inattention.) Acharonim, that one should eat two kezeitim Mikdash in Jerusalem even as we sit at of matzah in order to fulfil both approaches. home. Opening the Door 10. 1853-1918, Brisk. Quoted in the name of Notes his grandson, Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik, in An Exalted Evening p. 124. Many suggestions have been made 1. The Rambam emphasizes that “as if he left for the reason to open the door after Egypt” includes being able to see ourselves as 11. Quoted by R’ Moshe Harari (Mikraei Birkat haMazon. This may be another having been slaves as well: In each and every Kodesh- Hilkot Leil haSeder chapter 10, note 5) in the name of R’ Shmuel Rozvosky, and manifestation of the desire to recreate generation, a person must present himself as if he, himself, has now left the slavery of Egypt, as by R’ Michel Shurkin (Harerei Kedem vol. 2, the setting of ancient Jerusalem. Since [Devarim 6:23] states: “He took us out from p. 229) in the name of R’ Shlomo Zalman the korban Pesach needed to be eaten there.” Regarding this manner, God commanded Auerbach. on the ground level, the group that ate in the Torah: “Remember that you were a slave 12. Targum Yonatan to Shemot 19:4. the korban was confined to a limited [Devarim 5:15]” — i.e., as if you, yourself, 13. http://www.moreshesashkenaz.org/mm/ space to eat the korban, and would were a slave and went out to freedom and were מדריך למנהג אשכנז redeemed. (Chametz u’Matzah 7:6) publications/Madrich.pdf המובהק not leave out of fear of transgressing the prohibition of taking the meat of 2. R’ Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, 1816-1893, Volozhin. References to the Netziv is this 14. More specifically, a reference to the korban out of the home where essay are drawn from his introduction to Almechteger Gott, a German-Yiddish version it was eaten. Once the korban was Haggadah Imrei Shefer. of Adir Hu, the lyrics of which can be found complete, the people would go up to at http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pagefeed/ 3. What exactly Hillel’s practice was is subject hebrewbooks_org_10693_104.pdf. the rooftops to complete Hallel, in to some debate. Some feel that his “sandwich” chorus with the other hundreds of (Whether the original song was Hebrew or included the korban Pesach itself (Rashi Yiddish is discussed in R’ Menachem Mendel thousands of Jews in Jerusalem, in the and Rashbam, Pesachim 115a), while others Kasher, Haggadah Sheleimah, p. 190, footnote cool evening air. Our opening of the maintain that even during the time of the Beit 13.) door, then, would suggest that ancient haMikdash itself, Hillel only ate matzah and 11 maror together (Rambam, Chametz u’Matzah change of venue. 6:7). This debate is reflected in varying texts The ultimate denouement of the of the Haggadah that read either “he wrapped matzah, and maror and ate them together,” process of the Exodus was the (the more common text) or “he wrapped building of the Beit haMikdash Pesach, matzah and maror and ate them in Jerusalem. The shirah sung on together” (Taz OC 475:9). the shores of the Red Sea ended 4. R’ David ben Levi, 13th century Narbonne. with a vision of Hashem’s Temple, 5. R’ Eliyahu, the Gaon of Vilna (1720-1797),

40 Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series • Pesach 5776