Passover Seder, Lubok, 19th century

10-2 They mixed for him the first cup [of wine]. The House of Shammai say, “He says the blessing over the day⁶⁹ and afterwards he says the blessing over the wine.” And the House of Hillel say, “He says the blessing over the wine and afterwards he says the blessing over the day.”

10-3 They served him. He dips the lettuce [the vegetable used for the bitter herbs] before he reached the bread condiment. They served him unleavened bread and lettuce and haroset [a mixture, e.g. of nuts, fruit, and wine pounded together] even though the haroset is not a [biblical] commandment. Rabbi Eleazar ben Zadok says, “It is a [biblical] commandment.” And in the Temple they serve him the carcass of the Passover offering.

10-4 They poured for him the second cup, and here the child asks, and if the child lacks intelligence, his father instructs him: “How is this night different from all the other nights? For on all the other nights we eat leavened and unleavened bread,⁷⁰ this night we eat only unleavened. For on all the other nights we eat other vegetables, on this night, maror (bitter herbs). For on all the other nights we eat meat roasted, steamed, or cooked [in a liquid, boiled], this night only roasted. For on all the other nights we dip once, this night twice.” According to the child’s intelligence, his father instructs him. He starts [reading] with the disgrace [section of the Bible] and ends with the glory, and he expounds [the biblical section] from “A wandering Aramean was my father” (Deut. 26:5) until he finishes the entire portion.

10-5 Rabban Gamaliel said, “Whoever did not say these three things on Passover did not fulfill his obligation: pesah, matzah, and merorim [the Passover offering, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs]. Pesah, because the Omnipresent skipped over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Merorim, because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. Matzah, because they were redeemed. Therefore we are obligated to give thanks, to praise, to glorify, to crown, to exalt, to elevate the One who did for us all these miracles and took us out of slavery to freedom, and let us say before Him, Hallelujah” (Ps. 113:1ff.).

10-6 Up to what point does he recite the Hallel? The House of Shammai say, “Until ‘as a happy mother of children’ [the end of Ps. 113].” And the House of Hillel say, “Until ‘the flinty rock into a fountain’ [the end of Ps. 114].” And he concludes with [the prayer for] “redemption.”⁷¹ Rabbi Tarfon says, “…Who has redeemed us and redeemed our ancestors from Egypt and brought us to this night to eat thereon unleavened bread and bitter herbs”⁷² and he does not conclude [with a concluding formula].⁷³

Rabbi Akiva says, “One adds to the blessing: Thus, Lord our God and God of our ancestors, bring us in peace to the approaching festivals which are coming to meet us, rejoicing in the building of Your city and joyous in Your service, and to eat from the Passover and festive offerings, the blood of which will reach the wall of Your altar with favor, and let us thank You for our redemption. Praised art Thou, Lord, Who redeemed Israel.”

10-7 They poured for him the third cup of wine, he says the blessing over his food.⁷⁴ At the fourth cup, he finishes the Hallel (through Ps. 118), and says over it the blessing over the song. Between the former cups, if he wants to drink further he may drink. Between the third and fourth, he should not drink. After eating from the Passover offering, they do not end with afiqomon [revelry].

10-8 If they fell asleep, if it was some of them, they may eat again because the remaining individuals of the group, who stayed awake, maintained the group; and if all of them fell asleep, they may not eat again. Rabbi Yose says, “If they dozed, they may eat again. And if they slumbered, they may not eat again.”

10-9 After midnight the Passover offering imparts uncleanness to the hands; piggul⁷⁶ (the “offensive” sacrifice) and notar⁷⁷ (the “remnant”) impart uncleanness to the hands. If one said the blessing over the Passover offering, one is exempt from that over the festive offering; if one said the blessing over the festive offering, one is not exempt from that over the Passover offering, the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says, saying the former does not exempt one from saying the latter, and saying the latter does not exempt one from saying the former.

68. Trans. B. Bokser, Yerushalmi Pesahim,pp. 473, 485, 488-9, 494, 497-8, 502-4.

69. “Blessed art thou… who sanctifies Israel and the festivals,” the main benediction of the Kiddush prayer.

70. The order of the questions here follows the version set forth in the Mishnah for the Temple in which the
Paschal lamb was being offered and roasted.

71. He ends with a blessing that has the motif of “redemption.“

72. This phrase is added in certain manuscripts of the Mishnah.

73. The benediction does not conclude with “Praised art Thou…”

74. Grace After Meals.

75. If some of those who have joined together to offer a Passover sacrifice (cf. Exod. 12-3-4) fall asleep.

76. Sacrifice offered with the intention to eat it past the proscribed time.

77. Meat from a sacrifice which has been left over after the proscribed time for eating.