No one questions that the Seder is the central ritual of the Passover holiday. It is written in Exodus 13:8: “Thus you shall recount to your son on that day, because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.” From this verse comes the commandment to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt on the night before the 15th of Nissan.

Initially, the Torah clearly indicated that Passover was to be celebrated by eating a roast lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs. People arrived in Jerusalem, and the Temple was the only place where lambs were sacrificed and roasted. But this changed when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, and the sacrifices were canceled. The first mention of a Seder service for Passover night is in the Mishnah’s tractate Pesachim, chapter 10. In it, the sages specify several commandments: one must wait until nightfall to eat the roast lamb, one must drink four cups of wine, one must eat a vegetable soaked in water before eating the matza, and then one must eat a mixture of apples, walnuts, and wine. When pouring the second cup, the son must ask the father why this night is different from the others, why only unleavened bread (matza) is eaten, why bitter herbs are eaten, why only roasted meat is eaten, and why vegetables are soaked twice. The Mishnah then mentions that Rabban Gamliel, head of the Sanhedrin in 90 CE, said: «He who has not mentioned these three words: Passover, Matza, and Maror, has not fulfilled his duty.» Finally, the last two cups must be drunk with the meal. An important change to what was specified in tractate Pesachim was the prohibition of eating roast lamb, as this could not be done due to the lack of a Temple to sacrifice the animal. For the same reason, the third question was changed, and now the question is raised about why we eat reclining.

But where do all the elaborate rituals we practice today at the Seder come from? Some scholars argue that the Seder rituals are based on Greco-Roman customs. Siegfried Stein, in particular, argues that the rituals were borrowed from the Hellenistic banquet or symposium, albeit with a change in content. While the Greeks and Romans discussed beauty and love while eating, the sages spoke of the Exodus from Egypt and Divine redemption.

The Passover Haggadah is not a book in the classical sense of the term. It is a collection of literary works from different periods. It contains biblical passages, psalms, hymns, blessings, rituals, prayers, explanations of rituals, stories, dialogues, and rabbinic literature.

Some explain that celebrating the Seder is the true reason God brought the Israelites out of Egypt: so that the story could be told every year. David Hartman argues that the Haggadah turns parents into storytellers. It is parents who connect their children with their historical roots. By retelling the Exodus, we learn to commemorate moments of family and national crisis and to celebrate with gratitude our transition to a better life. The Haggadah is undoubtedly much more than just telling a story.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by David Golinkin, Siegfried Stein, David Hartman, and others.