Torah Community Connections

Week 24 - Thursday - 11 May 2000

PESACHIM: CHAPTER 10 : MISHNA 3

They brought before him, he dips in the lettuce before he comes to parperet ha-pat. They brought before him matzah and lettuce and haroset and two cooked dishes, even though the haroset is not an obligation. Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok says, It is an obligation. And in the Temple they would bring before him the body of the korban pesah.

Kehati

This mishnah continues to describe the practices of the Seder night. It must first be explained that in the Mishnaic period, it was the practice to recline on couches next to small traylike tables, each person with a separate table. At the beginning of the meal, they would place the tables before the diners, bedecked with food. After the diners finished, they would remove the tables, in order to bring the diners dessert.

They brought before him - types of vegetables (this is implied by the continuation of the mishnah; according to another version, the mishnah explicitly states, "They brought before him vegetables and lettuce"). i.e., after the Kiddush, they brought vegetables in order to provoke the children to ask questions, because it was not customary to bring vegetables before they broke the bread and recited the blessing over it. Another interpretation: "They brought before him" - the table, upon which were the items for the meal (as explained in the introduction to the mishnah), because it was the custom to bring the table only after the Kiddush (Rabbeinu Hananel, Tosafot), he dips in the lettuce - i.e., he dips the lettuce to eat it. It was the practice to eat various foods by dipping them in brine, vinegar, salt water, etc. The mishnah therefore refers to eating as "dipping." As has already been explained, the term "hazeret," as used in the Mishnah, refers to lettuce, and not to horseradish, which is the meaning of hazeret in modern Hebrew. The Gemara explains that this dipping is performed chiefly with other vegetables (e.g., the current practice of dipping karpas, parsley or celery, in salt water); the mishnah, however, teaches that if one has no other vegetables except hazeret, even though he must later eat from it in order to fulfill the obligation of maror, biter herb (the second "dipping"), he nevertheless may eat of it also for this dipping. This is because two dippings are required, for the reason explained above, so that this will attract the attention of children. This then is the meaning of the mishnah: "he dips" - even - "in the lettuce" - when he does not have any other vegetable

, Before he comes to parperet ha-pat - (pat - bread) various interpretation have been given for this clause. According to one interpretation, this "parperet of the pat" is the bitter herb eaten after the matzah; it is called "parperet [lit., appetizer]" because it whets a person's appetite; the mishnah teaches that he dips in the hazeret before he comes to the hazeret that is eaten after the matzah, as mentioned above (Tosafot, Rashbam). According to a second interpretation, this is the eating of the matzah, i.e., after this dipping he may not eat any more until the time for eating the matzah (Rabbeinu Hananel, Hameiri). One version reads "le-parper et ha-pat," the time to crumble the bread (Bartenura; see also Tosefot Yom Tov). Bartenura also interprets this to mean, "until he reaches the eating of the matzah"; the mishnah teaches that no other eating may interrupt between the eating of the vegetable and the eating of the matzah. I.e., before a person comes to the obligatory eating of hazeret over which he recites the blessing, "regarding the eating of the bitter herb," he first eats matzah, as it is written, "they shall eat it with matzah and bitter herbs" (Num. 9:11) - first the matzah and afterwards the bitter herbs (see also Tiferet Yisrael, who interprets this in a different manner).

They brought before him matzah - for the obligatory eating of matzah, and lettuce - for the obligatory eating of the bitter herb. The mishnah uses the term "hazeret" because lettuce apparently was more available. It has already been taught, however, that he fulfills his obligation with other bitter greens as well (2:6, above); and haroset - in which to dip the bitter herb. It is made of figs, walnuts, almonds, apples, and other fruits; all these are crushed, and wine or wine vinegar is added to the mixture; and two cooked dishes - one as a remembrance of the korban pesah, and one as a remembrance of the haggigah, that accompanied the korban pesah (the current practice is to take a roasted shankbone and a roasted egg); other versions omit the wording "and two cooked dishes"; even though the haroset is not an obligation - i.e., they brought the haroset, even though there is no obligation to eat it; it rather is brought to alleviate the sharp taste of the bitter herb, which is harmful to the body.

Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok says, It - the dipping into the haroset also - is an obligation - as a remembrance of the mortar with which Israel worked in Egypt. Similarly, long narrow strawlike strips and cinnamon are arranged on top of the haroset, in remembrance of the straw. Rambam, in his commentary on the mishnah, holds that, according to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer bar Zadok, a person is obligated to recite the blessing, "who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding the eating of haroset"; however, this is not the halakhah. The commentators also explain that the meaning of the last section of the mishnah is that they would remove the table from the person reading the Haggadah after the first dipping, so that the child will ask the reason, and his father will answer him; they would then bring a table in order to perform the second dipping, and the son will ask why there are two dippings. After the table is removed, it is immediately replaced before the reader, with matzah and the bitter herb on it, so that he will read the Haggadah with the matzah and bitter herb before him (Tosafot).

And in - the time when - the Temple - stood, when people would conduct the Seder in Jerusalem, they would bring before him - with the matzah and the hazeret, the body of the korban pesah - the roasted korban pesah as well as the meat of the haggigah sacrifice.

PESACHIM: CHAPTER 10 : MISHNA 4

They mixed him the second cup, and here the son asks his father. And if the son has insufficient understanding, his father instructs him: Why is this night different from all the nights? For on all the nights we eat hametz and matzah, this night only matzah. On all the nights we eat the other vegetables, this night bitter herb. On all the nights we eat roasted, stewed, and cooked meat, this night only roasted. For on all nights we dip once, this night twice. And according to the intelligence of the son, his father instructs him. He begins with disgrace and concludes with glory, and he expounds from "A wandering Aramean was my father" (Deut. 26:5), until he concludes the whole portion.

Kehati

They mixed him the second cup - over which the Haggadah is narrated, and here - with the mixing of this cup, the son asks his father - another version reads, "and it is correct [ken] that the son ask his father," (as in "the daughters of Zelophehad speak correctly [ken]" - Num. 27:7), that the son asks "Why is this night different" (Rashi, Bartenura). And if the son has insufficient understanding to ask, his father instructs him - he directs his son's attention to the differences in the Seder, and explains to him the reasons for these practices. A baratia in the Gemara teaches: "If his son is wise, he asks him; and if he is not wise, his wife asks him; and if not, he asks himself; and even two Torah scholars, who know the laws of pesah, ask each other" and these are the questions:

Why is this night different from all the nights? For on all the nights we eat hametz and - or, matzah, this night only matzah. On all nights we eat the other vegetables - all types of vegetables, this night bitter herb - he does not say, "this night only bitter herbs," because other vegetables are eaten during the first dipping (Tosafot).

On all nights we eat roasted, stewed - well cooked, and cooked meat, this night only roasted - this mishnah is according to the Tanna who holds that the haggigah sacrifice that accompanied the korban pesah may, like the latter, be eaten only roasted. Therefore, one who asks, says, "this night only roasted" (Pes. 70b; Tosafot on this topic). This question was asked only when the Temple stood.

For on all nights we dip once - for it was the practice to eat, at every meal, vegetables that were dipped. The Gemara emends the text to read, "For on all the nights we do not dip even once" - i.e., before the meal, this night twice - the first time immediately after the Kiddush, when we eat other vegetables or hazeret that is dipped (as taught at the beginning of the previous mishnah), and the second time when the bitter herbs is eaten (see above), dipped in haroset. Rambam adds the question, "For on all nights we eat sitting or reclining, this night we all recline" (Hil. Hametz u-Matzah 8:2). According to one opinion, this question was added in place of the question about the roasted meat, which was not asked after the destruction of the Temple; when the Temple stood, there apparently was no need to question the Seder practice of reclining, because this was the regular practice, all the time, to recline as free men (the commentary attributed to HaGra; Be'er Miriam).

And according to the intelligence - perception and ability to understand, of the son, his father instructs him - explains to him the greatness of the Exodus from Egypt, as it is written, "And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt'" (Ex. 13:8). When the father instructs his son,

He begins with the - disgrace - of Israel: "We were Pharoah's slaves in Egypt" (Deut. 6:21), "Initially our fathers were idolaters," and concludes with - the - glory - of Israel, i.e., that the Omnipresent has drawn us closer to His service and redeemed our ancestors from Egypt, and performed wonders and miracles for us, and gave us the Torah, and brought us into Eretz Yisrael, as it is written, "Then you shall say to your son: 'We were Pharoah's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand'that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always" (Deut. 6:21-24),

And he expounds from - explains, based on the midrash, the passage - "A wandering Aramean was my father" - (Deut. 26:5-8), until he concludes the whole portion - as it is expounded in Sifrei and other midrashim (which are presented in the Pesah Haggadah).

Return to Mishna Yomit Index

Visit the Mishna Yomit Archives