Bo (parsha)
Encyclopedia
Bo is the fifteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the third in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
read it the fifteenth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in January or early February.
The parshah tells of the last three plagues on Egypt
and the first Passover
.
As the parshah describes the first Passover, Jews also read part of the parshah, as the initial Torah reading for the first day of Passover, and another part, as the initial Torah reading for the first intermediate day (Chol HaMoed
) of Passover. Jews also read another part of the parshah, which describes the laws of Passover, as the maftir
Torah reading for the Special Sabbath Shabbat HaChodesh, which falls on Rosh Chodesh
Nisan
, the month in which Jews celebrate Passover.
and Aaron
warned Pharaoh
to let the Israelite
s go, or suffer locust
s covering the land. Pharaoh’s courtiers pressed Pharaoh to let the men go, so Pharaoh brought Moses and Aaron back and asked them, “Who are the ones to go?” Moses insisted that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds would go, but Pharaoh rejected Moses’ request and expelled Moses and Aaron from his presence.
Moses held his rod over the land, and God drove an east wind to bring locusts to invade all the land. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, asked forgiveness, and asked them to plead with God to remove the locusts. Moses did so, and God brought a west wind to lift the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
Then God instructed Moses to hold his arm toward the sky to bring darkness
upon the land, and Moses did so, but the Israelites enjoyed light. Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to go, leaving only the Israelites’ flocks and herds behind, but Moses insisted that none of the Israelites’ livestock be left behind, for “[W]e shall not know with what we are to worship the Lord until we arrive there.” But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he expelled Moses saying: “[T]he moment you look upon my face, you shall die.” Moses warned Pharaoh that God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but not a dog of the Israelites. And Moses left Pharaoh in hot anger.
, gold
, and clothing from the Egyptians, and left the Land of Goshen
for Sukkot
. God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to consecrate to God every firstborn man and beast, and Moses did so. ( 11–15.)
n Namburbi rituals in which blood was smeared on doors and keyholes so that “evil [plague] shall not enter the house.” (Jacob Milgrom
. Leviticus 1–16, 3:1081. New York: Anchor Bible
, 1991. ISBN 0-385-11434-6.)
Psalms
and each recount differing arrangements of seven plagues. recalls plagues of (1) blood, (2) flies, (3) frogs, (4) locusts, (5) hail, (6) livestock, and (7) firstborn, but not plagues of lice, boils, or darkness. recalls plagues of (1) darkness, (2) blood, (3) frogs, (4) flies and lice, (5) hail, (6) locusts, and (7) firstborn, but not plagues of livestock or boils.
of Passover. In the Hebrew Bible
, Passover is called:
Some explain the double nomenclature of “Passover” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread” as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
and when the Biblical text became settled. (See, e.g., W. Gunther Plaut
. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 456. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. ISBN 0-8074-0055-6.) and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. (Plaut, at 464.)
“Passover,” on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called “the Passover,” “the Passover lamb,” or “the Passover offering.” ( 21, 27, 43, 48; 5–6; 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13.)
and and 5, and direct “Passover” to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of Aviv (Nisan
in the Hebrew calendar
after the Babylonian captivity
). and confirm that practice. and and direct the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two festivals led to their confusion and merger. (Plaut, at 464.)
and 27 link the word “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) to God’s act to “pass over” (pasach, פָסַח) the Israelites’ houses in the plague
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt
. ( 3, 6.)
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites’ observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God’s direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai
on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the Promised Land
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho
and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King Josiah
commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah’s reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah
, calling into question the observance of even Kings David
and Solomon
. The more reverent however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah
’s observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
taught that God brought the locusts upon the Egyptians in because the Egyptians had made the Israelites sow wheat and barley for them, and thus God brought locusts to devour what the Israelites had sown for them. (Exodus Rabbah
13:6.)
A midrash taught that God fixed a time of “tomorrow” for the plague of locusts in so that the Egyptians might feel remorse and do penitence (thus showing that the Egyptians were still not barred from doing penitence). (Exodus Rabbah 13:6.)
A midrash taught that God brought darkness upon the people in because some Israelite transgressors had Egyptian patrons, lived in affluence and honor, and were unwilling to leave Egypt. God reasoned that bringing a plague and killing these transgressors publicly would cause the Egyptians to conclude that the plagues punished Egyptians and Israelites alike, and thus did not come from God. Thus, God brought darkness upon the Egyptians for three days, so that the Israelites could bury the dead transgressors without the Egyptians seeing them do so. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
Reading the words “even darkness that could be felt” in the Sages conjectured that it was as thick as a denar
coin, for “even darkness that could be felt” implied a darkness that had substance. (Exodus Rabbah 14:1.)
Rabbi Abdimi of Haifa
interpreted the words “thick darkness” in to teach that the darkness was doubled and redoubled. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The Rabbis taught that there were seven days of darkness. During the first three days, one who wished to arise from sitting could do so, and the one who wished to sit down could do so. Concerning these days says: “And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; and they did not see one another.” During the last three days, one who sat could not stand up, one who stood could not sit down, and one who was lying down could not rise upright. Concerning these days says: “neither rose any from his place for three days.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
During the three days of thick darkness, God gave the Israelites favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians lent the Israelites everything. An Israelite would enter an Egyptian’s house, and if the Israelite saw gold and silver vessels or garments, and when the Israelite asked for them the Egyptian replied that the Egyptian had nothing to lend, the Israelite would say where the goods were. The Egyptians would then reason that had the Israelites desired to deceive the Egyptians, they could have easily taken the goods during the darkness and the Egyptians would not have noticed. But since the Israelites did not take the goods, the Egyptians reasoned that the Israelites would not keep them. And so the Egyptians lent the Israelites their things, so as to fulfill what Genesis foretold: “Afterward shall they come out with great substance.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The midrash noted that says: “but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings,” not, “in the land of Goshen,” and conluded that light accompanied the Israelites wherever they went and illumined what was within barrels, boxes, and treasure-chests. Concerning them says: “Your word is a lamp for my feet.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The midrash taught that the six days of darkness occurred in Egypt, while the seventh day of darkness was a day of darkness of the sea, as says: “And there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet it gave light by night there.” So God sent clouds and darkness and covered the Egyptians with darkness, but gave light to the Israelites, as God had done for them in Egypt. Hence says: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” And the midrash taught that in the Messianic Age
, as well, God will bring darkness to sinners, but light to Israel, as Isaiah
says: “For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but upon you the Lord will shine.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
A midrash noted that reports that “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” without God’s action, and that this was so for the first five plagues. As the first five plagues did not move Pharaoh to release the Israelites, God decreed that from then on, even if Pharaoh had agreed to release the Israelites, God would not accept it. Thus starting with the sixth plague and thereafter, as reports, the text says, “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” (Midrash Tanhuma
Va’eira 3; see also Exodus Rabbah 11:6.)
deduced from the words, “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,” in that even Moses did not know exactly when midnight fell. The Gemara reasoned that could not say “about midnight” because God told Moses “about midnight,” for God cannot have any doubt about when midnight falls. Thus the Gemara concluded that God told Moses “at midnight,” and then Moses told Pharaoh “about midnight” because Moses was in doubt as to the exact moment of midnight. (Babylonian Talmud
Berakhot 3b; see also Mekhilta
Pisha 13.) But Rav Zeira
argued that Moses certainly knew the exact time of midnight, but said “about midnight” because he thought that Pharaoh’s astrologers might make a mistake as to the exact moment of midnight and then accuse Moses of being a liar. And Rav Ashi argued that in Moses spoke at midnight of the night of the thirteenth of Nisan as it became the fourteenth of Nisan, and thus Moses said: “God said: ‘Tomorrow at the hour like the midnight of tonight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt.’” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 4a.)
Rabbi Johanan
taught that Song of Songs
speaks of Moses when it says, “The voice of the turtle (tor) is heard in our land,” reading the verse to mean, “The voice of the good explorer (tayyar) is heard in our land.” Rabbi Johanan taught that thus speaks of Moses at the time of which reports: “And Moses said: ‘Thus says the Lord: “About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt . . . .”’” (Song of Songs Rabbah
2:29.)
The Gemara advised that because of the principle that a dream’s realization follows its interpretation (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 55b), one who dreams of a dog should rise early and say the fortunate words of “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue,” before thinking of the unfortunate words of (regarding Israel’s corrupt aristocracy), “Yea, the dogs are greedy,” so as to attribute to the dream the more favorable meaning and thus the more fortunate realization. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 56b.)
Rabbi Jannai taught that one should always show respect to a ruler, following the example of Moses, who in told Pharaoh that “all your servants shall . . . bow down to me,” but out of respect for royalty did not say that Pharaoh himself would seek favors of Moses, as reported in (Babylonian Talmud Menachot 98a; see also Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:13; Exodus Rabbah 18:1.) Similarly, a midrash interpreted God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron in “and to Pharaoh, King of Egypt,” to convey that God told Moses and Aaron that although God really ought to punish Pharaoh, God wanted Moses and Aaron to show Pharaoh the respect due to his regal position. And Moses did so, as reports that Moses told Pharaoh that God said, “And all these your servants shall come down to Me.” Moses did not say that Pharaoh would come down, only that Pharaoh’s servants would do so. But Moses could well have said that Pharaoh himself would come down, for reports, “Pharaoh arose at midnight.” But Moses did not mention Pharaoh specifically so as to pay him respect. (Exodus Rabbah 7:3.)
Rabbi Joshua ben Karhah taught that a lasting effect resulted from every instance of “fierce anger” in the Torah. The Gemara questioned whether this principle held true in the case of which reports that Moses “went out from Pharaoh in hot anger,” but does not report Moses saying anything to Pharaoh as a result of his anger. In response, the Gemara reported that Resh Lakish taught that Moses slapped Pharaoh before he left Pharaoh’s presence. (Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 102a.)
reported that on the fourth Sabbath of the month of Adar
, congregations read (Mishnah Megillah 3:4.)
Rav Assi of Hozna'ah deduced from the words, “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month,” in that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nisan. With reference to this, a Tanna
taught that the first of Nisan took ten crowns of distinction by virtue of the ten momentous events that occurred on that day. The first of Nisan was: (1) the first day of the Creation (as reported in ), (2) the first day of the princes’ offerings (as reported in ), (3) the first day for the priesthood to make the sacrificial offerings (as reported in ), (4) the first day for public sacrifice, (5) the first day for the descent of fire from Heaven (as reported in ), (6) the first for the priests’ eating of sacred food in the sacred area, (7) the first for the dwelling of the Shechinah in Israel (as implied by ), (8) the first for the Priestly Blessing
of Israel (as reported in employing the blessing prescribed by ), (9) the first for the prohibition of the high place
s (as stated in ), and (10) the first of the months of the year (as instructed in ). (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87b.)
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta
, Jerusalem Talmud
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the Festivals
in 43–49; and (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Tosefta Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Jerusalem Talmud Beitzah 1a–49b; Babylonian Talmud Beitzah 2a–40b.)
Tractate Pesachim
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49; 28:16-25; and (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.) And elsewhere, the Mishnah in tractate Zevahim taught that intent to eat the Passover offering raw (violating the commandment of ) or to break the bones of the offering (violating the commandment of ) did not invalidate the offering itself. (Mishnah Zevahim 3:6.) The Mishnah in tractate Challah taught that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of unleavened bread on Passover has fulfilled the obligation of and interpreted to teach that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of leavened bread (chametz
) on Passover is liable to being cut off from the Jewish people. (Mishnah Challah 1:2.) Similarly, the Mishnah in tractate Beitzah reported that the House of Shammai
held that an olive’s bulk of leavening or a date’s bulk (which is more than an olive’s bulk) of leavened bread in one’s house made one liable, but the House of Hillel
held that an olive’s bulk of either made one liable. (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1.) The Gemara noted that the command in to eat matzah
on the first night of Passover applies to women (as did the command in for all Israelites to assemble), even though the general rule (stated in Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 34a) is that women are exempt from time-bound positive commandments. The Gemara cited these exceptions to support Rabbi Johanan’s
assertion that one may not draw inferences from general rules, for they often have exceptions. (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 27a.)
The Mishnah taught that on the evening of the 14th of Nisan, Jews search for leaven in the house by candlelight. Any place into which one does not bring leaven does not require checking. The Sages taught that one must check two rows in a wine cellar, as it is a place into which one brings leaven. The House of Shammai taught that one checks the two front rows of the entire wine cellar, but the House of Hillel taught that one checks only the two outer rows that are uppermost. (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a.)
Chapter 10 of Mishnah Pesachim taught the procedure for the Passover Seder
. On the eve of Passover, no one was to eat from before the Minhah
offering (about 3:00 pm) until nightfall. That night, even the poorest people in Israel were not to eat until they reclined in the fashion of free people. Every person was to drink not less than four cups of wine, even if the public charities had to provide it. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:1; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 99b.)
The Rabbis taught that Jews are duty bound to make their children and their household rejoice on a Festival, for says, “And you shall rejoice it, your feast, you and your son and your daughter.” The Gemara taught that one makes them rejoice with wine. Rabbi Judah
taught that men gladden with what is suitable for them, and women with what is suitable for them. The Gemara explained that what is suitable for men is wine. And Rav Joseph
taught that in Babylonia, they gladdened women with colored garments, while in the Land of Israel
, they gladdened women with pressed linen garments. Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra
taught that in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem
, Jews could not rejoice without meat (from an offering), as says, “And you shall sacrifice peace-offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.” But now that the Temple no longer exists, Jews cannot rejoice without wine, as says, “And wine gladdens the heart of man.” (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 109a.)
They mixed the first cup of wine for the leader of the Seder. The House of Shammai taught that the leader first recited a blessing for the day, and then a blessing over the wine, while the House of Hillel ruled that the leader first recited a blessing over the wine, and then recited a blessing for the day. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:2; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
Then they set food before the leader. The leader dipped and ate lettuce (which was karpas
) before the bread. They set before the leader matzah, lettuce (hazeret), charoset
, and two cooked dishes. The charoset was not mandatory, although Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Zadok said that it was. In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, they would bring the body of the Passover lamb before the leader. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:3; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
They filled a second cup of wine for the leader. Then a child asked questions. If the child was not intelligent, the parent would instruct the child to ask why this night was different from all other nights. On all other nights they ate leavened and unleavened bread, while on this night they ate only unleavened bread. On all other nights they ate all kinds of herbs, while on this night they ate only bitter herbs. On all other nights they ate meat roasted, stewed, or boiled, while on this night they ate only roasted meat. On all other nights they dipped once, while on this night they dipped twice. And the parent instructed according to the child’s intelligence. The parent began to answer the questions by recounting the people’s humble beginnings, and concluded with the people’s praise. The parent recounted the credo of “My father was a wandering Aramean . . . .” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:4; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a.)
Rabbi Akiba would distribute popcorn and nuts to children on the eve of Passover, so that they might not fall asleep but ask the four questions. Rabbi Eliezer
taught that the matzah are eaten hastily on the night of Passover, on account of the children, so that they should not fall asleep. Rabbi Akiba never said in the house of study that it was time to stop studying, except on the eve of Passover and the eve of the Day of Atonement
. On the eve of Passover, it was because of the children, so that they might not fall asleep, and on the eve of the Day of Atonement, it was so that they should feed their children before the fast. (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 109a.)
Rabban Gamaliel
said that one needed to mention three things on Passover to discharge one’s duty: the Passover offering, unleavened bread (matzah), and bitter herbs (maror
). The Passover offering was sacrificed because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. They ate unleavened bread because the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. And they ate bitter herbs because the Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites in Egypt. In every generation, all were bound to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt, because says, “You shall tell your child in that day: ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” Therefore it was everyone’s duty to thank and praise God for performing those miracles for the Israelites and their descendants. God brought them forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore they were to say hallelujah! (Mishnah Pesachim 10:5; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a–b.)
The House of Shammai and the House of Hillel disagreed about how far one should recite into the Hallel
, The House of Shammai maintained that one recited until the words “as a joyous mother of children” in while the House of Hillel said that one recited until the words “the flint into a fountain of waters” in and concluded with a formula of redemption. Rabbi Tarfon
used to say, “who redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt,” but did not conclude with a blessing. Rabbi Akiba said, “So may the Lord our God and the God of our fathers allow us to reach other seasons and festivals in peace, rejoicing in the rebuilding of Your city and glad in Your service, and there we will eat the sacrifices and the Passover-offerings . . . ,” as far as “Blessed are You, o Lord, who have redeemed Israel.” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:6; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116b.)
They filled the third cup of wine. The leader then recited the Grace After Meals
. Over the fourth cup, the leader concluded the Hallel, and recited the grace of song. Between the first, second, and third cups, one could drink if one wished, but between the third and the fourth cups one was not permitted to drink. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:7; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 117b.)
One may not conclude the Passover meal with dainties. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 119b.) If some of the party fell asleep, they could eat when they awoke, but if all fell asleep, they were not permitted to eat. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 120a.) Rabbi Jose
said that if they slept only lightly, they could eat, but if they fell fast asleep, they were not permitted to eat. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 120b.)
Rabban Gamaliel once reclined at a Passover seder at the house of Boethus ben Zeno in Lud
, and they discussed the laws of the Passover all night until the cock crowed. Then they raised the table, stretched, and went to the house of study. (Tosefta Pisha (Pesachim) 10:12.)
A midrash noted that God commanded the Israelites to perform certain precepts with similar material from trees: God commanded that the Israelites throw cedar wood and hyssop into the Red Heifer mixture of and use hyssop to sprinkle the resulting waters of lustration in God commanded that the Israelites use cedar wood and hyssop to purify those stricken with skin disease in and in Egypt God commanded the Israelites to use the bunch of hyssop to strike the lintel and the two side-posts with blood in (Exodus Rabbah 17:1.)
The Mekhilta interpreted the words “the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne” in to teach that Pharaoh himself was a firstborn, as well. And the Mekhilta taught that God preserved him as the only firstborn of Egypt to survive the plague. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:3–4.)
The Mekhilta asked how the captives had sinned that God struck their firstborn, as reports. The Mekhilta explained that God struck them so that they should not say that their god brought this punishment on the Egyptians but not on them. Alternatively, the Mekhilta told that God struck them because the captives used to rejoice over every decree that Pharaoh decreed against the Israelites. And the Mekhilta taught that the Egyptian servants did so, as well, thus explaining why God said in that God would strike the firstborn of the maidservant who was behind the mill. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:5.)
Reading the report of that “there was not a house where there was not one dead,” Rabbi Nathan asked whether there were no houses without firstborn. The Mekhilta explained that when an Egyptian firstborn would die, the parents would set up a statue of the firstborn in the house. The Mekhilta further taught that on the night of the plague of the firstborn, God crushed, ground, and scattered those statues as well, and the parents grieved anew as though they had just buried their firstborn. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:10.)
The Mekhilta interpreted the words “and he called for Moses and Aaron” in to teach that Pharaoh went around the land of Egypt asking everyone where Moses and Aaron lived. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:11.)
The Mekhilta explained that the Egyptians said, “We are all dead men,” in because in many families, many sons died. The Egyptian men had thought that a man who had four or five sons would have lost only the eldest, in accord with the warning of Moses in that “the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.” But they did not know, told the Mekhilta, that all their sons were the firstborn sons of different bachelors with whom their wives had committed adultery. God exposed the women’s adultery, and all of the sons died. The Mekhilta taught that if God makes public evil, which is of lesser importance, how much more will God reward good, which is of greater importance. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:3:2.)
Rab Judah in the name of Samuel
deduced from that Joseph gathered in and brought to Egypt all the gold and silver in the world. The Gemara noted that says: “And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,” and thus spoke about the wealth of only Egypt and Canaan. The Gemara found support for the proposition that Joseph collected the wealth of other countries from which states: “And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy corn.” The Gemara deduced from the words “and they despoiled the Egyptians” in that when the Israelites left Egypt, they carried that wealth away with them. The Gemara then taught that the wealth lay in Israel until the time of King Rehoboam
, when King Shishak of Egypt seized it from Rehoboam, as reports: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house.” (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 119a; see also Avot of Rabbi Natan
41.)
A Baraita
taught that in the time of Alexander the Great, the Egyptians summoned the Israelites before Alexander, demanding from them the gold and silver that reported that the Israelites had borrowed from the Egyptians. The sages granted Gebiah ben Pesisa permission to be Israel’s advocate. Gebiah asked the Egyptians what the evidence was for their claim, and the Egyptians answered that the Torah provided their evidence. Then Gebiah said that he would also bring evidence from the Torah in Israel’s defense. He quoted and demanded back wages from the Egyptians for the labor of 600,000 Israelite men whom the Egyptians had compelled to work for them for 430 years. Alexander turned to the Egyptians for a proper answer. The Egyptians requested three days’ time, but could not find a satisfactory answer, and they fled. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 91a.)
Rabbi Eliezer interpreted the words “the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to sukkot” in to mean that the Israelites went to a place where they put up booths, sukkot
. Other Sages said that Succot was simply the name of a place, as in Rabbi Akiba taught that Succot in means the clouds of glory, as in (Mekhilta Pisha 14:1:3; see also Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 11b.)
A midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt ; (2) when they went up out of Egypt ; (3) at the first census in Numbers ; (4) at the second census in Numbers ; (5) once for the banners; (6) once in the time of Joshua
for the division of the Land of Israel; (7) once by Saul
(1 Samuel
); (8) a second time by Saul ; (9) once by David
; and once in the time of Ezra
. (Midrash Tanhuma Ki Sisa 9.)
The Mekhilta interpreted the account of unleavened cakes of dough in to teach that the Israelites had kneaded the dough but did not have sufficient time to let it leaven before they were redeemed. (Mekhilta Pisha 14:1:9.)
A Baraita taught that when Moses broke the stone tablets in it was one of three actions that Moses took based on his own understanding with which God then agreed. The Gemara explained that Moses reasoned that if the Passover lamb, which was just one of the 613 commandments, was prohibited by to aliens, then certainly the whole Torah should be prohibited to the Israelites, who had acted as apostates with the golden calf
. The Gemara deduced God’s approval from God’s mention of Moses’ breaking the tablets in Resh Lakish interpreted this to mean that God gave Moses strength because he broke the tablets. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87a.)
The Mekhilta asked why directed that there be one law for both the native and the stranger who sojourns among us when had just enjoined that the stranger be treated as one who is born in the land. The Mekhilta concluded that comes to declare that the convert
is equal to the born Jew with respect to all the Torah’s commandments. (Mekhilta Pisha 15:2:5.)
— one of which is and another of which is — impair the validity of all four, and even one misshaped letter impairs their validity. (Mishnah Menachot 3:7.)
Tractate Bekhorot
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the firstborn in 12–13. (Mishnah Bekhorot 1:1–6:12; Tosefta Bekhorot 1:1–7:15; Babylonian Talmud Bekhorot 2a–61a.) Elsewhere, the Mishnah drew from that money in exchange for a firstborn donkey could be given to any Kohen
(Mishnah Challah 4:9); that if a person weaves the hair of a firstborn donkey into a sack, the sack must be burned (Mishnah Orlah 3:3); that they did not redeem with the firstborn of a donkey an animal that falls within both wild and domestic categories (a koy) (Mishnah Bikkurim 2:9); and that one was prohibited to derive benefit in any quantity at all from an unredeemed firstborn donkey. (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 5:9.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and 17, and and 14:8, and 11:9, 26:9 and 15, 27:3, and 31:20. Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
to Ono
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
, there are 9 positive and 11 negative commandments
in the parshah:
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, vol. 1, 93–137. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
for the parshah is Jeremiah
would come (la-vo’) to Pharaoh. Both the parshah and the haftarah report a plague of locusts — literal in the parshah, figurative in the haftarah. Both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s punishment of Egypt’s gods. And both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s ultimate deliverance of the Israelites from their captivity. ( )
, in the magid section of the Seder, many Jews remove drops of wine from their cups for each of the ten plagues in (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 51. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 94–95. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to elucidate the report in that “the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” The Haggadah cites for the proposition that God took the Israelites out of Egypt not through an angel
, not through a seraph
, not through an agent, but on God’s own. (Davis, Haggadah, at 48–49; Tabory, at 93–94.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to provide the question of the wicked son and quotes to answer him. And shortly thereafter, the Haggadah quotes to answer the simple child and quotes again to answer the child who does not know how to ask. (Davis, Haggadah, at 38–40; Tabory, at 87.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to answer the question: For what purpose did the Israelites eat the Passover offering at the time of the Temple in Jerusalem
? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that the Israelites did so because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. (Davis, Haggadah, at 58; Tabory, at 99.)
In the concluding nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it is the Passover sacrifice” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Eleazar Kallir
. (Tabory, at 125–28.) Also in the nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it was the middle of the night” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Yannai. (Tabory, at 122–25.)
Also in the nirtzah section, in a reference to the Israelites’ despoiling of the Egyptians in the Haggadah recounts how the Egyptians could not find their wealth when they arose at night. (Davis, Haggadah, at 108.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to answer the question: For what purpose do Jews eat matzah
? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that Jews do so because there was not sufficient time for the Israelites’ dough to become leavened before God redeemed them. (Davis, Haggadah, at 59; Tabory, at 100.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah responds to a question that “one could think” that raises — that the obligation to tell the Exodus story begins on the first of the month — and clarifies that the obligation begins when Jews have their maztah and maror in front of them. (Tabory, at 88.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes — emphasizing the word “for me” (li) — for the proposition that in every generation, Jews have a duty to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt. (Davis, Haggadah, at 60; Tabory, at 100.)
Many Jews recite and two of the four texts contained in the tefillin
, either immediately after putting on the tefillin or before removing them, as Jews interpret to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes,” and to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes.” (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 10–12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)
Much of the language of the leshem yihud prayer before putting on tefillin
is drawn from Ramban’s
commentary on (Davis, Siddur for Weekdays, at 6.)
). (command to kill sons); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (firstborn); (Passover); (Passover). 49–52 (hyssop); (Passover). (firstborn); (Passover); (firstborn); 18 (hyssop); (Passover). (hardening of heart); (hardening of heart); (parting gifts for freed slaves); (firstborn); (Passover). (destruction of all but those with a red mark on their dwelling); (hardening of heart). (firstborn). (slaying those without the mark).
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Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the third in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the fifteenth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in January or early February.
The parshah tells of the last three plagues on Egypt
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
and the first Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
.
As the parshah describes the first Passover, Jews also read part of the parshah, as the initial Torah reading for the first day of Passover, and another part, as the initial Torah reading for the first intermediate day (Chol HaMoed
Chol HaMoed
Chol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning "weekdays [of] the festival" , refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. During Chol HaMoed the usual restrictions that apply to the Biblical Jewish holidays are relaxed, but not entirely eliminated...
) of Passover. Jews also read another part of the parshah, which describes the laws of Passover, as the maftir
Maftir
Maftir properly refers to the last person called to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads the haftarah portion from a related section of the Nevi'im ....
Torah reading for the Special Sabbath Shabbat HaChodesh, which falls on Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
, the month in which Jews celebrate Passover.
Summary
The last plagues of Egypt
After seven plagues, God continued visiting plagues on Egypt. MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
warned Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
to let the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s go, or suffer locust
Locust
Locusts are the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. These are species that can breed rapidly under suitable conditions and subsequently become gregarious and migratory...
s covering the land. Pharaoh’s courtiers pressed Pharaoh to let the men go, so Pharaoh brought Moses and Aaron back and asked them, “Who are the ones to go?” Moses insisted that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds would go, but Pharaoh rejected Moses’ request and expelled Moses and Aaron from his presence.
Moses held his rod over the land, and God drove an east wind to bring locusts to invade all the land. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, asked forgiveness, and asked them to plead with God to remove the locusts. Moses did so, and God brought a west wind to lift the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
Then God instructed Moses to hold his arm toward the sky to bring darkness
Darkness
Darkness, in contrast with brightness, is a relative absence of visible light. It is the appearance of black in a color space. When light is not present, rod and cone cells within the eye are not stimulated. This lack of stimulation means photoreceptor cells are unable to distinguish color...
upon the land, and Moses did so, but the Israelites enjoyed light. Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to go, leaving only the Israelites’ flocks and herds behind, but Moses insisted that none of the Israelites’ livestock be left behind, for “[W]e shall not know with what we are to worship the Lord until we arrive there.” But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he expelled Moses saying: “[T]he moment you look upon my face, you shall die.” Moses warned Pharaoh that God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but not a dog of the Israelites. And Moses left Pharaoh in hot anger.
The first Passover
God told Moses and Aaron to mark that month as the first of the months of the year. And God told them to instruct the Israelites in the laws of Passover, and the Israelites obeyed. ( 43–50; ) (See Commandments below.)The plague of the firstborn
In the middle of the night, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt. Pharaoh arose in the night to a loud cry in Egypt, summoned Moses and Aaron, and told them to take the Israelites and go. So the Israelites took their dough before it was leavened, borrowed silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, and clothing from the Egyptians, and left the Land of Goshen
Land of Goshen
The Land of Goshen is named in the bible as the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph, and the land from which they later left Egypt at the time of the Exodus...
for Sukkot
Sukkot (place)
The name Sukkot appears in a number of places in the Hebrew Bible as a location:* An Egyptian Sukkot is the second of the stations of the Exodus. Pharaoh orders the Israelites to leave Egypt, and they journey from their starting point at Rameses to Succoth...
. God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to consecrate to God every firstborn man and beast, and Moses did so. ( 11–15.)
Exodus chapters 12
The command to apply blood to the lintel and the two door-posts in parallels BabyloniaBabylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n Namburbi rituals in which blood was smeared on doors and keyholes so that “evil [plague] shall not enter the house.” (Jacob Milgrom
Jacob Milgrom
Jacob Milgrom was a prominent American Jewish Bible scholar and Conservative rabbi, best known for his comprehensive Torah commentaries and work on the Dead Sea Scrolls.-Biography:...
. Leviticus 1–16, 3:1081. New York: Anchor Bible
Anchor Bible Series
The Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
, 1991. ISBN 0-385-11434-6.)
Exodus chapters 7–12
The description of the 10 plagues exhibits patterns and progressions, as follows:| Cycle | Number | Plague | Verses | Was There Warning? |
Time Warned | Introduction | Actor | Rod? | Israelites Shielded? |
Did Pharaoh Concede? |
Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | 1 | blood | yes | in the morning | לֵךְ אֶל-פַּרְעֹה go to Pharaoh |
Aaron | yes | no | no | passive voice | |
| 2 | frogs | ( in KJV) |
yes | unknown | בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה come to Pharaoh |
Aaron | yes | no | yes | passive voice | |
| 3 | gnats or lice | ( in KJV) |
no | none | none | Aaron | yes | no | no | passive voice | |
| Second | 4 | flies or wild beasts |
( in KJV) |
yes | early in the morning | וְהִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה stand before Pharaoh |
God | no | yes | yes | Pharaoh |
| 5 | livestock | yes | unknown | בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה come to Pharaoh |
God | no | yes | no | Pharaoh | ||
| 6 | boils | no | none | none | Moses | no | no | no | God | ||
| Third | 7 | hail | yes | early in the morning | וְהִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה stand before Pharaoh |
Moses | no | yes | yes | passive voice | |
| 8 | locusts | yes | unknown | בֹּא אֶל-פַּרְעֹה come to Pharaoh |
Moses | yes | no | yes | God | ||
| 9 | darkness | no | none | none | Moses | yes | yes | yes | God | ||
| 10 | firstborn | yes | unknown | none | God | no | yes | yes | God |
Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
and each recount differing arrangements of seven plagues. recalls plagues of (1) blood, (2) flies, (3) frogs, (4) locusts, (5) hail, (6) livestock, and (7) firstborn, but not plagues of lice, boils, or darkness. recalls plagues of (1) darkness, (2) blood, (3) frogs, (4) flies and lice, (5) hail, (6) locusts, and (7) firstborn, but not plagues of livestock or boils.
Passover
and 43–50 and refer to the FestivalJewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
of Passover. In the Hebrew Bible
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
, Passover is called:
- “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) ( 21, 27, 43, 48; Leviticus NumbersBook of NumbersThe Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
4–6, 10, 12–14; Deuteronomy 5–6; JoshuaBook of JoshuaThe Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
2 KingsBooks of KingsThe Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
EzekielBook of EzekielThe Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
EzraBook of EzraThe Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
2 ChroniclesBooks of ChroniclesThe Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
5, 15, 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13, 16–19); - “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Chag haMatzot, חַג הַמַּצּוֹת) ( 21; ); and
- “A holy convocation” or “a solemn assembly” (mikrah kodesh, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ) ( 25).
Some explain the double nomenclature of “Passover” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread” as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
and when the Biblical text became settled. (See, e.g., W. Gunther Plaut
Gunther Plaut
Wolf Gunther Plaut, CC, O.Ont is a Reform rabbi and author. Plaut was the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades and since 1978 is its Senior Scholar....
. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 456. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. ISBN 0-8074-0055-6.) and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. (Plaut, at 464.)
“Passover,” on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called “the Passover,” “the Passover lamb,” or “the Passover offering.” ( 21, 27, 43, 48; 5–6; 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13.)
and and 5, and direct “Passover” to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of Aviv (Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
in the Hebrew calendar
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
after the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
). and confirm that practice. and and direct the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two festivals led to their confusion and merger. (Plaut, at 464.)
and 27 link the word “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) to God’s act to “pass over” (pasach, פָסַח) the Israelites’ houses in the plague
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
. ( 3, 6.)
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites’ observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God’s direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai
Biblical Mount Sinai
The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...
on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King Josiah
Josiah
Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after...
commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah’s reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges
Biblical judges
A biblical judge is "a ruler or a military leader, as well as someone who presided over legal hearings."...
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah ruled the ancient Kingdom of Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel...
, calling into question the observance of even Kings David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
. The more reverent however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah
Hezekiah
Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible....
’s observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
Exodus chapter 10
A midrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
taught that God brought the locusts upon the Egyptians in because the Egyptians had made the Israelites sow wheat and barley for them, and thus God brought locusts to devour what the Israelites had sown for them. (Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
13:6.)
A midrash taught that God fixed a time of “tomorrow” for the plague of locusts in so that the Egyptians might feel remorse and do penitence (thus showing that the Egyptians were still not barred from doing penitence). (Exodus Rabbah 13:6.)
A midrash taught that God brought darkness upon the people in because some Israelite transgressors had Egyptian patrons, lived in affluence and honor, and were unwilling to leave Egypt. God reasoned that bringing a plague and killing these transgressors publicly would cause the Egyptians to conclude that the plagues punished Egyptians and Israelites alike, and thus did not come from God. Thus, God brought darkness upon the Egyptians for three days, so that the Israelites could bury the dead transgressors without the Egyptians seeing them do so. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
Reading the words “even darkness that could be felt” in the Sages conjectured that it was as thick as a denar
Denarius
In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted in 211 BC. It was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus...
coin, for “even darkness that could be felt” implied a darkness that had substance. (Exodus Rabbah 14:1.)
Rabbi Abdimi of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
interpreted the words “thick darkness” in to teach that the darkness was doubled and redoubled. (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The Rabbis taught that there were seven days of darkness. During the first three days, one who wished to arise from sitting could do so, and the one who wished to sit down could do so. Concerning these days says: “And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; and they did not see one another.” During the last three days, one who sat could not stand up, one who stood could not sit down, and one who was lying down could not rise upright. Concerning these days says: “neither rose any from his place for three days.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
During the three days of thick darkness, God gave the Israelites favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians lent the Israelites everything. An Israelite would enter an Egyptian’s house, and if the Israelite saw gold and silver vessels or garments, and when the Israelite asked for them the Egyptian replied that the Egyptian had nothing to lend, the Israelite would say where the goods were. The Egyptians would then reason that had the Israelites desired to deceive the Egyptians, they could have easily taken the goods during the darkness and the Egyptians would not have noticed. But since the Israelites did not take the goods, the Egyptians reasoned that the Israelites would not keep them. And so the Egyptians lent the Israelites their things, so as to fulfill what Genesis foretold: “Afterward shall they come out with great substance.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The midrash noted that says: “but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings,” not, “in the land of Goshen,” and conluded that light accompanied the Israelites wherever they went and illumined what was within barrels, boxes, and treasure-chests. Concerning them says: “Your word is a lamp for my feet.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
The midrash taught that the six days of darkness occurred in Egypt, while the seventh day of darkness was a day of darkness of the sea, as says: “And there was the cloud and the darkness here, yet it gave light by night there.” So God sent clouds and darkness and covered the Egyptians with darkness, but gave light to the Israelites, as God had done for them in Egypt. Hence says: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” And the midrash taught that in the Messianic Age
Messianic Age
Messianic Age is a theological term referring to a future time of universal peace and brotherhood on the earth, without crime, war and poverty. Many religions believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the "Kingdom of God" or the "World to Come".- Terminology: "messianic" and...
, as well, God will bring darkness to sinners, but light to Israel, as Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
says: “For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but upon you the Lord will shine.” (Exodus Rabbah 14:3.)
A midrash noted that reports that “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” without God’s action, and that this was so for the first five plagues. As the first five plagues did not move Pharaoh to release the Israelites, God decreed that from then on, even if Pharaoh had agreed to release the Israelites, God would not accept it. Thus starting with the sixth plague and thereafter, as reports, the text says, “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” (Midrash Tanhuma
Tanhuma
Midrash Tanhuma is the name given to three different collections of Pentateuch haggadot; two are extant, while the third is known only through citations. These midrashim, although bearing the name of R. Tanḥuma, must not be regarded as having been written or edited by him...
Va’eira 3; see also Exodus Rabbah 11:6.)
Exodus chapter 11
The GemaraGemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
deduced from the words, “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,” in that even Moses did not know exactly when midnight fell. The Gemara reasoned that could not say “about midnight” because God told Moses “about midnight,” for God cannot have any doubt about when midnight falls. Thus the Gemara concluded that God told Moses “at midnight,” and then Moses told Pharaoh “about midnight” because Moses was in doubt as to the exact moment of midnight. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Berakhot 3b; see also Mekhilta
Mekhilta
This article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...
Pisha 13.) But Rav Zeira
Rav Zeira
Ze'era or Zeira was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd generation. He was born in Babylonia, where he spent his early youth. He was a pupil of Ḥisda , of Huna , and of Judah b. Ezekiel in Pumbedita.He associated also with other prominent teachers of...
argued that Moses certainly knew the exact time of midnight, but said “about midnight” because he thought that Pharaoh’s astrologers might make a mistake as to the exact moment of midnight and then accuse Moses of being a liar. And Rav Ashi argued that in Moses spoke at midnight of the night of the thirteenth of Nisan as it became the fourteenth of Nisan, and thus Moses said: “God said: ‘Tomorrow at the hour like the midnight of tonight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt.’” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 4a.)
Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
taught that Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
speaks of Moses when it says, “The voice of the turtle (tor) is heard in our land,” reading the verse to mean, “The voice of the good explorer (tayyar) is heard in our land.” Rabbi Johanan taught that thus speaks of Moses at the time of which reports: “And Moses said: ‘Thus says the Lord: “About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt . . . .”’” (Song of Songs Rabbah
Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah
Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah is a Haggadic midrash on Canticles, quoted by Rashi under the title "Midrash Shir ha-Shirim" . It is called also "Agadat Ḥazita", from its initial word "Ḥazita" , or "Midrash Ḥazita" Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah (Hebrew: שיר השירים רבה) is a Haggadic midrash on Canticles, quoted by...
2:29.)
The Gemara advised that because of the principle that a dream’s realization follows its interpretation (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 55b), one who dreams of a dog should rise early and say the fortunate words of “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog whet his tongue,” before thinking of the unfortunate words of (regarding Israel’s corrupt aristocracy), “Yea, the dogs are greedy,” so as to attribute to the dream the more favorable meaning and thus the more fortunate realization. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 56b.)
Rabbi Jannai taught that one should always show respect to a ruler, following the example of Moses, who in told Pharaoh that “all your servants shall . . . bow down to me,” but out of respect for royalty did not say that Pharaoh himself would seek favors of Moses, as reported in (Babylonian Talmud Menachot 98a; see also Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:13; Exodus Rabbah 18:1.) Similarly, a midrash interpreted God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron in “and to Pharaoh, King of Egypt,” to convey that God told Moses and Aaron that although God really ought to punish Pharaoh, God wanted Moses and Aaron to show Pharaoh the respect due to his regal position. And Moses did so, as reports that Moses told Pharaoh that God said, “And all these your servants shall come down to Me.” Moses did not say that Pharaoh would come down, only that Pharaoh’s servants would do so. But Moses could well have said that Pharaoh himself would come down, for reports, “Pharaoh arose at midnight.” But Moses did not mention Pharaoh specifically so as to pay him respect. (Exodus Rabbah 7:3.)
Rabbi Joshua ben Karhah taught that a lasting effect resulted from every instance of “fierce anger” in the Torah. The Gemara questioned whether this principle held true in the case of which reports that Moses “went out from Pharaoh in hot anger,” but does not report Moses saying anything to Pharaoh as a result of his anger. In response, the Gemara reported that Resh Lakish taught that Moses slapped Pharaoh before he left Pharaoh’s presence. (Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 102a.)
Exodus chapter 12
The MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
reported that on the fourth Sabbath of the month of Adar
Adar
Adar is the sixth month of the civil year and the twelfth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 29 days...
, congregations read (Mishnah Megillah 3:4.)
Rav Assi of Hozna'ah deduced from the words, “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month,” in that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nisan. With reference to this, a Tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
taught that the first of Nisan took ten crowns of distinction by virtue of the ten momentous events that occurred on that day. The first of Nisan was: (1) the first day of the Creation (as reported in ), (2) the first day of the princes’ offerings (as reported in ), (3) the first day for the priesthood to make the sacrificial offerings (as reported in ), (4) the first day for public sacrifice, (5) the first day for the descent of fire from Heaven (as reported in ), (6) the first for the priests’ eating of sacred food in the sacred area, (7) the first for the dwelling of the Shechinah in Israel (as implied by ), (8) the first for the Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing
The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , or Dukhanen , is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services...
of Israel (as reported in employing the blessing prescribed by ), (9) the first for the prohibition of the high place
High place
High Place, in the English version of the Old Testament, the literal translation of the Hebrew במה .This rendering is etymologically correct, as appears from the poetical use of the plural in such expressions as to ride, or stalk, or stand on the high places of the earth, the sea, the clouds, and...
s (as stated in ), and (10) the first of the months of the year (as instructed in ). (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87b.)
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the Festivals
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
in 43–49; and (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Tosefta Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Jerusalem Talmud Beitzah 1a–49b; Babylonian Talmud Beitzah 2a–40b.)
Pesahim
Pesahim is the third tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Passover as well as the Passover lamb offering...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49; 28:16-25; and (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.) And elsewhere, the Mishnah in tractate Zevahim taught that intent to eat the Passover offering raw (violating the commandment of ) or to break the bones of the offering (violating the commandment of ) did not invalidate the offering itself. (Mishnah Zevahim 3:6.) The Mishnah in tractate Challah taught that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of unleavened bread on Passover has fulfilled the obligation of and interpreted to teach that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of leavened bread (chametz
Chametz
Chametz, also Chometz, and other spellings transliterated from , are leavened foods that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to Jewish law, Jews may not own, eat or benefit from chametz during Passover...
) on Passover is liable to being cut off from the Jewish people. (Mishnah Challah 1:2.) Similarly, the Mishnah in tractate Beitzah reported that the House of Shammai
House of Shammai
The House of Shammai was the school of thought of Judaism founded by Shammai, a Jewish scholar of the 1st century...
held that an olive’s bulk of leavening or a date’s bulk (which is more than an olive’s bulk) of leavened bread in one’s house made one liable, but the House of Hillel
House of Hillel
The House of Hillel , also known as the Academy of Hillel, founded by the famed Hillel the Elder, is a school of Jewish law and thought that thrived in 1st century B.C.E.Jerusalem. The House of Hillel is most widely known for its hundreds of disputes with the Beit Shammai, founded by Shammai, a...
held that an olive’s bulk of either made one liable. (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1.) The Gemara noted that the command in to eat matzah
Matzo
Matzo or matzah is an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, when eating chametz—bread and other food which is made with leavened grain—is forbidden according to Jewish law. Currently, the most ubiquitous type of Matzo is the traditional Ashkenazic...
on the first night of Passover applies to women (as did the command in for all Israelites to assemble), even though the general rule (stated in Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 34a) is that women are exempt from time-bound positive commandments. The Gemara cited these exceptions to support Rabbi Johanan’s
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
assertion that one may not draw inferences from general rules, for they often have exceptions. (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 27a.)
The Mishnah taught that on the evening of the 14th of Nisan, Jews search for leaven in the house by candlelight. Any place into which one does not bring leaven does not require checking. The Sages taught that one must check two rows in a wine cellar, as it is a place into which one brings leaven. The House of Shammai taught that one checks the two front rows of the entire wine cellar, but the House of Hillel taught that one checks only the two outer rows that are uppermost. (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a.)
Chapter 10 of Mishnah Pesachim taught the procedure for the Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
. On the eve of Passover, no one was to eat from before the Minhah
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
offering (about 3:00 pm) until nightfall. That night, even the poorest people in Israel were not to eat until they reclined in the fashion of free people. Every person was to drink not less than four cups of wine, even if the public charities had to provide it. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:1; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 99b.)
The Rabbis taught that Jews are duty bound to make their children and their household rejoice on a Festival, for says, “And you shall rejoice it, your feast, you and your son and your daughter.” The Gemara taught that one makes them rejoice with wine. Rabbi Judah
Judah ben Ilai
Judah bar Ilai, also known as Judah ben Ilai, Rabbi Judah or Judah the Palestinian , was a tanna of the 2nd Century and son of Rabbi Ilai I. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" and is the most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.Judah bar Ilai...
taught that men gladden with what is suitable for them, and women with what is suitable for them. The Gemara explained that what is suitable for men is wine. And Rav Joseph
Rav Yosef b. Hiyya
Rav Yosef b. Hiyya was a Jewish Amora sage of Babylon, of the third generation of the Amora era. He was a disciple of R. Judah ben Ezekiel, and R...
taught that in Babylonia, they gladdened women with colored garments, while in the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
, they gladdened women with pressed linen garments. Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra
Judah ben Bathyra
Judah ben Bathyra or simply Judah Bathyra was an eminent tanna. He must have lived before the destruction of the Temple, since he prevented a pagan in Jerusalem from partaking of the Paschal offering...
taught that in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
, Jews could not rejoice without meat (from an offering), as says, “And you shall sacrifice peace-offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.” But now that the Temple no longer exists, Jews cannot rejoice without wine, as says, “And wine gladdens the heart of man.” (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 109a.)
They mixed the first cup of wine for the leader of the Seder. The House of Shammai taught that the leader first recited a blessing for the day, and then a blessing over the wine, while the House of Hillel ruled that the leader first recited a blessing over the wine, and then recited a blessing for the day. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:2; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
Then they set food before the leader. The leader dipped and ate lettuce (which was karpas
Karpas
Karpas is one of the traditional rituals in the Passover Seder. It refers to the vegetable, usually parsley or celery, that is dipped in liquid and eaten. The liquid may be any of the seven which make food capable of becoming ritually impure, although salt-water or vinegar are usually used...
) before the bread. They set before the leader matzah, lettuce (hazeret), charoset
Charoset
Charoset, haroset, or charoses is a sweet, dark-colored, chunky paste made of fruits and nuts served primarily during the Passover Seder. Its color and texture are meant to recall the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt as mentioned in Tractate...
, and two cooked dishes. The charoset was not mandatory, although Rabbi Eleazar son of Rabbi Zadok said that it was. In the days of the Temple in Jerusalem, they would bring the body of the Passover lamb before the leader. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:3; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 114a.)
They filled a second cup of wine for the leader. Then a child asked questions. If the child was not intelligent, the parent would instruct the child to ask why this night was different from all other nights. On all other nights they ate leavened and unleavened bread, while on this night they ate only unleavened bread. On all other nights they ate all kinds of herbs, while on this night they ate only bitter herbs. On all other nights they ate meat roasted, stewed, or boiled, while on this night they ate only roasted meat. On all other nights they dipped once, while on this night they dipped twice. And the parent instructed according to the child’s intelligence. The parent began to answer the questions by recounting the people’s humble beginnings, and concluded with the people’s praise. The parent recounted the credo of “My father was a wandering Aramean . . . .” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:4; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a.)
Rabbi Akiba would distribute popcorn and nuts to children on the eve of Passover, so that they might not fall asleep but ask the four questions. Rabbi Eliezer
Eliezer ben Hurcanus
Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Eliezer ben Hyrcanus , a Kohen, was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah...
taught that the matzah are eaten hastily on the night of Passover, on account of the children, so that they should not fall asleep. Rabbi Akiba never said in the house of study that it was time to stop studying, except on the eve of Passover and the eve of the Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
. On the eve of Passover, it was because of the children, so that they might not fall asleep, and on the eve of the Day of Atonement, it was so that they should feed their children before the fast. (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 109a.)
Rabban Gamaliel
Gamaliel
Gamaliel the Elder , or Rabban Gamaliel I , was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid 1st century CE. He was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem...
said that one needed to mention three things on Passover to discharge one’s duty: the Passover offering, unleavened bread (matzah), and bitter herbs (maror
Maror
Maror also Marror, refers to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." .-Biblical source:...
). The Passover offering was sacrificed because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. They ate unleavened bread because the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt. And they ate bitter herbs because the Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites in Egypt. In every generation, all were bound to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt, because says, “You shall tell your child in that day: ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” Therefore it was everyone’s duty to thank and praise God for performing those miracles for the Israelites and their descendants. God brought them forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore they were to say hallelujah! (Mishnah Pesachim 10:5; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116a–b.)
The House of Shammai and the House of Hillel disagreed about how far one should recite into the Hallel
Hallel
Hallel is a Jewish prayer—a verbatim recitation from Psalms 113–118, which is used for praise and thanksgiving that is recited by observant Jews on Jewish holidays.-Holy days:...
, The House of Shammai maintained that one recited until the words “as a joyous mother of children” in while the House of Hillel said that one recited until the words “the flint into a fountain of waters” in and concluded with a formula of redemption. Rabbi Tarfon
Tarfon
Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, , a Kohen, a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Bethar .-Origins and character:...
used to say, “who redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt,” but did not conclude with a blessing. Rabbi Akiba said, “So may the Lord our God and the God of our fathers allow us to reach other seasons and festivals in peace, rejoicing in the rebuilding of Your city and glad in Your service, and there we will eat the sacrifices and the Passover-offerings . . . ,” as far as “Blessed are You, o Lord, who have redeemed Israel.” (Mishnah Pesachim 10:6; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 116b.)
They filled the third cup of wine. The leader then recited the Grace After Meals
Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
. Over the fourth cup, the leader concluded the Hallel, and recited the grace of song. Between the first, second, and third cups, one could drink if one wished, but between the third and the fourth cups one was not permitted to drink. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:7; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 117b.)
One may not conclude the Passover meal with dainties. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 119b.) If some of the party fell asleep, they could eat when they awoke, but if all fell asleep, they were not permitted to eat. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 120a.) Rabbi Jose
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
said that if they slept only lightly, they could eat, but if they fell fast asleep, they were not permitted to eat. (Mishnah Pesachim 10:8; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 120b.)
Rabban Gamaliel once reclined at a Passover seder at the house of Boethus ben Zeno in Lud
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
, and they discussed the laws of the Passover all night until the cock crowed. Then they raised the table, stretched, and went to the house of study. (Tosefta Pisha (Pesachim) 10:12.)
A midrash noted that God commanded the Israelites to perform certain precepts with similar material from trees: God commanded that the Israelites throw cedar wood and hyssop into the Red Heifer mixture of and use hyssop to sprinkle the resulting waters of lustration in God commanded that the Israelites use cedar wood and hyssop to purify those stricken with skin disease in and in Egypt God commanded the Israelites to use the bunch of hyssop to strike the lintel and the two side-posts with blood in (Exodus Rabbah 17:1.)
The Mekhilta asked how the captives had sinned that God struck their firstborn, as reports. The Mekhilta explained that God struck them so that they should not say that their god brought this punishment on the Egyptians but not on them. Alternatively, the Mekhilta told that God struck them because the captives used to rejoice over every decree that Pharaoh decreed against the Israelites. And the Mekhilta taught that the Egyptian servants did so, as well, thus explaining why God said in that God would strike the firstborn of the maidservant who was behind the mill. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:5.)
Reading the report of that “there was not a house where there was not one dead,” Rabbi Nathan asked whether there were no houses without firstborn. The Mekhilta explained that when an Egyptian firstborn would die, the parents would set up a statue of the firstborn in the house. The Mekhilta further taught that on the night of the plague of the firstborn, God crushed, ground, and scattered those statues as well, and the parents grieved anew as though they had just buried their firstborn. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:10.)
The Mekhilta interpreted the words “and he called for Moses and Aaron” in to teach that Pharaoh went around the land of Egypt asking everyone where Moses and Aaron lived. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:2:11.)
The Mekhilta explained that the Egyptians said, “We are all dead men,” in because in many families, many sons died. The Egyptian men had thought that a man who had four or five sons would have lost only the eldest, in accord with the warning of Moses in that “the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.” But they did not know, told the Mekhilta, that all their sons were the firstborn sons of different bachelors with whom their wives had committed adultery. God exposed the women’s adultery, and all of the sons died. The Mekhilta taught that if God makes public evil, which is of lesser importance, how much more will God reward good, which is of greater importance. (Mekhilta Pisha 13:3:2.)
Rab Judah in the name of Samuel
Samuel of Nehardea
Samuel of Nehardea or Samuel bar Abba was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the first generation; son of Abba bar Abba and head of the Yeshiva at Nehardea. He was a teacher of halakha, judge, physician, and astronomer. He was born about 165 at Nehardea, in Babylonia...
deduced from that Joseph gathered in and brought to Egypt all the gold and silver in the world. The Gemara noted that says: “And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan,” and thus spoke about the wealth of only Egypt and Canaan. The Gemara found support for the proposition that Joseph collected the wealth of other countries from which states: “And all the countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy corn.” The Gemara deduced from the words “and they despoiled the Egyptians” in that when the Israelites left Egypt, they carried that wealth away with them. The Gemara then taught that the wealth lay in Israel until the time of King Rehoboam
Rehoboam
Rehoboam was initially king of the United Monarchy of Israel but after the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled in 932/931 BC to form the independent Kingdom of Israel he was king of the Kingdom of Judah, or southern kingdom. He was a son of Solomon and a grandson of David...
, when King Shishak of Egypt seized it from Rehoboam, as reports: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem; and he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house.” (Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 119a; see also Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot of Rabbi Natan
Avot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
41.)
A Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
taught that in the time of Alexander the Great, the Egyptians summoned the Israelites before Alexander, demanding from them the gold and silver that reported that the Israelites had borrowed from the Egyptians. The sages granted Gebiah ben Pesisa permission to be Israel’s advocate. Gebiah asked the Egyptians what the evidence was for their claim, and the Egyptians answered that the Torah provided their evidence. Then Gebiah said that he would also bring evidence from the Torah in Israel’s defense. He quoted and demanded back wages from the Egyptians for the labor of 600,000 Israelite men whom the Egyptians had compelled to work for them for 430 years. Alexander turned to the Egyptians for a proper answer. The Egyptians requested three days’ time, but could not find a satisfactory answer, and they fled. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 91a.)
Rabbi Eliezer interpreted the words “the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to sukkot” in to mean that the Israelites went to a place where they put up booths, sukkot
Sukkah
A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes...
. Other Sages said that Succot was simply the name of a place, as in Rabbi Akiba taught that Succot in means the clouds of glory, as in (Mekhilta Pisha 14:1:3; see also Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 11b.)
A midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt ; (2) when they went up out of Egypt ; (3) at the first census in Numbers ; (4) at the second census in Numbers ; (5) once for the banners; (6) once in the time of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
for the division of the Land of Israel; (7) once by Saul
Saul
-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...
(1 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
); (8) a second time by Saul ; (9) once by David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
; and once in the time of Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
. (Midrash Tanhuma Ki Sisa 9.)
The Mekhilta interpreted the account of unleavened cakes of dough in to teach that the Israelites had kneaded the dough but did not have sufficient time to let it leaven before they were redeemed. (Mekhilta Pisha 14:1:9.)
A Baraita taught that when Moses broke the stone tablets in it was one of three actions that Moses took based on his own understanding with which God then agreed. The Gemara explained that Moses reasoned that if the Passover lamb, which was just one of the 613 commandments, was prohibited by to aliens, then certainly the whole Torah should be prohibited to the Israelites, who had acted as apostates with the golden calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
. The Gemara deduced God’s approval from God’s mention of Moses’ breaking the tablets in Resh Lakish interpreted this to mean that God gave Moses strength because he broke the tablets. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87a.)
The Mekhilta asked why directed that there be one law for both the native and the stranger who sojourns among us when had just enjoined that the stranger be treated as one who is born in the land. The Mekhilta concluded that comes to declare that the convert
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
is equal to the born Jew with respect to all the Torah’s commandments. (Mekhilta Pisha 15:2:5.)
Exodus chapter 13
The Mishnah taught that invalidity in any of the four portions of the Bible in tefillinTefillin
Tefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...
— one of which is and another of which is — impair the validity of all four, and even one misshaped letter impairs their validity. (Mishnah Menachot 3:7.)
Tractate Bekhorot
Bekhorot
Bekhorot refers to the first-born human, or animal according to the Hebrew Bible in which God commanded Moses in the Book of Exodus to “consecrate to Me every first-born; man and beast, the first issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine.” It is from this commandment that Judaism forms...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the firstborn in 12–13. (Mishnah Bekhorot 1:1–6:12; Tosefta Bekhorot 1:1–7:15; Babylonian Talmud Bekhorot 2a–61a.) Elsewhere, the Mishnah drew from that money in exchange for a firstborn donkey could be given to any Kohen
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
(Mishnah Challah 4:9); that if a person weaves the hair of a firstborn donkey into a sack, the sack must be burned (Mishnah Orlah 3:3); that they did not redeem with the firstborn of a donkey an animal that falls within both wild and domestic categories (a koy) (Mishnah Bikkurim 2:9); and that one was prohibited to derive benefit in any quantity at all from an unredeemed firstborn donkey. (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 5:9.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and 17, and and 14:8, and 11:9, 26:9 and 15, 27:3, and 31:20. Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
to Ono
Ono, Benjamin
Ono - a town of Benjamin, in the "plain of Ono" ; now Kiryat-Ono, 5 miles north of Lydda , and about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Not succeeding in their attempts to deter Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah resorted to stratagem, and pretending to wish a...
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
Tzippori
Tzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
Parasang
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined...
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Commandments
According to Sefer ha-ChinuchSefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, there are 9 positive and 11 negative commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah:
- Courts must calculate to determine when a new monthRosh ChodeshRosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
begins.
- To slaughter the Passover lambDomestic sheepSheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
at the specified time - To eat the Passover lamb with matzahMatzoMatzo or matzah is an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, when eating chametz—bread and other food which is made with leavened grain—is forbidden according to Jewish law. Currently, the most ubiquitous type of Matzo is the traditional Ashkenazic...
and marorMarorMaror also Marror, refers to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover Seder in keeping with the biblical commandment "with bitter herbs they shall eat it." .-Biblical source:...
on the night of the fourteenth of NisanNisanNisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
- Not to eat the Passover meat raw or boiled
- Not to leave any meat from the Passover lamb over until morning
- To destroy all leavened bread on the fourteenth of Nisan
- To eat matzah on the first night of Passover
- Not to find chametz in your domain seven days
- Not to eat mixtures containing chametz all seven days of Passover
- An apostateApostasyApostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
must not eat from the Passover lamb. - A permanent or temporary hired worker must not eat from it.
- Not to take the paschal meat from the confines of the group
- Not to break any boneBoneBones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
s of the Passover lamb - An uncircumcisedCircumcisionMale circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
male must not eat from it. - To set aside the firstborn animals
- Not to eat chametz all seven days of Passover
- Not to see chametz in your domain seven days
- To relate the ExodusThe ExodusThe Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
from EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
on the first night of Passover - To redeem the firstborn donkeyDonkeyThe donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
by giving a lamb to a KohenKohenA Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
- To break the neck of the donkey if the owner does not intend to redeem it
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
Connection to the Parshah
Both the parshah and the haftarah describe God’s judgment against Egypt. The parshah reports that God told Moses to go (bo’) to Pharaoh ; the haftarah reports God’s word that NebuchadrezzarNebuchadrezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and also known for the destruction...
would come (la-vo’) to Pharaoh. Both the parshah and the haftarah report a plague of locusts — literal in the parshah, figurative in the haftarah. Both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s punishment of Egypt’s gods. And both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s ultimate deliverance of the Israelites from their captivity. ( )
In the liturgy
Reading the Passover HaggadahHaggadah of Pesach
The Haggadah is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the Scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah...
, in the magid section of the Seder, many Jews remove drops of wine from their cups for each of the ten plagues in (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 51. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 94–95. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to elucidate the report in that “the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” The Haggadah cites for the proposition that God took the Israelites out of Egypt not through an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
, not through a seraph
Seraph
A seraph is a type of celestial being in Judaism and Christianity...
, not through an agent, but on God’s own. (Davis, Haggadah, at 48–49; Tabory, at 93–94.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to provide the question of the wicked son and quotes to answer him. And shortly thereafter, the Haggadah quotes to answer the simple child and quotes again to answer the child who does not know how to ask. (Davis, Haggadah, at 38–40; Tabory, at 87.)
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that the Israelites did so because God passed over the Israelites’ houses in Egypt. (Davis, Haggadah, at 58; Tabory, at 99.)
In the concluding nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it is the Passover sacrifice” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Eleazar Kallir
Eleazar Ben Killir
Eleazar ben Killir was a Hebrew poet whose classical liturgical verses, known as piyut, have continued to be sung through the centuries during significant religious services, including those on Tisha B'Av and on the sabbath after a wedding....
. (Tabory, at 125–28.) Also in the nirtzah section, the Haggadah quotes the words “it was the middle of the night” from eight times as the refrain of a poem by Yannai. (Tabory, at 122–25.)
Also in the nirtzah section, in a reference to the Israelites’ despoiling of the Egyptians in the Haggadah recounts how the Egyptians could not find their wealth when they arose at night. (Davis, Haggadah, at 108.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah quotes to answer the question: For what purpose do Jews eat matzah
Matzo
Matzo or matzah is an unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday, when eating chametz—bread and other food which is made with leavened grain—is forbidden according to Jewish law. Currently, the most ubiquitous type of Matzo is the traditional Ashkenazic...
? The Haggadah quotes for the proposition that Jews do so because there was not sufficient time for the Israelites’ dough to become leavened before God redeemed them. (Davis, Haggadah, at 59; Tabory, at 100.)
In the magid section, the Haggadah responds to a question that “one could think” that raises — that the obligation to tell the Exodus story begins on the first of the month — and clarifies that the obligation begins when Jews have their maztah and maror in front of them. (Tabory, at 88.)
Also in the magid section, the Haggadah quotes — emphasizing the word “for me” (li) — for the proposition that in every generation, Jews have a duty to regard themselves as though they personally had gone out of Egypt. (Davis, Haggadah, at 60; Tabory, at 100.)
Tefillin
Tefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...
, either immediately after putting on the tefillin or before removing them, as Jews interpret to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes,” and to make reference to tefillin when it says, “and it shall be for a sign upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes.” (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 10–12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)
Much of the language of the leshem yihud prayer before putting on tefillin
Tefillin
Tefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...
is drawn from Ramban’s
Nahmanides
Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
commentary on (Davis, Siddur for Weekdays, at 6.)
Biblical
(God’s destruction employing the flood); (leaving Egypt with wealth); (God’s destruction of Sodom and GomorrahSodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
). (command to kill sons); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); (firstborn); (Passover); (Passover). 49–52 (hyssop); (Passover). (firstborn); (Passover); (firstborn); 18 (hyssop); (Passover). (hardening of heart); (hardening of heart); (parting gifts for freed slaves); (firstborn); (Passover). (destruction of all but those with a red mark on their dwelling); (hardening of heart). (firstborn). (slaying those without the mark).
- JoelBook of JoelThe Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the distinction 'minor' indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts known as the "Major Prophets".-Content:After...
(darkness). (“Purge me with hyssop”); (plagues); (plagues); (midnight). - JobBook of JobThe Book of Job , commonly referred to simply as Job, is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, his challenge to God, and finally a response from God. The book is a...
(midnight).
Early nonrabbinic
- The Passover Letter. ElephantineElephantineElephantine is an island in the River Nile, located just downstream of the First Cataract at the southern border of Ancient Egypt. This region is referred to as Upper Egypt because the land is higher than that near the Mediterranean coast. The island may have received its name because it was a...
, 419–418 BCE. Reprinted in, e.g., The Context of Scripture, Volume III: Archival Documents from the Biblical World, 116–17. Edited by William W. HalloWilliam W. HalloWilliam Wolfgang Hallo was professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and curator of the Babylonian collection at Yale University....
. New York: Brill, 2002. ISBN 90-04-10620-0. - Ezekiel the TragedianEzekiel the TragedianEzekiel the Tragedian, also known as Ezekiel the Poet, was a Jewish dramatist who wrote in Alexandria during the 2nd century BCE. His work survives only in fragments found in the writings of Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, and Pseudo-Eustathius. His only known work, Exagōgē, is a five-act drama...
. Exagōgē. Greece, 2nd century BCE. Translated by R.G. Robertson. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume 2: Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic works. Edited by James H. CharlesworthJames H. CharlesworthJames H. Charlesworth is the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is noted for his research in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Dead Sea Scrolls,...
, 814–17. New York: Anchor BibleAnchor Bible SeriesThe Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7. - Wisdom of SolomonBook of WisdomThe Book of Wisdom, often referred to simply as Wisdom or the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is one of the seven Sapiential or wisdom books of the Septuagint Old Testament, which includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon ,...
17:1–20. Alexandria, Egypt, 2nd–1st century BCE. - RomansEpistle to the RomansThe Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
1st century. (hardening Pharaoh’s heart). - HebrewsEpistle to the HebrewsThe Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Its author is not known.The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his...
(hyssop); (Passover). Late 1st century. - MarkGospel of MarkThe Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
(Passover). Circa 70 CE. - MatthewGospel of MatthewThe Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
(Passover). Circa 70–100 CE.
- JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. The Wars of the JewsThe Wars of the JewsThe Jewish War , in full Flavius Josephus's Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans , also referred to in English as The Wars of the Jews and The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, is a book written by the 1st century Jewish historian Josephus.It is a description of Jewish...
, 5:9:4. Circa 75 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, 716. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8. - LukeGospel of LukeThe Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
(Passover). Circa 80–150 CE. - Josephus, Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
2:14:4–2:15:1. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, 73–74. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8. - RevelationBook of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
Late 1st century. (changing hearts to God’s purpose). - JohnGospel of JohnThe Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
(hyssop); (“Not one of his bones will be broken”).
Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Challah 1:2, 4:9; Orlah 3:3; Bikkurim 2:9; Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Beitzah 1:1; Megillah 3:4; Avodah Zarah 5:9; Zevahim 3:6; Menachot 3:7; Bekhorot 1:1–6:12, 8:1; Keritot 1:1. 3rd century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 148, 157, 165, 171, 229–51, 291, 321, 672, 705, 739, 787–800, 803, 836. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
: Terumot 10:7; Challah 2:9; Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Sukkah 2:1; Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:4–5; Rosh Hashanah 1:1, 3; Megillah 3:4; Sotah 4:5; Makkot 4:1; Zevachim 1:1; Menachot 8:28; Bekhorot 1:1–7:15. 3rd–4th century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 198, 339, 471–522, 572, 585–86, 605, 645, 846, 1208–09, 1308, 1445, 1469–94. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Berakhot 9a, 21b, 37a, 61a; Challah 49a; Orlah 35a; Pesachim 1a–; Yoma 2a; Beitzah 1a–49b. Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–2, 11–12, 21, 23. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005–2011. - Mekhilta of Rabbi IshmaelMekhiltaThis article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...
: Pisha 1:1–18:2. Land of Israel, late 4th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:1–119. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-237-2.
- Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 3b–4a, 9a–b, 10b, 37a, 38b, 56a–b; Shabbat 24b–25a, 28b, 60b, 87a, 108a, 114b, 133a, 147b; Eruvin 23a, 27a, 96a; Pesachim 2a–121b; Yoma 36a, 49b, 51a, 79b; Sukkah 11b, 13a, 27a, 29a, 33a, 42b; Beitzah 2a–b, 7b, 12b, 20b–21a, 22a, 28b, 32b; Rosh Hashanah 4b, 7a, 8b, 11b, 20a, 22a, 25b; Taanit 7a; Megillah 5a, 6b, 7b, 21a, 29a, 30a, 31a; Chagigah 7b, 10b, 16b–17a; Yevamot 5b, 40a, 46a, 48a, 62a, 70a–71a, 72a, 74a; Ketubot 7a, 102a; Nedarim 25a, 36a; Nazir 7a, 23a; Gittin 10a, 25a, 38a; Kiddushin 6b, 29a, 34a, 35a, 37a–b, 41b–42a, 57b, 72b, 76a; Bava Kamma 13a, 37b, 41a, 50b, 54a–b, 60a, 63a, 64a, 76b, 78a, 110b; Bava Metzia 6b, 42a, 115b; Bava Batra 97b, 118b; Sanhedrin 4b, 12b, 18a, 36a, 42a, 48b, 63a, 91a; Makkot 4b, 8b, 11a, 13a–b, 15a, 16a, 17a–b, 21b–22a; Shevuot 3b; Avodah Zarah 24a, 27a, 74a; Zevachim 7a–b, 9a, 10b–12a, 23a, 25b, 36a, 37b, 57b, 91a, 102a, 106b, 116a; Menachot 28a, 29a–b, 34a–b, 36b–37a, 42b, 47b, 49b, 53a, 66a, 67a, 82b, 83b, 98a; Chullin 11a, 17b, 68a, 69b–70a, 74b, 78b, 82b, 91a, 115a, 120a, 129a, 133b–34a, 136b, 141b; Bekhorot 2a–61a; Arakhin 8b, 13b, 18a–b, 19b, 24b; Temurah 4b, 5b, 18b, 30b; Keritot 2a, 4a, 28a; Meilah 13a. Babylonia, 6th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- Exodus RabbahExodus RabbahExodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
13:1–19:8. 10th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Exodus 10–13. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 2:91–141. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-027-7. - Judah HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
. KuzariKuzariThe Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
. 2:80; 3:35. ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 132, 166. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
2:32b–44a. Spain, late 13th century.
Modern
- Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. LeviathanLeviathan (book)Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil — commonly called simply Leviathan — is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan...
, 3:38. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. MacphersonC. B. MacphersonCrawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
, 487. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950. - Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
The Jewish Cemetery at Newport . Boston, 1854. Reprinted in Harold BloomHarold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
. ‘‘American Religious Poems’’, 80–81. New York: Library of America, 2006. ISBN 978-1-931082-74-7. - A. M. KleinA. M. KleinAbraham Moses Klein was a Canadian poet, journalist, novelist, short story writer, and lawyer. He has been called "One of Canada's greatest poets and a leading figure in Jewish-Canadian culture."...
. Concerning Four Strange Sons. Circa 1937. Haggadah. 1940. In The Collected Poems of A.M. Klein, 78–79, 143–46. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974. ISBN 0-07-077625-3. - Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 79, 384–86, 715, 788. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. - Dan JacobsonDan JacobsonDan Jacobson is a novelist, short story writer, critic and essayist. He has lived in Great Britain for most of his adult life, and for many years held a professorship in the English Department at University College London...
. “A Plague of Darkness.” In Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales. Edited by Howard Schwartz, 157–60. New York: Avon, 1983. ISBN 0-380-81091-3. Reissue ed. Jason Aronson, 1991. ISBN 0876688490. - Mayer Rabinowitz. “A Pesah Guide.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1984. OH 453.1984.
- Ziony Zevit. “Three Ways to Look at the Ten Plagues: Were They Natural Disasters, a Demonstration of the Impotence of the Egyptian Gods or an Undoing of Creation?” Bible ReviewBible ReviewBible Review was a publication that sought to connect the academic study of the Bible to a broad general audience. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, Bible Review presented critical and historical interpretations of biblical texts, and “reader-friendly Biblical scholarship” from 1985 to...
, 6 (3) (June 1990). - Gerald Skolnik. “Should There Be a Special Ceremony in Recognition of a First-Born Female Child?” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1993. YD 305:1.1993. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 163–65 New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4.
- Aaron WildavskyAaron WildavskyAaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
. Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel, 14. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1-56000-081-3. - Shimon Finkelman, Moshe Dov Stein, Moshe Lieber, Nosson SchermanNosson SchermanNosson Scherman born 1935, Newark, New Jersey) is an American Haredi rabbi best known as the general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.-Biography:...
. Pesach-Passover: Its Observance, Laws and Significance / A Presentation Based on Talmudic and Traditional Sources. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 1994. ISBN 0-89906-447-7.
- Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. Dreams from My FatherDreams from My FatherDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in July 1995 as he was preparing to launch his political career, five years after being elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in...
, 294. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3. (Moses and Pharaoh). - Jacob MilgromJacob MilgromJacob Milgrom was a prominent American Jewish Bible scholar and Conservative rabbi, best known for his comprehensive Torah commentaries and work on the Dead Sea Scrolls.-Biography:...
. “The Alien in Your Midst: Every Nation Has Its Ger: The Permanent Resident. The Torah Commands Us, First, Not To Oppress the Ger, and Then To Befriend and Love Him.” Bible Review, 11 (6) (Dec. 1995). - William H.C. Propp. Exodus 1–18, 2:290–461. New York: Anchor BibleAnchor Bible SeriesThe Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
, 1998. ISBN 0-385-14804-6. - Martin Sicker. A Passover Seder Companion and Analytic Introduction to the Haggadah. New York: iUniverse, 2004. ISBN 0-595-31369-8.
- Diane AckermanDiane AckermanDiane Ackerman is an American author, poet, and naturalist known best for her work A Natural History of the Senses. Her writing style, referring to her best-selling natural history books, can best be described as a blend of poetry, colloquial history, and easy-reading science...
. The Zookeeper's Wife: A War StoryThe Zookeeper's WifeThe Zookeeper's Wife is a non-fiction book written by Diane Ackerman.The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw, and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead,...
, 181–82, 211. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. ISBN 978-0-393-06172-7. (Passover in the Warsaw GhettoWarsaw GhettoThe Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
). - Suzanne A. Brody. “Pidyon HaBen.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 77. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- Esther JungreisEsther JungreisEsther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
. Life Is a Test, 117. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0.
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, California
- Academy for Jewish Religion, New York
- Aish.com
- American Jewish University
- Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles
- Bar-Ilan University
- Chabad.org
- eparsha.com
- G-dcast
- The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
- Jewish Agency for Israel
- Jewish Theological Seminary
- Miriam Aflalo
- MyJewishLearning.com
- Ohr Sameach
- Orthodox Union
- OzTorah, Torah from Australia
- Oz Ve Shalom — Netivot Shalom
- Pardes from Jerusalem
- Parshah Parts
- RabbiShimon.com
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
- Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Sephardic Institute
- Shiur.com
- 613.org Jewish Torah Audio
- Talia Hava Davis
- Tanach Study Center
- Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill
- Torah from Dixie
- Torah.org
- TorahVort.com
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- What’s Bothering Rashi?