The Rabbinic Passover-Eve Ritual in Ancient Sources

The most elaborate family or communal meal in rabbinic culture was held on the eve of Passover in fulfillment of the biblical commandment to eat a roasted sacrificial lamb together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in commemoration of God’s redemption of the Israelites in Egypt. These symbolic foods and the actions accompanying them at the meal had to be explained to one’s children so that their import would be clear. The rabbinic version of this meal takes the form of a Greco-Roman symposium banquet with four cups of wine, food, and much discourse. The discourse here is, of course, rabbinic and reflects the discursive style of the rabbinic bet midrash, study house. It is also accompanied by rabbinic blessings over the various activities and the recitation of psalms.

The rabbinic text below lays out the parameters for the Passover meal. The Geniza text that follows provides an early version of the rite performed in the land of Israel by 700 CE.