I arise in the midst of the people

Ḥananel ben Amnon

Second Half of the 11th Century

And thus: Ye shall observe this day in your generations (Exodus 12:17)

I arise in the midst of the people, with the permission of those who understand words [i.e., scholars].

I raise my voice in song, in sweet speech.

I ask permission from young and old; I am not haughty.

May my speech today be pleasing, as I approach the presence of my Rock.

I come with humble spirit, with a heart afraid,

with speech to appease the One who peers through the lattices, in an appropriate manner.¹

When the time comes for God’s upright ones to meet God’s presence,²

in their midst I will stand, in God’s congregation, when all Israel comes.

Today I draw near [as prayer leader] to explain, to elaborate the laws incurring karet.³

My great teachers have given me of the waters of the well [of knowledge] and taught me to explain the knowledge.

They have given me a drink of the inscribed law, and I will give of that drink to the chosen congregation.

May my throat be spared from dryness, as I exhort the congregation regarding the karet punishment.

The sages taught precisely, with beautiful words,

to destroy an olive’s volume of sourdough, and a date’s volume of leaven.

All flesh must know the words of the sages who exhort us.

The house of Israel is obligated to act as instructed, on the evening preceding the 14th [of Nisan].

The laws of destroying are to get rid of all sourdough and leaven, with might.

The commandment is to mightily [search] with a lamp of olive oil, and to recite the blessing: “[Blessed are You, O God . . . who commanded us] regarding the destruction of leaven .”

They taught that one should be careful to recite a declaration, after one has searched with the lamp for the purpose of destroying:

“May all sourdough that is found in my possession be nullified and be like dust.”

Because some days are cloudy, they decreed, so that one avoid trouble,

up to the fourth hour, one may enjoy the food, and on the fifth, one should hold it in suspense.⁴

At the beginning of the sixth, one should burn it in fire and give up all benefit from leaven.

If one has possession of it as a security, one should sell it at the sixth hour to non-Jews, not to children of the six.⁵

All children of Jacob, the overlord [see Genesis 27:29], must be prompt to destroy it.

The pure One commanded Moses, His chosen one, to exhort them to destroy it.

If the wanton, who bear gall and wormwood (Deuteronomy 29:17), find an excuse to be lenient about leaven,

such wantonness is punishable by karet, according to the mystery given at Sinai; they will receive no more favor.

If a non-Jew’s leaven has been given as security, its possession is dependent on its [non-Jewish] owner,

and similarly regarding someone who is under one’s dominion⁶—regarding the violation of it may not be seen and it may not be found (Exodus 13:7; 1 2:19).

Grottos, and covered cisterns, and uncovered cisterns, and caves

are exempt from the rule of destroying [their leaven], as explained in the laws.

If one is on a journey and remembers that one needs to destroy [one’s leaven]—

if before the sixth hour, one must destroy it [with a verbal declaration], but if afterward, one has no permission to recite a declaration.

If a non-Jew has dough on their hands, one need not destroy it.

But if they entrusted it to [the Jew], one must get rid of it, [unless] one has designated a separate room for it [Hebrew uncertain].

If one is going to travel in a caravan or a ship, within the thirty days [before Passover], one must destroy [one’s leaven].

But if one leaves earlier, one need not destroy it.

For seven days [of the holiday] and eight hours [of the 14th of Nisan], it is forbidden to benefit from sourdough or leaven but permitted to treat it as vile [Hebrew uncertain].

And after the sixth hour, it has no use as a bride price, even if it is hard kernels of wheat.⁷

All leaven is forbidden, even if it is in a mixture with other food.

But any leaven that is with other things is like an ordinary prohibition.

Porridge and beer and vinegar are mentioned as being forbidden even in a mixture.

Those who violate this are liable to flogging, but for pure leaven, one is punished with karet.

One must knead the dough for matzah with water that has been left out overnight; the opinions of the sages agree.

And one needs two dishes, one for kneading and one for cooling [one’s hands], [when one makes dough] out of the five species.

One should spill out the water so that it will flow down an incline, when one is cleaning the bowls and dishes.

The baker’s waters must be spilled out, because they will become leavened, as stated in the orders [of the Mishnah].

If matzah was kneaded by a non-Jew, a deaf-mute, a mentally incompetent person, or a child, one cannot fulfill one’s obligation by eating it.

But a male or female slave who has undergone immersion is permitted to make them, firing them up [in an oven].

Regarding those who have not undergone immersion, [the sages] said to exclude them.

This stringency applies only to [matzah] eaten on the first night.

[The sages] said to apply scalding hot water to pots that are used for hot cooking,

and to wash vessels made of dung, and to put away vessels of glazed clay.

[To clean a smaller pot] one places a pot inside a pot, and heats it up in fire,

and makes a frame around the larger one. But dishes can be purified [by pouring boiling water] from a second vessel.

Knives and iron utensils must be immersed in fire.

A handle and a wooden utensil must be scalded in hot water.

[The sages] spoke wisely, and said to pass them both in scalding water—

as they absorb, so do they expel.

One must set the table, and sanctify the formidable One, with the blessing over the wine and the Kiddush of the day.

One concludes the Kiddush with “He sanctifies the sacred times,” and if it is also the Sabbath, one mentions it before the day.

If it is Sunday [Saturday night], they instituted to recite Kiddush in a specific order:

blessing over wine, Kiddush, lamp, Havdalah, and the blessing over time [she-heḥeyanu]—as they received the law from a faithful emissary.

They say, “to wash their hands,” each and every one of them,

and they bring out their vegetables, and all dip them in ḥaroset.

The one designated opens with a blessing for them all,

Saying, “He creates the fruit of the earth”—and they all eat with their mouths.

Those who observe the commandment have the plate of delights, with two cooked dishes and a bitter herb, laid out in order.

One takes two delightful loaves [of matzah] from it and breaks one of them into two pieces.

One continues and places a broken piece on the table and leaves the other piece and the whole loaf on the plate.

Then one mentions “bread of poverty,” and places [the broken piece] on the table.

One recites “Mah nishtanah [How different this night is . . . ]” and the rest of the Haggadah,

and concludes it with “He redeemed Israel,” to recount the people’s redemption.

They praise the Holy One while reclining, with a bit of Hallel after the Haggadah,

and recite the blessing over wine, and drink together.

One must be always act in accordance with the council of the sages, [who are like] the two tablets; one must be careful and wash one’s hands again.

Then one must recite two blessings over the broken bread, “ha-motzi” and “matzah,” in accordance with the rules.

The head of all sweetly [recites the blessing]; then they all take a piece, and do not yet taste it,

and they sweetly recite the blessing of “matzah,” and they do not dip it in ḥaroset for taste.

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Notes

[God peers through the lattices of heaven to look out onto earth (see Song of Songs 2:9); a prayer leader stands on earth, and attempts to appease God, to please Him. The word translated “in an appropriate manner” also means “in accordance with Jewish law”—and indeed, halakhah is the topic of this prayer-poem.—Trans.]

[According to Exodus 23:17, the entire male population of Israel must come to Jerusalem on the three pilgrimage festivals of the year (of which Passover is the first), to greet God’s presence. Here, our poet adopts the scriptural language to describe the attendance of the community in the synagogue on the Sabbath before the festival.—Trans.]

[Karet, literally “cutting, excision,” is the technical term for the supernatural punishment that is to befall people who violate certain scriptural prohibitions or commandments; according to Exodus 12:15, eating leavened grain products on Passover is among those prohibitions.—Trans.]

[Leaven is prohibited only starting at noon on the 14th of Nisan. However, because on some years the day will be cloudy, it may be difficult to calculate noon, so the sages decreed that one should stop eating leaven by the fourth hour of the day; over the next hour, one should “hold it in suspense,” that is, one may no longer eat it, even though the time has not yet come to destroy it.—Trans.]

[“Children of the six” are the Jews, who are descended from the four matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah) and the two concubines (Bilhah, Zilpah). The poet uses this epithet to rhyme with and evoke “the sixth hour.”—Trans.]

[Here, too, as long as the non-Jewish owner is responsible for the leaven, even if he is working for the Jew, the Jew is not obligated to destroy it.—Trans.]

[A bride-price must be an item of value, but leaven has no value on Passover.—Trans.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

I arise in the midst of the people

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