Credit: Yoninah, Seder Plate, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Mishnah is the first major work of rabbinic literature, consisting of teachings transmitted over hundreds of years and compiled around 200 CE. Mishnah Pesachim (“Passover Festivals”) discusses laws relating to Passover.
(ג) הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנָיו, מְטַבֵּל בַּחֲזֶרֶת, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ לְפַרְפֶּרֶת הַפַּת. הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנָיו מַצָּה וַחֲזֶרֶת וַחֲרֹסֶת וּשְׁנֵי תַבְשִׁילִין, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין חֲרֹסֶת מִצְוָה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בְּרַבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר, מִצְוָה. וּבַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיוּ מְבִיאִים לְפָנָיו גּוּפוֹ שֶׁל פָּסַח:
(3) The attendants brought vegetables before the leader of the seder prior to the meal, if there were no other vegetables on the table. He dips the ḥazeret into water or vinegar, to taste some food before he reaches the dessert of the bread, i.e., the bitter herbs, which were eaten after the matza. They brought before him matza and ḥazeret and ḥaroset, and at least two cooked dishes in honor of the Festival. The tanna comments that this was the practice, although eating ḥaroset is not a mitzva but merely a custom. Rabbi Eliezer ben Tzadok says: Actually, it is a mitzva to eat ḥaroset. And in the period when the Temple stood and they offered the Paschal lamb, they brought before him the body of the Paschal lamb.
The Haggadah is the classic Jewish book used as the basis of the Passover seder. Its text was compiled during the periods of the Mishnah and the Talmud, with later medieval additions. It exists today in many forms, as different communities around the world developed their own variations.
רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר: כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלשָׁה דְּבָרִים אֵלּוּ בַּפֶּסַח, לא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן: פֶּסַח, מַצָּה, וּמָרוֹר.
Rabban Gamliel was accustomed to say, Anyone who has not said these three things on Pesach has not fulfilled his obligation, and these are them: the Pesach sacrifice, matsa and marror.
Zro'ah/Shankbone
פֶּסַח שֶׁהָיוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אוֹכְלִים בִּזְמַן שֶׁבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיָה קַיָּם, עַל שׁוּם מָה? עַל שׁוּם שֶׁפָּסַח הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַל בָּתֵּי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּמִצְרַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַאֲמַרְתֶּם זֶבַח פֶּסַח הוּא לַיי, אֲשֶׁר פָּסַח עַל בָּתֵּי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִצְרַיִם בְּנָגְפּוֹ אֶת־מִצְרַיִם, וְאֶת־בָּתֵּינוּ הִצִּיל וַיִּקֹּד הָעָם וַיִּשְׁתַּחווּ.
The Pesach [passover] sacrifice that our ancestors were accustomed to eating when the Temple existed, for the sake of what [was it]? For the sake [to commemorate] that the Holy One, blessed be He, passed over the homes of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 12:27); "And you shall say: 'It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for that He passed over the homes of the Children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and our homes he saved.’ And the people bowed the head and bowed."
Exodus (“Shemot”) is the second book of the Torah, Judaism’s foundational text. It describes the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt and their miraculous redemption, the beginning of their travels in the wilderness and the experience of Revelation at Mount Sinai.
(1) Adonai said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: (2) This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. (3) Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. (4) But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbor who dwells nearby, in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat. (5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. (7) They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it.
Beitzah/Egg
The Talmud is the textual record of generations of rabbinic debate about law, philosophy, and biblical interpretation, compiled between the 3rd and 8th centuries and structured as commentary on the Mishnah. Tractate Pesachim (“Passover Festivals”) is part of the Talmud and discusses laws relating to Passover.
רַב יוֹסֵף אָמַר: צָרִיךְ שְׁנֵי מִינֵי בָשָׂר, אֶחָד זֵכֶר לַפֶּסַח, וְאֶחָד זֵכֶר לַחֲגִיגָה. רָבִינָא אָמַר: אֲפִילּוּ גַּרְמָא וּבִישּׁוּלָא.
Rav Yosef said: One requires two types of meat on Passover night, one in remembrance of the Paschal lamb and the other one in remembrance of the Festival peace-offering, which was also eaten on Passover night. Ravina said: For the two cooked foods one may use even the meat on the bone and the gravy in which it was cooked.
Leviticus (“Vayikra”) is the third book of the Torah, Judaism’s foundational text. It contains many laws on various topics, but the book is unified by the theme of holiness in people, time, and space.
(4) These are the set times of Adonai, the sacred occasions, which you shall celebrate each at its appointed time: (5) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to Adonai, (6) and on the fifteenth day of that month Adonai's Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. (7) On the first day you shall celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. (8) Seven days you shall make offerings by fire to Adonai. The seventh day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.
The Shulchan Arukh (“Set Table”), compiled in the 16th century by Rabbi Yosef Karo, is the most widely accepted code of Jewish law ever written. (Karo’s rulings are in accordance with Sephardic traditions; glosses by Rabbi Moshe Isserles, also known as Rema, cite French and German sources to apply the legal work to Ashkenazi communities.)
הגה נוהגים בקצת מקומות לאכול בסעודה ביצים זכר לאבילות ונראה לי הטעם משום שליל תשעה באב נקבע בליל פסח ועוד זכר לחורבן שהיו מקריבים קרבן פסח ויש נוהגים שלא לאכול שום טיבול בלילה רק ב' טבולים שעושים בסדר (מהרי"ל):
RAMA: They are accustomed in a few places to eat eggs at the meal, in commemoration of mourning, and it seems to me that the reason is because the (day of the week of the) night of Tisha B'av is set based on the night of Passover. Additionally, it is in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple, where they would bring the Passover sacrifice. And some are accustomed not to eat any dips on that night except for the two dips that we perform in the Seder (Mahari"l).
Matzah/Unleavened Bread
(ח) וְאָכְל֥וּ אֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּ֑ה צְלִי־אֵ֣שׁ וּמַצּ֔וֹת עַל־מְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃
(8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.
Maror/Bitter Herbs
(13) The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites (14) the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.
(ח) וְאָכְל֥וּ אֶת־הַבָּשָׂ֖ר בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּ֑ה צְלִי־אֵ֣שׁ וּמַצּ֔וֹת עַל־מְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃
(8) They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.
(ו) וְאֵלּוּ יְרָקוֹת שֶׁאָדָם יוֹצֵא בָהֶן יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בְּפֶסַח, בַּחֲזֶרֶת וּבְעֻלָשִׁין וּבְתַמְכָא וּבְחַרְחֲבִינָה וּבְמָרוֹר. יוֹצְאִין בָּהֶן בֵּין לַחִין בֵּין יְבֵשִׁין.
(6) And these are the vegetables with which a person can fulfill his obligation to eat bitter herbs on Passover: One can fulfill his obligation with ḥazeret, with chervil [tamkha], and with field eryngo [ḥarḥavina], and with endives [olashin], and with maror. One fulfills his obligation with them whether they are fresh or whether they are dry.
Karpas/Green Vegetable
The Passover Haggadah, with a commentary by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (1983)
By Divine mandate, Passover is the spring festival and must be celebrated be-tekufat ha-aviv (Deut. 16:1), when the greenery begins to sprout. It is more than a coincidence that the birth of the Jewish people and the rebirth of all of nature take place in the same month.
Parsley is generally used for karpas, but other kinds of green vegetables are permitted. The green color reminds us of the onset of spring when the fields are verdant.
(22) Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning.
Maarechet Heidenheim was written by Rabbi Tevele Bondi and was published in 1898 in Frankfort der Mein.
(א) כרפס ר"ל שטובל ירק במי מלח לרמז דצריך ג"כ כרפס לטבילת כל גופו ר"ל טהר לגמרי ולא כטובל ושרץ בידו ח"ו ומרמזין בזה לזכרון, שישראל בארץ מצרים עובדי ע"ז היו. וכשהוציאם השי"ת משם כדי לקדש אותם בקבלת התורה היו צריכים בתחילה להסיר הטומאה מעליהם ולעשות תשובה ומהאי טעמא מטבל בירק לרמז שבעל תשובה צריך להיות עניו כירק השדה שנדרסין כדאיתא בשמות בה.
(1) Karpas: One dips green vegetables in salt water to symbolize that like karpas, we must undergo an entire immersion of one's body for the purpose of a complete purification. One should not be like the person who immerses himself with an impure reptile in his hand, God forbid! This is an allusion to the fact that the Israelites were idolaters while they were in Egypt. When God took them out of Egypt in order sanctify them by giving them the Torah, it was necessary first to remove the impurity that was upon them and to have them perform complete repentance. One immerses the greens to symbolize the Baal Teshuvah (repentant) who is as humble as the plants in the field which are trampled underfoot.
Charoset/Fruit Paste
וְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אוֹמֵר: זֵכֶר לַטִּיט. אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: הִלְכָּךְ צְרִיךְ לְקַהוֹיֵיהּ וּצְרִיךְ לְסַמּוֹכֵיהּ. לְקַהוֹיֵיהּ — זֵכֶר לַתַּפּוּחַ, וּצְרִיךְ לְסַמּוֹכֵיהּ — זֵכֶר לַטִּיט.
And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The ḥaroset is in remembrance of the mortar used by the Jews for their slave labor in Egypt. Abaye said: Therefore, to fulfill both opinions, one must prepare it tart and one must prepare it thick. One must prepare it tart in remembrance of the apple, and one must prepare it thick in remembrance of the mortar.
רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר מִצְוָה וְכוּ׳. מַאי מִצְוָה? רַבִּי לֵוִי אוֹמֵר: זֵכֶר לַתַּפּוּחַ.
The mishna states: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Tzadok, says that eating ḥaroset is a mitzva. The Gemara asks: What is the nature of this mitzva? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Levi says: It is in remembrance of the apple, as apple is one of the ingredients in ḥaroset. The verse states: “Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, reclining upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you” (Song of Songs 8:5), which is an allusion to the Jewish people leaving Egypt.