Monday, April 02, 2012

Reverse Seder


R Moshe Sokol, our LOR, In his Shabbos Hagodol drasha suggested that the modern Seder is the reverse of the pre-Hurban seder. We say maggid then eat. In Temple times, if you read the Mishna, and even in the post-Hurban Tannaitic era, it seems that they ate first, then said Maggid, and benched.

Which fits
  1. Mah Nishtanah - the child asks about the oddness of the meal he has *just eaten*.
  2. the Sages sitting up at Benny Baruch telling of the Exodus - after the meal.
  3. eating the Korban Pesach hot off the spit, rather than 3 hours later.

Ha Lachma Anya then is seen as a later addition, introducing Maggid, when we haven't eaten yet. It reminds us we're in practice mode, in a broken world, waiting for the Final Redemption when we can do it properly.

2 comments:

Michael Kopinsky said...

Benny Baruch?

thanbo said...

Bernard Baruch. Financier, advisor to Wilson and FDR, philanthropist. Big donor to City College. Since Grandpa and his brother Uncle Joe were tied closely to CCNY, having both attended and taught there, and heavily involved in the alumni ass'n, Bernard Baruch was important to them.