Amazing Pesach facts

I was trying to work out what Pesach would have been like in Egypt in that first year. I haven't even got to any of the technical details yet, but just working out how many people there would have been in each house astounded me. Remember that the korban Pesach had to be eaten entirely before midnight (this would apply not only in Egypt, but in every other year until the destruction of the Temple as well, and hopefully very soon in the future when Mashiach comes - although I am a vegetarian and the sheep are bigger nowadays!). A sheep is quite a big animal, even a one year old. Goats are slightly smaller, but still have a lot of meat on them.
Have a look at my torahlab blog for the numbers, but you had better buy a bigger table and expandable walls for when Mashiach comes!

Here is the link (click on the entry titled 'sheep again').
http://torahlab.org/thestorysofar.php

Please send me your thoughts or comments. As a vegetarian I may have got the entire thing entirely wrong - please correct my mistakes.

Thank you. Here's praying for Mashiach.

Rabbi Sedley

Hagadah of Pesach

I gave a shiur a couple of days ago at Midreshet Rachel about the Mitzvah of 'sipur yetziat mitzraim'. This is the mitzah of speaking about the exodus from Egypt on the night(s) of seder. I discussed the differences between this mitzvah and the twice daily mitzvah of remembering the exodus. We go through the Hagada and discuss the format and structure of the seder. It is interesting that the mishna tells us that we must begin with disgrace and end with praise, there is an argument between Rav and Shmuel as to what this means, and we do both. In other words we have two sets of 4 questions - Mah Nishtana and later the 4 sons. We have 2 separate answers - We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Our ancestors worshipped idols, and we have two sets of praise to conclude.
Many people don't realise that the second (and long, boring) part of the Hagada (before the meal) is all based on a couple of p'sukim (verses). The Mishna tells us to 'darshan' them (and I'm still not sure how to translate that word but I'm open to offers) so we go on a long excursion through drashot on p'sukim. I think knowing that format helps to make sense of what is actually going on at the seder. But for that you will have to listen to the recording.
The shiur is just under an hour. Enjoy.


For a Streamed Link Click Here
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