Weekly Parsha

Ari Mermelstein

Many aspects of the Pesach seder can only be appreciated by placing them in their original historical context—the Greco-Roman environment in which Chazal lived and flourished. One interesting example of the imprint that that environment left on the seder is the enigmatic prescription in Mishnah Pesachim 10:8 that ein maftirin achar ha-pesach afikoman. The Talmud Bavli considers various definitions for afikoman, including that of Rav, who explains that it prohibits one from going me-chavurah le-chavurah. According to Professor Saul Lieberman, Rav’s identification reflects the Greco-Roman practice of "epikomon", a kind of after-party, held in a different location, that included more eating, drinking, games, and revelry. The Mishnah insists that tonight is indeed different from all others: the mitzvah of sippur yetziat mitzrayim commands our undivided attention.

Of course, the statement that ein maftirin achar ha-pesach afikoman appears in the haggadah as the father’s answer to the chacham. In the Talmud Yerushalmi’s version of the dialogue with the four sons, that law instead surfaces in response to the question of the tam, there labeled a tippesh. According to the Yerushalmi, one should respond to the tippesh’s question of mah zot by clarifying that ein maftirin achar ha-pesach afikoman—that one should not rise from this chavurah and go to a different chavurah. The tippesh observes a difference in the progression of the feast on this night and demands an explanation. The imperceptive son needs to be taught that the leil ha-seder is distinctive.