The Fifth Question?
By the late Rachmiel Frydland
© Messianic Literature Outreach
used by permission
The Passover table was prepared and set for the seder. In the center was the five-branched candlestick with the holiday lights over which the blessings were pronounced by the mother of the household. The father had been busy for the last twenty-four hours removing the leaven and cleaning ritually in boiling water some of the utensils that have to be used all year round and on Passover. The special utensils kept only for these eight days of Passover were taken out from hiding. The matzah was purchased and brought into the house as well as the wine for this special season.
Now it was time to prepare the ceremonial platter (the Seder plate) where the various additional items are placed into their proper place arranged in two triangular patterns: First the roasted shankbone, symbol of the roasted Passover lamb, placed on the right. Opposite it, on the left, is the roasted egg, also symbolical of the Passover, which was roasted whole and symbol of the new life and resurrection. The bitter herbs were placed somewhat below and centered between the shankbone and the egg, to remind us of the bitter life which our ancestors endured in Egypt.
The next triangle consists of the haroset, made of grated nuts and apples with a dash of wine to produce the color of mortar as it is written: "And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar" (Exodus 1:14). This item is placed on the lower right. Opposite it on the left is the vegetable called karpas usually a stalk of petersilia or carrot to remind us of the low fare given to our ancestors in Egypt and also to be a symbol of the hyssop used for the sprinkling of the blood of the Passover lamb. Then centered below them are the grated bitter herbs to complete the second triangle. There is also a seventh item outside the large platter. This is a dish of salt water to remind us of tears shed in Egypt and of the crossing of the salted Red Sea.
THE FOUR QUESTIONS
The four questions are to be asked by the youngest son as it is written: "And it shall be when thy son asketh thee.... What is this" (Exodus 13:14). The questions asked are:
Why is this night different from all other nights....
- On any other night we may eat either leavened or unleavened bread, but on this night only unleavened bread?
- On any other night we may eat any herbs, but this night only bitter herbs?
- On any other night we do not dip even once, but on this night twice (the bitter herbs in the haroset and the vegetable in the salt water)?
- On all nights we eat either sitting or leaning (on cushions) but on this night we all lean?
This is an opportune time for the father to begin the chanting of the Hagadah. the great story of the exodus from Egypt and the many miracles which accompanied it. This is accompanied also by various symbolical actions as the diminishing of the wine in the cup at the recital of the ten plagues that God brought on the Egyptians, to show God's compassion on the very enemies of God and His people. At another time the father pointing to the shankbone will say, "The paschal lamb, which our ancestors ate.... denotes that God passed over our ancestors' houses in Egypt." In the same way pointing to the matzot he says, "We eat them because there was not sufficient time for the dough of our ancestors to leaven, when they left Egypt." The bitter herbs.... "because the Egyptians embittered our life."
THE BROKEN MATZAH
Early in the ceremony the father uncovers the three matzot which lie in front of him in a three-pocketed napkin, he takes out the middle matzah, breaks it in half, takes the larger half and wraps it in a napkin and hides it somewhere under his cushion. One of the children will try to steal it away and claim a price if he succeeds.
Otherwise it will lie there "buried" until the service is over. Then it will be taken out and broken into small pieces and distributed to the members of the family. This, too, is a symbol of the Passover of which everyone was to participate. This matzah since it had been broken has become the aphikomen, a word apparently derived from the Greek meaning, "I arrive, I come to" (not epikomen, which means "dessert").
A FIFTH QUESTION
The following questions are not in the Hagadah but should be asked nevertheless:
- Why is the middle matzah broken in the course of the Seder? Why is the larger half hidden away, buried under the cushion, taken out later and eaten by all in memory of the Passover lamb?
- Why do we place three matzot in one napkin? The usual explanation is that they represent the threefold division in Israel, Priests, Levites and Israelites. But the priests and Levites are of the same tribe and the whole people of Israel is called a kingdom of priests in Exodus 19:6?
- Four cups of wine, symbolizing blood, are prescribed for the four "I will's" of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7, but why the redness of blood? Before partaking of them one is to say, "Behold I am prepared and ready to fulfill the commandment of the first (second, third, fourth) cup. In the name of the Holy Unity, blessed be lie and His Shechinah, through Him who is hidden and concealed." Where is the command to drink wine in the Hebrew Scriptures? Is not this prayer contrary to the Rambam (Maimonides) concept of God being almost an abstract Being?
- What is the meaning of the verse we recite from Psalm 118:22, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner." Who is the "Stone" and who are the "Builders?"
OUR ANSWER
Jewish believers in the Messiah are convinced that there is a connection in the Passover seder with the Last Supper of our Messiah. We read in the Brit Hadasha.
He took bread and gave thanks and broke it, and gave unto them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament (or, Brit Hadasha) in my blood, which is shed for you (Luke 22:19-20).
- Thus the three matzot may represent God the Unity, His Shechinah and the One who is still concealed and hidden from most of our people.
- The middle matzah represents the One whose body was broken and given for us. It was hidden and buried, and then resurrected with the promise of aphikomen: "I have come already and am coming again." (Maranatha, has the same meaning in Aramaic: "Our Lord has come" and maranatha, "Come our Lord").
- The wine represents His sacrificial blood, the New Covenant (or Testament) of which Jeremiah 31:31-34 prophesied, "Behold the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah."
- He, the Messiah is the Stone, the Rock of Israel. Him, many of our builders, or leaders, rejected, and He has become the headstone, the most important Jew in the history of our people. But one day our people will accept Him, "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." How about you? Have you received your Redeemer - the Stone whom the builders rejected?
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