מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־עֲזַרְיָה וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וְרַבִּי טַרְפוֹן שֶׁהָיוּ מְסֻבִּין בִּבְנֵי־בְרַק וְהָיוּ מְסַפְּרִים בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם כָּל־אוֹתוֹ הַלַּיְלָה, עַד שֶׁבָּאוּ תַלְמִידֵיהֶם וְאָמְרוּ לָהֶם רַבּוֹתֵינוּ הִגִּיעַ זְמַן קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע שֶׁל שַׁחֲרִית.
It happened once [on Pesach] that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining in Bnei Brak and were telling the story of the exodus from Egypt that whole night, until their students came and said to them, "The time of [reciting] the morning Shema has arrived."
(א) מעשה ברבי אליעזר ור"י כו' קריאת שמע של שחרית, לכאורה סותר א"ע שאומר בעבור זה כו' מונחים לפניך, הרי דאין הזמן גרמא לספר ביצי"מ רק עד אחר זמן אכילת מצה, ולמ"ד עד חצות גם הגדה אינה רק עד חצות, וכן מבואר בפסחים ובמגלה דגם ההלל שאחר בהמ"ז מחוייב לגמור עד חצות (רמ"א בא"ח תע"ז ס"א) א"כ איך אמר דמצוה לספר כל הלילה, אך דבאמת ניחא דבשלמא בק"פ שהקפידה התורה בגזירת הכתוב שלא לאכול רק עד חצות לזכרון ועברתי בא"מ, וה"נ על מצות ומרורים הדין כך הוא, וה"נ ההלל שהוא עבורו אינו אלא עד חצות בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך, אבל בענין סיפור גדולות ונפלאות שנעשו במצרים והטובות שעשה הש"י ביציאה זו, באמת אין הז"ג עד חצות דווקא והמצאה כל הלילה, וע"ז אמר וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח, ומביא ראיה מר"א ור"י כו' רבותינו כו' הגיע זמן קריאת שמע ש"ש, והרי ראב"ע ס"ל דפסח מדאורייתא עד חצות (ברכות ט'), ובז ניחא מאמר המגיד ארב"ע הרי אני כו' כל ימי חייך הלילות, דלכאורה הרי ענין זה מדבר בכל השנה לענין פ' ציצית בלילה, ומה ענין זה לסיפור יצי"מ בליל פסח שבפירוש צותה התורה להזכיר יציאת מצרים באותו הלילה, ולפמ"ש ניחא דראבע גופא בא להוכיח דמצוה באותו הלילה לספר ביציאת מצרים אף עד אחר חצות, ושלא נימא כיון דחזינן דלא הקפידה התורה להזכיר יציאת מצרים בכל השנה רק ביום ולא בלילה רק דאותו הלילה שהוציא ה' אותנו חייבה לספר גם בלילה, וא"כ תפסת מועט תפסת שלא לספר רק דומיא דציותה בזכירת עשיית הפסח היינו עד חצות דווקא, לז"א ומביא מה שאמר ראב"ע מה שדרש ב"ז כל ימי חייך לרבות הלילות שאף בכל השנה מצוה לספר ביצ"מ בלילה, וא"כ כיון דיצי"מ אין הזמן גרמא דוקא בלילה זה, א"כ ממילא בלילה הזה מצוה להרבות בספור יצי"מ אף כל הלילה וכל המרבה הרי זה משובח:
(1) Once Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua…were reclining in B’nai Brak: When are we supposed to tell the story of the Exodus on Passover night: all night or just when the Seder plate is before us? There is a contradiction between this text and other texts in the Haggadah and rabbinic literature. In this incident we learn that the sages told the story of the Exodus all night long, suggesting that there is no time limit within which one is obligated to recall the Exodus. Yet elsewhere we learn that one must do so 'while the Matzah and Maror are before him.' Further, we are told that one must consume the Afikomen by midnight suggesting that there is a time limit for telling the story of the Exodus. The time limit, however, is for the Passover sacrifice and for eating Matzah and Maror – not recalling the miracles of Passover. This story teaches us that there is no time limit for one who wishes to spend the entire night recalling the Exodus. The Haggadah emphasizes this by telling us that “One who speaks about the Exodus at length all night is praiseworthy.” The story of the Rabbis in B’nai Brak is an illustration of this statement.
Rabbi Elazar was of the opinion that the Passover sacrifice must be consumed by midnight. One might think therefore that the telling is limited to midnight as well. The Haggadah, therefore, includes Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah‟s statement even though it does not directly concern Passover. This passage has to do with the question of whether or not we have to recite the passage regarding tzitzit, fringes (Numbers 15) in the evening. By including this discussion we learn that we must mention the Exodus every night (and not just during the day) throughout the year but on Passover night, the night of the Exodus, the telling has no time limit (as it does the rest of the year). One can discuss all night long if one wishes.
(א) מעשה בר' אליעזר ור' יהושע וכו' שהיו מסובין בבני ברק. בזאת הבבא מקש' הרבה קושיו' האברבנילו בזבח פסח איך יתכן שנזדמנו כל אלו החכמי' שזה דירתו בלוד וזה בפקיעין ואיך כל אחד נעתק ממקומו ללון בכמו זה המקום בחג הפסח הנכבד הזה אשר ברגילות כל אדם להעביר עצמו לשמוח עם בני ביתו וזה המקו' בלתי רשום ולא נקרא שמו עלי אדמות ומקומות ארץ ישראל ולא בבל רק בכאן. ומתר' שהנכון הוא בעיניו שהיו מסובין בבית על כרים וכסתות מרוקמות זהב והיינו בבני ברק שהיה הזהב והאבנים טובות מבהיקות כברקים להורות על עוצם זריזות בכבוד הלילה הזה להיות יושבים מסובים כבני מלכים אמנם לפי הפשט הוא שם מקום.
(1) Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, and Rabbi Akiva were dining together in B'nai Brak: Abarbanel asks many questions regarding this passage. Why did the sages uproot themselves from their homes to be together on Seder night when people usually go to great trouble to be with their own household on Passover. Why were they in a place called B'nai Brak? It was not a well known location; it is not even mentioned among the towns of the land of Israel or Babylonia. Abarbanel understands b'nai b'rak not as a name but as a description of the items they used on Seder night; he suggests that each of them was in his own home leaning on the finest pillows and couches which were like b'nai b'rak , 'shining items.' Abarbanel suggests that the if the sages were together, they were in the home of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, who was a rich man and also the head of the Sanhedrin.
Literally, however, B'nai B'rak is the name of a place.
(א) מעשה ברבי אליעזר. שכל מסיבתם רבנים גדולים וכל רז לא אניס להו ועכ"ז היו מספרים וכו' והגם שאין עמהם לא נשים ולא קטנים דסתם נשים וקטנים אינם יכולים להיות נעורים כל הלילה בפרט אחר שתיית ד' כוסות עכ"ז היו מספרים ולא היו מסתפקים במועט אלא כל אותו הלילה ואע"פ שיודעים כלם מה שישמעו והטעם הואיל ומצינו שהקפידה התורה לכפול השאלה והתשובה כנגד ארבעה בנים ש"מ שחפץ ה' בנו להרבות בספור זה ואתייא מכללא שא"א שלא ישמעו זמ"ז דבר חידוש שאין כל אחד רשאי לחדש רק מה שקבלה נשמתו כפי שורש בחינתו ומביא ראיה לזה:
(1) Ma’aseh B’Rebbe Eliezer: This entire gathering was made up of great sages (without women or children present) from whom no sublime meanings of the Torah were kept. We know that there could not have been women or children present because the Haggadah tells us that sages stayed up all night and drank four cups of wine, something the women or children were unable to do. Even though they knew the story of the Exodus quite well, they were obligated to stay up all night reviewing and discussing the story. While the sages connected the repetition of questions and answers in the Torah regarding the Exodus with the four children, the general lesson we learn from this repetition is that it is impossible to repeat the story of the Exodus without learning something new and different from one another. A person should not only repeat that which he already knew based on his own but should learn new lessons and insights from others. The Haggadah goes on to give an example of this in the incident of Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah.
(1) Once, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon: Considering that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon were older and wiser than the others, why weren’t they listed according to their age? The sages gathered in B’nai Brak, so called because they were in the home of the Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah who was the Patriarch and whose dishes and utensils sparkled (barak). Out of respect for the Patriarch, two sat to his right and two sat to his left. This story is brought as proof for the previous statement. Even though they were all experts in the four levels of Torah study, PaRDeS, they still spent the entire night recalling and recounting the story of the Exodus. In the Zohar we learn that when we tell the story of the Exodus, God sends His angels to listen to His children telling their story.
That entire night: note that the word night, lailah, is masculine here. Until midnight the evening is called la’yil which is feminine, and from midnight on the evening is called lailah. That entire night (lailah) implies that it was the second part of the night (the masculine part of the night) since the first part of the night was spent performing all the appropriate commandments. It is also possible that each of the sages spent the first part of the night in his own home performing the seder for the members of his household. After midnight that all came together in order to sing songs, and recite Song of Songs together until sleep overtook them.
Until their students came and said, ‘Our Rabbis, that time for the recitation of the morning Shema has arrived: Surely they saw that the sun was rising, surely their discussions and interpretation was not so all encompassing that they didn’t notice what time it was! The fact is that they were in B’nai B’rak and the light of their discussion was so brilliant, they could not differentiate between day and night! Or possibly, a fire came from heaven and surrounded them so that they couldn’t see that daytime had arrived. Therefore, their disciples came and said to them that one should not mix up commandments with one another; it is the obligation of the night to tell the story of the Exodus and now during the day it is an obligation to mention the exodus when one recites the final passage of the Shema. They came to tell them that it was time to conclude one commandment and to perform another.
Another explanation: The reason that the students came to remind their teachers about the Sh’ma was to emphasize the two aspects of the Exodus. There are two aspects to the story of the Exodus: one is telling the story of the actual Exodus from Egypt and the ten plagues; the second is the story of the splitting of the Red Sea. We mention the splitting of the Red Sea in the morning as part of the Shacharit service. The sages spent the whole night recalling the story of the Exodus. The disciples now came to remind their teachers that it is also necessary to recall the other half of the Exodus – the splitting of the sea – as part of the Shacharit service. According to Rav Yehudah, the recitation of the Shema was ordained by the sages but the mention of the splitting of the sea is a Torah obligation. It was incumbent upon the students to remind their teachers of this because they were so engrossed in the discussion of the Exodus.
Why does the Haggadah include a story about these five sages in particular? These sages disagreed over the issue of what part of the night one is obligated to recall and discuss the Exodus from Egypt. According to Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, one is only obligated to do so until midnight. His opinion was based on the idea that the Exodus took place at midnight. Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yehoshua, on the other hand, felt that the Exodus should be discussed all night long since the time of the flight from Egypt took place the following day, so we continue to discuss the story until the hour of the flight. Rabbi Tarfon, tangentially, was also involved in this disagreement. The argument went on all night long as to whether one is required to tell the story of the Exodus until midnight or until daybreak.
(א) מעשה ברבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע וכו' והיו מספרים ביציאת מצרים כל הלילה. ואין ספק שלא היה שם סיפור היציאה לבד כי לזה אף שעה אחת היא למותר רק ע"כ שהם דרשו וחקרו על כל פרט ופרט איזה צורך טובה היה בו להם והאיך שהיה צופה ומביט בטובה ההיא שיהיה כח בטובה ההיא להטיב עד סוף כל הדורות עד שנאמר על כל טובה וטובה מטובותיו כי לעולם חסדו.
(1) Was it really necessary for the sages in B’nai Brak to spend the entire night reviewing the story of the Exodus from Egypt?
The fact that the sages in B’nai Brak spent so much time retelling the story of the Exodus when this story could be simply told in an hour or two is proof that they were delving into the implications of the story. As we have seen in the commentary above, the sages studied each of God’s acts of kindness to understand how these acts have influenced not only the generation that went forth from Egypt but all future generations as well. This story, then, is a proof text for the final statement in the prior paragraph that anyone who spends time at length reviewing the story of the Exodus is praiseworthy.