Pesach
(א) עַרְבֵי פְסָחִים סָמוּךְ לַמִּנְחָה, לֹא יֹאכַל אָדָם עַד שֶׁתֶּחְשָׁךְ. וַאֲפִלּוּ עָנִי שֶׁבְּיִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יֹאכַל עַד שֶׁיָּסֵב. וְלֹא יִפְחֲתוּ לוֹ מֵאַרְבַּע כּוֹסוֹת שֶׁל יַיִן, וַאֲפִלּוּ מִן הַתַּמְחוּי:
(ד) מָזְגוּ לוֹ כוֹס שֵׁנִי, וְכָאן הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל אָבִיו, וְאִם אֵין דַּעַת בַּבֵּן, אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ, מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מִכָּל הַלֵּילוֹת, שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין חָמֵץ וּמַצָּה, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻלּוֹ מַצָּה. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין שְׁאָר יְרָקוֹת, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה מָרוֹר. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בָּשָׂר צָלִי, שָׁלוּק, וּמְבֻשָּׁל, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻלּוֹ צָלִי. שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ מַטְבִּילִין פַּעַם אַחַת, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים. וּלְפִי דַעְתּוֹ שֶׁל בֵּן, אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ. מַתְחִיל בִּגְנוּת וּמְסַיֵּם בְּשֶׁבַח, וְדוֹרֵשׁ מֵאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי, עַד שֶׁיִּגְמֹר כֹּל הַפָּרָשָׁה כֻלָּהּ:
(ז) מָזְגוּ לוֹ כוֹס שְׁלִישִׁי, מְבָרֵךְ עַל מְזוֹנוֹ. רְבִיעִי, גּוֹמֵר עָלָיו אֶת הַהַלֵּל, וְאוֹמֵר עָלָיו בִּרְכַּת הַשִּׁיר. בֵּין הַכּוֹסוֹת הַלָּלוּ, אִם רוֹצֶה לִשְׁתּוֹת, יִשְׁתֶּה. בֵּין שְׁלִישִׁי לָרְבִיעִי, לֹא יִשְׁתֶּה:
(ח) וְאֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן. יָשְׁנוּ מִקְצָתָן, יֹאכְלוּ. כֻּלָּן, לֹא יֹאכֵלוּ. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, נִתְנַמְנְמוּ, יֹאכְלוּ. נִרְדְּמוּ, לֹא יֹאכֵלוּ:
(1) A man may not eat until it gets dark on the eve of Pesach [from] close to [the time of] the afternoon offering. Even the poorest person in Israel may not eat [on the eve of Pesach] until he reclines [at the night's Seder]. And [the communal officers] must give him no fewer than four cups of wine, and [they must do so] even [if he receives relief] from the charity plate.
(4) A second cup [of wine] would be mixed for him. And here the son asks [questions to] his father. And if the son has no understanding [in order to ask questions], his father teaches him [to ask]: "Why is this night different from all [other] nights? On all [other] nights, we eat chamets (leavened grain products) and matsa, [but] on this night, it is all matsa. On all [other] nights, we eat other vegetables, [but] on this night, it is all bitter herbs. On all [other] nights, we eat meat roasted, stewed or boiled, [but] on this night, it is all roasted. On all [other] nights, we dip [vegetables] once, [but] on this night, we dip [vegetables] twice." And according to the son's understanding, his father instructs him. He begins [instructing him about the Exodus story] with [the account of Israel’s] shame and concludes with [Israel’s] praise (glory); and expounds from “My father was a wandering Aramean” (Deuteronomy 26:5) until he completes the whole entire passage.
(7) A third cup would be mixed for [the Seder leader]. He [then] blesses [God] for his meal. [The] fourth [cup is mixed] and he finishes Hallel over it [while it is in front of him] and [then] recites the blessing over the song [of praise, i.e., Hallel]. Between these [first three] cups, if he wants to drink, he may drink. Between the third and the fourth [cups], he may not drink.
(8) We may not eat an afikoman [a dessert or other foods eaten after the meal] after [we are finished eating] the Pesach sacrifice. If some of the company fell asleep, they may [continue to] eat [of the Pesach sacrifice]. If all of them [fell asleep], they may not [continue to] eat [it]. Rabbi Yose says, "If they [only] nod off, they may [continue to] eat [it]. If they fall asleep [completely], they may not [continue to] eat [it]."
(א) כָּל הָאוֹכֵל כְּזַיִת חָמֵץ בְּפֶסַח מִתְּחִלַּת לֵיל חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר עַד סוֹף יוֹם אֶחָד וְעֶשְׂרִים בְּנִיסָן בְּמֵזִיד חַיָּב כָּרֵת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יב טו) "כִּי כָּל אֹכֵל חָמֵץ וְנִכְרְתָה". בְּשׁוֹגֵג חַיָּב קָרְבַּן חַטָּאת קְבוּעָה. אֶחָד הָאוֹכֵל וְאֶחָד הַמְמַחֶה וְשׁוֹתֶה:
(1) Anyone who eats an olive's volume of leavened bread on Passover beginning on the night of the 15th until the end of the 21st of Nissan intentionally is obligated to [a punishment of] kareit/cutting off, as it was said, "For anyone who eats leavened bread and will be cut off" (Exodus 12:15). Unintentionally - one is obligated to a sacrifice of a fixed type (i.e. non-sliding scale) of sin-offering. This is [the same for] one who eats [it] and one who liquifies and drinks [it].
Shavuot
"ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר"
אמר רב אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא: מלמד שכפה הקדוש ברוך הוא עליהם את ההר כגיגית, ואמר להם: אם אתם מקבלים התורה, מוטב; ואם לאו, שם תהא קבורתכם.
אמר רב אחא בר יעקב: מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא. אמר רבא: אף על פי כן הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש, דכתיב: "קימו וקבלו היהודים" קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר.
The Torah says: “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lowermost part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the verse teaches that the Holy Blessed One overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.
אמר רבי אלעזר: הכל מודים בעצרת דבעינן נמי לכם. מאי טעמא? יום שניתנה בו תורה הוא.
Rabbi Elazar said: All agree with regard to Atzeret, the holiday of Shavuot, that we require that it be also “for you,” meaning that it is a mitzva to eat, drink, and rejoice on that day. What is the reason? It is the day on which the Torah was given.
Elliott Horowitz, "Coffee, Coffeehouses, and the Nocturnal Rituals of Early Modern Jewry" (AJS Review 1989)
The widening popularity of coffee in eighteenth-century Italy seems to have breathed new life into the observance not only of Tikkun Hazot, but also of the Shavuot and Hoshana Rabbah vigils. The history of their dissemination in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is a more complicated process than can be adequately chronicled and analyzed here. Yet it may be noted that only in the latter century, as coffee entered the fabric of everyday life in Italy, did mass-market editions of the readings for these two nights roll regularly off the presses.
תרל"א, יום א'
"וביום הביכורים כו' מנחה חדשה כו'" כי באורייתא ברא קוב"ה עלמא. נמצא חיות פנימיות של כל הנבראים הוא כח הראשית שמהתורה. כמ"ש בשביל התורה שנקראת ראשית. וכמ"ש כח מעשיו הגיד שתורה הוא כח מעשה בראשית. אך כי נברא להיות נעלם הפנימיות אבל ביום מתן תורה נתגלה זה ונדבק הכל בהשורש.
וז"ש פנים בפנים דיבר ה' עמכם. וכן מ"ש מכל דיבור נתמלא העולם בשמים. וכן מ"ש נחלק לשבעים לשונות. הכל כנ"ל שאז נתגלה ונמשך חיות התורה לכל הנבראים.
ועשרת הדיברות נגד עשרה מאמרות כמ"ש בזוה"ק. שפי' מאמר בחשאי ובהסתר. ודיבור הוא התגלות. דבר מלך שלטון. שאז נתגלה שכח התורה מחי' הכל ומושלת על הכל. ועיקר קבלת התורה הוא ההתגלות.
1870, First Day [of Shavuot]
"On the day of the first-fruits, as you offer a new gift to the Lord..." (Numbers 28:26). God created the world through Torah. Therefore, the inner life of all creatures is the power of beginning that derives from Torah. Thus the sages taught: "[God created the world] for the sake of Torah, which is called 'beginning'." Or, as Scripture says: "God declared to God's people the power of God's acts" (Psalms 111:6), for Torah is the original power of creation. Creation was in such a fashion, however, that this inwardness was hidden. Now, with the giving of the Torah, it was revealed, and everything became joined to its root.
This is the meaning of "Face to face [or 'Facing inward'] God spoke to you" (Deuteronomy 5:4). So, too, their statement: "With every word the whole world filled up with spices." This also explains [the verse:] "Torah was divided into seventy languages." It is all as we have said, for then the life-force of Torah was drawn forth and revealed to all creatures.
The Ten Commandments are parallel to the ten utterances [of Creation], as the holy Zohar says.But the "utterance" is silent, while the "word" is revealed. "The king's word" is his rule. Then it was revealed that the power of Torah gives life to all and rules over all that is. The most essential [ikkar] "receiving of the Torah" was this revelation.
- trans. by Arthur Green, The Language of Truth pp. 399-400