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."
מעשה כו׳. הביא כאן מעשה זה להודיע איך היו מחבבים החכמים לספר ביציאת מצרים. ומה שהוצרך לומר שהיו מסובין בבני ברק. שלא תאמר כי לא לשם מצוה של הלילה הזה היו מספרים כל הלילה ביציאת מצרים רק בשביל תלמודם שהיו רוצים ללמוד. לכך אמר שהיו מסובין בבני ברק ואם היו לומדין היו לומדין בבית מדרשם. וכדי שלא יקשה לך איך היו מונעין את השינה מעיניהם ביום טוב. אמרו שלא היה צער להם כי מחבוב המצוה היה הזמן קצר להם מאד שלא הרגישו עד שעלה עמוד השחר. וכל כך היה הזמן קצר להם עד שלא היו משערים שעלה עמוד השחר ובאו תלמידיהם ואמרו כבר הגיע זמן קריאת שמע:
The Uniqueness of Passover Night
“It once happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon gathered together (misubin) in B'nai Brak.” The sages bring this story to show us how much the sages loved to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt and why it was necessary to tell the story while gathering around the table in B'nai Brak. Lest one assume that they were doing so for the sake of learning in general and not because it was Passover night, the Haggadah says that they were "leaning" *Leaning: The word misubin appears in the four questions: On all other nights we eat sitting or leaning (misubin); tonight all of us lean. By the middle ages leaning became a custom associated with the celebration of Passover eve, since leaning was the stance taken by the wealthy and rich. Thus when the Haggadah says that they were "leaning" it can only mean they were celebrating Passover. In the Greco-Roman world however, it was customary for the free born to lean on couches when they ate. The custom was adopted by Jews in celebration of Passover and soon became separated from its original cultural and social milieu in the Greco-Roman world. (misubin) in B'nai Brak. If they were doing so for the simple purpose of learning Torah, it would have said that they were learning in the Beit Midrash.
One should not assume that they were causing themselves discomfort by staying up all night on the festival. *A festival should be a time of physical pleasure. Staying up all night would have been physically exhausting so that it might not have been considered to be in the spirit of the festival. For these rabbis, however, the joy of spending the night telling the story of the Exodus would have been so exhilarating they would not have realized that the morning had arrived. Because they so loved performing this commandment it seemed like a short period of time to them and they didn’t even realize that dawn had arrived. As a result the students had to come and inform them that it was time for them to recite the morning Sh'ma.
“It once happened that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Tarfon gathered together (misubin) in B'nai Brak.” The sages bring this story to show us how much the sages loved to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt and why it was necessary to tell the story while gathering around the table in B'nai Brak. Lest one assume that they were doing so for the sake of learning in general and not because it was Passover night, the Haggadah says that they were "leaning" *Leaning: The word misubin appears in the four questions: On all other nights we eat sitting or leaning (misubin); tonight all of us lean. By the middle ages leaning became a custom associated with the celebration of Passover eve, since leaning was the stance taken by the wealthy and rich. Thus when the Haggadah says that they were "leaning" it can only mean they were celebrating Passover. In the Greco-Roman world however, it was customary for the free born to lean on couches when they ate. The custom was adopted by Jews in celebration of Passover and soon became separated from its original cultural and social milieu in the Greco-Roman world. (misubin) in B'nai Brak. If they were doing so for the simple purpose of learning Torah, it would have said that they were learning in the Beit Midrash.
One should not assume that they were causing themselves discomfort by staying up all night on the festival. *A festival should be a time of physical pleasure. Staying up all night would have been physically exhausting so that it might not have been considered to be in the spirit of the festival. For these rabbis, however, the joy of spending the night telling the story of the Exodus would have been so exhilarating they would not have realized that the morning had arrived. Because they so loved performing this commandment it seemed like a short period of time to them and they didn’t even realize that dawn had arrived. As a result the students had to come and inform them that it was time for them to recite the morning Sh'ma.