Haggadah:Karpas/0

Karpas

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Why Eat Karpas?

The custom known today as Karpas¹ is mentioned briefly in Mishna Pesachim 10:3:

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הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנָיו מְטַבֵּל בַּחֲזֶרֶת עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לְפַרְפֶּרֶת הַפַּת.

The passage's language is somewhat difficult, but it appears to speak of eating or dipping² some food before the main meal.  The Mishna mentions chazeret (lettuce) explicitly, but the truncated phrase "and they brought before him" allows for the possibility that other foods or vegetables were brought as well.³  No reason is given for the custom, and at first glance it would seem to have nothing to do with Pesach and the story of the Exodus.  Why, then, has the custom been incorporated into the Seder?

Tannaitic Period:  A First Course

In the Mishnaic period it was a common practice in Israel that festive meals began with a  series of appetizers. This is attested to in several Tannaitic passages,⁴ which mention assorted appetizers as being part of "סדר הסעודה". Thus, for example, Tosefta Berakhot 4:8 mentions a series of three "פרפריות" that would be served to guests in an outer hall before moving to the central dining area to eat the main course.

Such festive meals likely served as the model for the Seder,⁵ and thus, in its earliest stages, the "vegetable dipping" of Karpas likely had no religious significance.  It was simply the natural opening of the meal, meant to whet the appetite for later courses.  Lettuce is mentioned explicitly, probably because it was the most common appetizer of the time,⁶ but  there would have been other foods eaten as well.  The Mishna's language "עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לְפַרְפֶּרֶת הַפַּת" suggests that the participants continued to eat until close to the meal,⁷ not limiting themselves to a single vegetable (or less than an olive's worth). In fact, in the earliest extant Haggadah from Eretz Yisrael⁸ this practice is still attested to, as the Haggadah includes four different blessings to be made at Karpas: ‎‎"‎בורא פרי האדמה", "‎בורא פרי העץ‎"‎, "בורא מיני מעדנים", and "בורא מיני נפשות", implying that at least four distinct foods were eaten.‎⁹

Amoraic Period: A Stimulant for the Children

In Amoraic literature, a different explanation of the custom appears. Bavli Pesachim 114b and 116a imply that the first dipping/eating was instituted only so that the children will ask: "כי היכי דליהוי היכירא לתינוקות".‎¹⁰  This new understanding stems from the differing dining customs in Babylonia and Israel. The dipping/eating of an appetizer was not customary outside of Israel, so the Bavli did not see being "מְטַבֵּל בַּחֲזֶרֶת" as a normal part of the meal, and needed to explain its presence in the Seder. Thus, the Gemara posits that the custom, like other exceptional acts performed throughout the evening, was instituted only to provoke questioning by the children.¹¹

Amoraic Period II: From "חזרת" to "שאר ירקות"

A second development in the Amoraic period is the institution of using "other vegetables" rather than lettuce for the first dipping.  Using lettuce had created two halakhic questions:¹² If one ate chazeret before the meal, was the obligation of maror already fulfilled, or did it need to be eaten again?¹³  Second, when should the blessing of "על אכילת מרור" be said, when one first ate of the chazeret, or only later?¹⁴  To remove themselves from doubt, several rabbis suggested eating vegetables other than lettuce for the first dipping.¹⁵

Rishonim: From "שאר ירקות" to "כרפס"

In the wake of the halakhic questions raised in the Bavli, post Talmudic authorities also rule that it is preferable to use a "non bitter" vegetable.¹⁶ Among those suggested by Machzor VitriMachzor Vitri Hilkhot Pesach 69 is karpas, which has been identified with either parsley or celery.¹⁷ This apparently became the preferred option in Rashi's circles, as his "סימני הסדר" mentions "כרפס" as the third sign.¹⁸ With time, this became the universal term for the custom, even when karpas was not used as the dipped vegetable.

Rishonim II: Derashot on Karpas

In the aftermath of the widespread usage of the name כרפס, new understandings of the custom emerged, each an attempt to connect the term itself with the events of the sojourn in Egypt:

• ס' פרך – R. Asher of LunelSefer HaMinhagot 25a suggests that כרפס spelled backwards stands for "סבלונות פרך", recalling the back breaking labor of the Israelites in Egypt.¹⁹
• כתונת פסים – The Sefer HaMenuchah asserts that כרפס recalls the כתונת פסים that Ya'akov made for Yosef, which began the chain of events leading to the descent to Egypt.²⁰
• Straw – The RokeachHilkhot Pesach 283 looks not into the word karpas, but its form, suggesting that it is meant to remind one of the straw used by the Israelites when building bricks.  As such, it represents the enslavement.

Related Disputes

• Does Karpas require הסיבה (leaning)?  The dispute regarding whether or not it is required to eat Karpas while leaning might, in part, relate to the different understandings of the custom discussed above.  If the custom stemmed from the appetizers that begin a festive meal, it would seem that it, like other parts of the meal which represent freedom, would be eaten while leaning. However, those who think the custom is merely an act meant to arouse the curiosity of the children, and, moreover, those who suggest that Karpas is an acronym for "ס' פרך" and a symbol of the oppression, would maintain that it does not require leaning.²¹
• How much should be eaten? The original custom in Israel did not limit the amount of appetizers that one could eat, and many Rishonim agree that at least an olive's worth is eaten.²² In the thirteenth century, however, several authorities suggest that one can fulfill the obligation with even a small amount, since it is just a "sign for the children".²³ This became the common practice mainly because of halakhic questions which were raised regarding whether an after-blessing should be said after Karpas; to remove themselve's from doubt, it was suggested to eat less than an olive's worth.
• Dipping: charoset, vinegar or salt water? 

¹ It is first in medieval times that the term "Karpas" is used to refer to the practice. See the discussion regarding this below.

² The word "מְטַבֵּל" has been understood in both ways. See the Itturעיטור הלכות מצה ומרור קל"ג who writes, "טבול לשון אכילה היא" and RambamCommentary on the Mishna Pesachim 10:3Hilkhot Chametz uMatzah 8:2About R. Moshe b. Maimon who explains, "ומטבל בכאן עניינו שמתעסק באכילת הירק". [Rambam, nonetheless agrees that the vegetable is dipped.]  Cf. RanBavli Pesachim 114aAbout R. Nissim Gerondi's understanding of Rashi: "ופרש"י ז"ל דמאי מטבל מטפל".

³ The missing object of the phrase "הֵבִיאוּ לְפָנָיו" has been understood in various ways. R. ChananelPesachim 114aAbout R. Chananel b. Chushiel suggests that the Mishna means, "הביאו לפניו השלחן", while RashiPesachim 114aAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki writes, "ירקות". For discussion of academic scholarship on the issue, see S. Friedman, "תוספתא עתיקתא מסכת פסח ראשון" (Jerusalem, 2003): 421-423.

⁴ See, for instance, Tosefta Pesachim 10:4, Tosefta Pesachim 10:9, Yerushalmi Berakhot 6:6.

⁵ The earliest to associate the custom of being "מְטַבֵּל בַּחֲזֶרֶת" with the year-round custom to eat assorted vegetables before the main meal might be M. Ish Shalom, "מאיר עין על סדר והגדה של לילי פסח" (Vienna, 1895): 28-35. He, however, does not suggest that the Seder simply adopted the regular custom but that there was an intentional switch in the normal order so as to spark the children's curiosity.
Regarding the general modelling of the Seder after festive meals such as that described in the Tosefta, see the discussions in S. and Z. Safrai, הגדת חז"ל, (Jerusalem, 1998): 23, 107-108 and S. Friedman, "תוספתא עתיקתא מסכת פסח ראשון" (Jerusalem, 2003): 421-438.
Other scholars have suggested that the Seder was modeled after the Greco-Roman banquets of the Rabbinic period, which the Rabbis adapted for their purposes. Since appetizers, including lettuce, were part of that meal, the practice was incorporated into the Seder as well.  See S. Stein, "The Influence of Symposia Literature on the Literary Form of the Pesah Haggadah" in The Journal of Jewish Studies 8 (1957): 13-44, who points to many similarities between the Seder and the Hellenistic symposium relating to table manners, food habits and modes of discussion. Cf. B. Bokser, The Origins of the Seder, (Berkeley, 1984): 50-66 who attempts to highlight what was nonetheless unique about the Seder, and Y. Tabory, "פסח דורות" (Tel Aviv, 1996): 367-377, who distinguishes between the customs which parallel, draw from, or intentionally deviate from the symposia.

⁶ See Bavli Avodah Zarah 11a which speaks of R. Yehuda HaNasi and the Roman Antoninus always having chazeret as part of their meals.  [The Gemara, however, assumes that the Mishna only advocates using chazeret if no other vegetable is found. See discussion below.]

⁷ "פַרְפֶּרֶת הַפַּת" might refer to the final appetizer before eating the main course.

⁸ The Haggadah was originally published by J. Greenstone, "A Fragment of the Passover Haggadah", Zeitschrift fur Hebraische Bibliographie, 15 (1911): 122-123, and later republished in full with facsimile photographs by E. D. Goldschmidt: ,הגדה של פסח: תולדותיה ומקורותיה (Jerusalem, 1981): 75-84.

⁹ The last two blessings listed are found in Yerushalmi Berakhot 6:1, as being said over a certain honey and rice dish and fish or eggs.  Accordingly, the Haggadah is assuming that Seder participants would be eating a vegetable, a fruit, a sweet rice, and either eggs or meat.  The Haggadah also lists the after-blessings to be made, suggesting that at least an olive's worth of each was eaten.

¹⁰ Though the Bavli is open to different interpretations, this is how several Rishonim, including RashiPesachim 114aAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, RashbamPesachim 114aAbout R. Shemuel b. Meir and the Raavan, understand it.  They suggest that the Bavli assumes that since eating a vegetable before the main meal was unusual, the practice was instituted only as a means to awaken the children's wonder..

¹¹ See S. Friedman, cited above (pp. 439-446), who points out that the concept of performing actions as a "sign for the children" or "so the children ask" is found predominantly in Babylonian sources, where it is usually given as an explanation for actions whose original reason was not understood by them.  As another example, Friedman points to the instruction to "remove the table," (עקירת השולחן) before Maggid.  This, like the custom of Karpas, was presumably originally related to the norms of dining in Israel,  but as it was foreign to Babylonian norms, the Bavli claims that its goal is only to provoke the children's wonder.

¹² It is not clear why these halakhic questions appear not to trouble the earlier sages living in Israel.

¹³ See the discussions in Yerushalmi Pesachim 10:3 and Bavli Pesachim 114b.

¹⁴ See the controversy at the end of Bavli Pesachim 114b-115a.

¹⁵ See Bavli Pesachim 115a: "רַב אֲחָא בְּרֵיהּ דְּרָבָא מְהַדַּר אַשְּׁאָר יְרָקוֹת, לְאַפּוֹקֵי נַפְשֵׁיהּ מִפְּלוּגְתָא." Rav is said to have used beet roots for the same reason (Yerushalmi Pesachim 10:3).

¹⁶ See Machzor Vitri Hilkhot Pesach 69: "ומביאין לפניו קערה ובה ג' מצות וירקות שאינם מרים"

¹⁷ Other references to karpas in Talmudic literature refer to a "vegetable of the river" (Bavli Sukkah 39bSukkah 39bAbout the Bavli), and R. Yose identifies this as "פיטרוסליגן" or parsley (Yerushalmi Sheviit 9:1).  The word might stem from the Greek "karpos", meaning "fruit of the soil."  Alternatively, karpas might be connected it to the Persian "karefs", which means celery.

¹⁸ See Machzor Vitri Hilkhot Pesach 65Machzor Vitri Hilkhot Pesach 65, and its attribution of these signs to "Rabbenu Shelomo." [For more about the various customs for "סימני הסדר", see Simanei HaSeder – Components and Mnemonics.]

¹⁹ Sefer HaManhig474, the AvudrahamSeder HaHaggadah, the MaharilSeder HaHaggadah of the Maharil and many others all offer variations of this explanation, differing only in what they say the letter samekh stands for: סימן, סבלות, or "ס' רבוא".

²⁰ For a full discussion of the connection between Karpas and the כתונת פסים, see G. Gevaryahu and M. Wise, "Why Does the Seder Begin with Karpas," JBQ 27 (1999): 104-110.  They point out that the only occurrence of the word "כַּרְפַּס" in Tanakh is Esther 1:6, where it means fine linen, probably from the Persian kirpus. This allowed for a play on words, connecting the vegetable karpas, with Yosef's cloak.

²¹ See the Chida's discussion in Birkei Yosef Orach Chayyim 473:14.

²² See, for example, RambamHilkhot Chametz uMatzah 8:2About R. Moshe b. Maimon,  Machzor VitriMachzor Vitri Hilkhot Pesach 60 (who requires an after-blessing, suggesting one ate at least an olive's worth) and RaavyahPesachim 525.

²³ See Sefer Minhagim Sefer Minhagim, Maharam of Rothenburg, Seder Pesach of Maharam of Rothenburg and Hagahot MaimoniyotHilkhot Chametz uMatzah 8:4.