The Passover seder has its origins in the ritual meal described in the Pentateuch, in which families consume the meat of the paschal sacrifice together with matzah and bitter herbs. In the text of the Haggadah itself, there are a few reminders that the entire seder is, in the absence of the Temple, nothing more than an imitation of that sacrifice. And that leads Yosef Lindell to ask a question: why did the authors of the Haggadah choose to focus on the retelling of the story of the Exodus rather than on the details of the paschal offering? An alternative view, Lindell observes, is actually discussed in Tosefta, a talmudic-era work of Jewish law containing numerous rejected and non-authoritative teachings. (Lindell’s essay was first published in 2023.)

“A person must engage in the laws of the paschal offering all night, even if it is just him with his son, even if it is just him by himself, and even if it is just him and his student.” [The Tosefta] then cites a story supporting this position: “Once, Rabban Gamliel and the elders were reclining in the house of Boethius ben Zonin in Lod, and they were occupied in studying the laws of Pesah all that night, until the cock crowed. They lifted the table, made themselves ready and went to the house of study.”

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because it is quite similar to the one in the Haggadah about the five rabbis in Bnei Brak who “were telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt that whole night, until their students came and said to them, ‘The time for [reciting] the morning sh’ma has arrived.’” But in the Haggadah, it is those who discuss the story at great length who are praised, not those who study the paschal offering’s laws. The Haggadah thus makes its rejection of the Tosefta’s position rather explicit.

But I also think that the reason we do not talk more about the paschal offering is because telling the story of the Exodus is actually a meaningful way of putting the Temple front and center. In other words, . . . we focus on the story at the seder precisely because we are now in exile and telling about the miracles of the Exodus gives us hope for the future. Surely, if God redeemed us once, He can do it again. Focusing on the story instead of the sacrifice does not diminish the Temple’s centrality.

Israel’s goals of freeing the hostages and defeating Hamas (the latter necessary to prevent further hostage taking) are to some extent contradictory, since Yahya Sinwar, the ruler of the Gaza Strip, will only turn over hostages in exchange for concessions. But Jacob Nagel remains convinced that Jerusalem should continue to pursue both goals:

Only consistent military pressure on Hamas can lead to the hostages’ release, either through negotiation or military operation. There’s little chance of reaching a deal with Hamas using current approaches, including the latest Egyptian proposal. Israeli concessions would only encourage further pressure from Hamas.

There is no incentive for Hamas to agree to a deal, especially since it believes it can achieve its full objectives without one. Unfortunately, many contribute to this belief, mainly from outside of Israel, but also from within.

Recent months saw Israel mistakenly refraining from entering Rafah for several reasons. Initially, the main [reason was to try] to negotiate a deal with Hamas. However, as it became clear that Hamas was uninterested, and its only goal was to return to its situation before October 7—where Hamas and its leadership control Gaza, Israeli forces are out, and there are no changes in the borders—the deal didn’t mature.