Even for those of us who eat meat, it might surprise us to be served a mythical creature. But, that’s exactly what happens at the Passover seder, according to this old poem “Mah Nokhal BaSe’udah HaZo?” (?מַה נֹאכַל בִּסְעוּדָה הַזּוֹ “What Will We Eat At This Meal?”).

We do not know who wrote this Hebrew ditty, but it has been sung for several centuries by the Jews of Libya, Djerba and Afghanistan. With a list like that, this might not sound like an Ashkenazic tradition. Yet, a Yiddish version of this song exists!^[1] From An Invitation To Piyut –accessed 2019-04-23 

Just as the seder night is full of questions, this song is a whole slew of questions, but with some unexpected answers.

The main dishes are the Primeval Ox and the Leviathan—the former ruling the land creatures, and the latter the most powerful of all sea creatures. Sometimes called Behemah (בְּהֵמָה, “Beast”) or Behemot (בְּהֵמוֹת, “Beasts”), the Shor HaBor, Ox of the Pit/Abyss or Primeval Ox, appears alongside the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible. Although the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch did not make it into the Hebrew Bible, this Jewish book tells a tradition that later rabbis will tell: that, in the future, God will make a feast where these two terrors of the Earth will be eaten by the righteous remnant (29:4). Later rabbinic traditions carry forward this idea very clearly, and our song here tells us that this night is different from all other nights: for, tonight, we’re eating the food of the future!

But while we eat the food of days to come, we drink from the wine of history. The “Preserved Wine” on our table tonight dates back to the Six Days of Creation (a tradition taught in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 34b). We eat in the future, but we drink the past.

Like our meal tonight, the Torah transcends time. And if we were hoping for somebody to teach a little torah tonight, we will have the man who first brought torah to us bringing it down again. Moses our master comes back to life tonight at our very table!

A religious man was Moses, but was he wise? Bring in the wisest man the Jews have ever known: King Solomon. If it weren’t for him, our tradition wouldn’t know to whom to attribute the Books of Proverbs, Song of Songs, or Ecclesiastes. Modern bible scholars may disagree today, but our tradition points to King Solomon as the author of “the Wisdom literature” of our Bible.

But enough of the brains and the smarts. Tonight is a night of entertainment! King David will play his lute, Miriam the Prophet will dance, and Deborah will sing. And who said vaudeville was dead?

Yet, tonight isn’t just a show. Good as this gathering may be already, there is good news yet to come. And we have a very special guest who comes bearing “good news” for us. Elijah the Prophet, for whom we always open our doors, is finally showing up tonight! Let’s listen carefully because the rumor is the “good news” he has might have something to do with the messiah.

But, news, schmewz… What good is a life without blessings? We should always end an evening with a blessing. We will soon be blessed by the blesser of all blessers: the original High Priest, Aharon himself.

Tonight, we eat the future; we drink the past; Moses and Solomon bring the wits; Deborah, Miriam and King David provide entertainment of Biblical proportions; Elijah the Prophet is the news anchor; and we’re each getting blessed by the first man to see the Holy of Holies, Aharon the High Priest.

Now, how’s that for a meal?