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ת ַאי ִצי ִבּ םי ִר ְפַּס ְמ וּיָהְו ,ק ַר ְב יֵנ ְב ִבּ ןי ִבֻּס ְ מ וּיָה ֶש ןוֹפ ְר ַט י ִבּ ַרְו אָביִקֲﬠ י ְבּ ַר ְו הָי ְרַזֲﬠ ןֶבּ רָזָﬠְל ֶא י ִבּ ַר ְו ַﬠֻשוֹהְי י ִבּ ַר ְו רֶזֶﬠיִלֱא י ִבּ ַר ְבּ ה ֶשֲׂﬠ ַמ
.תי ִרֲח ַשׁ ל ֶ שׁ ע ַמ ְשׁ ת ַאי ִר ְק ן ַמְז ַﬠיִגּ ִה ,וּני ֵתוֹבּ ַר :םֶהָל וּר ְמ ָאְו םֶהי ֵדי ִמְל ַת וּאָבּ ֶשׁ דַﬠ הָלְיַלַּה וֹתוֹא לָכּ םִי ַר ְצ ִמ

It once happened that Rabbis Eliezer, Yehoshua, Elazar ben Azaryah, Akiva and Tarfon were reclining at the
seder table in Bnei Brak. They spent the whole night discussing the Exodus until their students came and said
to them: "Rabbis, it is time for us to recite the Shema.

Sleep All Day, Secret Meetings All Night? ‐ Tania Blanga (11th Grade)

5 Rabbis stayed up all night in B’nei Brak talking about Yetziat Mitzrayim. To us, that’s pretty normal. To oth-
ers, that’s pretty odd. Rumors started spreading that this was actually a secret meeting to discuss releasing the
Jews from the Roman oppression, using the concept of Egypt as code. If this was true, then the fact that the stu-
dents stood outside keeping watch makes sense because any other good student would be inside partaking in the
conversation. It also makes sense that the students came in to remind the rabbis to say Shema. The Rabbis didn’t
necessarily need the reminder. However, this served as a way to warn the Rabbis that since it was light out, there
was a risk of being discovered. A common question one may have is: “Why B’nei Brak?” The answer is sim-
ple: Rabbi Akiva lived there, and he was one of the leaders in the revolt against the Romans.

Even with this political explanation, the whole event still doesn’t make sense. The S’fat Emet asks why the
Haggadah gives such praise to a group of Jews who were simply learning Torah. It suggests that this all-nighter
had a particular effect on Pesach. As the Israelite slaves had gotten no sleep on the night of 15 Nissan, occupying
themselves with getting everything ready for their escape and then actually leaving Egypt, so the five Rabbis
were re-enacting the experience of their forefathers. One can see the advice the Haggadah itself gives, that “in
every generation a person is obliged to see himself as if he personally emerged from Egypt” in this event. If this
is the case, why emphasise that it was Rabbis and not ordinary people who were involved in this incident? Possi-
bly in order to create a precedent and provide an example for the rest of the community to remember and follow
on every succeeding Pesach.

What is the lesson from all of this? It’s quite simple: the lesson is to never be quick to judge. If one was quick to
judge and took the first opinion they heard, they would never get to the real answer from the S’fat Emet! If you
are quick to judge and jump to conclusions, you will never let yourself delve deeper and ask more questions to
find better, more concise, and more meaningful answers.

The Five Rabbi’s in Bnei Brak ‐ Shifra Zonana (8 grade)
th

Five Rabbis were celebrating the Pesach Seder in Bnei Brak. They were discussing the Exodus from Egypt the
entire night until their students came to warn them that it was time for the reading of the morning shema. Why
did their students have to come and remind them that it was daytime and it was time for morning shema? Didn't
they know it was morning themselves?

Rabbi David Feinstein suggests, in the “Anah Dodi Haggadah,” that even though they knew it was morning they
were so interested in the story of the Exodus that they could not stop talking about it. He also suggests that may-
be they were so swept away by the mitzvah that they didn't even realize it was morning. The lesson we can take
from this is that we should have so much pleasure from learning Torah that we won't even be able to look up.
You should also look forward to it and look at it as something so interesting that is sweeps you away.