Today we conclude chapter five of Tractate Zevachim with a discussion about how and when one must consume the paschal sacrifice on the night of the seder. For background, here’s what the Torah says:
“They shall eat the flesh that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs… You shall not leave any of it over until morning; if any of it is left until morning, you shall burn it. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly: it is a Passover offering to Adonai. For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt…” (Exodus 12:7-11)
With this backdrop, let’s dive into the Gemara. The end of the mishnah we read yesterday taught:
The paschal offering is eaten only at night and is eaten only until midnight.
On today’s daf, the Gemara asks:
Who is the tanna (who taught this mishnah)? Rav Yosef said that it is Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya. As it is taught: “And they shall eat of the flesh on that night” (Exodus 12:8). Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: It is stated here: “On that night” (without stating when the night ends). And it is stated there: “And I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12).
The Torah makes it pretty clear that the Passover lamb must be eaten at night, but at what time does night end and morning begin? Elazar ben Azarya explains:
Just as there until midnight, so too here until midnight.
Based on his read of the mishnah, which uses the terms “night” and “midnight” in reference to when the paschal sacrifice can be eaten, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya employs a gezeira shava — an argument by verbal analogy — to assert that when the word “night” is used in the two verses cited above, one should understand that nighttime ends at midnight.
However, Rabbi Akiva disagrees with his colleague:
Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya: But isn’t it stated: “And so you shall eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staffs in your hands, and you will eat it in haste, for it is the paschal offering for the Lord” (Exodus 12:11)? (This verse indicates that the paschal offering may be eaten) until the time of haste.
Rabbi Akiva posits that the Israelites fled Egypt in haste at daybreak rather than in the middle of the night. In that case, wouldn’t they have eaten the rest of the lamb during the night before their departure? And if so, how can we rule that midnight is the deadline for consuming the paschal offering?
In answer to this last question, Abaye and Rav Yosef rule that one must finish eating the paschal lamb by midnight because if a person loses track of time and dawn arrives, the consumption of the meat after that time would be sinful. And we know from the text of the Passover Haggadah that the sages did, in fact, get caught up in discussing the Exodus at the seder and needed to be reminded by their students that dawn had arrived and it was time to recite the morning prayers.
In our day (and at the time of the sages quoted above), there’s no chance of eating the paschal lamb after the deadline because the Temple is no more and sacrifices have ceased. Instead, we mark its importance by pointing to a shank bone on our seder plate, and the final thing we eat — before midnight — is a piece of matzah. On Pesachim 120, Rava makes the comparison explicit:
Since (Numbers 9:11) juxtaposes matzah to the paschal lamb, it is considered like the paschal lamb, (and therefore matzah may also be eaten only until midnight).
Whether it’s consuming the paschal lamb in biblical times, or matzah in our own, there’s power in marking the midnight hour on seder night.
Read all of Zevachim 57 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on November 10, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
