It once happened that Rabbis Eliezer, Joshua, 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 morning Shema.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: I am like a seventy-year old man and I have not succeeded in understanding why the Exodus from Egypt should be mentioned at night, until Ben Zoma explained it by quoting: “In order that you may remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life.” The Torah adds the world all to the phrase the days of your life to indicate that the nights are meant as well. The sages declare that “the days of your life” means the present world and “all” includes the messianic era.


haggadah Section: -- Exodus Story
Source: Free Siddur Project, adapted