Earliest Time to Start the Pesach Seder

The Shulchan Aruch rules that the table should be set while it is still day so that one can eat right away when it becomes dark, but one should not recite Kiddush until it is dark. The Mishnah Berurah explains why. On other Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim one may add from the weekday and make Kiddush early. On Pesach one may not, because matzah is compared to the Pesach offering, which is eaten only at night. The Kiddush cup is also one of the four cups, which must be at the proper time for matzah. So the Seder starts only once night has fallen, at tzeit hakochavim.

Tosafot cite the Tosefta that the Pesach offering, matzah and maror are performed only ‘mishetechshach’, from when it gets dark, based on the verse ‘they shall eat the meat on this night.’ The Mishnah likewise says that on Erev Pesach one may not eat until dark.

• Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 472:1 — set the table by day to eat as soon as it gets dark, but do not say Kiddush until it is dark
• Mishnah Berurah 472:4 — unlike other Yamim Tovim, the Seder Kiddush may not be made early, since it must be at the time fit for matzah, which is only at night
• Tosafot, Pesachim 99b — the Pesach offering, matzah and maror must be done only from nightfall (‘mishetechshach’)
• Mishnah Pesachim 10:1 — on Erev Pesach, close to Mincha, one may not eat until dark