usually consists of foods symbolic of life such as boiled eggs and lentil soup. The Talmud states that the lentil stew Jacob was preparing (Genesis 25:29), and for which Esau sold his birthright, was the seudat havraah for his father Isaac who was beginning to sit shiva for his father Abraham. Seudat Shabbat and Seudat Yom Tov These include three meals on the Sabbath, as well as two (dinner and lunch) on each festival day making four each (outside Israel) for Shavuot, Rosh HaShana, Sukkot, two each for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, eight (outside Israel) for Passover. The Passover Seders are seudot mitzvah. Except for Seudah Shlishit (the "third meal" of Shabbat) all of these meals are preceded by Kiddush (the blessing, made over wine, recognizing the holiness of the day). If one recites Kiddush, Jewish law states that one must immediately eat the seudah in the same place that he heard/recited Kiddush. At Shabbat meals, it is customary to sing Zemirot (songs), learn Torah (as at meals in general) and discuss the week's portion of Scripture. Seudah HaMafseketSeudah HaMafseket is the "separating meal" eaten before the fasts of Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av. The pre-Yom Kippur meal is a festive meal, which may include meat. At the pre-Tisha B'Av meal it is forbidden to eat meat, wine, or more than one cooked food. Alcoholic beverages should be avoided. The meal is eaten sitting on the ground or a low seat. It is customary to eat a hardboiled egg, and also a piece of bread dipped into ashes, and to say, "This is the Tisha B'Av meal." During the meal, three men should not sit together so they will not have to recite the Grace after Meals as a group. None of these restrictions apply when Tisha B'Av occurs on Shabbat or Sunday."Tisha BeAv: The Fast of the Ninth of Av", Ahavat Israel, accessed March 16, 2006. Seudat Purim On Purim day, typically toward evening, a festive meal called Seudat Purim is held, with wine as a prominent beverage, where drunkenness is not uncommon. The custom of drinking at this meal stems from a statement in the Talmud attributed to a rabbi named Rava that says one should drink on Purim until he can "no longer distinguish between arur Haman ('Cursed is Haman') and baruch Mordechai ('Blessed is Mordecai')." The reason Rava instituted the custom of drinking may have