Pesach
Without attempting to be comprehensive, I thought this would be a good week to review
some of the important halakhot of the holiday. Regarding mekhirat hamets, remember that in
order for the sale of one’s hamets to be valid, the seller must be fully prepared for
the possibility that the non-Jew will decide to take possession of the hamets (paying its
actual value), and would not protest should that come to pass. Some rabbis go so far as to
bring the non-Jew to a few houses each year to actually take some hamets. If a Jew would
resist the non-Jew taking his hamets over Pesah despite being properly compensated, the
sale of hamets we perform would not be valid for that hamets.
The seder itself cannot start until after the stars have come out (this year, 8:21 and
8:22 respectively). For the second night, this is never a problem, as preparations for
that night cannot start until after that time anyway. For the first night, it is worth
knowing why the seder must wait until then— especially since this ruling runs counter
to another important element of the seder, having children participate to the extent
possible. The problem with starting early, however, is that the first cup of the seder,
which is drunk at the very beginning of the seder, is one of the four cups of wine
instituted by Hazal. Since the obligation of the four cups is connected to the mitsvah of
recounting the Exodus story, that first cup cannot be drunk until it is fully night.
The mitsvah of recounting the Exodus, sippur yetsiat mitsrayim, is equally incumbent
upon all adult Jews. That means that all those sitting around the seder table should be
involved in the telling of the tale, not just in its basic outlines but in as much detail
as possible. The Torah informs us of this mitsvah by referring to it as an obligation
towards our children, so that it is particularly important to try to involve the children
in the telling of the story. In the absence of children or once the children have
participated to the best of their abilities, the mitsvah remains in full force. That means
that if there is no child to recite the Mah Nishtanah, one of the adults should recite it,
and a person having the seder alone should ask questions to him/herself and then answer
them. In addition, it means that the goal should be to reach the deepest level of
understanding possible for each person around that seder table.
Why the focus on question/answer? Many approaches have been taken to this issue, but I
personally see it as connected to the ultimate goal of sippur yetsiat mitsrayim, which I
see best expressed in an instruction the haggadah gives about the blessing we make over
the second cup of wine. When we stand to make the blessing of asher ge’alanu, the
haggadah reminds us to say the blessing with great joy, the joy of feeling and
reexperiencing the redemption. Similarly, the anomalous recitation of part of the Hallel
before the meal at night, has been connected to our attempt to put ourselves back in Egypt
for one night a year (two in the Diaspora, perhaps 1 1/2 for Diaspora Jews in Israel for
Pesah). In some way, through our actions and recitation of the haggadah, we hope to
recreate the experience of redemption.
That striving for experience argues in favor of questions and answers. In asking
questions, we engage ourselves in the process of discovery. Even if we know the answer,
articulating it as a question and response awakens our curiosity in a way that mere
reporting of facts does not.
Aside from talking at the seder, we also do a great deal of eating, particularly of
matsah. In this regard, I think it is worth pointing out that most authorities see the
time of a kedei akhilat peras--the maximum amount of time one can take to eat the matsah
of mitsvah-- as being no more than nine minutes. Rather than being a humra, I see that as
a qula, since it means that if one eats matsah continuously for nine minutes, that person
has certainly eaten the requisite amount of matsah. I mention that because the various
shiurim that are mentioned for matsah can create problems for people who are unable to
ingest so much. I thought it worth pointing out therefore, that the time amounts given
(some say a kedei akhilat peras is only two minutes) give another indication of how much
matsah to eat to fulfill the mitsvah.
The meal of the seder night is meant as an extension of the seder— it is not just
a Yom Tov meal, it is the parallel to the eating of the hagigah sacrifice in the time of
the Temple. Ideally, conversation during this part of the meal should also be focused on
the Exodus— perhaps on those parts of the haggadah for which there was too little
time during the magid, or to tell divrei Torah that were too lengthy for inclusion in the
maggid itself.
As a last point, we should raise the issue of akhilah gasah, eating where one is too
full to reasonably eat more. In halakhah, if one eats under those circumstances, the
eating does not qualify as eating, either for mitsvah or averah purposes (if one eats a
true akhilah gasah on Yom Kippur, one is not liable, since if the person is really that
full, it does not count as eating). That means that if one is completely full by the time
that afikoman comes around, one cannot eat that afikoman until one’s food has
digested sufficiently that the eating would no longer be an akhilah gasah. We should be
careful throughout the evening, therefore, to leave enough room in our stomachs for the
matsah at the end. Shabbat Shalom and a Hag Kasher ve-Sameah. Halakhah in Brief will not
appear next week, since it will be Pesah; it will resume, be-`ezrat Hashem, the following
Friday.
IF YOU NOTICE ANY ERRORS IN THIS PRESENTATION, PLEASE BRING
THEM TO MY ATTENTION. |
