Ma'os Chittin
[1] (Halacha 230)
Maos Chittim
Question: What is the minhag of maos chittin?
Answer: It is written in the Talmud Yerushalmi1: 'תַּנֵּי. שָׁהָה שָׁם שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם הֲרֵי הוּא כְאַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר לְקוּפָּה. לִכְסוּת שִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים. לְפִיסִים וּלְזִימִיּוֹת שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חוֹדֶשׁ .. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵי בֵּירִבִּי בּוּן. לְחִיטֵּי הַפֶּסַח בֵּין לִישָּׂא בֵין לִיתֵּן'.
And the Or Zarua writes2: 'It is the minhag of the communities to impose a tax on the community for the purpose of the wheat to be given on Pesach to the poor of the city, as stated in the Yerushalmi, Perek Kama of Bava Basra: Rabbi Yosi bar Bun said, regarding the Pesach wheat, twelve months, whether to receive or to give. The meaning is: if one has stayed in the city twelve months, if he is wealthy he must give his portion that falls to him, and if he is poor they give to him.'
And so the Rama ruled3: 'And it is the minhag to buy wheat to distribute it to the poor for the needs of Pesach, and anyone who has dwelt in the city twelve months must give for this.'
An interesting reason is written by the Gaon Rabbi Shlomo Kluger4: 'It appears to me, with the help of Hashem, a correct reason for this minhag, since it was instituted to say [in the Pesach Haggadah] in "Ha Lachma" — "all who are hungry let them come and eat," and indeed if a poor person comes and they do not give to him, it is as one who speaks falsehoods before Him, may He be blessed. Therefore it was instituted to give to the poor maos chittim, so that afterward when the poor person comes, they will say to him: I only said "all who are hungry let them come and eat," but you are not one who is hungry, for I have already given you maos chittim, and if you spent the money on something else, you brought it upon yourself, and he will not be one who speaks falsehoods before the Holy One, blessed be He, and it works out well. And this appears to me a correct reason, and study this well.' And to note from the words of the Rebbe on Shabbos Parshas Tzav, 57505: 'And to add in the giving of maos chittim (and the needs of the holiday) to all who are in need, such that not one single Jew will remain in the situation and state of "hungry" and "in need." And in the note: 'And then too there is room for saying "all who are hungry etc., all who are in need etc." — were it conceivable that such a possibility would exist.'
And so writes the Alter Rebbe, siman 429, in relation to this minhag: Se'if 5 — 'It is a widespread minhag throughout all Israel that each and every community imposes a tax on the people of their city for the purpose of wheat for Pesach, to buy it and distribute it to the poor of their city, and anyone who has dwelt in the city twelve months becomes like the people of the city and is obligated to give the tax with them for this, and even Torah scholars who are exempt from the tax give their portion, since this is tzedakah. And every poor person who dwells in the city twelve months becomes like the poor of the city, and the people of the city are obligated to give him wheat for Pesach. And now, due to the lengthiness of the exile, the people adopted the law of thirty days, that anyone who has dwelt in the city thirty days becomes like the people of the city and they compel him to give with them for the purpose of wheat for Pesach, and likewise every poor person who has dwelt in the city thirty days becomes like the poor of the city, and the people of the city are obligated to give him wheat for Pesach.'
Se'if 6: 'And all this is one who has come to the city to dwell there and says that he does not wish to settle there permanently, but one who has come to the city to settle there permanently becomes like the people of the city immediately, and they compel him to give with them for the purpose of wheat for Pesach, and likewise a poor person who has come to the city in order to settle there permanently becomes like the poor of the city, and they are obligated to give him wheat for Pesach.'
Se'if 7: 'And a poor person who does not intend to settle in the city and has not stayed thirty days, even though the people of the city are not obligated to give him wheat, nevertheless they are obligated to give him matzah on Pesach in the manner that they are obligated to give him bread throughout all the days of the year — food for two meals for each and every day of the weekdays that he stays in the city, and on Shabbos food for three seudos, as is written in Yoreh De'ah siman 256, see there.'
A summary of his words: it is a widespread minhag among the Jewish people that in every city maos chittim are collected from all the residents, including the Torah scholars, for the poor. Those obligated to give (the residents of the city) and those entitled to receive (the poor of the city) are anyone who has dwelt in the city at least thirty days, or who has come to settle in the city, whose status is like a resident of the city from his first day. A poor person who has not come to settle and has not managed to be in the city thirty days is entitled to receive at least matzos for the holiday.
However, the early minhag was to distribute wheat to the poor for the needs of the holiday, but when the custom changed and generally a person does not grind wheat himself, they began to distribute flour with which the people would bake matzos, and therefore it is called 'kimcha d'Pischa'6, and as the Mishnah Berurah writes7: 'And in our countries the minhag is to distribute flour to them, for through this the benefit is brought closer, and the measure of the giving is according to his needs for all the days of Pesach. And it is obvious that if he is very poor and has nothing with which to bake the matzah, one must also give him the cost of the baking, for this is included in "his lack which is lacking to him."'
In recent generations they instituted to distribute to everyone actual matzos, as is written in the Kaf HaChaim8 that such is the minhag in Yerushalayim, and likewise to give also all the other holiday products, and amply so, as the Rebbe urged several times9.
Question: From when does the time for distributing the wheat/flour for Pesach begin?
Answer: The Rishonim wrote (Maharash of Neustadt, and the Maharil, brought in Halacha 229) that already from thirty days before Pesach one should attend to the needs of Pesach for the poor.
And so the Rebbe urged many times at the farbrengens of Purim or in proximity to it regarding the collection of maos chittim for Pesach10.
Notes:
1 ב"ב פ"א ה"ד ↩
2 או"ז ח"ב סי' רנה הובא בד"מ סי' תכט אות א ↩
3 סי' תכט ס"א בהג"ה ↩
4 חכמת שלמה סי' תכט ↩
5 תו"מ ח"ג ע' 29 בהערה 140. וראה גם שיחת ער"פ שם ע' 51 ↩
6 ראה בא"ר סי' תכט ס"ג, ובחק יעקב סי' תכט ס"ה ↩
7 סי' תכט ס"ק ד ↩
8 סי' תכט ס"ק יב ↩
9 ראה תו"מ תש"נ ח"ג ע' 29 ↩
10 ראה תו"מ תשמ"ב ח"ב ע' 977. סה"ש תשמ"ח ח"א ע' 303. שיחת תשמ"ט שיחת מוצאי שושן פורים ע' 464. תו"מ תש"נ ערב פסח ע' 51. תו"מ תשנ"א ח"ב ע' 399 - 400 ↩
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