Erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos
[1] (Halacha 777)
Taanis Bechoros (1)
Question: When is the time of taanis bechoros when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos?
Answer: The Rokeach wrote1: 'The bechorim fast on the 14th and if Pesach falls on Sunday they fast on Thursday'.
And in the Minhagei Mahara"sh of Neustadt2 it is brought: 'He expounded that he had heard that the Mahara"m z"l instituted for the bechorim to fast on Thursday, when erev Pesach falls out afterwards on Shabbos'.
And so too it is written in the minhogim of his talmid the Mahari"l3: 'And when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos they should fast earlier, on Thursday, like the Rokeach'.
However the Agur4 wrote: 'The great one of his generation, Mahara"r Yaakov Molin, ruled that when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the bechorim should fast on the Thursday before it. However my teacher, my father z"l, did not conduct himself so, but rather not to fast at all, since once it has been pushed off it is pushed off, seeing that it is only a minhag'.
The Terumas HaDeshen5 agreed with the words of the Rokeach and the Mahari"l, and rejected the words of the father of the Agur, and these are his words: 'It appears that they fast on the Thursday before Shabbos, and so I saw in the days of my youth in the sefer Rokeach. And I likewise heard that one of the great authorities wished to prove that they do not fast at all, from that which the Mordechai brings in perek Makom SheNahagu, that the Amoraim disagree in the Yerushalmi, where it is stated that Rebbi did not eat on erev Pesach. One held it was because he was a bechor, and one held that he would fast because he was delicate. Now, if we hold that according to the one who says it was because he was a bechor they do fast, and they must fast even when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, on the day before Shabbos - if so, why do the Amoraim disagree as to why Rebbi fasted? Let them resolve it from a year in which it fell on Shabbos, whether he fasted on the day before it, for on Shabbos they certainly do not fast; if so, he certainly fasted every year because he was a bechor. For if it were because he was delicate, of what benefit would the fast before erev Pesach be to him, that he not be too delicate to eat matzah on the night of Pesach as an eating of appetite? And if Rebbi did not fast before Shabbos, the opposite would be resolved, that perforce he did not fast every year because he was a bechor. Perforce, even according to the one who says it was because he was a bechor, he holds that they do not fast at all when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, and there is thus nothing further to resolve. And it appears that this can be rejected, for it can be said that the Amoraim did not know what he did when it fell on Shabbos, and this is not forced, for we find the like of this in perek Eilu Devarim6 regarding Bnei Beseira, who were nesi'im, and it escaped them, when erev Pesach fell on Shabbos, whether the korban Pesach overrides Shabbos or not. And how did they forget what was done in the earlier years? Perforce, for many years erev Pesach did not fall on Shabbos for them, and the matter was forgotten by them even though it was a communal matter etc. All the more so can we say of a matter of an individual that it was forgotten, for in his days too it did not fall out so in many years'.
And there are those who wrote that they fast on Friday, as is written in the ruling of the Gaon Rabbi Moshe Provinzialo: 'The Rokeach wrote in siman 270 that one should fast on Thursday, and the Acharonim after him also copied his words. And it appears to me that this view of his is founded upon the words of one who says that one should not fast on erev Shabbos, either so that he should not enter Shabbos while fasting, or because of darkei haEmori. Now, as to the first reason, they already established in the Gemara at the end of perek BeKol Me'arvin that one who fasts on erev Shabbos fasts and completes it - meaning, he may complete it if he wishes until tzeis hakochavim, and he also has permission to eat before then at the welcoming of the Shabbos queen, or immediately after the tefillah, as is good in his eyes. From here that they do fast on erev Shabbos, and from here too that it is not imperative to enter Shabbos while fasting. As to darkei haEmori as well, we are not concerned about this, for it is a daily occurrence that they fast on erev Shabbos. Moreover, the Tur in Hilchos Shabbos siman 249 wrote the opposite of all this; these are his words there: it appears that the way of men of deeds is to fast the entire day on erev Shabbos, as it is stated in Eruvin: those of the beis rav who sit in a fast on erev Shabbos, what is the law regarding completing it - which shows that the way of talmidei chachomim is to fast on erev Shabbos; end of his words. Therefore it appears to me that it is fitting for the bechorim to fast on Friday, and logic dictates that whatever we cannot do on its own day we make up on the day adjacent to it, just as we do when one of the four fasts falls on Shabbos, that they fast on the Sunday afterwards and do not delay it to Monday, even though that is a day more marked for fasting. And with this, it appears to me, the reasoning of certain individuals is nullified, those who say that it should be advanced to Thursday because it is a day of supplication and more marked to fast on it - added to the fact that Thursday itself is certainly not a day of supplication, since tachanunim are not said in Nisan. And so it appears from the words of the Geonim, that it should be advanced to Friday, for they said at the beginning of the first perek of Megillah regarding the fast of Purim, when it falls on Shabbos, that it is advanced to Thursday, because they are accustomed on a fast to say selichos and tachanunim, and this cannot be done on erev Shabbos, since they would be unable to occupy themselves with the needs of Shabbos; end of the words of the Geonim, as their words were brought there in the Mordechai and in the Rosh and in the Ran, and so too the Tur brought in Hilchos Purim. You see explicitly that had it been possible to do it on erev Shabbos, with the selichos and tachanunim not holding it up, they would have done it on erev Shabbos, it being closer to the proper day. If so, with taanis bechoros, where there are no tachanunim, it should be advanced and done on Friday, which is close to erev Pesach. So it appears to me from the Rosh and the Ran and the Baal HaTurim, from whose waters we drink, added to the fact that they followed the Geonim; and further, since we search on the night of Friday and burn the chometz on Friday as though it were erev Pesach, the fast falls well on it and the practices are aligned, whereas if we were burning the chometz on erev Shabbos and the bechorim were eating on it, the practices would appear as contradicting one another. And this is enough, in my opinion, to bring the fast near and not to distance it. May our G-d be near to us in all our calling upon Him (and so it is found in his Shulchan Aruch siman 470, and it appears to me, Moshe Provinzalo, that one should fast on Friday; and so too it is found written in the notebook of Rabbeinu Menachem of Beis Meir z"l, matter 23)7'.
And as to the halacha, the Mechaber wrote8: 'If erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, there are those who say that the bechorim fast on Thursday, and there are those who say that they do not fast at all'.
And the Rema wrote in his gloss: 'But one should conduct oneself like the first view'.
The Chida in Birkei Yosef9 wrote: 'If erev Pesach falls on Shabbos there are those who say that the bechorim fast on Thursday, etc. And the Mahara"m Provinzal in his responsa, manuscript siman 71, wrote that they fast on Friday, and he brought proofs, and he wrote there that so too wrote Rabbeinu Menachem of Beis Meir'.
However in Kaf HaChaim10 he wrote on the words of the Chida: 'However, see above siman 417 os 21, where we wrote several further reasons that it is not good to fast on erev Shabbos, see there. And therefore one should not budge from the words of the Shulchan Aruch. And so is the minhag, that even if the bechorim did not fast on Thursday, such as where they ate at the seudah of a chosson or a bris milah, they do not fast again on Friday. And the reason appears to be that since there are those who say that they do not fast at all, they therefore had the minhag to be lenient'.
The Alter Rebbe11 wrote: 'If erev Pesach falls on erev Shabbos the bechorim fast on that day itself but if it falls on Shabbos it is pushed back to the Thursday before it'.
Therefore, in practice, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, taanis bechoros is advanced to Thursday. In the next halacha we will see further details in this din.
Notes:
1 Hilchos Pesach siman 270 ↩
2 siman 299 ↩
3 Hilchos Erev Pesach ↩
4 Hilchos Lishas Matzah siman 771 ↩
5 siman 126 ↩
6 Pesachim 66a ↩
7 See what the Meiri wrote in Magen Avos, matter 23 [and see also Beis HaBechirah, Eruvin 41a] ↩
8 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 470:2 ↩
9 OC siman 470 s"k 4 ↩
10 siman 470 s"k 20 ↩
11 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 470:7 ↩
[2] (Halacha 778)
Taanis Bechoros (2)
Question: According to the halacha that they fast on Thursday, may the bechorim who are fasting eat before bedikas chometz?
Answer: It is written in the Mahari"l1: 'And he said that they are not permitted to eat a meal at night before bedikas chometz. And if so, when it falls out this way, there are bechorim who need to search many rooms and upper storeys in a large building and are pained on account of the fast, since they must search the chometz on that same night as well. And Mahar"i [Segal] said that his opinion inclines somewhat that he should eat at bein hashmashos, since we find that the Raavan too, on the fasts of the Yomim Noraim, would always eat after they left the beis haknesses, for we consider it a mere discomfort. And this fast is a very light one, for Rabbi Yechiel permits him minei targima. And it is better for him to eat at bein hashmashos, when the time of bedikas chometz has not yet begun, than that he eat after nightfall and transgress a takanah of the Rabbonim; so it appeared. However he concluded his words and said that he does not rely on himself in this; but if it is painful for him he should find someone to search on his behalf, or he should take a mere tasting, in which there is no concern of being drawn after it'.
That is to say, according to the Mahari"l there is room to permit actually eating already at bein hashmashos, but he did not rely on this in practice; rather he ruled that one should taste a little before the bedikah. However, it is not explained in his words whether he permitted tasting at bein hashmashos or tasting after tzeis hakochavim.
However the Shiltei Giborim2 wrote: 'And in the name of the Mahari"l .. and he would instruct them to taste something on Thursday at bein hashmashos if they could not cause themselves pain until after the bedikah; and so it appears, for there is certainly no distinction between this fast and the fast of Purim'.
That is to say, according to the Shiltei Giborim the Mahari"l permitted tasting at bein hashmashos.
And beyond this, the Baal Knesses HaGedolah3 in his sefer Pesach Me'ubin4 understood that according to the Mahari"l the heter applies only at bein hashmashos, since the time of the bedikah has not yet arrived, for in his sefer Pesach Me'ubin he wrote: 'And one should be precise from his wording that specifically at bein hashmashos, when the time of the bedikah has not arrived, he may taste, but once the time of the bedikah has arrived he may not taste. But in the sefer Mateh Moshe, in the siman mentioned, he wrote .. or he should take a mere tasting, in which there is no concern of being drawn after it'5.
But from the words of the rest of the Acharonim it appears that the Mahari"l's heter of tasting is at tzeis hakochavim, for they copied his words and did not mention bein hashmashos at all6, as the Magen Avraham wrote7: 'And if the fast is difficult for them they may taste before they search'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe8: 'And if the fast is difficult for them on Thursday, since at night they search for the chometz and they are not permitted to eat a meal before the bedikah, and they have many rooms to search, they may taste a little before the bedikah, for they forbade only a meal (and for the measure of a tasting see siman 232), or they should instruct someone else to search and they may eat'.
And it is explicit in the Pri Megadim9 that this heter applies specifically at night: 'And they should taste at night before the bedikah'.
Therefore, according to the Mahari"l it is permitted to take a mere tasting before the bedikah; and the Shiltei Giborim wrote that the heter of tasting is at the time of bein hashmashos, and there are those who inferred from his words that it is specifically at bein hashmashos and not at tzeis hakochavim. However, from the words of the rest of the Acharonim, and the Alter Rebbe among them, it appears that this heter applies from tzeis hakochavim.
But this entire din applies in a case where the bechorim are actually fasting; in practice, however, the accepted minhag is that the bechorim are exempted from the fast in other ways, as will be explained in the coming halachos.
Notes:
1 Minhogim Hilchos Pesach [5] ↩
2 Pesachim 23a of the pages of the Rif, os 1 ↩
3 And see the Hagahos Beis Yosef OC siman 470 os 6 ↩
4 Os 10 ↩
5 And see what the Chida wrote in Birkei Yosef OC siman 470 s"k 5 ↩
6 And it should be noted that the Pri Chodosh (OC siman 470:2) copied the words of the Shiltei Giborim and did not mention bein hashmashos at all: 'When the bechorim fast on Thursday, even though it was explained above in siman 431 [:2] that one should not eat until he searches, nevertheless they may taste something so that they will be able to search properly, as the Shiltei HaGiborim wrote in perek Arvei Pesachim' ↩
7 OC siman 470 s"k 1 ↩
8 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 470:7 ↩
9 OC A"A siman 470 s"k 1 ↩
[3] (Halacha 779)
Taanis Bechoros (3)
Question: Is it possible to be exempted from the fast through participation in a seudas mitzvah?
Answer: It is written in Shu"t Mahara"sh HaLevi1: 'It is obvious to me that if erev Pesach occurs on Shabbos, when the bechorim fast on the Thursday before Shabbos, as the Rav Beis Yosef z"l wrote in the name of the Poskim z"l in Hilchos Pesach siman 470 - that then, if a milah occurs on that Thursday, it is obvious that the baal habris and all those connected with him, even if they are bechorim, it is obvious that they should not fast and are permitted to eat. For since the essence of the fast itself appears to be a minhag, as it is not explicit in our Talmud, and it turns out that it has been pushed off to Thursday and is not on the day itself. And there is one who holds that even all the other bechorim are exempt from fasting on that day, since it has been pushed off, as the Rav z"l wrote there, see there; if so, all those connected with the bris would likewise push it off. But when the fast is not pushed off, as in our case, and the milah falls on that same day, it appears in my humble opinion to say that he should not fast .. this fast, which is only a minhag, that the milah should push it off, and it is fitting for him to eat and not to fast. It also appears to be lenient regarding the son of Reuven, the bechor, the brother of the newborn, that he may eat, for we see that the fast of erev Rosh Hashanah is of Divrei Sofrim, like the fast of the bechorim, and it is based upon the Midrash .. Here we see that even though that fast is from an enactment of the Chachomim z"l and based upon the Midrashim, even so the baal habris and whoever wishes to derive benefit from a seudas mitzvah may eat. If so, it appears that all the more so for the brother of the newborn, that even if he is a bechor and wishes to eat at the seudah of his brother's milah, he may eat and push off the fast; and one who is stringent, may a bracha come upon him'.
That is to say, from the words of Mahara"sh HaLevi we learn that: a) In an advanced fast, such as a year in which erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, all those connected with the seudas mitzvah need not fast. b) In an ordinary fast the father of the child need not fast. c) The brother too may eat, but one who is stringent, may a bracha come upon him.
The Magen Avraham2 brought the words of the Mahara"sh, and concluded: 'And in our lands the minhag is to be stringent'.
The Mahari"ch Bacharach in Shu"t Chut HaShani3 wrote: 'An incident occurred in the holy kehillah of Wormaisa, may G-d protect it, that two brisos occurred on erev Pesach, and the father of the child of each one of them was accustomed to fast on erev Pesach - one of them because he was a bechor, and the second would fast on account of his son who was a bechor - and I was asked whether they are permitted to eat on the day of the milah and to fast another day in its place .. But here, where it is for the need of a mitzvah, it appears to be lenient in this fast, for it is lighter in his eyes than the fast of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, and all the more so is it lighter than the fast of BeHaB .. Therefore I say that one who fasts on account of his son - it is obvious that he is permitted to eat, for this one has no proof from the Yerushalmi nor from Maseches Sofrim; rather, even one who fasts on his own account is permitted to borrow his fast and repay it. And even though with regard to Taanis Esther we do not find that they were lenient except where it was pushed off to Thursday .. for Taanis Esther is different, being more stringent, since it has a support in the Gemara according to Rabbeinu Tam's explanation; but erev Pesach, which has no support in our Talmud at all, we are more lenient with it .. However, I do not rely upon my own opinion to permit except for the baalei bris, that is, the father of the child, the mohel and the sandak, as is proven in the Beis Yosef siman 559 in Tur OC, since it is their Yom Tov; and they too should repay another fast, as we see in the incident of R' David Lantshut mentioned above. And even though it is explained in the Hagahos Maimoniyos that if a milah occurs during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah or on the fast of BeHaB it is a mitzvah to eat and no hatarah is required - which implies that likewise no repayment is required - it can be said that there it is different, as he gives a reason why no hatarah is required even though every minhag requires hatarah, the reason being that in such a case they never had the minhag; but with this fast one cannot say so, for who tells us that they did not have the minhag in such a case - it can be said that he must repay it .. And in any case I say that whichever of them he wishes suffices: either that he borrow and repay, and he will not need hatarah, or that he have it annulled, and he will not need repayment. The rule that emerges, I say, is that this fast is not more stringent than the fast of BeHaB or the fast of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, and the baalei bris are permitted to eat; and even the Rambam and the Rosh would concede in this matter, and all the more so according to the view of the Or Zarua and the Raavad and the Rashba and the Hagahos Maimoniyos in the name of the Riva, for according to them he certainly borrows and repays. And were I not afraid that they would say that he permits us forbidden fat, I would have said that all those seated at the seudah are permitted; but certainly the baalei bris are permitted to eat on the day of the milah in one of the ways I have written'.
And the Eliyah Zuta wrote4: 'It is written in the responsum of Chut HaShani siman 25 that a bechor who is one of the baalei bris, and the sandakim and the father of the child, are permitted to eat at the milah, and they shall repay another fast; end of quote. And it appears that when he fasts on account of the son it is permitted even when he is not a baal bris'5.
And in the Chok Yaakov6 he wrote: 'And my brother-in-law the Rav, in his sefer Eliyahu Zuta, wrote that when one fasts on account of his son it is permitted to eat at the milah even for those who are not baalei bris; end of his words. And it appears in my humble opinion that when the fast is pushed off, such as when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos and they fast on Thursday, it is possible to fast and not to complete it, by a kal vachomer from Tisha B'Av that was pushed off, as is explained below siman 559:9; it is also possible to fast his fast on erev Shabbos. And in the responsum of Mahara"sh HaLevi there he ruled simply that in such a case he should not fast, but in these lands, where the minhag is to eat the seudah of a bris milah at night, one should not be lenient in the fast at all7'.
And the Pri Chodosh8 brought the words of the Mahara"sh HaLevi and wrote: 'And to me it appears that hatarah is required, like other minhogim. And it is possible that it is like that case below in the gloss in siman 551:10 and siman 568 at the end of se'if 2, where hatarah is not required. And the Sha"ch YD siman 2149 explained that although when one wishes to retract because he is not well hatarah is required, there it is different, for it did not enter his mind that when he would not be well he would not fast, and therefore hatarah is required; but here, since the minhag is to eat at the seudah of a bris milah, if so, whoever fasts, fasts with this in mind, that when a bris milah occurs he will eat, and therefore no hatarah is required; end of quote. And according to this it appears that one who is lenient with the bechorim at a seudas mitzvah, even without hatarah, has not lost out, similar to the others, and study this well'.
Therefore we have seen that the Acharonim disagreed as to whether the baalei bris who are bechorim may eat at the seudah of the bris, and whether they must complete a fast on another day, or perform hataras nedorim in order to participate in the seudah. And when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos and taanis bechoros is advanced to Thursday, we find that the Poskim were more lenient.
In the next halacha we will see the words of the Alter Rebbe, and the Chabad minhag.
Notes:
1 OC siman 3 ↩
2 OC in the introduction to siman 470 ↩
3 siman 25 ↩
4 siman 470 s"k 3 ↩
5 However in the Eliyah Rabbah there s"k 1 he wrote: 'And it appears that when he fasts on account of the son it is permitted even when he is not a baal bris, for this is only a minhag. And in the responsa Nachalas Yaakov siman 10 it does not appear so. And in any event one may be lenient to join him to a minyan' ↩
6 siman 470 s"k 4 ↩
7 However the Machatzis HaShekel OC siman 470 in the introduction wrote: 'And in my humble opinion it is possible that the case is not comparable, for on erev Pesach they always make the seudah by day, since it is difficult to make it at night'. And see the Yeshuos Yaakov OC siman 470 s"k 3, who wrote: 'It is possible to be stringent with the taanis bechorim that has been pushed off to Thursday when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, since it is possible to eat the seudah at night' ↩
8 siman 470:2 ↩
9 s"k 2 ↩
[4] (Halacha 780)
Taanis Bechoros (4)
Question: Does a siyum masechta likewise exempt one from the fast?
Answer: The Gaon Rabbi Elazar Fleckeles wrote in Teshuvah Me'Ahavah1 on what the Magen Avraham wrote in siman 470, that the bechorim may eat at a seudah of a milah: 'It appears in my humble opinion that this applies specifically to a milah, whose time is fixed - and see below siman 568 in the Magen Avraham s"k 10 - but a siyum seudah, of which Mahara"m Mintz wrote that one may leave over a little at the end until an opportune moment, a day on which it is fitting to arrange a seudah, as is explained in the Sha"ch YD siman 246 s"k 27, it is certainly not fitting to make on erev Pesach for the sake of the bechor .. or for the bechorim themselves. I remember when I was a youth, and I asked my teachers, our great rabbeinu Mohar"i Segal Landau n"e and the famous Gaon Mohar"m Fischels n"e, whether I might make a siyum masechta on erev Pesach, for I am a bechor and another bechor came up; and they protested against me and did not state a reason. It was also proclaimed in the streets by order of the beis din that whoever makes a siyum seudah on erev Pesach for the bechorim does so not in accordance with the ruling of the Chachomim'.
And he repeated his words and wrote2: 'And it is written at the end of the responsum of Mahara"m Mintz that when they come to the end of a maseches one should leave over a little at the end until an opportune moment, a day on which it is fitting to arrange a seudah, etc.; end of his words. I wrote with the help of Heaven in Teshuvah Me'Ahavah part two, in the gloss on the Magen Avraham siman 470, that when one reaches the end of a maseches on erev Pesach and he is a bechor, it is fitting to leave over a little until after Pesach, so that it should be an opportune moment; but a fast day is not an opportune moment. And it goes without saying that one should not make a siyum seudah even when he finishes on erev Pesach for the sake of other bechorim, that they should eat at his table. And I wrote that what was proclaimed in the streets by the order of my teacher and master the Gaon n"e, together with the Rabbonim of the beis din hagadol - that whoever makes a siyum seudah on erev Pesach, whether for himself, being a bechor, and all the more so for other bechorim, does so not in accordance with the ruling of the sages of the Torah - and after the passing of my teacher and master the Gaon n"e as well it was proclaimed thus by the Rabbonim of the beis din hagadol ..'3.
Therefore, according to the words of the Teshuvah Me'Ahavah in the name of his rebbi, the author of the Noda BiYehudah, and Mahara"m Fischels, one should not make a siyum masechta in order to be exempted from taanis bechoros4.
However, in practice it has become accepted throughout the dispersions of Klal Yisroel that a siyum seudah may be made even on erev Pesach; and there were gedolei Yisroel who noted that there is no clear source for the heter of pushing off the fast on account of a siyum masechta, but who testified that in practice this is what has been accepted throughout the dispersions of Yisroel (except that there are those who wrote to permit only the one making the siyum himself and one who is connected to the siyum, and not all the participants), as follows:
The Gaon R' Yosef Shaul Nathanson wrote in Divrei Shaul5: 'Now, I was asked in the year 5603 by a man to whom mourning had occurred, Rachmana litzlan, and he was within the shivah on erev Pesach, and he was a bechor; and I was asked whether he is permitted to go and hear a siyum masechta from someone and to eat, in accordance with the minhag that has spread that the bechorim eat by means of a siyum. And I answered to forbid it, for apart from the fact that the very thing that the bechorim have the minhag to be lenient by means of a siyum - I have found no root for this, and the Acharonim too did not mention it, and it is implied from many Poskim to the contrary. But even if we grant the minhag of Yisroel - and I recall my sin, for I too am a bechor and I do not fast, and in my childhood my father and teacher the Rav HaGaon, may his light shine, would make a siyum masechta, and from then, once I came to the age of understanding, I have been accustomed to complete a maseches and to eat, for the fast is very difficult, especially on erev Yom Tov; and also since the fast itself is only a minhag, as the Rema wrote in siman 470, and it is a doubt in the Yerushalmi why Rebbi would fast - since they have already had the minhag to be lenient by means of a siyum masechta, leave the Jewish people be, but all this is if he himself makes the siyum; but here, where he is only listening from others, it is obvious that one should not be lenient and treat the mourning lightly on account of this. And although in Shu"t Mahara"m Mintz, brought in the Sha"ch YD siman 246 s"k 27, he wrote that when they come to the end of a maseches one should set aside a little until an opportune moment, and the baalei battim come, and even a mourner within twelve months may eat a seudah there - and in the gloss on the Sha"ch there I wrote a proof for this from what they said in Moed Katan, 'he should have left over a little; in the building of the Beis HaMikdash they do not leave over', see there on daf 15 - so we see that he may keep it until an opportune moment in order to rejoice and to eat at the fitting time. And in the Eliyah Rabbah siman 550 it does not appear so, and what appears to me in my humble opinion is that the view of the Mahara"m Mintz is primary, for it is a wonderful proof, thank G-d; end of his words there. But all this is with a mourner within twelve months; but within the shivah he is forbidden to go. However, if the one making the siyum wishes to come to the mourner, I permitted it, for although he is forbidden in words of Torah, nevertheless, since the source of the matter is from that which 'I make a Yom Tov for the Rabbonim' - and if so, he would make the celebration when the young talmid chochom would complete the maseches - so too with a mourner, he may make a Yom Tov so that the one making the siyum should rejoice, and consequently he will be able to eat through this. So it appears to me in my humble opinion, to be lenient in something that is only a minhag; and study this well'.
And in Shu"t Arugas HaBosem6 he wrote: 'Now, in these lands they are more lenient and eat at a seudah of a siyum masechta. And it is possible that even in a place where the minhag is to be stringent with a seudah of a milah, with a siyum masechta it is permitted, for the essence of the fast is a remembrance of the miracle that they were saved from makas bechoros. If so, one can say that with a seudah of a milah, whose time is fixed, there is no remembrance of the miracle here, which is not so with a siyum masechta - according to what the minhag has spread that they make a seudah of a siyum masechta in order to remove the fast; if so, in this itself there is a remembrance of the miracle, and if so it can be said that according to all opinions it is permitted. Nevertheless, that which the minhag has crept in among the amei ha'aretz, that even one who has no connection whatsoever to this one's learning nonetheless eats and drinks upon the siyum of this one who reviews halachos, and they drink and become intoxicated with him - that is certainly a minhag of ignorance'.
And in the Aruch HaShulchan7 he wrote: 'However, now for several generations they have been entirely lenient with taanis bechorim, that is, by means of a siyum masechta; and not the one learning alone, but rather the bechorim gather around the one making the siyum and complete it with him and eat, and this has spread in all the lands. And it is not known from where they have to be so lenient, unless we say that on account of the weakness of the generation, and the great exertion on erev Pesach, and that the eating of maror is also not good for one's health, they therefore consider themselves as unable to fast. And since in the Gemara nothing at all is mentioned of this, and in the Yerushalmi too the conclusion is that one need not fast, and it is only a minhag based on Maseches Sofrim, therefore the sages of the generation did not protest in this; and it requires study'.
And in the Ben Ish Chai8: 'And at a seudah of a siyum masechta, if the bechor is learned and able to understand what is said at the time of the siyum, he is permitted to eat there; and see Chaim LaRosh9'.
And in this vein the Mishnah Berurah wrote10: 'And there are places where the bechorim have the minhag to be lenient and to eat at a seudas mitzvah; and so they conduct themselves today in several places in our land, to be lenient and to eat even at a seudah of a siyum masechta. And even though the bechorim themselves did not learn the maseches, nevertheless, since for the one making the siyum it is a seudas mitzvah, they join his seudah. And the minhag is that they gather to the one making the siyum before he has finished, and he completes the maseches before them, and they listen and join with him in his siyum, and afterwards they make a seudah'.
Therefore we have seen that although there is no clear source for the heter for the bechorim to eat at a siyum seudah, nevertheless the Poskim wrote that this is how they had the minhag11, and it is fitting that they listen and learn the siyum together with the one making it, and rejoice with him at the siyum and at the seudah, and then they may go on and eat on this day of taanis bechoros.
In the next halacha we will see the words of Rabboseinu Nesi'einu regarding this din.
Notes:
1 Shu"t part 2 siman 261 ↩
2 Part 3 siman 376, on the Sha"ch YD siman 246 s"k 27 ↩
3 And he continues there to prove his words: 'And so it appears from the words of the Mahari"l in a responsum siman 172, which the Sha"ch brings here, and these are his words: and on the day on which his father or mother died, on which the world has the minhag to fast, it is forbidden to eat at a siyum masechta, for it is like matters that are permitted but which others have accepted upon themselves as forbidden; end of his words. Derive from it a kal vachomer: now, the day on which his father or mother died, whose fast has no foundation or root in the Gemara or in the early Poskim, and yet it is forbidden to eat at a siyum seudah - all the more so taanis bechorim, which is explicit in Maseches Sofrim and has a branch in the Yerushalmi and is brought in the early Poskim, that the bechor is forbidden to eat at a siyum seudah. And this proof is a reliable one, and it was pointed out to me by my close neighbour, the son of my father-in-law's sister, namely the Rav, the great luminary, righteous and upright, Mohu' Meir Segal Gloga, may his light shine, of our kehillah' ↩
4 And see also Shu"t His'orerus Teshuvah part 1 siman 104 ↩
5 YD siman 399 ↩
6 OC siman 139 ↩
7 OC siman 470:5 ↩
8 Year 1, parshas Tzav siman 25 ↩
9 By R' Chaim Palagi, p. 14b ↩
10 siman 470 s"k 10 ↩
11 However see at length in Shu"t Yabia Omer part 1 OC siman 26, who brought from the words of many Poskim and inclines that one should not schedule the siyum for erev Pesach, and see there ↩
[5] (Halacha 781)
Taanis Bechoros (5)
Question: What is the view of Rabboseinu Nesi'einu regarding exemption from taanis bechoros by means of a seudas mitzvah and a siyum masechta?
Answer: The Alter Rebbe wrote1: 'In a place where there is no known minhag, the bechorim may eat at a seudas mitzvah; nevertheless, one who is stringent, may a bracha come upon him. But in these lands they have already had the minhag to be stringent, and therefore one who wishes to eat at a seudas mitzvah requires that it be permitted to him by means of she'eilah and charatah. For since he fasted once on erev Pesach and it was then his intention to conduct himself so forever - even though at that time there was no seudas mitzvah in the city - nevertheless, presumably he fasted with the minhag in mind; and since the minhag is not to eat at a seudas mitzvah, if so, this minhag has become like a neder upon him, since it was then his intention to conduct himself so forever. And one who is stringent not to eat even by means of she'eilah and charatah, may a bracha come upon him. But the baalei habris, that is, the mohel and the sandak and the father of the child, since it is their Yom Tov, may eat (even without she'eilah and charatah) by borrowing the fast and repaying another fast after Pesach (or they may annul the neder) by means of she'eilah and charatah. And one who fasts on behalf of his son, even though he is not one of the baalei habris, may eat at the milah by means of she'eilah and charatah'.
However, it should be noted that although the Alter Rebbe brought the words of the Magen Avraham that in these lands the minhag was to be stringent, the phenomenon of siyumei masechta on erev Pesach was already practised in his time (apart from what we saw in the previous halacha from the Teshuvah Me'Ahavah), as the Rebbe Rayatz relates2 at length concerning the time of Reb Boruch, the father of the Alter Rebbe: 'After the tefillah an event occurred which again showed Boruch the direction towards the path of Chassidus. Immediately upon the conclusion of the tefillah, R' Zalman Meir, the elder son-in-law of the blacksmith, sat down at the table with Maseches Yevamos in his hand, in order to complete it and to deliver a Hadran upon it. He was a bechor, and around the table there gathered further bechorim, learned men and simple folk, who intended by this siyum to exempt themselves from the taanis bechorim of erev Pesach'.
And so the Rebbe related at the farbrengen of Yud-Tes Kislev 57163: 'My revered father-in-law the Rebbe once related concerning the chossid R' Isaac of Homil .. that since he was a bechor and had to make a siyum masechta every year on erev Pesach, he would conduct himself every year on erev Pesach to complete the entire Shas! I do not know whether he would also fast or not. By my revered father-in-law the Rebbe the order was to hold a siyum on erev Pesach; and in addition to the siyum that he himself would hold, he would call into his room those who were holding siyumim, so that they should hold the siyum in his presence, and afterwards he would also fast on erev Pesach. But with regard to R' Isaac, I do not know whether he would also fast or not. In any event, however, he was accustomed to complete the entire Shas every erev Pesach. That is to say: in addition to the shiurim that he had by virtue of his other sedorim, he had a seder of learning for the sake of completing the entire Shas on erev Pesach. When R' Isaac fled from his home to take shelter with the Alter Rebbe, they conducted themselves with him as was the minhag (of the Misnagdim) in those times: his father tore kriah, Rachmana litzlan, and sat shivah, etc. But when he returned to his home towards the Yom Tov of Pesach, and on erev Pesach again held a siyum on the entire Shas, his father exclaimed and said: Oy! He ran away etc., and even so he holds a siyum on the entire Shas... And therefore he regretted all the things he had done etc., and made peace with him'.
And with regard to the words of the Rebbe about the conduct of the Rebbe Rayatz, that he both made or heard a siyum and also fasted, it is likewise related in Likkutei Sippurim4: 'On erev Pesach he would fast, and he also made a siyum masechta. Or they would call one of the bochurim to make a siyum masechta in his room. Everyone knew and saw that he tasted nothing, and it was all a preparation in case he would not be able to fast - but in the end he fasted'.
And so too we find that the Rebbe Rashab5 writes to the Rebbe Rayatz: 'My daughter-in-law, techiyeh, writes that the first Seder was not so fine, because of the fast on erev Yom Tov and that you were very weary; perhaps, chas v'shalom, you suffered from the arba kosos, from the strength of the wine, or from the hiddur in the kezayis of maror .. Why the fast, and why did you not prepare a siyum beforehand? Even though you were busy, it would nevertheless have been possible to learn a small maseches'.
And in practice the Rebbe writes6 (in translation into Lashon HaKodesh): 'The minhag has spread that instead of fasting on erev Pesach the bechorim participate on that day in a siyum masechta (a seudas mitzvah), and consequently the fast is removed'.
At the farbrengen of Shabbos parshas Mishpatim 57167 the Rebbe said to a chosson whose kallah was the daughter of a kohen: 'It is stated in the Gemara that the daughter of a kohen must marry specifically a talmid chochom. And the Tzemach Tzedek rules in 'Man Malchei Rabbanan' that 'whoever knows one maseches' is called a talmid chochom for this purpose, 'and even Maseches Kallah' .. And in practice, before the wedding one should learn and complete Maseches Kallah .. The learning of the maseches may also be as one learns before erev Pesach in order to hold a siyum, for after all he has learned and completed the maseches'.
[And it should be noted that on erev Pesach 5748 the Rebbe held a siyum of Shas and of the Rambam in his home, and afterwards sent two bottles of wine and 18 dollars for the arranging of the seudah8].
Therefore, in practice the minhag has spread - and such is the minhag of Anash - to participate in a siyum masechta on erev Pesach, and through this they are exempted from the fast; and there is no problem with learning the maseches for the sake of the siyum.
Notes:
1 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 470:8 ↩
2 Sefer HaZichronos ch. 57 ↩
3 Toras Menachem vol. 15 p. 259 ↩
4 Perlov, 5762 edition, p. 371 ↩
5 Igros Kodesh vol. 4 p. 215 ↩
6 Likkutei Sichos vol. 17 p. 67 ↩
7 Toras Menachem vol. 16 pp. 102 - 103 ↩
8 Yoman HaKahal 5748 pp. 207 - 208 ↩
[6] (Halacha 782)
Taanis Bechoros (6)
In the previous halacha we saw that the accepted minhag among Klal Yisroel is that the bechorim are exempted from the fast through participation in a siyum maseches.
Question: When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos and the fast was moved up to Thursday, if one participated in a seudas mitzvah or in a siyum maseches — since in principle he is able to fast on Friday, must he make up the fast on Friday?
Answer: At the farbrengen of yud-aleph Nissan 57341, a year in which erev Pesach fell on Shabbos, the Rebbe analyzed the nature of the fast in such a year: a) Is the fast on Thursday a form of tashlumin for the fast of erev Pesach, while the obligation itself remains on the day of erev Pesach, Shabbos? b) Or, although from the outset the postponement of the fast came on account of the tashlumin for erev Pesach — Shabbos, nevertheless once they fixed the fast for Thursday, that became the time of the obligation.
And the nafka minah will be in a case where the bechor did not fast on Thursday (such as where he forgot and the like): must he make up the fast on Friday? For if we say like the first approach, that the fast is tashlumin for the time of erev Pesach itself — Shabbos — then since in fact he did not fast on Thursday, the obligation still remains upon him, and he will have to fast on Friday. But if we say that Chazal transferred the time of the obligation to Thursday, he will not need to fast on Friday.
So too regarding a siyum maseches: if we say that the time of the fast moved to Thursday, a siyum on Thursday suffices; but if we say that the time is erev Pesach — Shabbos, then a siyum on Thursday does not suffice, since the obligation still rests upon him on account of Shabbos, and therefore he needs a siyum again on Friday.
The Gaon R' Moshe Feinstein2 was likewise in doubt regarding this: '.. And if so, regarding taanis bechorim as well, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, according to those who hold that they fast on Thursday, one must likewise say that erev Shabbos too they reckoned as part of the essential obligation in this respect, that they were able to push the fast off to Thursday because it is reckoned as adjacent to the obligated day. And this is seemingly relevant to the question of whether he is exempted by making a siyum even when he makes it on Friday .. or that regarding taanis bechorim this rule does not apply, since it is not among the public fasts, and it is possible to say that erev Shabbos has no connection at all to the fast, but rather that when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos they instituted the essence of the fast itself on Thursday, so that the exemption by way of a siyum on erev Shabbos is not applicable; and this is the doubt I wrote that one may be in doubt about .. And if one may be in doubt, it is that perhaps a single siyum on Thursday alone will not suffice, for if we liken it to Taanis Esther, then when there was a bris milah on Thursday, when all Yisroel fast, those who ate must fast the next day, on Friday. And if so, they would not be exempt unless they had a siyum on both days, on Thursday and on erev Shabbos, and this would seem more correct at first glance; but in practice one should not be stringent in this, since the essence of the obligation is only from minhag, and there are those who say that they do not fast at all when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, therefore one may be lenient with making a siyum on one day but specifically on Thursday, the day on which the bechorim fast according to the first opinion, which is the practice'.
And in Teshuvos VeHanhagos3 he wrote: 'When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, the bechor fasts on Thursday. And one who every year does not fast on erev Pesach but exempts himself with a seudas mitzvah, such as at a siyum masechta — the widespread minhag is that he participates in a siyum only on Thursday and is exempt; but there are those who are meticulous to participate in a seudas mitzvah on Friday as well if possible, and if there are two who are making a siyum, one makes the siyum on Thursday and one on Friday and on both of them a seudas mitzvah is made, and then the participants have fulfilled their obligation according to both opinions. And with regard to one who fasts on behalf of his son, where there are those who are entirely lenient when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, there is no room to be so stringent as to fast on both of them'.
In practice the accepted minhag is that a siyum is made only on Thursday, as is also written in Kaf HaChaim4: 'And so is the minhag, that even if the bechorim did not fast on Thursday, such as where they ate at a seudas chasan or a bris milah, they do not fast further on Friday. And the reason may be said: since there are those who say that they do not fast at all, therefore they were lenient'5.
And from this minhag the Rebbe, in the sicha there, resolved the doubt in accordance with the second approach, that the time of the fast became Thursday, and that therefore the minhag when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos is that a siyum is made only on Thursday6.
So we have seen that Thursday, the twelfth of Nissan, is established as the day of taanis bechoros when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos. Therefore a siyum on Thursday exempts one from the obligation of the fast entirely, and there is no need to make an additional siyum on Friday or Shabbos.
Notes:
1 Likkutei Sichos vol. 17, sicha for erev Pesach ↩
2 Igros Moshe Shu"t OC vol. 4 siman 69 ↩
3 Vol. 2 siman 211:1 ↩
4 OC siman 470 s"k 20 ↩
5 And see Shu"t Ha'elef Lecha Shlomo OC siman 386 ↩
6 A further point the Rebbe discusses in the sicha there concerns the obligation of a father and of a minor when his birthday is on the fourteenth of Nissan, and this is not the place to elaborate ↩
[7] (Halacha 783)
The drasha of Shabbos HaGadol.
Question: In a year in which erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, when is the time at which it is proper for the rav to deliver the 'drasha of Shabbos HaGadol'?
Answer: It is stated in the Minhagei Mahari"l1: 'And one always delivers the drasha on Shabbos HaGadol when erev Pesach does not fall on it, for then one must deliver the drasha earlier'.
And so too wrote the Knesses HaGedolah2: 'And regarding the drasha that the marbitzei Torah have the minhag to deliver on Shabbos HaGadol, it is good to deliver it after tefillas Mincha and not at Shacharis. And my minhag is to deliver it on the Shabbos before Shabbos HaGadol. And I subsequently found in Sefer Chassidim siman 314 that he wrote, that when the 14th falls on Shabbos it is proper that they not prolong the tefillah and that they not say it in a leisurely manner, lest the time of the issur of chometz arrive'.
And R' Aharon Azriel wrote in Shu"t Kapei Aharon3: This year, 5636, erev Pesach fell on Shabbos and it appeared in the eyes of our great teacher and rav, the Rishon LeTzion, the Magen Avraham, yatz"u, with regard to the drasha of Shabbos HaGadol, and he made it on the Shabbos before erev Pesach, in accordance with the ruling of the rav, the Knesses HaGedolah z"l and even though in our times we are not accustomed to explain the dinim that apply on Pesach as was the case in the times of the Rishonim z"l, nevertheless, since none is found who explicitly disagrees with the rav, the Knesses HaGedolah, he agreed to act in accordance with his ruling'.
And so too wrote the Chok Yaakov4, the Eliyah Rabbah5.
And as to the reason for the matter, the Pri Megadim6 wrote: 'And the drasha, if erev Pesach falls on Shabbos it is moved up to the previous Shabbos, for on erev Pesach it is no longer possible to admonish and to set right what is needed before Pesach'.
And in the Arba Shittos of the Mahari"sh7, brought in the Chida8, he wrote: 'And on the basis of these words I have found a proper support for our minhag, that when Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach we deliver the drasha on the Shabbos before it; that is to say, it may be said that although in our times there is no beis hava'ad, nevertheless it is implied from the sugya of akum mentioned above that even every single individual must ask and expound first at least three days, similar to the halachos of lifnei eideihen, in simple dinim of a blemished limb etc., see there. And for this reason it may be said that they chose to deliver the drasha on Shabbos HaGadol, which is always not less than three days before Pesach, for it is established for us that Pesach does not fall on beis, daled or vav; and for this reason, when Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach, our minhag is to deliver the drasha on the Shabbos before it, on account of these three days mentioned above. And all this appears to me to be the halacha, and it is very simple'.
And the Gaon R' Chaim Palagi9 wrote: 'And with regard to the drasha, where erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, the zealous are early in making the drasha on the Shabbos preceding Shabbos HaGadol; and so did the man who was the master of this land, our teacher the great rav, the father of the testimony, the author of the Knesses HaGedolah z"l, as he wrote in his Beis HaKnesses siman 444, and in his sefer Pesach Me'uvin siman 127. And so did our teacher and master, the king, the angel Refael, the author of the Mareh Einayim z"l, expound in the year 5585, as he wrote in his pleasant sefer Mareh HaGadol at the beginning of drush 13, as may be seen there. And so did I, the simple one, conduct myself after them in the year 5612 and in the year 5616; may we merit many pleasant and good years, amen. (And so too wrote the rav, the author of the Knesses Yechezkel siman 23, and the Chemed Moshe, and the Chok Yaakov, and the Chok Yosef, and the Machazik Beracha, and the Kisei Eliyahu, and the Pri Megadim in the section Mishbetzos Zahav in siman 431, and the Noheg KaTzon Yosef daf 55 column 4, see there), and the correct reasoning is this, for two reasons: namely, that one must expound and inform them of the dinim beforehand, and when it is on erev Pesach there does not remain enough time to instruct them in the way they should go and the deeds they should do; and furthermore, that in the morning they hurry to leave in order to eat chometz, and after midday they want to sleep in order to be awake at night, and therefore they move it up'.
However the Ben Ish Chai10 wrote that his minhag was to expound on the Haggadah on the Shabbos of erev Pesach itself as well: 'And on this Shabbos my minhag is to expound, be'ezras Hashem, in the beis haknesses on the Haggadah11, but one must begin early so that we should daven at nine and a half, and the drasha of Shabbos HaGadol is on the preceding Shabbos'.
So then, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the Acharonim12 wrote that it is proper to move up the drasha of Shabbos HaGadol to Shabbos, the 7th of Nissan, in order to arouse the tzibbur regarding the necessary halachos.
Notes:
1 Hilchos Shabbos HaGadol os 10 ↩
2 Hagahos HaTur OC siman 444 os 2 ↩
3 Vol. 2 OC siman 5 ↩
4 OC siman 430 s"k 3 ↩
5 OC ibid. s"k 3 ↩
6 OC Mishbetzos Zahav siman 430 s"k 1 ↩
7 In the Shu"t at the end of it, siman 7 ↩
8 Machazik Beracha OC siman 430 s"k 3 ↩
9 Moed LeChol Chai siman 1 os 19 ↩
10 Shanah Alef parshas Tzav - erev Pesach on Shabbos se'if 5 ↩
11 And see Shu"t Yechaveh Daas vol. 1 siman 91, where he wrote: 'And that which I concluded, that on Shabbos HaGadol too one should expound with words of aggadah — so wrote the Ben Ish Chai, and such is our minhag. And the conclusion of the matter, that one should expand the discourse etc., is from the words of the Gaon the Yaavetz in his siddur. And in any case, on the Shabbos of erev Pesach as well, which is Shabbos HaGadol, toward evening, one should expound with words of aggadah, with the story of yetzias Mitzrayim, and with the strengthening of emunah. And one should expand the discourse with words of mussar and rebuke, to admonish the people and to warn them also about the removal of the leaven in the dough by way of evil deeds, and the chometz of corrupted views, and the puffing up of ruined middos, and to return them to the good' ↩
12 And see the references in Nitei Gavriel, Dinei Erev Pesach ShaChal BeShabbos perek 1 din 3 note 10 ↩
[8] (Halacha 786)
Bedikas Chometz (1)
Question: When is the time for bedikas chometz in such a kevius?
Answer: With regard to bedikas chometz we find two principles in the Gemara: a) that the bedikah must be at night, b) by the light of a candle. As follows:
It is stated in the Mishnah at the beginning of Maseches Pesachim: 'On the eve of the fourteenth one searches for the chometz by the light of a candle'.
And the Gemara there1 says: 'And now that it is established for us that according to all, "or" means evening: now, whether according to Rabbi Yehudah or according to Rabbi Meir, chometz is forbidden only from six hours and onward — so let us search at six hours! And if you would say, the zealous are early in performing mitzvos — let us search from the morning! For it is written: וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו ("And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised"), and it was taught: the entire day is fit for milah, but that the zealous are early in performing mitzvos, as it says וישכם אברהם בבקר ("And Avraham arose early in the morning"). Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: at the hour when people are found in their homes, and the light of the candle is good for the bedikah'.
And further on in the Gemara2: 'The Rabbanan taught: One does not search by the light of the sun, nor by the light of the moon, nor by the light of a torch, but rather by the light of a candle, because the light of the candle is good for the bedikah'.
And so it is in the Talmud Yerushalmi3: 'Why by the light of a candle? R' Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak said: because the candle detects even the smallest amount. Why at night? R' Yosa said: because the bedikah with the candle is effective only at night .. Dark alleyways — what is the law, must one search them at the outset by the light of a candle? The words of the Rabbanan say: no; as much as it gives light at night, it gives light by day. For Rav Huna said: when we were fleeing among those pits of the great study hall, they would kindle candles for us; at the time that they were dim we knew that it was day, and at the time that they were bright we knew that it was night'.
So we have seen in the Gemara that bedikas chometz must be specifically with a candle and at night, and since4 when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the chometz must be burned before Shabbos, consequently the bedikah must be on the night before, namely the night of the 13th. And the Beis Yosef5 explained that this din is according to all, that even if we were to say that there is no need to burn the chometz before Shabbos, nevertheless on account of bedikas chometz they would need to search on the night of the sixth day: 'And it is simple that even according to the one who says that they do not burn before Shabbos, in any case one must search before Shabbos for on Shabbos night they cannot carry the candle in order to search'.
And the Rambam6 wrote: When the fourteenth falls on Shabbos, they search for the chometz on the eve of erev Shabbos, which is the night of the thirteenth, and he leaves over of the chometz enough to eat from it until four hours on Shabbos day, and he places it in a concealed place, and the rest he burns before Shabbos'.
And so too wrote the Tur7: 'The fourteenth that falls on Shabbos — they search on the night of the 13th and burn everything before Shabbos'.
And the Mechaber8 wrote: 'The 14th that falls on Shabbos — they search on the night of the thirteenth. And they burn everything before Shabbos, and they leave over food for two seudos for the need of Shabbos ..'.
And the Levush9 explained: 'The 14th that falls on Shabbos, for then it is impossible to search on Shabbos night, since it is forbidden to carry the candle to search by its light, and by day too, by the light of the sun, one does not search, as was explained above — what should he do? He should search on the night of the sixth day, which is the night of the 13th'.
And the Taz10 wrote: 'I wondered at the fact that they did not write that one must be mevatel on the night of the 13th and recite a bracha on the bedikah even though it is not the eve of the 14th; and it is possible that this is included in what they wrote, that they burn everything before Shabbos, that is to say, in accordance with the din of biur on the 14th and what pertains to it beforehand'.
And these are the words of the Alter Rebbe11: 'The 14th of Nissan that falls on Shabbos — since it is impossible to search on Shabbos night, for it is forbidden to carry the candle to search by its light, and by day too it is impossible to search, as was explained in siman 433, therefore everyone searches earlier, on the night of the sixth day, which is the night of the 13th, and they recite the bracha al biur chometz12 and they are mevatel all the chometz remaining in their possession that they did not find in this bedikah, and they are careful with the chometz found in the bedikah and with the chometz that they leave over for eating, to place it in a concealed place so that children or vermin should not drag any of it away, as was explained in siman 434'.
So in practice, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, bedikas chometz is moved up to the night of the 13th, and one recites the bracha before the bedikah, and is mevatel the chometz after the bedikah.
Notes:
1 4a ↩
2 7a ↩
3 Pesachim perek 1 halacha 1 ↩
4 See Biur HaGra OC siman 444 os 1: 'One searches etc. As is stated there, 4a, "and now that it is established for us etc.", "R' Nachman bar Yitzchak said: at the hour etc.", and as is written in the Yerushalmi there, and I brought it in siman 437 se'if 11'. And note that in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe siman 444 se'if 1, in the source references of the first edition, it is written *Gemara*, and in the Shulchan Aruch HaRav edition with Dover Shalom os 2 they did not decipher it and referenced only the Rambam. But it may be said that his intention is along the lines of what is written in Biur HaGra ↩
5 OC siman 444. And see Shu"t Avnei Tzedek (Teitelbaum) OC siman 50 ↩
6 Hilchos Chometz U'Matzah perek 3 halacha 3 ↩
7 OC siman 444 ↩
8 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'if 1 ↩
9 OC siman 444 se'if 1 ↩
10 OC siman 444 s"k 7 ↩
11 Shulchan Aruch siman 444 se'if 1 ↩
12 And note the words of the Alter Rebbe in siman 436 se'if 1 with regard to a bedikah before the night of the 14th, such as one who leaves his home before the night of bedikas chometz: 'And on this bedikah he should not recite the bracha al biur chometz in the manner that one recites the bracha on the bedikah of the night of the 14th, since it is not at the primary time that Chazal instituted for it, namely the night of the 14th'. And in siman 432 in the Kuntres Acharon s"k 1 he wrote: 'For one who sets out to sea within 30 days is obligated to search, and even so he does not recite a bracha, because it is not the time of biur for most of the world, as will be explained in siman 436'. But in such a kevius, where this is the time of the bedikah for everyone by the ordinance of Chazal, therefore they recite the bracha ↩
[9] (Halacha 787)
The time of the biur (1)
In the previous halacha we saw that when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the chometz is searched for on the night of the 13th.
Question: Is the time of the biur of the chometz when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos on Shabbos itself1, or must one already burn it on the Friday before it?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Pesachim2: 'For it was taught: the fourteenth that falls on Shabbos — they burn everything before Shabbos, and they burn terumos that are tamei, in suspense, and tahor, and they leave over from the tahor ones food for two seudos, in order to eat until four hours; these are the words of Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah ish Bartosa, who said it in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua .. They said: they did not move from there until they established the halacha like Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah ish Bartosa, who said it in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua. Is it not even to eat? — Rav Pappa said in the name of Rava: No, to burn'.
And further on the Gemara says3: 'Mishnah. The fourteenth that falls on Shabbos — they burn everything before Shabbos; these are the words of Rabbi Meir. And the Chachomim say: at its time. Rabbi Eliezer bar Tzadok says: terumah — before Shabbos, and chullin — at their time. Gemara. It was taught, Rabbi Eliezer bar Tzadok says: One time father spent Shabbos in Yavneh, and the fourteenth fell on Shabbos, and Zunin, the appointee of Rabban Gamliel, came and said: the time has arrived to burn the chometz. And I went after father, and we burned the chometz'.
So then, it seems that the Tannaim disagreed as to when the time of the biur is when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos: a) The opinion of Rabbi Meir, that everything is burned before Shabbos. b) The opinion of the Chachomim, that everything is burned at the usual time — on Shabbos itself. c) The opinion of Rabbi Eliezer ish Tzadok, that terumah is burned before Shabbos, and chullin on Shabbos. d) The opinion of Rabbi Elazar ish Bartosa, that the terumah is burned before Shabbos, but food for two seudos is left over for the need of the Shabbos seudos. And the Gemara concludes that they established the halacha like R' Elazar ish Bartosa.
However the Rif4 wrote that the halacha is like the opinion of Rabbi Elazar Bartosa, and he further wrote5: 'And it is established for us like R' Elazar bar Tzadok, who stands with Rabbi Elazar ish Bartosa, for the halacha is like him'.
That is to say, according to the Rif there are not four approaches here but three, and the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer ish Tzadok is like Rabbi Elazar ish Bartosa, since Rabbi Elazar Bartosa spoke only with regard to terumah, that from the tahor terumah one may leave over only food for two seudos, and so is the halacha; while Rabbi Eliezer bar Tzadok spoke about chullin, of which one may leave over as much as he wishes, and so is the halacha. And so too other Rishonim agreed, as the Ritva6 wrote, and the Ran7.
But the Rambam8 wrote: 'When the fourteenth falls on Shabbos, they search for the chometz on the eve of erev Shabbos, which is the night of the thirteenth, and he leaves over of the chometz enough to eat from it until four hours on Shabbos day, and he places it in a concealed place, and the rest he burns before Shabbos'.
And it is understood from his words that chullin too must all be burned before Shabbos, leaving over only food for two seudos, and as the Ra'avad objected to him: 'Amar Avraham: The Rav z"l [=the Rif] did not write so; rather, it is with terumah that he burns and leaves over, but with chullin he does not burn anything except at its time, like R' Elazar ish Bartosa and like R' Elazar b'R' Tzadok, for both of them hold the same as one another, and so is the main ruling'.
And the Magid Mishneh explained: 'And Rabbeinu explains "they burn everything" as including the chullin as well, and it is to them that it refers; and certainly, were it about terumos alone, he should have said: the 14th that falls on Shabbos, they burn terumos in suspense, tamei and tahor, etc. Rather, certainly this "everything" is speaking of chullin. And the stam mishnah of Eilu Overin: the fourteenth that falls on Shabbos, they burn everything before Shabbos. And even though the Chachomim there disagree, saying "at its time" — since the stam is thus, and in the beraisa they said that they established the halacha like R' Elazar, this is established for us. And the din of leaving over food for two seudos from the chullin is simple, so that they should not fast. And R' Elazar said that they leave over from the tahor ones, even though there is room to be concerned lest they become tamei, and all the more so that they leave over from the chullin. This is the opinion of Rabbeinu, and so too many of the Geonim ruled. And there were those who were stringent not to leave over at all, but rather to eat matzah ashirah, or matzah as it should be, before chatzos, according to the opinion of some of the commentators, as will be explained in perek 6, or other foods on Shabbos; and the words of the Rishonim are primary. And there is another approach in the Hasagos and in some of the later commentators, to say that chullin are burned only at their time, and that the "everything" that R' Elazar said refers to the kinds of terumah alone; and with this they upheld the words of the Halachos, which ruled that chullin are at their time and ruled like R' Elazar. And the words of Rabbeinu and the Geonim appear correct'.
The Beis Yosef9 wrote at length to disagree with the Ran's understanding of the opinion of the Rif, and explained that even according to the Rif the chullin must be burned before Shabbos10, and that so too the Tur understood11.
So then, we have seen that the Rishonim disagreed as to whether the time of biur chometz of chullin is on Shabbos itself, or whether one must burn all the chullin before Shabbos and leave over for Shabbos only food for two seudos. (And there are those who wrote that everything is to be burned before Shabbos and on Shabbos one eats matzah ashirah).
And as to the halacha, the Mechaber12 wrote: 'The 14th that falls on Shabbos — they search on the night of the thirteenth, and they burn everything before Shabbos, and they leave over food for two seudos for the need of Shabbos'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe13: 'And on the day of erev Shabbos he must burn all the chometz that is in his possession, and he should leave over of it only food for two seudos for Shabbos'.
So in practice, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the time of biur chometz is on erev Shabbos, but food for two seudos is left over.
--------------
Notes:
1 Obviously not by burning, but by the other manners of biur, as is explained in Pesachim 21a. Tur and Shulchan Aruch, and Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe OC siman 445 ↩
2 13a ↩
3 49a ↩
4 5b ↩
5 16a ↩
6 13a ↩
7 On the Rif on daf 5; and see there and in Milchamos Hashem, where they brought the words of Rabbeinu Efraim, who raised a difficulty on the Rif in this, and this is not the place to elaborate ↩
8 Hilchos Chometz U'Matzah perek 3 halacha 3 ↩
9 OC siman 444 ↩
10 And see what the Taz wrote, OC siman 444 s"k 1 ↩
11 For his father the Rosh (Pesachim perek 1 siman 14 and perek 3 se'if 6) wrote exactly like the words of the Rif, and even so the Tur wrote the opinion of the Rambam without qualification and did not mention that the Rif and the Rosh disagree with this ↩
12 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'if 1 ↩
13 Shulchan Aruch ibid. se'if 2 ↩
[10] (Halacha 788)
The time of the biur (2)
Question: When is the time of the biur of the chometz before Shabbos?
Answer: In Sefer HaNeyar1 he wrote: 'The fourteenth that falls on Shabbos — they burn everything before Shabbos, and they search on the night of the fifth day, and on the sixth day he may burn at whatever time he wishes'.
However the Mordechai2 wrote: 'And Rashi instituted that when the 14th falls on Shabbos the chometz is burned on the 13th, on Friday, erev Shabbos, before chatzos, a decree lest in the coming year he delay until after chatzos; and it must be burned so that he should not confuse it with the other years, for it is established for us like Rabbi Yehudah, who said that there is no biur chometz other than burning'.
And so too wrote the Tur3: 'And it is good to burn on erev Shabbos before chatzos, even though it is permitted after chatzos, so that they should not come to err in the other years and burn after chatzos; and on Shabbos day he should be mevatel'.
And in the Minhagei Mahara"sh of Neustadt4 he wrote: 'He further expounded that when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, then one must burn the chometz on the sixth day before four hours5, as in the other years when erev Pesach is on a weekday'.
And these are the words of the Minhagei Tirna6: 'The 14th that falls on Shabbos HaGadol .. on the night of the sixth day they search the chometz and are mevatel after the bedikah, and he burns it on the sixth day whenever he wishes, even after six hours. And the Orach Chaim [=the Tur] wrote that it is good to burn it before six. And they should not be mevatel a second time, but rather on Shabbos, after eating the morning meal, they should be mevatel before six'.
So we have seen that from the essential din it would have been possible to burn throughout the entire day, but on account of the concern for a mishap [that they would afterwards err in ordinary years] Rashi instituted to burn the chometz earlier, before chatzos.
And as to the halacha, the Mechaber7 wrote in the language of the Tur: 'It is good to burn on erev Shabbos before chatzos, so that they should not come to err in the other years and burn after chatzos'.
And so too wrote the Levush8: 'And when he burns the chometz on erev Shabbos, even though he has left over food for two seudos, nevertheless he should burn it and consume it in fire before chatzos as in the other years, so that he should not come to err in the other years and burn it after chatzos. And on Shabbos day he should be mevatel it, as will be explained'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe9: 'When he burns the chometz on erev Shabbos, even though by the din he may burn it close to nightfall and need not burn it before chatzos of the day as in all the other years, since it is permitted to eat it until tomorrow at the fifth hour, nevertheless it is good to be careful to burn it on erev Shabbos before chatzos of the day, so that they should not come to err in the other years and likewise burn after chatzos of the day on erev Pesach'.
And from the plain meaning of the words of the Shulchan Aruch, the Levush and the Alter Rebbe10 it appears that in such a kevius one may burn until chatzos.
And although in the other years, mid'rabbanan, one must burn at the beginning of the sixth hour, and the minhag was to burn already at the end of the fifth hour11, the Maharsha"m12 explained: 'From the language of the Shulchan Aruch [which concluded: so that they should not come to err in the other years and burn after chatzos] it is implied that one decrees only on account of the Torah prohibition after the sixth hour, and one need not burn in the fifth hour; for since the sixth hour is mid'rabbanan, one does not decree on account of the other years, since that would be a decree upon a decree. And they already said in the Yerushalmi perek 2 of Shevi'is halacha 4: one does not innovate etc., one does not add to the decree'.
But we find Acharonim who wrote that one must burn as in every year, at the end of the fifth hour, as the Noda BiYehudah13 wrote: 'On the sixth day, although it is permitted to eat chometz the entire day and the entire night until a third of the day tomorrow, with all this, the chometz that he burns must be burned before the sixth hour as in all the years, on account of confusion with the other years, and therefore it appears to me, in my humble opinion, that the sale of the chometz too should be made before six'.
And so too wrote the Chayei Adam14: 'Erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos .. and they burn on the sixth day in the fifth hour as on every erev Pesach'.
And so too wrote the Maamar Mordechai15: 'However it is implied to me that this "before chatzos" is not precise, but rather one must burn at the beginning of the sixth hour, that is, at the end of the fifth hour, as in the other years'16.
And in practice there are those who wrote17 that the practice is to burn in the fifth hour. But as above, according to the Alter Rebbe the time of the biur is until chatzos18.
Notes:
1 Hilchos Pesach (Machon Yerushalayim edition p. 45) ↩
2 Pesachim remez 543 ↩
3 OC Hilchos Pesach siman 444 ↩
4 Siman 300 os 1. And see also the words of the Mahari"l in his name in Hilchos Erev Pesach os 2 ↩
5 And his intention requires examination; in any case, however, his intention is that they burn as in the other years ↩
6 Chodesh Nissan os 2 ↩
7 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'if 2 ↩
8 OC siman 444 se'if 2 ↩
9 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 445 se'if 5 ↩
10 See also Nitei Gavriel perek 9 note 2. Erev Pesach ShaChal BeShabbos (Cohen) perek 6 os 2 ↩
11 See Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe siman 445 se'if 1 and 434 se'ifim 12 - 13 ↩
12 Daas Torah siman 444 se'if 2 ↩
13 Drushei HaTzlach drush 36 os 20 ↩
14 Klal 129 se'if 9 ↩
15 Siman 444 s"k 3 ↩
16 And note the language of the Mishnah Berurah siman 444 s"k 9 regarding the words of the Shulchan Aruch, before chatzos - it is not precise, and he means at the beginning of the sixth hour as in the other years', and see what is written concerning his opinion in Mikra'ei Kodesh Pesach vol. 1 siman 46 ↩
17 See Luach Kolel Chabad, Shu"t Igros Mordechai (Blinov) siman 9 ↩
18 And so ruled the Gaon R' M. Sh. Ashkenazi z"l. [And note the yoman of the year 5737, from which it appears that the Rebbe went down after the beginning of the sixth hour] ↩
[11] (Halacha 789)
The time of the biur (3)
Question: At the burning of the chometz that is done on erev Shabbos, is one mevatel the chometz and does one say kol chamira?
Answer: It is written in the Minhagei Mahara"sh of Neustadt1: 'When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, Moreinu HaRav Shalom told me that one need not be mevatel [except] on the night following the fifth day, after the bedikah, and on Shabbos day after the seudah, and not on the sixth day when he burns it'.
And so too it is written in the minhogim of his talmid the Mahari"l2 in the name of his rebbi: 'Mahara"sh said .. but when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the chometz is permitted until Shabbos, the beginning of six. Nevertheless Rashi wrote in Sefer HaPardes that then too the minhag is to burn on the eve of that Shabbos before six, so as not to err in the other years. And it is written in the Semak that bittul is not needed at the time of that biur, since it is still permitted in eating on Shabbos until four. However, he goes according to his own reasoning, for he wrote to burn the entire day, whenever he wishes; but according to Rashi, who is concerned for lo plug, we should say that he should be mevatel then as well. However it does not appear that he should say it, since it remains with him until tomorrow, which is the main time of the bittul and of the biur, and in such a case we do not decree on account of lo plug. Indeed, the conclusion of the minhag is to burn at the time of the other years, and not to be mevatel until Shabbos, after he has eaten it'.
And the Magen Avraham wrote that such is also the opinion of the Rema3, for with regard to Shabbos itself the Rema wrote: 'And on Shabbos day they should be mevatel'. And the Magen Avraham4 wrote: 'And it appears to me that on the sixth day, at the time of the biur, one need not be mevatel, and so it is implied from the language of the Rema5; for if not6, it is difficult, for the Rav Beis Yosef already wrote this in se'if 6, and what novelty did the Rema add'.
And so too wrote the Chok Yaakov7: 'And regarding the bittul he did not write that it is good to be mevatel on erev Shabbos before the sixth hour so that he should not come to err in the other years, because the bittul can be done at its time on Shabbos, on erev Pesach, as on every erev Pesach; which is not so with the biur, which is impossible on Shabbos. And this appears to be the intention of the Rema in the hagahah, for it is seemingly a repetition, since the Mechaber wrote so explicitly in se'if 6; rather, his intention is as I have written. And see in the Magen Avraham, who also wishes to resolve the glosses of the Rema here. And in any case there is no need at all to be mevatel on erev Shabbos, but only at night at the time of the biur, and on Shabbos, and this is simple'.
And these are the words of the Alter Rebbe8: 'But one need not be mevatel on erev Shabbos at the time of the biur as in the other years, for he has already been mevatel on the night of the sixth day all the chometz in his possession that he did not find and of which he is unaware; and that which he has in his possession of the chometz that is known to him, he cannot be mevatel on erev Shabbos, since he needs to eat from it on Shabbos'.
So in practice, although the chometz is burned on Friday, since chometz remains with us for the need of the Shabbos seudos, the bittul is not said at the time of the burning, but rather the next day, on Shabbos morning, after we finish eating the chometz
★ ★ ★
Question: When is the Yehi Ratzon said?
Answer: The Acharonim9 wrote that the Yehi Ratzon is indeed said adjacent to the burning of the chometz10, and so it was seen in the conduct of the Rebbe11.
Notes:
1 Siman 382 (2) ↩
2 Hilchos Erev Pesach [2] ↩
3 OC siman 444 se'if 2 in the hagahah ↩
4 Ibid. s"k 3 ↩
5 And the Machatzis HaShekel explained, OC siman 444 s"k 3: 'That is, from the fact that he did not write "and also on Shabbos day he should be mevatel it"' ↩
6 And the Machatzis HaShekel explained there: And that which he wrote, 'for if not it is difficult etc.', is another proof: and what novelty did he add? Rather, certainly it comes for a precise inference — specifically on Shabbos day, but not on the sixth day at the time of the biur' ↩
7 Siman 444 s"k 4 ↩
8 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'if 6 ↩
9 See Erev Pesach ShaChal BeShabbos by Rav Tzvi Cohen perek 7 din 4. Nitei Gavriel, erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos, perek 9 din 5, and the references in note 10. Shu"t VaYaan Yosef OC siman 253, dinei erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos, os 3. And in Teshuvos VeHanhagos vol. 2 siman 211. And more ↩
10 And there are those who had the minhag to say the Yehi Ratzon again on Shabbos morning (see Nitei Gavriel there, and the references cited there) ↩
11 As is related in the yomanim of the year 5734, and 5737, and 5741 ↩
[12] (Halacha 790)
Beitzah (1)
Question: When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, is a korban chagigah offered in addition to the korban Pesach?
Answer: The Mishnah in Maseches Pesachim1 says: 'When does one bring a chagigah with it - at a time that it comes on a weekday .. and at a time that it comes on Shabbos .. they do not bring a chagigah with it'.
And so too wrote the Rambam2: 'When they offer the Pesach on the first [Pesach], they offer shelamim together with it on the fourteenth .. and this is what is called the chagigas arba'ah asar, and concerning this it is stated in the Torah וזבחת פסח לה' אלהיך צאן ובקר ("And you shall slaughter the Pesach offering to Hashem your G-d, of the flock and the herd"). When do they bring this chagigah with it? At a time that it comes on a weekday, and in taharah, and in a small quantity; but if the fourteenth day falls on Shabbos .. they do not bring a chagigah with it, and they offer nothing but the Pesach offerings alone'.
Question: Since the egg on the ke'arah is a zecher to the korban chagigah, in such a year must one place on the ke'arah an egg as a zecher to the chagigah?
Answer: The Tosafos3 wrote: 'When the fourteenth falls on Shabbos only one cooked dish is needed, for the chagigah of the fourteenth does not override Shabbos. However, the R"I says that even so one should not distinguish, for it would resemble an obligation if we were to refrain from making two cooked dishes, and there is also room for concern lest they not make them in the other Pesachim; and there is no concern at all if we do make them, even though it is not needed, for there is no room to fear that the Beis HaMikdash will be built and they will say: last year we made a zecher to the chagigah on Shabbos, so now too let us offer it on Shabbos - for the offering is entrusted to the zealous, and when it is built Moshe and Aharon will be with us, and there is no room to err. But one who comes to refrain from making two cooked dishes - we do not admonish him'.
And so too wrote the Baal HaItur4: 'And I heard concerning R' Yaakov of Orleans5 that on a Pesach that falls on motzaei Shabbos he would make only one cooked dish, since the chagigah does not override [Shabbos], as we learned in the mishnah: when does one bring a chagigah with it - at a time that it comes in taharah etc., and on a weekday and on the mo'ed; and let a person not deviate, for if so, even when it comes on a weekday they do not come in taharah and they do not bring a chagigah with it'.
And so too wrote Rabbeinu Peretz6: 'And when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos there are those who do not wish to make more than one cooked dish, since the chagigah of the fourteenth would not come on Shabbos, as it appears in Pesach Sheni. However, my teacher the Rav, Rabbi Yechiel, says that one need not be concerned about this, since it is only a zecher; and those who are particular about this - it appears that they are treating it like actual kodshim. And it is correct to make two cooked dishes in every case, also when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos'7.
But the Rosh8 disagreed with this and wrote: 'And it appears that when Pesach falls on the first day of the week one should bring only one cooked dish. For the chagigah does not come with the Pesach, since it does not override Shabbos, for "b'mo'ado" is not written concerning it; and if he were to bring it on erev Shabbos it would be disqualified by being left overnight on motzaei Shabbos. Therefore he should not bring a second cooked dish for the chagigah, because of "may the Beis HaMikdash speedily be built" and one will say: last year did we not bring a zecher to the chagigah even though the fourteenth fell on Shabbos - so now too let us bring a chagigah on Shabbos ..'9.
Rabbeinu Yerucham10 brought the dispute and wrote that the essential view appears to be like the Rosh.
But the Tur11 wrote: 'And there are those who say that when Pesach is on motzaei Shabbos one should take only one cooked dish as a zecher to the Pesach, but not the second one that corresponds to the chagigah, since at that time the chagigah would not come with the Pesach, for it does not override Shabbos. And the R' Peretz wrote that one need not be concerned, since it is only a mere zecher, and on the contrary, one who is particular about this - it appears that he is treating it like actual kodshim. And so too wrote the Baal HaItur, that a person should not deviate'.
And the Bach wrote on the Tur: 'But all the Acharonim agreed with the reasoning of the R' Peretz, and so too the Mahari"l received from his teachers. And so too it appears to be the conclusion of Rabbeinu, who first mentioned the reasoning of the Rosh in the name of "there are those who say", and afterwards wrote that the R' Peretz disagrees with this reasoning, and that so too wrote the Baal HaItur, to teach us that this is the essential view and that so was the practice'.
And so too it is written in Minhagei Mahara"sh of Neustadt12: 'When the night of Pesach fell on motzaei Shabbos, the Mahara"r Shalom placed two cooked dishes before him, and he said that were it not so, it would be like one who is makdish kodshim outside of Eretz Yisroel'.
And it is written in Minhagei HaMahari"l, in Seder HaHaggadah: 'And the Mahar"i Segal said that the Mahara"r Musal [=the Mahara"m Segal] would practice thus, and said that he had a tradition from his teachers, that whenever erev Pesach was on Shabbos he would take on motzaei Shabbos meat and an egg, in order to remove himself from the dispute'.
If so, in practice most of the Rishonim wrote, and so too the Acharonim agreed, that also when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos one places on the ke'arah a cooked dish [an egg] as a zecher to the chagigah.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe13: 'If Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos, even though the chagigah would not have been eaten on this night - since it is impossible to slaughter it and to offer it on Shabbos, and it is also impossible to offer it on erev Shabbos, for it may be eaten only for two days and the one night between the two days - even so one must bring two cooked dishes, one as a zecher to the Pesach and one as a zecher to the chagigah. For since they are brought only as a mere zecher, one need not be concerned that the chagigah would not have been eaten on this night; and on the contrary, one who is particular about this - it appears that he is treating them like actual kodshim'.
And so too wrote the Rebbe14: 'Also when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos one takes the egg as a zecher to the chagigah (and not like that which is written in the Avudraham), even though no chagigah was offered then (Tosafos d"h Acher, Pesachim 114b)'.
--------------
Notes:
1 69b ↩
2 Hilchos Korban Pesach ch. 10 halacha 12 ↩
3 Pesachim 114b ↩
4 Hilchos Matzah U'Maror 133 column 3 ↩
5 And to note that in the Rosh below he wrote that the R"I of Orleans placed two cooked dishes. [And this is the language of the Rosh there: 'And the R' Yaakov of Orleans and the R' Yehudah of Corbeil z"l used to say that two cooked dishes are required. For when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos they bring the chagigah from erev Shabbos, and it is not disqualified by being left overnight on motzaei Shabbos. For we say: set the nights alongside the days, and they have two nights and one day corresponding to two days and one night. And below (daf 120b) we say regarding the Pesach: it might have entered your mind to say that we should set the nights alongside the days were it not for the limitation - so with regard to the chagigah, where there is no limitation, why should we not say so. And that which was taught in perek Eilu Devarim, "when does it come with the Pesach - at a time that it comes on a weekday" - this is not difficult, for on a weekday it comes with the Pesach, but on Shabbos it does not come with the Pesach, rather it comes on erev Shabbos. But this is not correct, for that which it might have entered your mind to say regarding the Pesach, that we should set the nights alongside the days, is because it is not eaten on the day it is offered, as it is written בלילה הזה ("on this night"), and therefore the day of its offering is not counted. But the chagigah, which may be eaten on the day it is offered - it is obvious that the day of its offering is counted. Ravina said: even a bone and broth'] ↩
6 Hagahos on the Semak mitzvah 144, hagahah 5 ↩
7 And so too wrote the Mordechai, Maseches Pesachim, Seder Shel Pesach, remez 611 ↩
8 Pesachim ch. 10 siman 25 ↩
9 And to note that in Kitzur Piskei HaRosh there: 'And even when Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos two cooked dishes are required'. And the Chok Yaakov siman 473 s"k 14 wrote: 'And it requires study, for in Kitzur Piskei HaRosh he copied that one should take two cooked dishes even on motzaei Shabbos for Yom Tov, whereas the view of the Rosh there is in truth the opposite'. And so too the Mateh Asher, Likutim siman 23, wondered ↩
10 Toldos Adam V'Chavah nesiv 5 vol. 4, 43c ↩
11 OC siman 473 ↩
12 Siman 398:1. And see also in Minhagei Mahari"l, Seder HaHaggadah os 30 ↩
13 OC siman 473 se'if 23 ↩
14 Haggadah shel Pesach im Likkutei Taamim, Seder Haggadah, d"h HaBeitzah ↩
[13] (Halacha 791)
Beitzah (2)
We saw in the previous halacha that when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos the korban chagigah is not offered together with the Pesach
Question: Does this have any bearing on the nusach of the Haggadah?
Answer: The Mishnah in Maseches Pesachim1 says regarding the bracha that concludes the saying of the Haggadah: 'Rabbi Akiva says: so too, Hashem our G-d and the G-d of our fathers, bring us to other mo'adim and regalim that come toward us in peace, rejoicing in the rebuilding of Your city and joyful in Your avodah, and we shall eat there from the zevachim and from the pesachim etc., until Baruch Atah Hashem, Ga'al Yisroel'.
And the Mahar"i Weil2 wrote: 'When Pesach comes on motzaei Shabbos, then one should say from the pesachim and from the zevachim, for the chagigah is not offered on Shabbos. And on the second night one should say from the zevachim and from the pesachim, for the chagigah is eaten before the Pesach; and the same applies in the other years'3.
Many Acharonim4 agreed with the words of the Mahar"i Weil, as the Mateh Moshe5 wrote: 'And when Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos one says from the pesachim and from the zevachim - the Mahara"sh6 and the Mahar"i Weil - for the chagigah is not offered on Shabbos'.
And so too wrote the Taz7: 'The Mahari"v wrote that if Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos one must say on that night from the pesachim and from the zevachim, for the chagigah is not offered on Shabbos'.
And so too wrote the Magen Avraham8: 'When Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos one should say from the pesachim and from the zevachim, for they did not offer a chagigah, since the chagigah does not override Shabbos (Bach, Mahari"v), and see in the Tur'9.
However, we find Acharonim who wrote not to change, as the Knesses HaGedolah wrote in his sefer Pesach Me'ubin10: 'In the bracha of Asher Ge'alanu, there are those whose version is from the pesachim first and afterwards from the zevachim, and they give a reason for their words: because the pesachim are more frequent, since they are offered even when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos, which is not so with the korban chagigah, which does not override Shabbos. And the Mahar"i Weil imposed a compromise: that when the fourteenth falls on a weekday, when the korban chagigah is also offered on it, one says from the zevachim and from the pesachim, but when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos one says from the pesachim and from the zevachim. And there are those who say that whether the fourteenth falls on Shabbos or falls on a weekday, one should always say from the zevachim and from the pesachim, for the korban chagigah was eaten before the korban Pesach, which is eaten when one is already satiated; and such is our minhag'11.
And so too wrote the Knesses Yechezkel12: 'The Pesach of 5487 was on motzaei Shabbos, and I expounded in public that what they wrote - to say from the pesachim and zevachim because the chagigah does not come on Shabbos - is not so, for we are davening that next year we should merit, and then it will not be on motzaei Shabbos. And the Mahari"v wrote "a Pesach that comes on motzaei Shabbos", meaning that next year it will be on motzaei Shabbos13, and this is easily understood. And moreover, the words of the Mahari"v are not so, for we are davening that we should merit to eat pesachim, that the Mikdash should be built - and then, when the Mikdash is built, perhaps it will not be on motzaei Shabbos, for they will sanctify the month on the basis of sighting; and examine this'.
The Alter Rebbe14 brought both views and did not decide between them: 'In the bracha of Asher Ge'alanu one must say from the zevachim and afterwards from the pesachim, because the zevach is the chagigah, which is eaten on this night before the eating of the Pesach, so that the Pesach should be eaten when one is already satiated. And when Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos, there are those who are particular to say from the pesachim and from the zevachim, since the chagigah is not eaten on this night, as was explained above, and the zevachim are the chagigah and the shalmei simchah that are offered on the morrow, during the day. And there are those who are not particular about this15 and say it all in one nusach, for we are asking that Hashem should bring us to the coming mo'adim, joyful in His avodah, and there we shall eat next year - when Pesach will not be on motzaei Shabbos - from the zevachim first, that is, from the chagigah that is eaten on this night, and afterwards from the pesachim. And even if, according to the reckoning of the calendar that is handed to us, the coming Pesach will be on motzaei Shabbos, nevertheless, when the Beis HaMikdash is built they will sanctify the month on the basis of sighting, and it is possible that it will not be on motzaei Shabbos'.
But in the nusach of the Haggadah in the siddur of the Alter Rebbe he ruled like the Mahar"i Weil and the rest of the Acharonim, that on a Pesach that falls on motzaei Shabbos one says from the pesachim and from the zevachim.
And this is the language of the Rebbe16: ''From the zevachim' - the chagigah (which comes before the Pesach so that it should be eaten when one is already satiated. Pesachim 70a), and afterwards - 'and from the pesachim'. 'On motzaei Shabbos' - (for the chagigah does not come on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos. Pesachim 69b) we shall eat there - 'from the pesachim and from the zevachim - the chagigah that will come on the morrow' (Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe 473 se'if 49)'.
--------------
Notes:
1 Ch. 10 mishnah 6 ↩
2 Shu"t siman 193 ↩
3 And the Bach OC siman 473 wrote: 'And it follows of itself that when Pesach falls on Shabbos and Sunday one says the reverse, and this is easily understood' ↩
4 And see also Chok Yaakov siman 473 s"k 40 ↩
5 Amud HaAvodah, Leil HaSeder, siman 643 ↩
6 However, in the Mahari"l that is before us (Seder HaHaggadah os 30) it is brought that the Mahara"sh always said from the pesachim and from the zevachim, and not only on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos ↩
7 OC siman 473 s"k 9 ↩
8 Siman 473 s"k 30 ↩
9 And the Machatzis HaShekel explained: 'And see in the Tur, who wrote that there are those who say that when Pesach falls on motzaei Shabbos one should take only one cooked dish, as a zecher to the Pesach alone, since they did not bring a chagigah then; and the R' Peretz wrote that one should not be particular about this, since it is only a mere zecher, and on the contrary, one who is particular about this - it appears that he is treating it like actual kodshim; thus far the substance of his words. *And it is possible that with regard to saying pesachim before zevachim when it falls on motzaei Shabbos, even the R' Peretz agrees'* ↩
10 Maggid os 268 ↩
11 And see also the Knesses HaGedolah, Hagahos HaTur, OC siman 473 os 22: 'And it is the minhag of our fathers, and we after them, not to change' ↩
12 Shu"t siman 23 ↩
13 But see the Pri Megadim OC Mishbetzos Zahav siman 444 s"k 3: 'And one who examines the Mahar"i Weil, Hilchos Pesach - "when it comes on Shabbos one should not read the Haggadah alone, and when it comes on motzaei Shabbos [then he should say from the pesachim and from the zevachim]" etc., [thus far] - it is implied that it refers to this year' ↩
14 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 473 se'if 49 ↩
15 And so too in the siddurim of the Arizal they did not distinguish between an ordinary year and a year that falls on motzaei Shabbos. And so it is in Darkei Chaim V'Shalom os 603, and in Nimukei Orach Chaim siman 473. And see the references in Nitei Gavriel vol. 2 ch. 88 din 10 note 16 ↩
16 Haggadah im Likkutei Taamim ↩
[14] (Halacha 792)
Sleep on Erev Pesach (1)
Question: Is there a halacha as to how to prepare the children for leil haseder?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Pesachim1: 'It was taught: they said concerning Rabbi Akiva that in all his days he never said "the time has come to rise from the beis midrash", except on erev Pesach and erev Yom HaKippurim. On erev Pesach - for the sake of the children, so that they should not sleep. And on erev Yom HaKippurim - so that they should feed their children'.
And Rashi explained: 'Chutz me'arvei Pesachim - so that the children should sleep during the day and not at night, at the time of the Haggadah'.
That is to say, according to Rashi's explanation, Rabbi Akiva was concerned on erev Pesach that they should go and put the children to sleep on erev Pesach, so that they should have the strength to be awake at leil haseder.
However, we find in the Rishonim a further explanation, that the intent is to hasten to begin the seder early so that the children should not fall asleep, as the Rashbam wrote: 'Chutz me'arvei Pesachim. So that they should put the children to sleep during the day and not at night, at the time of the Haggadah. Alternatively, when they delay until night, after it has grown dark, the children fall asleep'.
And so too wrote Rabbeinu Yehonasan of Lunel2: 'Alternatively, it may be explained that R' Akiva did not want the talmidim who were learning with him on erev Pesach to be delayed until it had grown very, very dark, half an hour or an hour, so that their children should not fall asleep in the middle of the seudah; rather, immediately [at] tzeis hakochavim he wanted them to begin eating matzah'.
The Tosafos there, in the d"h Chutz Me'arvei Pesachim, wrote: 'This is the girsa [=arvei] of Rabbeinu Shmuel, and it is not correct - for is it so that they cannot sleep without their father? And as for the second reason that he explained, lest they delay until it grows very dark - if so, they would not have needed to rise during the day, but only at night. Therefore it appears that the girsa is leilei Pesachim, and they were accustomed to be in the beis midrash on the nights of Yom Tov, as we say3: there was an incident with Shimon HaTimni, who did not come to the beis midrash on the night of Yom Tov; the next day Rabbi Yehudah ben Bava found him'.
That is to say, according to the view of the Tosafos, the explanation of Rashi and the first explanation of the Rashbam stem from their girsa in the Gemara, chutz me'arvei Pesachim - that is, it speaks of something done on erev Pesach before the onset of the Yom Tov, and therefore they explained that it speaks of sleeping on erev Yom Tov so that they should be awake on the night of Yom Tov. But the Tosafos wrote that the girsa should be leilei Pesachim, and the intent is to hasten on the night of Yom Tov itself to begin the seder as soon as it is possible4.
And l'halacha, only the second explanation is brought in the Shulchan Aruch, that one must hasten to begin the seder early, as the Mechaber5 wrote: 'His table should be set while it is still day, in order to eat immediately when it grows dark; and even if he is in the beis midrash, he should rise, because it is a mitzvah to hasten and to eat for the sake of the children, so that they should not sleep'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe6: 'His table should be set while it is still day, in order to begin the seder immediately when it grows dark. And even if he is in the beis midrash, he should rise immediately when it grows dark, for it is a mitzvah to hasten to begin the seder for the sake of the children, so that they should not sleep; and the Torah said והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא ("And you shall tell your son on that day")'.
But we find several Rishonim who wrote l'halacha that it is worthwhile to make certain that the children sleep, as Rashi explained, as it is written in Minhagei Mahara"sh of Neustadt7: 'And one should let the children sleep during the day, so that they will ask at night'.
And so too it is written in the minhogim of his talmid, the Mahari"l8: 'The Mahar"i Segal said that they put the children to sleep on erev Pesach, so that they should awaken toward the evening and ask at the time of the Haggadah'.
And the Knesses HaGedolah brought them in Pesach Me'ubin9: 'And the Mahar"i Weil z"l wrote: the children should sleep during the day, so that they will be able to be awake at night; and so too wrote the Mahari"l in his Drashos'.
And the Mateh Moshe10 wrote: 'Therefore one should be careful on erev Pesach and eat light foods immediately in the morning. And the practice is with dairy foods, for milk induces sleep, and in order that he should sleep during the day and be awake at night to relate the story of yetzias Mitzrayim, and that the children too should be awake and should ask Mah Nishtanah. And in all this he should eat and drink only a little, and should not fill his stomach with them'.
And in a similar vein the Ben Ish Chai11 wrote: 'And every person must sleep on this Shabbos day after the morning seudah, so that he will be able to be properly awake at night; and the same applies to the women and the children - they should be careful in this. And after he awakens from his sleep during the day, he should occupy himself with Torah, which gives life to those who fulfil it, and it is good to learn Mishnayos Pesachim'.
If so, we have seen that one must hasten in beginning the seder so that the children should not fall asleep, and on the other hand it is fitting that the children should go to sleep on erev Yom Tov so that they should have strength.
Notes:
1 109a ↩
2 23b of the pages of the Rif ↩
3 Beitzah 21a ↩
4 And see also the Chok Yaakov on Shulchan Aruch OC siman 472 s"k 1 ↩
5 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 472 se'if 1 ↩
6 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 472 se'if 1 ↩
7 Siman 25 ↩
8 Hilchos Erev Pesach os 17 ↩
9 Os 155 ↩
10 Amud HaAvodah, Dinei Challah, siman 600 ↩
11 Shanah Alef, Tzav - Erev Pesach on Shabbos, se'if 7 ↩
[15] (Halacha 793)
Seudah Shlishis (1)
Question: When is the time of seudah shlishis on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos, and how is it fulfilled?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Pesachim1 says: 'For it was taught: the fourteenth that falls on Shabbos - one destroys everything before Shabbos, and one burns terumos that are tamei, those in doubt, and those that are tahor, and one leaves over from the tahor ones food for two seudos, in order to eat until the fourth hour; these are the words of Rabbi Elazar ben Yehudah ish Bartosa, who said it in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua'.
And in explanation of the fact that it was not mentioned that they leave over food for a seudah shlishis, Rashi wrote: 'Food for two seudos - and not three, for all three seudos of Shabbos are evening, morning and Minchah, and on erev Pesach it is forbidden to eat from Minchah time and onward'.
And from his words it appears that he held that it is impossible to make the seudah shlishis before the time of Minchah2, and after chatzos it is impossible to eat either chometz or matzah3, and therefore they do not leave over food for the third seudah.
But the Rosh4 wrote (and so it is in the Tosafos5) that Rabbeinu Tam made the third seudah with matzah ashirah: 'And one must say matzah ashirah, which he is able to eat. For that which we say, that it is forbidden to eat matzah on erev Pesach, refers to matzah with which one is fit to fulfil his obligation at night. And such was the practice of Rabbeinu Tam on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos, that he would make the seudah shlishis with matzah ashirah'
.
And so too the Tur6 wrote regarding the third seudah: 'And it is good to make it with fruit; and Rabbeinu Tam had the practice to make it with matzah ashirah that was kneaded with fruit juices'.
On the other hand, there are Rishonim who held that there is no problem with making the third seudah before chatzos of the day, and therefore they wrote that one must make the third seudah with bread, as the Yereim7 wrote: 'And they leave over food for two seudos, in order to eat until the fourth hour. The meaning of "two seudos" is two satiations, which he divides into three seudos. And I wrote this explanation in order to make known that there is no proof from here that one who ate the seudah shlishis of Shabbos before the fourth hour has not fulfilled his obligation'.
If so, according to the shitah of the Yereim one makes a seudah in the morning and divides it into two, and thereby fulfils the obligation of the third seudah with bread.
And so too wrote the Rokeach8 in his name: 'R' Eliezer of Metz said to me: two seudos are two satiations, and he should divide them into three seudos; thus they do - they go on Shabbos early in the morning to the beis haknesses and hasten to leave, so that they should eat before the fourth hour .. '.
However, we find a third shitah, which holds that one must fulfil the third seudah in its proper time, but not with matzah - rather with fruit and the like, as Rabbeinu Peretz9 wrote: 'And the seudah shlishis he should make from fruit; and there are those who make it from matzah that was kneaded with wine alone, without water, but it is better to make it with fruit'.
And it is written in the Tashbetz Katan10 concerning the conduct of his teacher, the Mahara"m of Rothenburg: 'When the fourteenth of Nissan fell on Shabbos, the Mahara"m would eat the third seudah at his table in the morning, and toward the evening he would eat fruit. For perhaps he did not fulfil his obligation with what he ate as the third seudah in the morning, before Minchah gedolah, according to Rabbeinu Tam, who explained that the third seudah is only after Minchah gedolah, as it appears in Maseches Shabbos (daf 118): the bowls from which he ate in the evening he rinses in the morning; those of the morning he rinses at Minchah. And perhaps he did fulfil his obligation with what he ate as the third seudah in the morning, for he said in the name of his uncle, Rabbi Nasan, who said to him that there is in the Targum Yerushalmi of this pasuk - אכלוהו היום ("Eat it today"), "today" three times - "from this I know that a Jew is obligated to eat three seudos on Shabbos, one in the evening and one in the morning and one at evening-time"; alternatively, to interrupt and to make a bracha between one eating and the next'.
And he further wrote11: 'And I say that a person must make the third seudah, when the fourteenth of Nissan falls on Shabbos, before the time of Minchah ketanah, so that he should eat matzah with appetite at night. And Rabbeinu Tam would require making matzah ashirah that was kneaded with egg-water when the fourteenth of Nissan fell on Shabbos, in order to make the third seudah with it. But the Mahara"m z"l does not wish to knead with eggs, because they asked Rashi about dough kneaded with eggs, whether it may be eaten on Pesach, and he said concerning it neither a prohibition nor a permission. A prohibition he did not say concerning it, because fruit juices do not cause fermentation; a permission he did not say concerning it, because it swells with egg-water. Therefore the Mahara"m said that it is good to squeeze apples or pears and to knead with their juices, and so he was accustomed to do'.
That is to say, the Mahara"m conducted himself both like the words of the Baal HaYereim and like the words of Rabbeinu Peretz..
And in the minhogim of the Mahari"l12 it is written: 'And for this reason there are those who have the practice, when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, to make three seudos by means of matzah ashirah. However, we have not seen the elder great ones doing so, for it is difficult to fulfil the views of all our teachers. For if he kneads with wine, it is close to certain that a little water became mixed in at the time of the vintage, and the Rashb"g and the Semag wrote that by means of water, in any amount whatsoever, it becomes chometz, and bitul does not apply, for the matter depends on its nature. And with milk too, water is easily mixed in at the time of the milking. In the Semak, and so too oil and honey, we have the practice to forbid, even from the beehive. And furthermore, one does not make the bracha of HaMotzi upon it. And by means of squeezed fruit juices as well - did not the R"I refuse to rule so l'halacha l'maaseh, not like Rashi, who explained that without water it ferments early and becomes chometz, and one is unable to guard it from chometz nuksheh, and the Yerushalmi implies like his words. And even though there are not three verses regarding chometz nuksheh, nevertheless it is forbidden mid'rabbanan to derive benefit from it, from that case of the Kurdish wheat, according to the explanation of Rabbeinu Tam - all the more so by means of egg-water; and furthermore, one does not make the bracha of HaMotzi upon it according to some of our teachers. And by means of matzah that was baked and crumbled and kneaded richly - perhaps it is not considered ashirah after baking, and there is a proof from the salt in the Yerushalmi. And so too from the Rokeach, who permitted to a sick person and to an elderly person matzah soaked in wine. And furthermore, does one not wrap it and eat charoses with it, and so too eat the Pesach with it. And there are those who wrote to dip the matzah of the korech in charoses - which shows that after baking it does not become ashirah; here too, when one goes back and crumbles it and bakes it, it does not become ashirah. And were a person a baal nefesh and fit to take upon himself the Name, he should make crumbled cooked matzah, which is a maaseh kedeirah and dissolves, and its bracha is Minei Mezonos, and one fulfils it with minei targima. But I have not seen anyone practising so, except for one of the great ones who made it with wine, and his talmidim disputed with him for the reason above. And it is good to make it with fruit, like the Semak and the Mahara"m; and the Rashbam is worthy [to be relied upon] in a shaas hadchak, and one version in the last perek of Yoma. [And so too the Mahar"i Segal practised, that he made seudah shlishis with fruit - when erev Pesach fell on Shabbos]'.
If so, we have seen that the Rishonim disagreed as to how to conduct oneself with the seudah shlishis on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos: 1) there are those who wrote to divide the morning seudah into two, 2) there are those who wrote to make the seudah after Minchah and to eat matzah ashirah, 3) there are those who were concerned about eating matzah ashirah and wrote to eat fruit and the like. 4) And there are those who had the practice both to divide the morning seudah into two and also to eat fruit after Minchah.
In the next halacha we will see how the halacha was ruled l'maaseh.
Notes:
1 13a ↩
2 As explained in Shulchan Aruch OC siman 291 ↩
3 As explained in Shulchan Aruch OC siman 471 ↩
4 Pesachim ch. 10 siman 1 ↩
5 Pesachim 99b ↩
6 OC siman 444 ↩
7 Siman 301. Brought in the Mordechai, Pesachim, remez 542; and Hagahos Maimoniyos, Hilchos Chometz U'Matzah ch. 3 os 2 ↩
8 Hilchos Pesach siman 267 ↩
9 Hagahos Semak mitzvah 98 os 4. And so too it is written in the Tashbetz siman 23, in the hagahah ↩
10 Siman 23 ↩
11 Siman 24 ↩
12 Hilchos Erev Pesach os 15 ↩
[16] (Halacha 794)
Seudah Shlishis (2)
In the previous halacha we saw that the Rishonim disagreed as to how to conduct oneself with the seudah shlishis on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos: 1) the shitah of the Yereim, that one must divide the morning seudah into two, 2) the shitah of Rabbeinu Tam, that one must make the seudah after Minchah and eat matzah ashirah, 3) Rabbeinu Peretz wrote that it is preferable to eat fruit and the like. 4) The Mahara"m of Rothenburg both divided the morning seudah into two and also ate fruit after Minchah.
Question: How was the halacha ruled l'maaseh?
Answer: The Mechaber1 wrote to conduct oneself like Rabbeinu Tam: 'The fourteenth that falls on Shabbos .. and one leaves over food for two seudos for the needs of Shabbos, for the time of the seudah shlishis is after Minchah, and then he cannot make it either with matzah or with chometz, but only with matzah ashirah2, and he must make it before the tenth hour'.
But the Rema wrote in his hagahah to conduct oneself like Rabbeinu Peretz: 'And in these lands, where the practice is not to eat matzah ashirah, as below in siman 462 se'if 4 in the hagahah, he should fulfil the seudah shlishis with kinds of fruit, or meat and fish3, as above in siman 291 se'if 6 in the hagahah'.
And so too wrote the Alter Rebbe, as we will see below.
★ ★ ★
Question: Must one be machmir and conduct himself like the practice of the Mahara"m, to divide the morning seudah into two and also to eat fruit after Minchah?
Answer: The Magen Avraham4 wrote: 'And nevertheless, in the morning too he should interrupt his seudah into two, for there are those who say that one fulfils his obligation with this'5. And so too wrote the Chok Yaakov6.
However, apart from what many Rishonim wrote, that it is impossible to fulfil the third seudah before chatzos, the holy Shelah7 wrote that also according to the words of the holy Zohar the time of the third seudah is only after Minchah, and this is his language: 'And we find that the holy luminary a"h8, at the time of his passing, said this concerning the order of the seudos: I call as witnesses upon myself all those who are here, that in all my days I have not nullified these three seudos, and on their account I have not needed to fast on Shabbos, nor on any other day, and all the more so on Shabbos; and whoever merits them merits complete emunah. One seudah (Malchus) of the Matronisa, and one seudah (Tiferes) of the King, and one seudah (Kesser) of the Atika Kaddisha, the most concealed of all the concealed ones. Thus far. It appears from these words of his that the morning seudah is for the King, the sod of the middle line, and the Minchah seudah is for the Atik Yomin; and this order is more correct, because at the time of Minchah the supernal light, the sod of Atik Yomin, is revealed. And from here there is a proof that the seudah shlishis must be made at Minchah, not like those who make the third one in the morning after the seudah, who bentch birchas hamazon and afterwards spread a cloth and go back and make the third one - and there is no recognizable distinction here, neither in the Shabbos seudah that is made in halves, nor in the seudah shlishis whose time is at Minchah, for it corresponds to the Atik Yomin, and He is revealed at that hour..'.
The Alter Rebbe too did not bring this chumrah of dividing the seudah into two.
★ ★ ★
Question: According to the minhag of making the third seudah after Minchah, is there a preference for meat and fish over fruit?
Answer: We saw that the Rema wrote that 'he should fulfil the seudah shlishis with kinds of fruit, or meat and fish'. And from the plain meaning of the language it appears that fruit takes precedence over meat and fish.
But the Magen Avraham9 wrote: 'Or with meat and fish. That is to say, if he has meat and fish, that is preferable to kinds of fruit, as is written in siman 291'.
However, the Chok Yaakov10 disagreed with the Magen Avraham and wrote that here fruit is preferable, and this is his language: 'With kinds of fruit or with meat and fish. Even though above, in siman 291 [se'if 5], it is explained that it is better to make it with meat and fish than with fruit, here the Rav wrote fruit first. It appears to me that because of eating matzah with appetite it is better to fulfil it with kinds of fruit, which do not satiate so much. And furthermore, since the way with meat and fish is to eat bread together with them, we are concerned lest one come to err and eat matzah with them. And in the Magen Avraham he wrote that also on erev Pesach it is better to fulfil it with meat and fish. But this is not the implication of the Rav's language here, but rather as I have written'.
But the Alter Rebbe wrote like the words of the Magen Avraham, that l'chatchilah meat and fish are preferable.
And this is the language of the Alter Rebbe11: 'And on the day of erev Shabbos one must destroy all the chometz in his possession, and should leave over from it only food for two seudos for Shabbos. But the seudah shlishis - since its time is after chatzos of the day, it is impossible to eat for it anything but matzah ashirah, that is, matzah that was kneaded with wine or oil or honey or milk or other liquids and fruit juices; for all of these are not called lechem oni, and a person does not fulfil with them the obligation of eating matzah on Pesach, and therefore it is permitted to eat it on erev Pesach. But any matzah with which a person fulfils his obligation on Pesach is forbidden to be eaten on erev Pesach, as is written in siman 471. And in these lands, where the practice is not to eat matzah ashirah at all on erev Pesach from the fifth hour and onward, for a reason that will be explained in siman 462, they should fulfil the seudah shlishis with meat and fish and the like, with other kinds of relish, for there are those who say that with these things a person fulfils the obligation of seudah shlishis on all the Shabbosos of the year, as was explained in siman 291. And if he does not have kinds of relish, he should fulfil it with kinds of fruit, for there are those who say that with this too one fulfils the obligation of seudah shlishis, as was explained there. And it would have been fitting to fulfil it with cooked matzah that did not dissolve entirely in its cooking, but rather its pieces remain intact - that is, that there is a kezayis in each one of them - in a manner that one makes HaMotzi and birchas hamazon over them; and he can fulfil the third seudah with it according to all opinions, since it is permitted to eat it on erev Pesach, for a person does not fulfil his obligation on Pesach with cooked matzah (as will be explained in siman 461) - only that the practice is not to do so. And one who does practise so, and likewise in places where the practice is to eat matzah ashirah, must be careful to eat this third seudah before the tenth hour, for from then onward it is forbidden to eat bread until the evening, as will be explained in siman 471'.
If so, on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos one fulfils the seudah shlishis with meat and fish or kinds of relish, and if he does not have them he should fulfil it with fruit.
[And indeed this is the place to note that in general the minhag of Chabad on all the Shabbosos of the year is to fulfil the obligation with a tasting, as it is written in Sefer HaMinhagim12: 'The Rebbe Rashab n"e writes in one of his maamarim: that which seudah shlishis is היום לא גו' means that bread is not required, but one must taste something; and Rabbi Yosi said: may my portion be among those who eat three seudos', and it will be explained b'ezras Hashem in another halacha].
Notes:
1 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'if 1 ↩
2 And regarding the explanation of the Mechaber's intent in *matzah ashirah*, see what the Ateres Zekeinim wrote there, siman 444 s"k 1 ↩
3 The Pri Chodosh OC siman 444 se'if 1 wrote: 'And according to the hagahah, which wrote that he should fulfil the seudah with kinds of fruit, it is permitted to make it even after the tenth hour, as below at the beginning of siman 471; and in any case, whether he fulfils it with kinds of fruit or with matzah ashirah, it is correct [to be careful] not to eat more than a kezayis, so that he should eat matzah with appetite at night' ↩
4 There, siman 444 s"k 1 ↩
5 The Machatzis HaShekel added: 'And the Magen Avraham wrote above, siman 291 s"k 6, and this is his language: and he should rise and walk a little and wait a little in between. And those who remain in their place have not fulfilled their obligation, for it is like one seudah; thus far his language' ↩
6 There, s"k 2 ↩
7 Maseches Shabbos, perek Torah Ohr 97 ↩
8 Zohar vol. 3, 288b ↩
9 There, s"k 2 ↩
10 There, s"k 2 ↩
11 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 444 se'ifim 2 - 4 ↩
12 P. 34, and Hayom Yom 22 Adar I ↩
[17] (Halacha 795)
Shabbos HaGadol
Question: What is the haftarah of Shabbos HaGadol?
Answer: It is written in the Pardes HaGadol of Rashi1, brought in the Or Zarua2: 'It is written in the teshuvos: why did they not annul עולותיכם ("Your olos") and institute [to read as haftarah] וערבה ("And it shall be pleasing")? Perhaps because the conclusion of וערבה is יום דין הגדול והנורא ("the great and awesome day of judgment"), and therefore they did not institute to read וערבה as the haftarah. But I, Menachem, have a different spirit with me on account of וערבה, and in order to uphold the minhag of our fathers, which is Torah, and which the great ones of the generation practised - and I see their words and concur with them. And I say: when the fourteenth of Nissan falls on Shabbos, it is impossible to read as haftarah אשר לא צויתי ולא עלתה על לבי ("which I did not command, nor did it enter My mind") on the day of the shechitah of the Pesach, because it is written במועדו ("in its appointed time"); and it is impossible to read as haftarah on the day of the shechitah of the Pesach גזי נזרך והשליכי ושאי על שפים קינה ("cut off your crown of hair and cast it away, and raise a lamentation upon the high places") on a Shabbos that is erev Pesach, and to cast down the heart of Yisroel, the olei regel. And I found support for my words when there came into my hand a sefer of the R' Moshe bar Meshulam zt"l that was brought from the land of Bavel, and in the Nevi'im there were markings of the haftaros for the parshiyos of the Torah for the whole year, and I saw a marking of צו את אהרן by עולותיכם, and another marking of צו את אהרן by וערבה לה'. And therefore I aimed at the truth in saying that sometimes they read for צו את אהרן the haftarah of עולותיכם and sometimes וערבה, and there is a condition in this matter: if it is an ordinary year and צו את אהרן falls on the Shabbos HaGadol before Pesach, they should read וערבה' - and all the more so when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos'.
And so too it is written in Sefer HaMinhagim - Klausner3: 'On Shabbos HaGadol one reads as haftarah וערבה לה'.
And according to their words there is no distinction between an ordinary Shabbos HaGadol and a Shabbos HaGadol that is erev Pesach, and one always reads וערבה as the haftarah.
But in Sefer HaMinhagim - Tirna4 he wrote: 'And on it one reads as haftarah וערבה לה', and there are places where they do not read וערבה לה' as the haftarah except when Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach. There are those who say that when the fourteenth falls on Shabbos HaGadol in parshas Metzora, one reads as haftarah וארבעה אנשים5 ("And there were four men"), for in it too there is written a matter of the neis'.
If so, in his words we see that there are those who had the practice to read וערבה as the haftarah only in a year in which erev Pesach falls on Shabbos
The Levush6 wrote to explain the two minhogim: 'And there are those who read וערבה as the haftarah even though it does not fall on erev Pesach; and there are those who say that one does not read וערבה as the haftarah except when Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach. And it appears to me that the reason for reading וערבה as the haftarah on every Shabbos HaGadol is because there is written in it הנה אנכי שולח לכם את אליהו וגו' ("Behold, I send you Eliyahu, etc."), which is similar to Moshe's announcement of the geulah in Mitzrayim, and this is of the nature of the occasion on every Shabbos HaGadol. And as for those who do not read וערבה as the haftarah except when Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach, their reason is a different one: because there is written in it הביאו את המעשר אל בית האוצר וגו' ("Bring the maaser to the storehouse, etc."), that is, the biur of maaser in the fourth year of the shemittah cycle, and the time of the biur was only on erev Pesach, as Rashi explained in his peirush on the Chumash, in the parshah of the biur, כי תכלה לעשר וגו' ("When you have finished tithing, etc."), in parshas Ki Savo, see there, (and it is a mishnah)7. And go out and see what the people do'.
The Eliyah Rabbah8 and the Bigdei Yesha9 wrote that in Prague the practice was to read וערבה as the haftarah only on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos. And so too the Mekor Chaim10 wrote l'maaseh.
And as to the reason for the minhag, the Shelah11 wrote: 'In the haftarah of 'וערבה' there is mentioned a matter of the bracha, when one separates maasros and challah: 'במארה אתם נארים כו' ובחנוני נא בזאת' ("You are cursed with a curse etc., and test Me now with this") etc. Therefore there is a connection to this haftarah when one gives 'חלת העני' ("the challah of the poor"). Therefore there are [those who] do not say this haftarah except when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, for then he certainly already had flour in his house and [separated] challah, which is not the case when there are still some days until Pesach'.
And the Maharsha"k in Chochmas Shlomo12 wrote: 'Behold, as to the reason why one reads וערבה as the haftarah only when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos, it appears to say thus: since in the first year in which the Mishkan was erected, erev Pesach fell on Shabbos - for then Rosh Chodesh Nissan was on the first day of the week, as we indeed say that that day took ten crowns; and also the tribe of Ephraim brought its offering on Shabbos, as is written in the Midrash13. And if so, since at the first Pesach after the Mishkan was erected erev Pesach fell on Shabbos, therefore, when erev Pesach now falls on Shabbos, we ask that our Pesach should be ערבה לפני ד' ("pleasing before Hashem") as in the days of old and the ancient years, like the first Pesach that was in the Mishkan; and this fits very well'.
On the other hand, the Yaavetz14 wrote at length to strengthen the minhag of reading וערבה as the haftarah on every Shabbos HaGadol, and the Gaon R' Yosef Shaul Nathanson15 wrote: 'N"b. I saw in the register that is in the old beis haknesses within the city of Lvov, that they say the haftarah of וערבה even when it does not fall on erev Pesach; and so too wrote my great-uncle, the Mahar"i Emden z"l, in the siddur, not like the Shelah .. and so I too practise'.
And there are those who had the practice to read וערבה as the haftarah only on a Shabbos that is not erev Pesach, as is written in Sefer Maaseh Rav16: 'Regarding the haftarah of וערבה on Shabbos HaGadol: at the end of his days he instructed to read וערבה as the haftarah on a Shabbos HaGadol that does not fall on erev Pesach, and he would say that if Shabbos HaGadol falls on erev Pesach one should not read וערבה as the haftarah. And this is the opposite of the minhag of the world, for according to the reasons explained in the Levush - that וערבה was instituted for Shabbos HaGadol - the order should be reversed'17.
But l'maaseh the Alter Rebbe18 wrote that one says this haftarah only on an erev Pesach that falls on Shabbos: 'The practice in these lands is that when Shabbos HaGadol is erev Pesach one reads as the haftarah on it, in Malachi, וערבה וגו', because in that parshah there is written הביאו המעשר אל בית האוצר וגו', and this is of the nature of the occasion, for erev Pesach is the time of the biur - that is, that on the erev Pesach of the fourth year of the shemittah cycle, and on the erev Pesach of the seventh year of the shemittah cycle, every person is obligated to remove from his house all the maasros that he separated from his produce during all the three years that have passed since the shemittah, and the maasros that he separated were lying in his house, and on this erev Pesach he is obligated to bring them to the house of the Levi (and even though there are those who say that the time of the biur is not on the eve of the first Yom Tov of Pesach but on the eve of the last Yom Tov of Pesach, and so is the essential view, as is written in YD siman 331, nevertheless the minhag has spread according to the first opinion)'.
And so wrote the Rebbe19: 'A Shabbos HaGadol that falls on erev Pesach - and only then - one reads וערבה as the haftarah (Ba'er Heitev siman 430 s"k 1), because in that parshah there is written הביאו המעשר אל בית האוצר, and erev Pesach (of the fourth and seventh years of the shemittah cycle) is the time of the biur of maasros (Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, end of siman 430, see there)'.
If so, l'maaseh our minhag is to read וערבה as the haftarah only when Shabbos HaGadol is also erev Pesach.
Notes:
1 Siman 28 ↩
2 Vol. 2 siman 393 ↩
3 Siman 80 ↩
4 Chodesh Nissan ↩
5 Melachim II 7:3 ↩
6 OC siman 430 se'if 1, and see in siman 685 se'if 6 ↩
7 Maaser Sheini ch. 5 mishnah 6 ↩
8 S"k 2, and in siman 685 s"k 24 ↩
9 OC siman 685 ↩
10 Chidushim siman 430 s"k 1 ↩
11 Maseches Pesachim, Ner Mitzvah, in the hagahah ↩
12 OC siman 430 se'if 1 ↩
13 Bamidbar Rabbah 14:1 ↩
14 Siddur Beis Yaakov, Shaar HaMifkad, for the days of Nissan, mavo 2 ↩
15 Hagahos on Shulchan Aruch OC siman 430 ↩
16 Siman 176 ↩
17 And see the Pe'ulas Sachir there, who explained his words; but see what is written in Yabia Omer vol. 4 siman 39 ↩
18 Shulchan Aruch OC siman 430 se'if 3 ↩
19 In the Haggadah, in the ruling of Shabbos HaGadol ↩
From the 'Shoneh Halacha' project — a daily halacha with reasons and sources
Link to the (silent) group: 'Shoneh Halacha — Chabad Minhogim'
Join the WhatsApp group