B"H
Thursday, Adar2 21, 5782 / March 24, 2022
Pesach (Passover) is in exactly three weeks, beginning Friday night April 15. Pesach we celebrate ourliberation from Egypt, which is why it is called, Z’man Cheiruteinu – Season of our Freedom. The following are questions and answers about the holiday.
Q. Who, many years before the Exodus, was the first one mentioned in the Torah to bake matzot?
A. Abraham’s nephew, Lot. The Torah (Genesis19:3) relates that he served matzah to the angels who came to his home, as they were about to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The story with the angels and Lot took place 400 years before the Exodus, on the same day as the Exodus.
Q. We wash our hands before eating bread. Yet, at the Seder we wash our hands twice. In addition to washing our hands before making the blessing over the matzah, we also wash before dipping the vegetable into the salt-water. Why?
A. It is customary to wash our hands when we eat something dipped in liquid. Thus, we wash them before dipping the vegetable into the salt-water.
Q. How old were Moshe and Aaron when they led the Jewish people out of Egypt?
A. Moshe was eighty years. His brother Aaron was eighty three.
Q. How many people left Egypt at the time of the Exodus?
A. The Torah relates that over 600,000 men over the age of twenty left. In addition, there were women, children, and a multitude of people from other nations that left with them. It stands to reason, that a few million people left Egypt at the time of the Exodus.
Q. Did all the Jews who were enslaved in Egypt leave at the time of the Exodus?
A. No. According to our sages only one fifth left. The other four fifths didn’t want to leave. G-d punished them, and they died during the plague of darkness. Also, 200,000 men of the tribe of Ephraim miscalculated the time of the liberation, which G-d promised Abraham 400 years earlier. They escaped thirty years before the Exodus and were killed by the people of Gat.
Q. Why were those who refused to leave, punished during the plague of darkness?
A. G-d didn’t want the Egyptians to witness this unfortunate event. Thus, He did it during the plague of darkness when the Egyptians couldn’t see it.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Friday, Adar2 22, 5782 / March 25, 2022
This Shabbat is the third Shabbat before Pesach in which we read from more than one Torah. Two Torahs will be removed from the ark. In the first one we read the Parsha of the week, Shemini, and in the second Torah we read Parshat Parah.
In Parshat Shmini the Torah relates what took place on the day the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was dedicated. On that day two of Aaron’s sons passed away. We also read about the kosher and non-kosher animals, foul and fish etc.
In the second Torah we read about the purification process for one who is impure and needs to become purified in order to go to the Tabernacle to bring their sacrifice offering. We read this because we are getting closer to Pesach when every Jew, during the time of the Temple, needed to bring the Pesach sacrifice and then eat of its meat at the Pesach Seder.
Q. Why are the Pesach matzot made with holes in them?
A. To make them holy (just kidding). The holes are made to prevent the dough from rising and becoming leavened (chametz) which is prohibited on Pesach. The holes keep the matzot flat.
Q. Why do we, in addition to the four cups of wine which we drink at the Seder, also fill an additional cup of wine, called, "The Cup of Elijah"?
A. The four cups of wine represent the four expressions of redemption which G-d told Moshe to inform the Jewish people of their future liberation from Egypt. In addition to the four expressions, G-d also told Moshe, "I will bring them into the land [Israel]... I will give it to you for an inheritance." (Exodus 6:8). To commemorate that G-d promised them the Holy Land, we fill up a fifth cup.
The four cups which we drink at the Seder commemorate our past redemption. The "Cup of Elijah" symbolizes our future and ultimate redemption with the coming of Moshiach. According to tradition, Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the prophet) will be the one to inform us of Moshiach's arrival, when we will return to the Holy Land. Thus, it is called Elijah’s cup. May it occur speedily in our days!
Q. Why were cups of wine chosen to commemorate our redemption?
A. In Scriptures, wine is associated with happiness, salvation, and redemption. Thus, we celebrate our redemption and salvation through four cups of wine.
Q. What is the significance of the salt-water at the Seder?
A. The salt-water is symbolic of the "tears" which the Jewish people shed as a result of their suffering during their enslavement in Egypt.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 6:55 / Shabbat ends: 8:00
B"H
Monday, Adar2 25, 5782 / March 28, 2022
One of the names for the holiday of Passover is, “Chag HaMatzot” – “The Holiday of Matzot.”
There is no other holiday in which a food which we are permitted to eat all year, becomes prohibited for a period of eight days. Bread and all other leavened items (chametz) are prohibited during the entire Passover. Not only are we forbidden to eat it during Passover, we are also forbidden from having any benefit or usage from them.
This is why, the night beforethe Seder night, we are required to search the house for chametz and to burn the chametz we find.
Q. Why do many prefer to use roundShmurah matzah for Passover; especially for the "Seder Plate"?
A. The Torah describes the matzah which the Jewish people baked when leaving Egypt as, "ugot matzot" (cakes of matzah). The word "ugot" represents something which is round.
Q. Why are the matzot made with holes in them?
A. The holes are made to prevent the dough from rising and becoming leavened (chametz).
Q. On Shabbat and other holidays, after reciting the Kiddush, we make the blessing over the bread and eat the meal. Yet on Passover night, at the Seder, we do not recite the blessing over the matzah and eat the meal right after the Kiddush, only after reciting the Hagadah first. Why?
A. At the Seder it is a mitzvah to tell the story of the Exodus and the great miracles which G-d performed for His people. We perform this mitzvah by reciting the Hagadah. The Rabbis instituted that we recite the Hagadah before the meal to make sure that the participants, especially the children, will stay awake for the Hagadah and the entire Seder. If we eat the meal first, we may become drowsy and not perform the Seder properly.
Q. Why is it customary for the children to hide the Afikoman at the beginning of the Seder?
A. We encourage the children to hide the Afikoman in order to keep them awake throughout the Seder. The excitement of receiving a reward for returning the Afikoman later will keep them from falling asleep.
Q. Why do we eat the Afikoman at the endof the meal?
A. The Afikoman represents the Pesach sacrifice, which, during the days of the Holy Temple, had to be eaten at the end of the meal, in order that the taste of the Pesach sacrifice will remain in the person's mouth. It teaches us that the experience and message of the Seder should stay with us long after we have finished the Seder.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
B"H
Tuesday, Adar2 26, 5782 / March 29, 2022
It is less than three weeks left until Pesach. The first Seder will be Friday night, April 15. The second Seder, only in the Diaspora, will be Saturday night, April 16. In Israel only one Seder is performed.
Q. On Shabbat and holidays, after reciting the blessing over the first cup of wine, we can drink as many cups of wine as we want, without reciting another blessing over each cup. Why, at the Seder do we make a separate blessing for each of the four cups of wine?
A. The reason we drink four cups at the Seder is to commemorate the fourexpressions of redemption which G-d used for the Exodus. Each cup is anothermitzvah, expressing another expression of redemption, thus a separate blessing is required for each cup.
Another reason is that the lengthy passages of the Hagadah and the discussions we are encouraged to have about the story of the Exodus constitute an “interruption” between the cups of wine and thus necessitate an individual blessing for each cup.
Q. At the Seder, when we eat the matzah and drink the four cups of wine, we are required to sit in a recliningposition. What is the reason for this?
A. In ancient times, noblemen would eat in a reclining position. A servant did not recline when eating. At the Seder, when we celebrate our freedom from slavery, the Rabbis instituted that we demonstrate our freedom by reclining as noblemen, when performing the special mitzvot.
Q. Why do we recline on the left side, not on the right side?
A. Our sages established that we recline on the left side so that the food should not accidentally enter the upper part of the windpipe, which may cause chocking, G-d forbid.
Q. What is the significance of placing threematzot on the Seder plate?
A. The three Matzot represent the three categories which make up the Jewish people: the Kohen (priestly family), the Levi and the Israel.
Q. Before reciting the Hagadah, we break the middle matzah. We hide the bigger part for the Afikoman, to be eaten at the end of the meal. The smaller piece we put back onto the Seder plate. Why do we break the matzah before reciting the Hagadah?
A. Matzah is called in the Torah, a “poor man’s bread” and “Bread of affliction.” The broken matzah represents this concept. Although, at the Seder, we celebrate our freedom, we also remember and recall our slavery and affliction. One can appreciate the miracle of freedom much more after remembering the pain and suffering before becoming free.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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