B"H

Monday, Nissan 9, 5781 / March 22, 2021

Questions & Answers about the Passover Seder

Q. The Seder plate consists of three matzot. What do these three matzot represent?

A. They represent the three categories of the Jewish people: Kohen, Levi, Yisrael. They also represent the Three Patriarchs of the Jewish people: Abraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov.

Q.  At the beginning of the Seder, before reciting the Hagadah, we break the middle matzah.  The bigger piece is hidden for the Afikoman and the smaller piece, which reminds us of the “bread of affliction,” is put back between the two whole matzot.  Why do we break the middle matzah?

A.  There is a rule that when a mitzvah comes to your hand do not skip over it.  Later, in the Seder when we will wash our hands and make the blessings over the matzah, we have to make the blessings over a whole matzah, not a broken one.  If the top matzah would be the broken one, we would have to “skip” that one and go for the next one to perform the mitzvah of eating matzah.  This would constitute “skipping” over the mitzvah.  Thus, we leave the top matzah whole and break the middle one.

Q.  We drink the second cup of wine later in the Seder, after reciting the Hagadah.  So why do we pour the wine into the cup at the very beginning of the Seder, before the children ask the four question and before reciting the Hagadah?

A.  This is done in order to make the children curious and ask this question and as a result they will ask other questions, including the four questions.  It is important on this night to do things which will make the children ask questions, so they will be interested in sitting at the Seder and hear the story of the Exodus.

Q.  During the reading of the Hagadah, when we enumerate the Ten Plagues with which G-d punished the Egyptians, we spill out a drop of wine from the cup.  What is the reason for this?

A.  This indicates that, although at the Seder we celebrate our freedom from Egyptian bondage, yet our cup of joy cannot be complete, when remembering the pain which the Egyptians suffered as a result of enslaving the Jewish people.

Q.  During the year, after reciting the blessing over bread (“Hamotzi”), we dip the bread in salt before eating it.  Also, during the other Passover meals, we place salt on the matzah, after the blessing. Why, at the Seder, when we make the blessings over the matzah, many do not put salt on the matzah?

A.   Eating the matzah at the Seder is a very special mitzvah, for which a special blessing is recited.  Because of the importance of this mitzvah, we do not want to take away from the taste of the matzah.  We want to get the pure taste of the matzah, without any additives. It shows our love for this mitzvah.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Tuesday, Nissan 10, 5781 / March 23, 2021

Today is the 10th day in the month of Nissan– on this day, in the year, 2487 in the Hebrew calendar, Moshe's sister, Miriam, passed away. She was about 125 at the time of her passing 

Miriam was five years older than Moshe. According to the Midrash, when Pharaoh ordered the Egyptians to drown every newborn male, Miriam's father, Amram, didn’t want to have any more children and separated from his wife, Yocheved. 

Miriam, who was only a child of four, told her father, "Your action is even harsher than Pharaoh's!  Pharaoh's decree threatens only boys. However, if everyone followed your decision, there wouldn't be any Jewish children at all!" 

Amram realized that his young daughter was right. He reunited with his wife and Yocheved gave birth to Moshe, who became the leader of his people and who took them out of Egypt.

When, at three months Moshe was placed in the basket on the Nile, it was his sister Miriam who came to the rescue. She looked out for him from the shore. When Pharaoh's daughter pulled Moshe from the river it was due to Miriam’s suggestion that Moshe was given back to his mother for nursing.

During the forty years in the desert, a well which supplied all their water needs, traveled with the people of Israel. The well was in the merit of Miriam. It was called, “Be’eirah shel Miriam” - “Miriam’s well.”

Q.  Why do matzot come with holes in them?

A. After the dough is rolled into a matzah, holes are punctured in them, to prevent the dough from rising. It is an additional precaution to make sure that it doesn’t rise, thus having the potential of becoming leavened (chametz), which is forbidden on Pesach.

Before Pesach, a poor man asked the town Rabbi if he could fulfill his obligation of the Four Cups by drinking milk instead of wine because he didn't have the money to buy wine for the Seder.

"The question you asked will need a lot of research", replied the Rabbi, "and since I don't have the time before Pesach, here is twenty five rubles to buy your needs for the holiday".

After he left, the Rabbi's students asked. "Why did you give him so much? Five rubles would have been enough to buy wine."

"From his question I realized that he also had no meat for the Seder! For if he had meat for the Seder how could he drink milk? It is prohibited to mix milk and meat.  Now, if he has no meat for the Seder, he surely has no meat for the rest of the holiday meals. What's more, his family must be missing many other necessities as well. So I gave him twenty five rubles and hope it's enough."

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Wednesday, Nissan 11, 5781 / March 24, 2021

Today, the 11th day of the month of Nissan, marks the 119th birthday of the Lubavitcher Rebbe - Rabbi M. M. Schneerson, of blessed memory.

Although the Rebbe is not with us physically, his love for every Jew is still felt just as strongly and vibrantly as before, through his Torah teachings, through his dedicated emissaries and the Chabad Houses he established in every corner of the globe; through the Rebbe’s global educational networks which bring the light of Torah to every corner of the world. May his memory bring us only blessing.

Many of the Seder customs are intended to capture the attention of the children attending the Seder, for the children are the focal point of the Seder.

The "four sons" (wise, wicked, simple, and the one who does not know to ask) play an important role in the Hagadah and the Seder.

In constructing the Hagadah, our sages made sure that we did not brush our children off with a blanket answer to their questions. We are instructed to listen to their "specific" questions and give each of them the "specific" answer which is appropriate for them.  We must even listen to the "silent question" of the fourth son, who "doesn't know what to ask." For his silence may communicate louder than the questions of the rest.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe makes us aware of a 20^th century phenomenon; the "Fifth Son." While the "four sons" differ in their reaction to the Seder service, they are at least all present at the Seder. Even the "wicked" son takes an active, if rebellious, interest in what is going on at the Seder. 

“Unfortunately," says the Rebbe, "there is, in our time, a fifth kind of Jewish child: The child who is conspicuousby his absence from the Seder. He has no interest in Torah and Mitzvot and in his Jewish heritage. He may even not be aware of the Seder and the miracles the Seder recalls."

The Rebbe explains that this is the challenge of our generation that "no Jewish child should be left out and given up on.  We must make every effort to save the seemingly lost child, and bring him to the Seder Table," says the Rebbe.

Some Jewish leaders once suggested to the Rebbe that they want to make a campaign to place an empty chair at each Seder Table to commemorate the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The Rebbe replied, “I think it would be a better idea, instead of leaving that seat empty, to try and fill it with a Jew who will not be attending a Seder..”

This year’s Seder, as last year’s, may be challenging to many. In the Zohar, the matzah we eat on Pesach is called “Food of healing.” May this Pesach indeed bring global healing to all. May we merit the ultimate redemption with Moshiach and may we merit celebrating THIS YEAR in Jerusalem. Amen.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

************************

In loving memory of Moshe Altman- Moshe Aharon ben Chaim Yehuda - of blessed memory

Yartzeit is today, 11th of Nissan.  May his soul rest in peace in Gan Eden.

From his children, grandchildren & great grandchildren