A Thought on the Hagaddah - The Real Reason We Use Three Matzot at the Seder

With Pesach fast approaching, I figured we would take the next few weeks to focus on insights into the Hagaddah. I share with you here a thought that Rav Soloveitchik develops in his Hagaddah.

The custom of most Jews on Pesach night is to make a bracha on three matzot. This is based on the opinion of Tosfot (Pesachim 116) and is brought down in Shulchan Aruch as mainstream halacha. The apparent reason for three matzot is as follows. One matzah is required to fulfill the law of לחם עני, the poor mans bread, which is to eat broken pieces of bread. Hence, that is why we break one matzah at יחץ. But like all other Yomim Tovim, we need לחם משנה, and therefore we need an additional two matzot. This also explains why the practice is to take all three matzot in hand for the recital of the first bracha, המוציא לחם מן הארץ, and then we drop the bottom matzah, no longer needing the לחם משנה, and make the על אכילת מצה on just the top two.

However, an analysis of the Rambam (חמץ ומצה ח:ו) yields a different result. 

"ולוקח שני רקיקין וחולק אחד מהן ומניח פרוס לתוך שלם ומברך המוציא.."

It seems that the Ramabam’s practice was to take just two matzot at the סדר, and nevertheless, he broke one of them at יחץ as well. What about the need to have two full matzot for לחם משנה? The Rambam explains that the special Pesach law of לחם עוני overrides the law of שלימות, or complete loaves that are normally required of לחם משנה. Therefore, only two matzot are necessary and the usual לחם משנה is not required in deference to the need of לחם עוני.

One could ask on the Rambam, if in fact there is no need of שלימות בלחם משנה, then why require two matzot, so that the bracha be made on one whole and one broken matzah? Just make the bracha on the two broken pieces? After all, לחם עוני overrides the need for full לחם משנה?

Rav Soloveitchik explains that an analysis of the Gemara in Brachot (39b) will shed light on the true meaning behind the opinion of the Ramabam. The Gemara there has a debate in the case where an individual has before him, during a weekday meal large broken pieces of bread and small whole loaves of bread. The Gemara questions over which one should the bracha be recited? One opinion says that you can choose whichever you prefer, while the other opinion says the complete loaves take precedence even if they are smaller. Yet, everyone would agree that if they were the same size, the complete loaves take precedence. The argument is only where the whole loaves are smaller than the broken pieces. The Rambam himself quotes this as halacha in hilchot brachot (7:4), that even during the week, it is preferable to make the bracha on a whole loaf.

Based on this, Rav Soloveitchik explained that the reason the Rambam requires one full matzah at the סדר to go along with the פרוסה has nothing to do with the law of לחם משנה ביום טוב, but rather, it has to do with the halacha that applies every day of the year, that it is always preferable to make a bracha over a whole loaf. So the law of לחם עוני has the ability to override the need for לחם משנה, having two loaves, but the need to have whole loaves is a weekday law, that cannot be overridden by the yom tov law of לחם עוני. The special yom tov law of Pesach can override the general law of yom tov, but it does not have the power to override the general weekday law of שלימות. That explains why the Rambam required one full and one broken matzah and having two broken matzot would not be correct. It is one broken matzah for לחם עוני and one whole one for שלימות. Our custom based on Tosfot obviously assumes that the law of לחם עוני is an additional requirement, not one that should override the requirement of לחם משנה. Hence, we accomplish both. We take three matzot, one broken for לחם עוני and two whole for לחם משנה בשלימות.

Parshat Zachor: What Exactly Are We Supposed to Remember?

"זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים, אשר קרך בדרך ויזנב בך כל הנחשלים אחריך ואתה עיף ויגע ולא ירא אלקים, והיה בהניח ה' אלקיך לך מכל אויביך מסביב בארץ אשר ה' אליקך נותן לך נחלה לרשתה, תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים לא תשכח." (דברים כה יז)

This week, we read Parshat Zachor, the torah portion that reminds us about the bold act that Amalek took in attacking the Jewish people so soon after the miracles of the exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the see. Although in Jewish law there are a few times we are commanded to “remember” something, what exactly are we supposed to do or to think about to fulfill this mitzvah properly? What is the goal? Let’s explore this based on an essay found in the sefer Shevilei Pinchas.

First let’s look at the war with Amalek in Parshas בשלח:

"ויקרא שם המקום מסה ומריבה על ריב בני ישראל ועל נסותם את ה' לאמר היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין. ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים. (שמות יז ז)

Rashi explains that Hashem says to Klal Yisrael, I am always here for you and ready to take care of you, and you say היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין? How could you? How could you ask am I really here? Didn’t you just experience the miracles of Egypt and Yam Suf? What will be when a dog comes and bites you? Will you then cry out for me? Perhaps we can appreciate this through the parable of of a man who travels with his son on his shoulder and every time the son sees something he wants, the father buys it for him. The boy asks repeatedly, and the father provides. Afterwards, they meet another man and the boy asks him, “have you seen my father?” His father asks his son, “you don’t know where I am? I’ve been with you all this time.” So he sends the boy off on his own and comes along a dog and bites him.

This question is so troublesome, that there must be something more here than meets the eye?

Let’s explore another question that might help shed some light on the first.

Why did Chazal institute the bracha of שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה just on Chanukah and Purim, but not on Pesach?

The קדושת לוי explains that there is a difference between the miracle of יציאת מצרים and the miracle of Chanukah and Purim. The miracle of the exodus from Egypt was למעלה מן הטבע, above the norms of nature. Hashem changed nature;  both its order and normal function – 10 plagues, water changed to blood, frogs, lice, darkness, all first born dying in one night and the biggest of all with the splitting of the sea. But the miracle of Chanukah and Purim was disguised in the normal order of nature. רבים ביד מעטים but it was in normal nature. So too on Purim, Haman wanting to kill us, but through the pawns of Esther and Achashverosh, Haman was stopped and the decree was annulled. Nothing out of nature, but yet it was all done through the יד ה'. Therefore, Chazal instituted this bracha to say the miracles that Hashem did were disguised בזמן הזה, in the guise of nature so they were “in this time,” in the world of time. As opposed to the miracles of the exodus which were above nature and, not disguised in the typical time of nature.

Based on this, it sounds as though the miracles of Chanukah and Purim have some additional level, even higher than the miracles of Pesach, which were above time. There is one danger with a supernatural miracle;  although it shows that Hashem can change nature, perhaps when He restores nature, he removes himself and gives control back over to the stars and constellations. Although this is a heretical way of thinking, this is what one might think. The בני יששכר explains that when we come to the miracle of Adar, which was within nature, but shows the world that Hashem is pulling all the strings, leaving no doubt that He is in control of the world at all times, never leaving it to the stars. The lesson: all of nature, every day is a direct result of Hashem’s control. What emerges is that all of the workings of the world are in Hashem’s direct control.

The miracles of Purim and Chanukah are disguised in nature to teach us that Hashem is not just able to change nature and perform miracles, but he controls every detail of daily life. This is the foundation of our אמונה. This is similar to the teaching of the Ramban (Parshas Bo) that we are obligated to believe in the ways of how Hashem controls nature; that all of the supernatural miracles were actually done to teach us that all hidden parts of nature and hidden miracles are  in fact miraculous.

Now we can begin to understand what the Jews responded when being attacked by Amalek. They had witnessed the open and undeniable miracles of Egypt, but they thoughtt maybe Hashem then retreated into the background, giving control to the stars. That is the pshat, היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין, Is Hashem with us in nature and still in control, or is he more removed?

This also explains the parable of Rashi, where the boy asks the stranger if he knows where his father is. We asked, how could he ask that? How does he not know and see his father is right there? He’s been doing everything for him? The answer: since the boy has gotten used to his father taking care of everything,  he has made it so natural that he forgets the source of where it is coming from. The lesson: we get so used to Hashem taking care of us through natural means, we take for granted that the sun rises and sets and that rain falls, etc. The result is we “forget” Hashem, we forget that he is running the day to day nature of the world. As a result, just as in the Mashal where the father throws the boy off and a dog comes and bites him, so too, if we forget Hashem’s daily involvement in the nature of the world, that causes Hashem to have something natural punish us – ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים, Amalek just happens upon us and attacks us.

The שם משמואל explains the war with Amalek had to come before מתן תורה to avoid any excuses; without this lesson of Amalek, people could have mistaken מתן תורה as a coincidental act of nature, and then it would not have had the same importance. All the more so, the miracles of Chanukah and Purim which were disguised in nature, we have to first erase the name of Amalek so as not to allow people to mistakenly attribute these miracles to acts of nature.

Parshat Pekudei: משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה

חז''ל say משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה, that when Adar begins we have to increase our level of happiness. The truth is that we have to be בשמחה all year round, but in Adar there is an added Simcha. As the pasuk says (עבדו את ה' בשמחה (תהלים ק' ב – the entire avoda of a person has to be with שמחה.

In Parshat Ki Tavo, in the section of the potential curses that could come upon the Jewish people, the pasuk says "תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלקיך בשמחה ובטוב לבב מרוב כל." – That we will be cursed if we do not serve Hashem with simcha. A lack of simcha is not just a detail, it represents missing the whole avodah. For example, if you have a fully furnished house, but it is missing a coat rack and you throw your coat on a chair, you are missing the coat rack. That is a detail;  it doesn’t prevent you from living. But simcha in a person is the whole purpose of a Jewish person. If that is lacking, he is missing everything. Even when looking at the setup of the moadim, Purim being the last holiday of the year has its root in simcha.

In every generation we have to contemplate what will bring us to simcha. In our generation, specifically with so much darkness and hatred in the world, a time with terrorist bombings and stabbings, it is difficult to be b’simcha. What do we do?

Let’s look at it from the other perspective. The Gemara in Taanis (26b) says משנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, when the month of Av begins, we decrease the amount of simcha we have. So to counter the extra simcha in Adar, we decrease the simcha in Av, ultimately leading to Tisha B’av where we areach the pinnacle of sadness, עצבות. When looking at this further we see that mankind is built on both, שמחה ועצבות, happiness and sadness. There are some people that look at the glass half empty and those that look at it as half full. Those who look at it half empty always see their lack of success and their mistakes as glitches or happenstance. With this approach, Tisha B’av would appear as a result of some random mistakes the Jews made in the world, which brought about Tisha B’av. Other people look at the glass half full, where everything happens for a reason. Chazal teach us to have this approach; they say Tisha B’av occurred as a result of the Meraglim (spies) reporting all the bad they perceived would be found in the land of Israel. Chazal say that night was Tisha B’av and Hashem said to the Jews, “tonight you are crying meaningless tears, so I will give you a real reason to cry in the future.” This means that there are certain times of the year set aside for destruction, such as Tisha B’av and that is why the events of the Meraglim could take place, and the crying occurred on that day. Similarly, this is why the destruction of both the first and second Beit Hamikdash took place on Tisha b’av, a day set aside for destruction. So just as Adar is set aside for happiness, Av is set aside as a time of sadness. Just as Purim has a megillah of simcha, Tisha B’av has the megillah of Eicha; one of sadness.

There is a question asked by many commentators: How could Yirmiyahu Hanavi compose the megilla of Eicha if he lived the worst time of destruction, and we are taught that prophecy can only be received in a time of happiness? Was Yirmiyahu happy in such a destructive time? The answer is yes. Somehow there was an element of simcha that he had, despite the destruction that was going on. If he could be happy at a time that the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, then we can be happy in our times as well. But to understand this, we need to recognize the Torah viewpoint of happiness is different than that of the general world. The truth is that a Jew’s happiness does not come from his wealth, his intellect or any other material possession. True lasting happiness stems only from a spiritual connection that we have with Hashem. Material things wax and wane, but are only temporary. Our connection to Hashem and to his Torah is everlasting.  We may not understand why Hashem allows innocent people to be murdered, but these events tend to bring us closer to Him; they usually arouse our connection to tefilla to beg Hashem to give comfort to grieving families and to prevent future deaths.

We know that at the time of the Purim story Jews were destined to death. But through Hashem’s masterful pulling of his puppet strings, all within the normal course of nature, Hashem saved the Jews. So Purim represents our emunah; our unwavering belief in Hashem. It is a belief that He is watching over us every minute of every day, and all that happens to us is for the best. We may not always see it or understand it, but if we believe it, we will live a life of simcha; a life where we always see the  glass as half full.

Parshat Yayakhel: The Power of Torah Shebeal Peh

At the end of last week’s parsha, we are given the commandment to keep and protect the Shabbat. In the 2nd pasuk of this week’s parsha, again the Torah commands us to do our work between Sunday and Friday, but to refrain from מלאכה, loosely translated as work, on Shabbat. As an aside, the Torah relays to us the severe punishment for one who blatantly violates Shabbat. This is of course after the Torah already commands us in Parshat Yitro as part of the 10 commandments, to keep the Shabbat and לא תעשה כל מלאכה. In multiple places in the Torah, the discussion surrounding Shabbat is to refrain from מלאכה, which we almost too quickly refer to as work. The trouble is, the Torah commands us in multiple places not to do מלאכה on Shabbat, if you do it you can be punished with death or כרת, and yet the Torah doesn’t define what מלאכה actually is. How could that be? As a loving G-d, I don’t think the message is that Hashem is out to get us. How could he treat us so unfairly?

The answer is that the Rabbis in the Medrash and the Talmud explain to us that the מלאכה referred to here is the 39 categories of work utilized in the building of the Mishkan. In other words, if you want to know what מלאכה on Shabbat is, use the מלאכה of the Mishkan as your defining guide.

If the מלאכה is explained to us by the Talmud, then how is there a death penalty attached? How come we always thought these prohibitions are of a biblical nature? The answer can be understood with a mashal. My children, nieces and nephews know me as the master of the game hide and seek. Although everyone knows the rules to hide and seek, I happen to have some extra rules we follow, and part of those rules are extra ways to be knocked out of the game. Imagine you came over to my house and we decide to play hide and seek. I tell you, let’s play, and make sure you don’t “do any work” or more likely, “make sure to follow the house rules.” Now you have no clue what that means, so you proceed to ask one of my children what I meant by that, and they explain the added rules and ways to be knocked out of the game, or “the work.” Let me ask you, if you continue and play the game and violate one of my rules and henceforth get knocked out of the game, are you knocked out because you violated my children’s words, or are you knocked for violating my words? The truth is that you heard words from them, but they were simply explaining my law. Similarly, one of the main functions of the Talmud is to explain the Chumash; it is there to translate and tell us what Hashem had in mind. So in actuality, the Torah or Hashem tells us not to do מלאכה on Shabbat, and the Rabbis are simply helping us understand what Hashem meant. The Rabbis are like my children in the Mashal, not creating their own edicts, but explain the edicts of the master.

The message here is crucial. One of the main tenants of Torah Judaism, or Orthodoxy, is the belief that Torah Shebeal Peh, the Oral Torah, was given to the Jews by Hashem at Har Sinai. The only difference is that the Chumash was written down and the rest was meant to be passed on orally. So in actuality, someone who doesn’t believe in Torah Shebeal Peh could not really keep Shabbat, because they would not know what to refrain from. Another example of how we cannot keep the Torah properly without the Torah Shebeal Peh is found in the mitzvah of the Four Minim on Sukkot: The Lulav, Etrog, Hadasim and Aravot. The Torah tells us

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון, פרי עץ הדר כפות תמרים ענף עץ עבות וערבי נחל….

How on earth do we know what those are? What you and I know to be a lulav and etrog, how do you know that is what Hashem wanted you to use on Sukkot? The only answer is that there is an entire chapter in the Talmud which explains to us what a פרי עץ הדר is. It happens to be the fruit of a citron tree and we are given very exact directions as to how to search and recognize the tree and the fruit. The same is true for the lulav, hadasim and aravot. The moral of the story: without the Talmud, we could not possibly keep the Torah properly.

There are many examples which show the supremacy of the Torah Shebeal Peh. I believe Hashem chose Shabbat, the holiest day of the week and an integral part to our Torah observance, to send us this message. Judaism goes well beyond the five books of the Chumash; it goes into volumes of the Talmud and Medrash. If you want to understand the Chumash, if you want to understand what Hashem wants from you, start by learning and appreciating the importance of the Torah Shebeal Peh.