B"H
Monday, Nissan 7, 5784 / April 15, 2024
Q. We drink the second cup of wine later in the Seder, after reciting part of the Hagadah. So why do we pour the wine into the cup before the children ask the four question and before reciting the Haggadah?
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 of the Seder to do things which are a bit strange, so that the children will ask questions. This way they will be interested in sitting at the Seder and hearing the answers and the story of the Exodus.
Q. During the reading of the Haggadah, when we enumerate the Ten Plagues with which G-d punished the Egyptians, we spill out some wine from the cup as we mention each of the plagues. 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 dip the matzah in salt, after the blessing. Why, at the Seder, when we make the blessings over the matzah, many do not dip the matzah in salt?
A. Because eating the matzah at the Seder is a very special mitzvah we are commanded in the Torah. Because of the importance of this mitzvah, we do not want to diminish the taste of the matzah. We want to get the pure taste of the matzah, without any additives.
The marror (bitter herbs) we eat at the Seder today, when there is no Temple, is a rabbinical mitzvah, but the matzah we eat at the Seder is a biblical mitzvah, thus many do not put salt on the matzah.
Q. Why do many refrain from eating roasted meat at the Seder?
A. The Passover sacrifice, which every Jew had to bring, in the days of the Holy Temple, had to be eaten roasted. Today, when we do not have the Temple, we refrain from eating roast at the Seder, in order not to create the impression that the meat we eat at the Seder in any way resembles the Passover sacrifice, for we are forbidden to bring sacrifices outside the Temple.
On the lighter side:Q. What’s the difference between the Biblical Moshe and Israeli General Moshe Dayan?
A. The Biblical Moshe took Jews out of Egypt. Moshe Dayan brought them into Egypt. (in the Six Day War).
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY
UNITED WE STAND IN PRAYER FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ISRAEL
& FOR THE WELFARE OF THE CAPTIVES. MAY THEY BE RELEASED NOW