Seder Pointers

The following is an excerpt from a digest of laws and customs of Pesach, compiled by Zev Steen, Star-K Director of Digital Media and Design. It is culled from hundreds of pages of notes he took as a student at Ner Israel Rabbinical College at the motzei Shabbos halacha shiur of Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, shlita. Some of them are in answer to the various questions posed to the Rav during his annual Hilchos Pesach shiur. The numbered entries correspond to topics discussed at these shiurim. Meant as a guide which will clarify and explain the many details of the Pesach seder, it is, by no means, intended as exclusive. The Rav recognizes the richness of the various minhagim of k’lal Yisroel, and notes that when they differ from what is written, one should practice his own minhag.

Margie Pensak
Nisan, 5765

THE SEDER PLATE

Z'roah

1. The z'roah (shankbone) on the seder plate should be roasted over a fire, as the korban Pesach was. There are those, however, who have the custom of boiling it first.

2. The z'roah should not be just a bone, but rather, a piece of meat, preferably from the z'roah (forearm) of the animal. On a chicken, the equivalent limb to the forearm of a sheep is the part of the wing that is directly connected to the body. Some have the custom of using a poultry neck.

3. Since the z'roah gains kedusha from being used for a mitzvah on the seder plate, it is not proper to dispose of it in a disgraceful manner. It should not be eaten on the seder night because we do not eat roasted meat at the seder. The meat of the z'roah should be eaten on Yom Tov during the day.

4. If the z'roah was not prepared before Yom Tov it may be prepared on the seder night, but then it must be eaten the next day.

Karpas

1. For karpas, one may dip any vegetable on which we make the bracha borei p're ha'adomah, which is normally dipped in salt water or salt. Examples: potatoes, tomatoes, parsley (as mentioned in the Talmud Yerushalmi), celery, cucumbers and radishes. A radish may only be used if it is normally eaten raw. If it is not, you would make the bracha shehakol on it when it is raw, and therefore, you would not be able to use it as karpas.

2. One should not use a vegetable for karpas that could also be used as maror.

3. It is preferable for men and boys to lean while eating the karpas.

Maror

1. Half of a k'beitzah, the volume of an egg, is needed for maror. An egg is about 1.9 fluid ounces. Therefore, one needs 1 fluid ounce of horseradish to properly fulfill the mitzvah of maror.

2. To fulfill the mitzvah of maror, one must be able to discern the taste of the vegetable he is eating. If he cannot taste it, he has not fulfilled his obligation. For this reason, one may not swallow a piece of horseradish whole.

3. Since store-bought prepared horseradish is made with additives, it may not be used to fulfill one's obligation of maror for the seder. The horseradish root should be ground just before the seder begins. If one covers the horseradish after it has been ground, it can be prepared up to several days before Pesach.

4. The required measurement of romaine leaves is 1 fluid ounce. The air pockets in the stalk are included in this measurement, but not the air pockets between the leaves.

5. The following procedure is used to check romain lettuce leaves:

• Separate the leaves and soak them in water.
  
• Make a complete leaf by leaf inspection.
  
• Wash off any insects found on the leafy vegetable.
  
• The leaves are now ready to use for maror. One need not check the inside of the stalk for bugs, even it there is a hole in the stalk.
  

6. One may use romain stalks instead of leaves. Remove the leaves and wash the stalks well under water. No further checking is required.

Charoses

1. The Rambam says that it is a mitzvah to eat charoses on the seder night. In general, it is not the custom to do this.

THE FOUR CUPS

1. One should not drink so much wine at the seder that he becomes drunk. The beverage used for the four cups must have enough alcohol in it to be uplifting. However, one is not obligated to become sick because of it. The lowest percentage of alcohol that qualifies as usable for the four cups is 4%.

2. One should drink each of the four cups of wine within half a minute.

3. One should have at least 3.8 fl. oz. of wine, a reviis according to Rav Heinemann. One must drink at least the majority of this, about 1.9 fl. oz.

4. Wine may be diluted in the following maximum ratios, while still retaining enough of its properties to qualify its usage for the four cups:

1/3 wine and 2/3 grape juice


1/3 wine and 1/3 grape juice and 1/3 water


2/3 wine and 1/3 water

However, the diluted beverage must have at least 4% alcohol, to fulfill one's obligation of drinking wine on Pesach. Additionally, one cannot create a mixture that is 2/3 or more water, since the wine will no longer necessitate a borei p're ha'goffen.

These formulas are l'chatchila.

5. If a man does not lean when he drinks one of the first two cups, he must drink again without a bracha. The reason that this ruling does not apply to women will be discussed shortly.

6. When drinking the first cup of wine, one should have in mind that it is to fulfill the obligations of kiddush and the mitzvah of the first cup of the seder.

7. One should wash his wine cup out before filling the third cup, since it has been left exposed during the meal and may have become dirtied with food. It is not proper to perform the mitzvah with a dirty cup.

8. If one drank the third or fourth cup of wine without leaning, he does not drink it again.

9. If possible, one should use an elegant cup for the four cups, and nice silverware and place settings for the meal.

LEANING

1. Leaning means that one should lean to the side on a couch, bed or chair, preferably with a cushion for support.

2. Women are not required to lean at the seder. The reason for this is that it was never the custom for women to lean while partaking of a meal.

MAGGID

1. The Shulchan Aruch says that one should spill out the wine during the makkos with one's pointing finger. Some have the minhag to use their pinky. One should follow his minhag.

2. In the section of pesach, matzah, maror, when one says the words "matzah zeh" he should lift the matzah; at "maror zeh" he should lift the maror; at "pesach sh'hayu" he should NOT lift the seder plate or the z'roah. The reason for this latter ruling is that if one lifts the seder plate, it looks as if one is dedicating it as a korban Pesach, which is prohibited when there is no Bais HaMikdash.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

1. The answer to the four questions is that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim on the condition that we do all his mitzvos. These seemingly strange rituals are all part of the commands and directives given to us.

RACHTZAH

1. If one has made sure that, from the time he washed for karpas, he has not touched anything dirty, he should now make sure to touch something that requires one to wash afterward, such as his leather shoe. In this way one can make sure that his bracha is not a bracha l'vatolo.

MATZAH

1. The following clarifies the methods used to obtain the measurements in this article for the various mitzvos associated with matzah:

We are required to eat a kzayis (olive size) of matzah. We have no tradition as to which type of olive is intended. However, chazal have told us the olive’s size in connection to eggs.

A kzayis is half an egg. According to the Rambam it is a third of an egg. We do not act in accordance with the opinion of the Rambam. When we are discussing eggs we mean a medium-sized egg. Rav Moshe Feinstein says that the eggs labeled "large" are the medium-sized eggs. This is because there are no “small” eggs on the market. The smallest size sold is “medium.” A large egg is 1.9 fluid ounces. The Nodeh B'Yehudah proves that eggs are now about 50% smaller than they were in the times of the Gemarah. There are those who argue with the Nodeh B'Yehudah.

We rule as follows: If the required size that is given in egg-volumes was given at Har Sinai, we use the eggs as they currently are. If the size was given in kzaysim and the rabbonon explained what the equivalent size is in egg-volumes, we must use the sizes as they were in the times of the Gemarah, since the rabbonon based their measurements on that. The sizes and amounts needed to fulfill the various mitzvos that are given in this booklet are based on this ruling.

According to the more stringent opinion (that today's eggs are smaller than those of the past), one of today's eggs is equal to one of this opinion's kzaysim.

We will see that to fulfill one’s mitzvah of motzi matzah and afikoman, one may eat one kzayis of the stricter view of matzah to get two kzaysim, or one egg-sized portion, of the more lenient view (one-third of a hand matzah or one-half of a machine made matzah-- SEE NEXT PARAGRAPH). This resolves a problem that often arises when one has consumed so much wine and matzah that he no longer wants to eat anything by the time Shulchan Aruch arrives. The two kzaysim of matzah for motzi matzah and for afikoman are not obligations, just praiseworthy customs. Bdi'eved, one can fulfill his obligation with one kzayis of each. Additionally, since this custom cannot be more stringent than a rabbinic obligation, we may follow the opinion that our eggs are not smaller than those in the times of the Gemarah.

According to Rav Heinemann's experiments concerning the volume of a whole piece of matzah, one hand-made matzah displaces three beitzim (5.7 fluid ounces). Based on this, one would need a third of a hand matzah to fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah according to the more stringent opinion of egg sizes (that eggs are half the size today as they had been). The matzah used in this experiment was a Tselem Poppa matzah. Machine-made matzah is two beitzim (3.8 fluid ounces).

The experiment was conducted as follows: Each matzah was first sprayed with a plastic coating. This would ensure that all the air bubbles in the matzah would be included in the volume recorded, as halacha dictates. The matzos were then taken and placed in a bowl filled with water and the amount of water that each matzah displaced was put in a graduated cylinder and measured. An egg was also put in the graduated cylinder to determine the volume of a beitzah (or kzayis according to the stringent opinion).

2. L'chatchila, one should eat the matzah in less than two minutes. If one is unable to do this, he should eat it at least within four minutes.

3. One must eat matzah that he himself owns to fulfill the mitzvah on Pesach. If he is invited as a guest he may assume that the host has given him his matzah.

4. If one only has one kzayis of matzah, he should eat it at the end of the meal for the afikoman, when he is satisfied from his hunger, as it was done in when the korban Pesach was brought.

5. The custom of Ashkenazim is not to eat egg matzah on Pesach because we are unsure whether the fruit juice, which is used instead of water, will make the dough rise faster and thereby become chometz before the eighteen minutes that normal dough takes. Since these matzos are manufactured with the time limit of eighteen minutes, like other matzos, they may be chometz.

MOTZI MATZAH

1. Ideally, for motzi matzah one should eat two kzaysim - one for motzi, which is for the actual bracha of hamotzi on the bread, and one for the matzah, which is for the mitzvah of matzah. One kzayis should be from the top matzah and one should be from the middle matzah because it is unclear which we are to use for the mitzvah - the middle, broken piece, or the top piece, on which we made the bracha of hamotzi.

2. For motzi matzah one should eat a sum total of the following amount of matzah:

Hand matzah (at least 10.25" diameter) - 1/3 of a matzah


Machine matzah (6 1/8" x 7") - 1/2 of a matzah

If necessary, one may fulfill the requirement with only half this amount.

3. When one eats the matzah for motzi matzah, one must recline to the left side. If one forgets to recline, he must eat another kzayis of matzah.

KORECH-HILLEL SANDWICH

1. Ideally, one should eat one kzayis of matzah for korech:

• A kzayis of hand matzah (10.25" diameter) = 1/4 of a matzah
  
• A kzayis of machine matzah (6 1/8" x 7")=1/3 of a matzah
  

If necessary, one may fulfill the requirement with 1/6 of a hand matzah and 1/4 of a machine matzah.

SHULCHAN ARUCH (MEAL)

1. The custom today is that we do not eat roasted meat or poultry at the seder. The reason for this is that we do not want anyone to think that we are actually eating a korban Pesach. If one puts a little water (1/4" or more) in the bottom of the pan in which the meat or poultry is roasting, it is not considered as roasted.

2. One may eat roasted fish and eggs at the seder.

3. The Shulchan Aruch says that one should not say a certain piece of meat is kosher l'Pesach, kosher for Pesach, because it implies that it is for the korban Pesach. It would then be hekdesh and not allowed to be eaten. Some latter-day poskim say that one should never say, "kosher l'Pesach" about any food because one might come to say the same about meat once he is used to saying it that way. Some kashrus organizations write "kosher al Pesach," kosher on Pesach, on all its Pesach products. However, if one does say that an item is kosher l'Pesach, he may still eat it.

4. Shulchan Aruch should, preferably, be eaten while reclining.

AFIKOMAN

1. Ideally, one should eat two kzaysim for the afikoman, one for the korban chagigah and one for the korban Pesach. However, 1/3 of a hand matzah or 1/2 of a machine matzah, may be considered two kzaysim for this purpose.

2. If there are more than two people who need matzah for the afikoman and other matzah requirements that one needs for fulfilling the mitzvah at the seder (motzi matzah and korech), one should really have more than one matzah for each of the three matzah sections on the seder plate. If necessary, one may use any matzah for the afikoman, or take some of the middle matzah along with other matzah, to complete the necessary amount needed for the afikoman.

3. One must eat the entire afikoman in one place. One may not even eat it at two different tables in one room. If one fell asleep in the middle of eating the afikoman, he may not finish it when he awakens, because it is as though he ate it in two separate places. If some of the people at the table remained awake the entire time that he was asleep, he may continue eating it upon awakening.

4. If one did not lean while eating the afikoman, he should eat it again if it is not too difficult. If he has already said birkas hamazon or washed his hands after the meal (mayim acharonim), he should not eat it again.

5. After eating the afikoman, one may drink water, tea or unflavored seltzer.

6. The custom of having the children steal the afikoman was started as a way to keep the children awake for the entire seder. Rav Heinemann does not feel this custom is good for the children, because it teaches them to steal. Those who have this custom, though, should not stop doing it.

ELIYAHU’S CUP

1. The custom is to use the cup of Eliyahu from each seder night for kiddush on the following Pesach day. This need not be transferred from the kos, however, it must be covered overnight to prevent evaporation which would render it unfit for kiddush.

HALLEL

1. If there is a m'zuman present at the seder, the paragraphs of "hodu l'Hashem..." and "anno Hashem..." should be said responsively, as in shul.