Trippple Torah Tidbits

The way Pesach falls this year, there really isn't enough time in either of the two coming weeks to put out an issue of Torah Tidbits. This issue, therefore, is officially a triple issue, although it will not be anywhere near thorough, due to time and space constraints. This issue will be a patchwork quilt collection ofthis and that.

Let's start with a follow-up on last week's lead tidbit on Buyer Awareness in general and Matza Ashira (a.k.a. egg matza and wine cookies). I am pleased to report very significant progress on the egg matzas in the States. Years ago, each of the companies had its own way of sneaking an obscure warning about the restrictionsof eating egg matza for Ashkanazim (other than the elderly, infirm, and little children). H-M Chocolate-covered Egg Matza had no warning at all. Please understand the meaning of this. How many well-meaning people bought the product as a special treat for Pesach and were unaware of the binding-minhag not to eat it. Thecompany says KOSHER FOR PASSOVER. It IS Kosher for Pesach. You just can't eat it. But the company didn't tell you, or even hint at a problem. Today, all the companies have a clear statement printed on every box of egg matza.

For Ashkenazim, may be eaten only by the elderly, infirm, and little children. For those of S'fardic ancestry, ask your rabbi.

This message appears even on the Chocolate-covered Egg Matza. That is a significant accomplishment because the company knows it cuts down on its sales. Kol HaKavod to whomever got it done.

Now we have to work on many companies here in Israel. I am convinced that we can do it, if we raise a voice and demand better Kashrut information on packaging.

Here's an example of the problem. Osem Chipsy (potato chips) is Kosher L'Pesach under Rabbi Charlap. The ingregients include Vegetable oil. Red flag for Ashkenazim. What oil? An oil we can eat or one we can't. Let's leave aside the different opinions about the derivatives of kitniyot being included in the ban or not. Many(most) Ashkenazim shun corn oil, soy oil, and many others for Pesach. What about Chipsy? cont. inside (try p.11, no promise)

Well, before you find out for sure, these are the possibilities. (1) It's Kitniyot and some (many?) people who should not eat it on Pesach will fall into the trap, (2) it isn't Kitniyot and many people who can eat it will not, just to play it safe. The first possibility is a MICHSHOL (stumbing block for the blind). Thesecond is not a smart move on the company's part.

In fact, Chipsy for Pesach is made with palm oil and is non-kitniyot. So why not tell us? I asked that question to the person in chrage of marketing Chipsy. She said that if one of their products does not say that it contains Kitniyot, then it doesn't. How am I supposed to know that? was my next question. Do you see theneed for more detail on packaging? It isn't only a Pesach problem, but for Pesach, the problem shines.

Bottom line: Mostly because of Kitniyot and Matza Ashira, Kosher for Pesach does not tell an Ashkenazi that he can eat the product. So tell us, please. We have the right to know. We shouldn't have to make several phone calls to find out.

The Ashkenazi, kosher consumer, Anglo Oleh/Olah should not be frustrated when shopping for Pesach. "Oy, things were so much easier in Waldbaum's" (or words to that effect). All it should take is a few letters or calls to the various companies. They should respond well. Put it like this: If you complain about a bag of stalepotato chips and the company apologizes and sends you a gift pack, they should also respond to complaints of this nature. Companies really do want to please their customers. Otherwise they might lose them. Give it a try.

SIMILAR, but DIFFERENT

Elite makes a Kosher for Pesach, non-kitniyot assortment of cakes. Assuming you accept the Hashgacha, there is another issue to be aware of. These cakes look like cake, they taste like cake, but they are not cake. They are made with sugars and potato starch, eggs, and several other ingredients - but nothing in the grainfamily. Nothing to make the bracha MEZONOT. These cakes are SHE'HAKOL. The same goes for cookies, macaroons, and the like that are not made with matza meal (cake meal), etc. SHE'HAKOL.

Two things to know.

Because they are SHE'HAKOL, they cannot "justify" Kiddush on Yom Tov or Shabbat morning. For Kiddush, you need real Mezonot foods, if you are not saying HaMotzi at the time you make Kiddush. Non-Gebruchts people have no choice but to make Kiddush followed right away by Matza. People who do eat Gebruchts (a.k.a. Matza Sh'ruya,soaked matza), can have Mezonot cakes and cookies on Pesach. So too, can S'faradim who eat Matza Ashira.

The other thing is that if one mistakingly makes a MEZONOT on a SHE'HAKOL food, or on any other kind of food (not drink), then the bracha stands, even though it was the wrong bracha. Pesach coconut macaroons are SHE'HAKOL. If a person makes MEZONOT and starts eating the macaroon, and then realizes his error, he DOES NOTmake another bracha (SHE'HAKOL) on the remainder of what he is eating. He DOES NOT and he MAY NOT. Since MEZONOT means FOOD (and not specifically pastry), the bracha is not a lie, even if erroneous, and therefore counts. If a wrong bracha is nonetheless truth, it stands. Lies fall.

Corrections•clarifications•comments

I had made an observation that Ashkenazim have a custom not to have roast meat at the Seder and S'faradim have a custom to eat roast meat (even lamb) at the Seder. It has been called to my attention that many Eidot among those we (Ashkenazim) tend to lump together under the label "S'faradim", also have the custom of NOThaving roast meat at the Seder. It seems that Morrocans are the ones who do have roast meat. Maybe some other Eidot do too, but the majority do not. I stand corrected.

An interesting point emerges from the opposite customs that exist in commemoration of the Korban Pesach. It can be said that the custom of eating roasted meat is Zeicher L'Mikdash, in commemoration of the Beit HaMikdash. On the other hand, the custom of NOT eating roasted meat is Zeicher L'Churban, commemorative of thedestruction of the Beit HaMikdash. These are not the same. The Seder contains both aspects of Temple commemoration, sometimes with the same object. The egg, for example, is a mourner's food, and as such can be understood as Zeicher L'Churban. On the other hand, Beitza (egg) is the name of the volume of Mishna that dealswith Yom Tov and explains (according to some Hagada commentaries), its choice to represent the Korban Chagiga. This would give it an element of Zeicher L'Mikdash.

And another thing...

Last week in the long lead tidbit on Matza Ashira, I referred to it as a Rabbinic ban. It was called to my attention that it is not so. The RAMA in the famous Siman 462 states that it is a custom in our countries not to allow the making of dough for Pesach with flour and fruit juices (including eggs, wine, honey, milk,and many other liquides). In contrast, KITNIYOT was rabbinically banned for Ashkenazim, in the form of a G'ZEIRA, a decree on the community. Exactly how a Minhag becomes binding on individuals isn't an easy process to analyze. We have a concept of MINHAG YISRAEL DIN HU, but this is far from being universally applied toMinhagim. Some minhagim stay local - family or city, etc. Others seem to be confirmed and reconfirmed by generations of Jews, and a widespread practice adds to the eventual binding nature of a minhag. Again I say that Pesach is not the only area of Jewish practice that Minhagim, but it is certainly top of the list.

I agree that rabbinic ban is the wrong term for Egg Matza, and I think that I will use the phrase "binding minhag (with exemptions)". People have to understand and appreciate the power of a binding-minhag. Not all customs have the same binding nature, but none should be dismissed as trivial. I would dare say that Judaismexists today thanks to Torah and Mitzvot on the one hand, and Minhag on the other. And I would not venture to suggest which is more responsible for the continuity of the Chain of Tradition.

From an educational point of view, a person can learn a lot from the minhagim he follows, as well as from the one's he doesn't. This is what makes the differences among Jews potentially exciting and enlightening.

To take a different kind of example, but also from Pesach, let's look at the brachot for the Four Cups of wine. Ashkenazim make four Borei-Pri-HaGafens and S'fardim make only two, for the first and fourth cup. One the one hand, one should do as is his community's or family's minhag.

It doesn't matter which of the two practices you like better. Minhag is minhag. On the other hand, an Ashkenazi, for example should be interested (a) in what other groups of Jews do, and (b) why they do it. I am sure that I am not unique in not having known that some Jews only say the wine bracha twice. Until I made Aliya,I was very ignorant of the customs of other Eidot. I continue to enjoy hearing and seeing more and more of the rich religious-cultural variations within Klal Yisrael.

The sad part of all this is the unnecessary friction that different practices and the misunderstanding of them create among our people. Our common commitment to G-d, to Torah and Mitzvot, to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael, MUST be so much stronger than who eats Bamba on Pesach and who doesn't.

Back to the Seder table. We make brachot on the first cup, drink it and shortly thereafter fill the second cup, and without our minds wandering from the Seder, we keep that second cup in front of us all the time, lift it occasionally, clearly have intention of drinking it. The S'fardi reasoning is that there is at leasta SAFEK (doubt) as to whether a second bracha would be necessary without HESECH HA'DA'AT. When in doubt as to whether a bracha should be recited or not, we opt for not saying it. The third cup is after Birkat HaMazon, and therefore definitely requires a bracha after the break that is Birkat HaMazon. Not so the fourth cup.Where is the break in attention sufficient to require another bracha? So goes the S'fardi line of reasoning. Ashkenazim consider the part of the Seder that each cup of wine is invoved with, sufficient cause to require its own bracha. In other words, by the rules of Brachot for Food and Drink, the second cup might not getits own bracha. But the first cup was Kiddush and the second is for Hallel, and that is all the "justification" necessary for our practice of separate brachot for each cup. Both practices are right. How can that be? You are right too.

Train of Thought...

Of all the many interpretations of the Four Children portion of the Hagada, the one that strikes me as most true, most real, and most significance for each of us, is the following:

Each individual Jew is a Chacham. a Rasha, a Tam, and a She'eino Yodei'a Lish'ol rolled into one. The relative percentages of each component differ from person to person, and within each person from topic to topic and from day to day (or year to year).

I didn't know that S'fardim say only two brachot. I didn't know enough to ask.

I found out and asked, "How come." That's the Tam.

I was wondering if the time delay alone between the first and second cup, and the practice of not drinking between the two cups can be considered a break, even if one's mind did not wander. Chacham's Q.

What difference does it make? What's important about this issue. You want to say a bracha, say it. Or not. There is a little bit of a Rasha. The whole Kitniyot business is ridiculous. Who would mix up stringbeans and Chametz? There is the scoffing. The questioning not to gain knowledge and understanding, but to mock orput down something of someone.

You might not know enough to ask, then ask when you found out a certain fact, then ask intelligent, sophisticated questions to sharpen your new-found information. You will have gone from She'eino Yodei'a to a Tam to a Chacham. And when you get answers and think they explain everything, but they don't, then you have becomea She' eino Yodei'a Lish'ol all over again.

It is a dynamic process, ever-changing. The message of the Hagada is that Judaism has what to say about anything and on different levels. The Chacham must be nurtured so that he will grow in knowledge AND understanding. The Tam and Sh.Y.L. need scaled down answers not to drive them away, and the Rasha must be addressedas well.

Thoughts for Shabbat HaGadol

Pesach celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, the emergence of the People of Israel from slavery to freedom. Pesach is "the time of our freedom". Yet it is possible to receive a false impression from the Seder. One can conclude that the freedom we are celebrating is an end unto itself, that it is the realization of our nationaldream.

This would be a mistake. Pesach marks the birth of the Nation of Israel. Following birth comes infancy, childhood, and eventually maturity. Pesach was the first step. Matan Torah followed shortly thereafter. Entrance into the Land of Israel followed, not that soon afterwards. The building of the Beit HaMikdash was anothermajor step. Aside from many other pivotal events in Jewish History - past, present, and future, we must not forget that the Final Geula is yet to come. Without detracting from Pesach - because it marks one of THE most crucial events in our History - we must view it in a proper perspective.

We are free of Egypt's domination to be able to become truly subjugated to G-d and His Torah. This idea was made clear to Moshe Rabeinu when he was first sent to take the People out of Egypt. At the Burning Bush, G-d told him that, following the Exodus, the People would return to this very spot (Sinai) to serve Him. Ourcounting of the Omer from the second night of Pesach, causes us to take Shavuot, Matan Torah, and Eretz Yisrael into the equation when we ponder the significance of Pesach.

We start the Seder by announcing (in Aramaic, the vernacular at the time, so that everyone will understand) that this year we are "here", but next year we will be in the E. Israel. (We in Israel say this too, because Eretz Yisrael will be "complete" only in the time of the Moshiach.) At the end of the Seder (additions havemade it not quite the end), we express the prayer and hope that "Next Year in (re)built Jerusalem". Furthermore, in the introductory portion of the Haggada, we read of the Rabbinic statement that Pesach will be observed (with differences, of course) even in Messianic times. These references to the future serve to helpus keep Pesach in perspective.

Perhaps this is one of the messages of Shabbat HaGadol. Even before we begin Pesach, a statement is made: The holiday we are about to celebrate marks the birth of the Jewish Nation. Remember that some day in the future, Eliyahu HaNavi will come to announce the Great and Awe-filled Day of HaShem. This enhances the celebrationof the Chagim AND fill us with hope and anticipation for greater things in the future.