MOURNING AT THE SEDER? Special class in memory of Mr. Jaime Woldenberg Z”L ר' חיים זעליק בן ר' משה אריה הלוי ז"ל Rabbi Eliezer Wolf

➢ 1. 114a : They brought before him matza and ḥazeret and ḥaroset, and at least two cooked dishes Gemara: What are these two cooked foods mentioned in the mishna? Rav Huna said: Beets and rice. The Gemara relates that Rava would seek beets and rice for his meal on Passover night, since this ruling came from Rav Huna’s mouth. Although Rava realized that Rav Huna was merely citing examples and did not mean that one must eat those specific foods, he wanted to fulfill the statement of his teacher precisely. Ḥizkiya said: The two cooked foods can even be fish and the egg that that was fried on it. Rav Yosef said: One requires two types of meat on Passover night, one in remembrance of the Paschal lamb and the other one in remembrance of the Festival peace-offering, which was also eaten on Passover night. Ravina said: For the two cooked foods one may use even the meat on the bone and the gravy in which it was cooked.

➢ 2. A PRAYER: Rabbi Yosef Karo 473 The writes, that it is customary to place the zeroa (shank bone) and the beitza (egg), as a prayer to G-d (beitza in Aramaic is beia which means prayer) that Hashem should redeem us from this exile with His outstretched arm (zeroa).

➢ 3. A SYMBOL: Rabbi Meir Shapiro from Lublin (1887-1933) Most foods, when cooked, become softer. Eggs, when cooked, harden. Similarly, when the Jewish people are oppressed, we become stronger and bolder.

➢ 4. A FAITH EXERCISE: Baal Shem Tov, based on Ibn Ezra Exodus 8:22 The Egyptians, as well as many pagans, believed against eating any meat, or any derivative from a living animal, including blood, milk, eggs, fish. To eradicate these pagan beliefs from our hearts, we eat the egg and meat at the Seder.

➢ 5. MOURNING: Talmud 16b The Gemara explains: And what is different about lentils that they in particular are the fare customarily offered to mourners? They say in the West, Eretz Yisrael, in the name of Rabba bar Mari: Just as this lentil has no mouth, i.e., it does not have a crack like other legumes, so too a mourner has no mouth, that is, his anguish prevents him from speaking. Alternatively, just as this lentil is completely round, so too mourning comes around to the inhabitants of the world. The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between the two explanations? The Gemara answers: There is a practical difference between them with regard to whether it is appropriate to console a mourner with eggs, which have no opening but are not completely round.

Pesach as the code for Jewish life – (א"ת ב"ש) At-Bash .6 ➢ Aleph - Tav - Tisha B'Av Beth - Shin - Shavuot Gimel - Resh - Rosh Hashana Daled - Kuf - Keriat Hatorah, i.e. Simchat Torah, a day devoted to Keriat ("reading of") the Torah He - Tzadi - Yom Tzom Kippur, the Day of the Fast of Atonement Vav - Pe - Purim

➢ 7. THE STORY OF OUR BIRTH: Izhbitzer Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner (1801-1854, Poland) When most things are born or created, they arrive as a final product. An egg is different. When it is laid, it is a partial birth, but the final product is yet to emerge. Only after some time will the egg hatch and the chic will emerge. Similarly, leaving Egypt was only part one of the exodus – political freedom. The next phase would come when we received the Torah – spiritual freedom.