USCJ: When Passover begins on a Saturday

YOU ARE HERE: When Passover begins on a Saturday

When Passover Begins on Saturday Night

RABBI KASSEL ABELSON

This paper was passed unanimously on December 9, 1993. Voting in favor were: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Ben Zion Bergman, Elliot Dorff, Jerome Epstein, Ezra Finkelstein, Sam Fraint, Arnold Goodman, Susan Grossman, Jan Caryl Kaufman, Reuven Kimmelman, Judah Kogen, Aaron Mackler, Herbert Mandl, Lionel Moses, Paul Plotkin, Mayer Rabinowitz, Avram Reisner, Joel Rembaum, Chaim Rogoff, Joel Roth, and Gordon Tucker.


What practices are to be followed when the first night of Passover falls on a Saturday night?

Many of the practices that are usually performed on the night or the day before the
	are moved back to Thursday or Friday. This is done to assure the proper
observance of Shabbat.1

- Thursday Morning

A first born (whether of the mother or of the father) should fast on the day before Passover. In commemoration of the deliverance from Egypt.2 It is the custom for

synagogues to make

(a public completion of the study of a tractate of the

Talmud) on the morning before Passover. Since the

s followed by a

(a festive meal which follows the performance of certain mitzvot), a first

born who is present may eat, and having eaten, need not fast that day. Since a fast for the

firstborn cannot take place on Shabbat or be moved to Friday, the

and the

are held on Thursday morning.

- Thursday Evening

(search for leaven) is customarily done on the night before Passover

immediately alter sunset.3 When Passover begins on Saturday night the

is done on Thursday night. The blessing for

is recited. One may elect to

keep enough

for the Sabbath meals. If so the

(�All the

...�

formula for nullifying unseen

) hould not be recited at this time, since one does not

want to nullify the

reserved for Shabbat. However if the intention is to use

then the

is recited Thursday evening.

- Friday Morning

This day should be treated as an ordinary

in regard to

(removal of

). The burning of the

should be completed by the fifth hour after

sunrise. The stove should be kashered for

All cooking should be done in

pots and only

utensils should be used. Food required for Shabbat as well as

for the first

should be cooked at this time.

Shabbat Meals

There are two traditional practices that present complications when the first

is held on a Saturday night,

1. It is customary to refrain from eating

on the day before

, so that one will

eat the

with appetite at the

2. It is customary to eat three meals on Shabbat. At least two of these meals should

include food over which

is recited.

There are two acceptable ways of dealing with these complications:

A. Set aside enough

for the Sabbath meals. A

dish should be provided for

the

Care should be taken to prevent any crumbs from coming into contact with the

other dishes. To avoid such a problem it is recommended that plastic or paper plates and cutlery be used at both the Friday night and Shabbat morning meals.

may be eaten on

eyond a time approximately four hours past sunrise.

Hence on Shabbat morning the Shabbat services should be completed early enough to

allow for the

, including

to be eaten in time. After the meal, the residue

of the

should be flushed away or otherwise disposed of since, of course, nothing can

be burned on Shabbat. The tablecloth should be carefully removed from the table, shaken

outside of the house, and then stored with the other

. The

formula

should now be recited.

Synagogues that do not have a congregational

or serve kiddushim during the

holiday may have services early on Shabbat morning, and if they choose, serve a

meal, have non-Jewish staff dispose of the

and keep the kitchen locked during

the holiday. The

formula may be recited by the assemblage, or individually at

home.

B. Have full

meals both on Friday evening and Saturday morning. This is possible

because one may use

(enriched

, that is to say egg

) for the

Though

, may not be used for the

, it is not

. It is

produced under strict rabbinical supervision and may be used during Passover. It may not

be used for the

, for it is

vrhag (rich) and what is required for the

the bread of poverty and affliction). And precisely because egg

may not be eaten at the

, it may be eaten the day of the

both at the

Friday night meal and at the Shabbat lunch.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in the Iggrot Moshe4 recommends that those who prefer to

remove all

before Shabbat use

for

and that

(Grace after meals) be recited following the meal.

Therefore it is preferable for those who do not want to have

on Shabbat because

they are concerned about all the complications that can flow (from having		in a

Pesahdige house), to use

for the two meals. Since it is the staple of the meal,

must be said and

recited.

Rabbi Feinstein maintains that the Rabbis did not require the removal of all

before Shabbat and the use of

because they did not want to put a burden

on those who would find it difficult to do so. However,

Those who want to, and it is possible for them to take the trouble to bake

it is preferable for them to do so.

In regard to those who might object and say that a

(bread or regular

)

is needed to say

and

, Rabbi Feinstein reasons,

Since one eats them for the Sabbath

where a

is required, there is not

greater designation as the staple than this.

And he proceeds to buttress his argument with numerous citations.

Egg

is easy to obtain nowadays. It would therefore seem preferable to avoid the

complications of using

in an otherwise Pesahdige home, to use

(egg

) and not

for the Sabbath meals.

Rabbi Feinstein does, however, impose a restriction to be in accord with those who hold

a different view on the use of

They should eat the two meals only during the hours when it would be permitted to eat

[until the fifth hour after sunrise].

However since we hold that

may be used during Passover (except at the

), we can use egg

until a later hour, until

(approximately 2 1/2

halakhic hours before sunset). Thus the second Shabbat meal may be eaten at the regular hour, and Shabbat services need not end especially early.

If the option of using

is used, then the

formula is recited

Shabbat morning before going to the synagogue. There are some congregations that recite

the

together in the course of the services.

Whether one follows the practice of eating

on Shabbat or of making the house

Pesahdige and using

, the

should not include either

It should consist of a snack of fruit, fish or eggs. The

hould be completed by the time of

(approximately 2 1/2 halakhic hours

before sunset).

CONCLUSION

The practices relating to

that begins on Saturday night are as outlined above. The

option of making the house Pesahdige on Friday and using

s preferable.

There is less chance of making mistakes, and it will provide a day of Shabbat relaxation

before the

. However, having

for the first two

on Shabbat, and

following the procedure as described is an alternative possibility.

NOTES

1. Acknowledgments: This responsum is based on A Statement on jxp Observance issued

by the CJLS on February 6, 1974. Thanks to Rabbi Noah Golinkin for his thoughtful

paper When the First

Occurs on Saturday Night, which I consulted when writing

this responsum.
2. Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 470:1.
3. Ibid., Orah Hayyim 431:1.
4. Ibid., Orah Hayyim ekj 1, p. 274.