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, derome Epstein,
Ezra Finkelstein, Sam Fraint, Arnold Goodman, Susan Grossman, dan Caryl Kaufman,
Reuven Kimmelman, dudah Kogen, Aaron Mackler, Herbert Mandl, Lionel Moses,
Paul Plotkin, Mayer Rabinowitz, Avram Reisner, Joel Rembaum, Chaim Rogoff,
Joel Roth, and Gordon Tucker.
She-elah
What practices are to be followed when the first night of Passover falls
on a Saturday night?
Teshuvah
Many of the practices that are usually performed on the night or the day
before the seder are moved back to Thursday or Friday. This is done to assure
the proper observance of Shabbat [1].
Siyyum Bechorim- 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 siyyum (a public completion
of the study of a tractate of the Talmud) on the morning before Passover.
Since the siyyum is followed by a seudat mitzvah (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
siyyum and the seudat mitzvah are held on Thursday morning.
Bediqat Hametz Thursday Evening
Bediqat Hametz (search for leaven) is customarily done on the night
before Passover immediately after sunset [3] When Passover begins on Saturday
night the Bediqat Hametz is done on Thursday night. The blessing for
Bediqat Hametz is recited. One may elect to keep enough hametz
for the Sabbath meals. If so the kol
chamira=("All
the hametz." formula for nullifying unseen hametz should not
be recited at this time, since one does not want to nullify the hametz
reserved for Shabbat. However if the intention is to use matzah ashirah
then the kol chamira is recited Thursday evening.
Biur Hametz Friday Morning
This day should be treated as an ordinary Erev Pesach in regard to
Biur Hametz (removal of hametz). The burning of the hametz
should be completed by the fifth hour after sunrise. The stove should
be kashered for Pesach. All cooking should be done in Pesach pots and only
Pesach utensils should be used. Food required for Shabbat as well as for
the first seder should be cooked at this time.
Shabbat Meals
There are two traditional practices that present complications when the first
seder is held on a Saturday night,
1. It is customary to refrain from eating matzah on the day before Pesach,
so that one will eat the matzah with appetite at the seder.
2. It is customary to eat three meals on Shabbat. At least two of these meals
should include food over which hamotzi is recited.
There are two acceptable ways of dealing with
these complications:
A. Set aside enough hametz for the Sabbath meals. A hametz
dish should be provided for the hallot. 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.
No hametz may be eaten on erev Pesach
beyond a time approximately four hours past sunrise. Hence on Shabbat morning
the Shabbat services should be completed early enough to allow for the
Seudat Shabbat, including challah, to be eaten in time. After
the meal, the residue of the Hametz 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 hametz. The kol
chamira=
formula should now be recited.
Synagogues that do not have a congregational
seder or serve kiddushim during the Pesach holiday may have services early
on Shabbat morning, and if they choose, serve a hametz meal, have non-Jewish
staff dispose of the hametz and keep the kitchen locked during the
holiday. The kol
chamira=
formula may be recited by the assemblage, or individually at home.
B. Have full Pesach meals both on Friday evening and Saturday morning. This
is possible because one may use matzah ashirah (enriched matzah, that
is to say egg matzah) for the Hamotzi. Though matzah ashirah
may not be used for the seder, it is not hametz. It is produced under
strict rabbinical supervision and may be used during Passover. It may not
be used for the seder, for it is ashirah (rich) and what is required
for the seder is lachma anya (the bread of poverty and affliction).
And precisely because egg matzah may not be eaten at the seder, it may be
eaten the day of the seder both at the Friday night meal and at the Shabbat
lunch.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in the Iggrot Moshe [4]
recommends that those who prefer to remove all hametz before Shabbat
use matzah ashirah and that berkhat hamazon (Grace after meals)
be recited following the meal.
Therefore it is preferable for those who do not want to have hametz
on Shabbat because they are concerned about all the complications that can
flow (from having hametz in a Pesahdige house), to use matzah
ashirah for the two meals. Since it is the staple of the meal, Hamotzi
must be said and Berkhat Hamazon recited.
Rabbi Feinstein maintains that the Rabbis did not require the removal of
all hametz before Shabbat and the use of matzah ashirah 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 matzah ashirah, it is preferable for them to do so.
In regard to those who might object and say that a pat (bread or regular
matzah) is needed to say Hamotzi and Berkhat HaMazon, Rabbi
Feinstein reasons,
Since one eats them for the Sabbath seudot where pat is required,
there is not greater designation as the staple than this.
And he proceeds to buttress his argument with numerous citations.
Egg matzah is easy to obtain nowadays. It would therefore seem preferable
to avoid the complications of using hametz in an otherwise
Pesahdige home, to use matzah ashirah (egg matzah and not
challah 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 matzah ashirah.
They should eat the two meals only during the hours when it would be permitted
to eat hametz [until the fifth hour after sunrise].
However since we hold that matzah ashirah may be used during Passover
(except at the seder), we can use egg matzah until a later hour, until
minchah qetanah (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 matzah ashirah
is used, then the formula is recited Shabbat morning before going to the
synagogue. There are some congregations that recite the kol chamira
together in the course of the services.
Seudah Shelishit
Whether one follows the practice of eating hametz on Shabbat or of
making the house Pesahdige and using matzah ashirah, the
seudah shelishit should not include either hametz or matzah
ashirah. It should consist of a snack of fruit, fish or eggs. The seudah
should be completed by the time of minchah qetanah (approximately
2 1/2 halakhic hours before sunset).
CONCLUSION
The practices relating to Pesach that begins on Saturday night are as outlined
above. The option of making the house Pesahdige on Friday and using
matzah ashirah is preferable. There is less chance of making mistakes,
and it will provide a day of Shabbat relaxation before the seder. However,
having hametz for the first two seudot on Shabbat, and following
the procedure as described is an alternative possibility.
NOTES
[1.] Acknowledgments: This responsum is based on A Statement on Pesach Observance
issued by the CJLS on February 6, 1974. Thanks to Rabbi Noah Golinkin for
his thoughtful paper When the First Seder Occurs on Saturday Night, which
I consulted when writing this responsum.
[2.] Shulhan Arukh, Orach Chayyim 470:1.
[3.] Ibid., Orach Chayyim 431:1.
[4.] Iggerot Moshe, Orach Cayyim chelek 1, p. 274.