Tzav: 5785 - "Chacham Mah Hu Omer" (What does the wise son say): When a grain of wheat fell into the soup bowl on the night of the Seder, and the sharpness of the Rav of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, saved the pot…

00:02 Speaker 1 In the Pesach Haggadah we say: “The Torah speaks of four sons: a wise one, a wicked one, a simple one, and one who does not know how to ask.” The wording is: “What does the wise son say?” There’s a saying explained in Chassidus: “What does the wise son say?” What he is—that’s what he says. The same applies to the wicked son. What does a person talk about? What does he say? What he is—his character and his essence. There was an incident in Jerusalem. A family was sitting at the Seder table, and when the soup was served, a grain of wheat was found in one of the bowls. There was also a young bridegroom there, a newly married couple. It caused a huge commotion: a grain of wheat in a bowl of soup.

01:09 Speaker 2 Full-blown chametz.

01:10 Speaker 1 It really was chametz. Now a question arose: did they have to take the whole pot and throw it out? It was a large pot, with all kinds of food in it. Now they would have to throw it away. There was an uproar, with anger and shouting. How could this happen? So what do you do? You go to a rabbi. They went to the rabbi of Jerusalem. The rabbi sent for the bridegroom. When he arrived, the rabbi said, “Bring me—” In Jerusalem, people wear a shtreimel on Yom Tov. So he said, “Bring me your shtreimel.” It turned out that there was a custom in Jerusalem to throw wheat over the bride and groom at the chuppah, as a sign of blessing. Some grains of wheat had remained in his shtreimel, and when he ate the soup, a grain fell into his bowl. So there was no need to throw out the whole pot. It had nothing to do with the pot; it was only in his bowl. He had bent over, and a grain had fallen in. So that’s the meaning of “What does the wise son say?” You have to be wise and understand the situation, right? Don’t immediately be stringent and throw everything out. Something else may have caused it. Another thing about the rabbi of Jerusalem: Usually, matzos are baked on Erev Pesach. And in general, when matzos are baked, there’s a lot of tension. You have to work quickly so the dough doesn’t become chametz. There’s always a commotion, always tension and shouting. Anyone who has ever been at a matzah oven knows.

02:53 Speaker 3 I worked there for half an hour.

02:55 Speaker 1 It’s tense there, with spit flying everywhere. Rabbi Sonnenfeld had a practice: when he baked his matzos, he always had a Tehillim in his pocket, a book of Tehillim. Whenever he had a chance, he would take it out, sit down, and say Tehillim. He did the same at the matzah baking. He would take a chair, sit down opposite the oven, take out his Tehillim, and say Tehillim. And he would say, “Master of the Universe, we have done everything we can. Beyond that, everything depends on help from Heaven. We do what we can, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will protect us from stumbling, G-d forbid, in anything.” There’s also the story of someone who would not eat at anyone else’s home. He wouldn’t eat anything even at his own Rebbe’s home. Why? Because he was so particular: on Pesach, he wouldn’t eat anyone else’s food. On the seventh day of Pesach, his Rebbe noticed that he wasn’t there and asked why. They told him that the man didn’t go anywhere and didn’t eat at anyone else’s home. The Rebbe sent for him and said, “Go check your water.” In those days, each person would prepare his own water before Pesach to use throughout the holiday. The Rebbe told him to check his water, and when he looked in his water barrel, he found a piece of bread there. How had it gotten there? He didn’t know. The Rebbe told him, “Heaven has shown you something. You don’t trust anyone. But look: if you rely only on your own efforts, only on yourself, see what happened.” There are things for which we need to rely on Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We do everything we can; beyond that, we have to rely on Hakadosh Boruch Hu. May we have a kosher

04:44 Speaker 1 and joyous holiday, with Hashem’s help, together with all the Jewish people.