Reasons for the Customs - Pesach - Rabbi Shmuel Mekamel shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 As Pesach approaches, today we’ll discuss laws and customs relating to Erev Pesach and the preparations for the holiday. The Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, one of the first works the Alter Rebbe wrote, opens with the importance of studying the laws of Pesach thirty days before the holiday. Thirty days before the holiday, we already begin teaching its laws. In fact, the practice of teaching the laws of a holiday began with Moshe Rabbeinu, who instructed that they be taught on the holiday itself. But the Sages expanded the enactment. There is a difference of opinion as to whether we begin teaching the laws two weeks or thirty days before the holiday. Originally, this enactment was intended to prepare the people for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with all the details involved in bringing the offerings. But the enactment did not lapse after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. There are still many laws we need to know before the holiday, so every person has an obligation to study them. Especially today, when books are readily available, everyone should obtain them, study and review them carefully, so they know what to do in practice. We know that the ancient custom was for the rabbi to address and teach the community, telling them the path they should follow and the actions they should take. The Rebbe says this also means that the study must not be limited to the practical laws. It must include the path to observing the mitzvos with the proper love and awe, as Chassidus requires. So there is great importance both in studying the laws and in listening to and taking part in classes about the holidays. Now we’ll discuss the customs of the month of Nissan and the days leading up to Pesach. Besides studying the laws of the holiday thirty days in advance—which, in practice, begins on Purim—

02:27 Speaker 2 there is something else that begins on Purim. Our custom is to refrain from eating matzah starting on Purim, thirty days before the holiday, so that matzah retains its special appeal for us. That is why we do not eat matzah during those thirty days. In addition, the halachic authorities write that, starting thirty days before the holiday, we should not do things that will be difficult to put right afterward. This means that whenever we knead dough or handle chametz in a way that makes it sticky and hard to clean, we should avoid leaving it that way. If chametz makes a mess, we should try to clean it immediately rather than wait for it to stick and make removing the chametz harder. This begins thirty days before the holiday. In the Torah, Nissan is called the first month. It is called “the beginning of the months,” and it is the month in which we left Egypt: “It shall be the first for you among the months of the year.” We do not say Tachanun throughout this month, because the Mishkan was erected on Rosh Chodesh Nissan and its dedication continued with offerings brought by the nesi’im, one each day, from Rosh Chodesh Nissan through the twelfth of the month. Those days were Yom Tov for the nesi’im: when each nasi brought his offering, it was a Yom Tov for him, and of course he represented the Jewish people. So we do not say Tachanun on those days. Erev Pesach is also considered a Yom Tov on which we do not say Tachanun, since it was the day when all the Jewish people brought the Pesach offering. The day a person brings an offering is a Yom Tov for that person, and Erev Pesach is

04:34 Speaker 2 a day when all the Jewish people brought an offering, so it became a Yom Tov for everyone, and we do not say Tachanun then either. And of course there are the days of Pesach itself and Isru Chag. So the entire month is marked by holiness, and we do not say Tachanun at all during the month. Nissan is also called the month of spring. We know that one of the features of the Exodus from Egypt is expressed in the verse, “He brings prisoners out at a favorable time.” It was a suitable month to leave—not too cold and not too hot, but pleasant for traveling. We know how important it is that Pesach fall specifically in the spring: “Observe the month of spring,” for that is when you left Egypt. So in this month, when we see the blossoms in all their splendor and beauty, we recite the blessing over trees, Birchas Ha’ilanos. One who goes out during the days of Nissan recites Birchas Ha’ilanos. The Shabbos before Pesach is called Shabbos Hagadol. It is called that because, while the Jewish people were in Egypt, after all the plagues the Egyptians had suffered, Moshe Rabbeinu told them that another plague was coming, one that would strike the firstborn. The Egyptian firstborn did not want to suffer this plague, and they began demanding and pleading with their parents to release the Jewish people from Egypt. Their parents refused, so the firstborn rose up and struck them. This is what the verse means by “Who struck Egypt through their firstborn.” The Egyptians themselves were struck by Egyptians. This has great significance: the forces of impurity were broken from within. This was the great miracle connected with the Exodus from Egypt, and that is why this Shabbos is named Shabbos Hagadol, after that great miracle. This observance was set for Shabbos specifically, rather than

06:35 Speaker 2 for the date in the month. The date on which it happened was 10 Nissan, but since 10 Nissan is the anniversary of Miriam the prophetess’s passing, and some had the custom to fast on that day, this observance was not set for 10 Nissan. Instead, it was set for the day of the week on which it happened, and that is why it is called Shabbos Hagadol. On Shabbos Hagadol, after Minchah, because that was when the Geulah and the miracles began, we recite the Haggadah text from “We were slaves” through “to atone for all our sins.” Now let’s discuss the laws of preparing for Pesach. We know that the Torah warns, “No chametz shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen in your territory,” and it says, “For seven days no leaven shall be found in your homes.” There are prohibitions against chametz being seen or found in our possession. In other words, besides the prohibition against eating chametz on Pesach, we may not even have it in our possession. There is an extra safeguard here because chametz, leaven, is associated with the yetzer hara. Because of the seriousness of this matter, we cannot even live under the same roof as chametz on Pesach. This differs from other prohibitions. Of course, non-kosher things generally do not enter the home, but there is no prohibition against having things in the home that we are forbidden to eat. For example, a nazir may live with a bottle of wine in the house even though he is forbidden to drink wine. Or, to give a more common example, on Shabbos we are forbidden to use many items in the home because they are muktzeh, but there is no obligation to remove all muktzeh items from the house before Shabbos. On Pesach, however, the prohibition is not only against eating chametz: chametz that belongs to us may not even be found in our possession. And that is why we make sure to remove the

08:38 Speaker 2 Chametz. We do this on several levels. First, we have the practice of selling chametz. We won’t go into all the details of selling chametz right now, but the idea is that there is chametz we would find it difficult to nullify wholeheartedly. Suppose we’re not talking about a few snacks left over from mishloach manos, but about owners of large factories, with warehouses full of chametz products, alcoholic beverages, and the like. The practice of selling chametz was instituted for them. Of course, our custom is that every person sells chametz, and this can protect him from chametz in his possession even if he doesn’t know it’s there. Today, with shares and various investments, a person may not even realize that he owns things that are chametz, and selling chametz can indeed protect him from that. So we sell all the chametz that is important to us and that we know about. We mark it, of course, and include it in the document of sale. In addition, in the home where we live, we make sure to clean and scrub. As we know, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said that when we say on Rosh Hashanah, “May it be Your will that the angels emerging from the shofar and from KShRK ascend”—those letters simply stand for tekiah, shevarim, teruah, tekiah. But he said they also stand for kratzer, shvaber, raiber, kerer: scraping and smoothing, scrubbing, and making the utensils and the home fit for Pesach, so that everything is clean and free of any concern. And as the Alter Rebbe says, it is the custom of the holy Jewish people to be stringent even with things that do not actually require it under halachah; those, too, we make fit for Pesach and clean. Indeed, some very significant things have been said about preparing

10:55 Speaker 2 the home for Pesach. Nevertheless, we must always remember that our health comes before everything else. We have to make sure our health isn’t harmed. When carrying out this precious mitzvah of preparing the home for Pesach, we must do it with care for our health and for sholom bayis, and not, G-d forbid, let it lead to unpleasant situations. That way, we can truly celebrate Pesach in health, joy, and peace. So we also need to determine how necessary each task is. Some things are required by halachah. We won’t go into all the laws of preparing the kitchen and its various utensils for Pesach here. In general, anything that comes into contact with chametz, and any place where chametz is brought, needs to be checked. As for checking for chametz, beyond the search we conduct on the night of the search, the night of the 14th, it is already possible to begin checking thirty days before the festival—either by candlelight at night or by sunlight, when the surface we are checking, a shelf for example, receives the sun’s rays directly, with nothing in between. That means opening all the windows, shutters, and curtains so that the sunlight reaches the surface directly. This has the status of a portico that can be checked by its light. In each such place, we first remove the chametz that was there. We put the chametz away in a designated place. If it is chametz we want to use after Pesach, then of course we sell it to a non-Jew. We include it in the document of sale and put it in the marked places whose chametz is included in the sale. Then we clean those areas thoroughly, spray them with a substance that renders any remaining chametz inedible, and, in addition to cleaning, cover them with paper—paper without the word “chametz” on it. In this way,

13:09 Speaker 2 we have cleaned the refrigerator, or the shelves in the cabinets, or anything else. If we have moved cabinets, these are things that are very difficult to do later on the night of the search. So it is recommended that immediately after cleaning them, we check them: either wait until night and search by candlelight, or do it during the day when they are exposed to the sun’s rays. The same applies to a car. After cleaning it, we can open all its doors toward the sun and check it, or do so by candlelight at night. And of course, after all that, we need to leave enough rooms to check on the designated night as well, so that we can fulfill the Sages’ enactment of searching for chametz on the night of the 14th with the special blessing over the removal of chametz. The search for chametz. According to Torah law, once we have declared the chametz ownerless, it is no longer ours. The Torah says, “No chametz belonging to you shall be seen.” The Sages said: You may not see your own, but you may see chametz belonging to others, to non-Jews, or to hekdesh. There can be chametz on our property that does not belong to us, and that is not a problem. So, in principle, if I declared all the chametz ownerless, it would no longer be mine, and I could go on living with it in the house on Pesach. Why, then, did the Sages institute the search for chametz? There are two reasons they required us to search for it. The first is that a person is accustomed to eating chametz all year. If there is chametz in his home, even if it isn’t his, there is a concern that he will reach for those familiar foods, as he is used to doing, and, Heaven forfend, come

15:11 Speaker 2 to eat them on Pesach. Because of the concern that he might eat it, the Sages did not consider nullifying the chametz sufficient. They also required him to search for it and actually remove it from the home. The second reason is that he might not nullify it wholeheartedly. Here, of course, we are talking about chametz that is valuable and important to him. Even if he says he nullifies it “like the dust of the earth,” his heart may not be in it, and he may not truly nullify it wholeheartedly. The Sages therefore required him to actually remove that chametz, so that it would not be in his home and he would not stumble over it—neither by eating it on Pesach, G-d forbid, nor by violating the prohibitions against chametz being seen or found in his possession. This ensures that he will not have chametz that he has not nullified wholeheartedly. That is why they required a search by candlelight on the night of the 14th of Nissan, the night closest to the Seder. They set it at night because candlelight is well suited to the search then; night is the most suitable time for searching by candlelight. The search is conducted in holes and cracks. Every place where chametz is brought must be checked, and checked thoroughly. Our custom is to spend a great deal of time searching for chametz. Of course, as part of the search, as we said earlier, we should clean the home and remove its chametz in the days leading up to the search. This makes the search easier, more efficient, and more focused, so that we can do it properly and thoroughly. It is very difficult to cover the entire home in one night. So the preparations for the search begin earlier, and a form of the search itself actually begins in the period before Pesach, in the days approaching the festival. That way, on the night of the search, once the home

17:16 Speaker 2 Completely clean, and then begin the search. We search by the light of a candle. With a bird’s feather, we can sweep and reach crumbs in holes and cracks, as far as our hands can reach. We place ten pieces of hard chametz around the house so they won’t crumble. We wrap those pieces in paper, but the paper must be flammable. The point is that it should be consumed when the chametz is burned, rather than remaining wrapped around the chametz without catching fire. So it’s advisable to use a plastic bag, plastic wrap, or paper—something the fire can catch and burn through to reach the pieces of chametz when the chametz is burned. We place them around the house. It’s a good idea to write down, or even photograph, the places where we put the pieces of chametz. That’s the most practical way to keep track. Today it’s very simple: you can just photograph every location. That way, we won’t forget where we put the pieces, and we won’t leave pieces of chametz in our home over Pesach, G-d forbid, where they could end up somewhere they shouldn’t—perhaps a child might come and eat one during Pesach without realizing it. Those are the preparations for the search. It says that during the search for chametz, one should have members of the household stand with him to hear the blessings. The father can involve the older members of the household in the search. They hear the blessing from him and begin searching near where he starts; afterward, each goes to the room his father instructed him to search. Again, our custom is to be particular about searching the house thoroughly. The blessing we say is “al biur chametz,” because the purpose of the search is to remove the chametz from the house. It’s possible that no

19:24 Speaker 2 chametz will be found, because the house has already been thoroughly cleaned and checked. But one place in the house where there was chametz must still be left unchecked, and we search it then. It may be that nothing is found in the rest of the house except the ten pieces, which we will later destroy when we burn the chametz. We put the pieces of chametz we found into a paper bag, together with a wooden spoon. In fact, we put all the pieces of chametz and everything we found during the search together, wrap it all in paper or a paper bag, and tie string around the paper bag so that the handle of the spoon remains uncovered. We put it in a discreet, secure place, protected from mice that might eat it and scatter it, or from children who might play with it or eat it. We keep it for the next day, along with the chametz we still intend to eat until the morning. The following morning, we take the pieces of chametz and burn them at the burning of the chametz. Erev Pesach is a day designated as a festive day because all the Jewish people offer the Pesach sacrifice on that day. The day has great significance. One reason we do not say Tachanun during Nissan is Erev Pesach: it is counted among the days considered a Yom Tov. So it is an important day. On this day, in the Beis Hamikdash, they would not offer the thanksgiving offering, because it came with thanksgiving loaves. There is always a fixed time in which an offering may be eaten, and on days when there was not the full time to eat the thanksgiving loaves, they would not offer it. So, since on Erev Pesach there is a time after which chametz may no longer be eaten,

21:31 Speaker 2 they would not offer the thanksgiving offering from the beginning of the day. That is why we also do not say Mizmor Lesodah on Erev Pesach. Toward the end of the day, we recite the passage describing the Pesach sacrifice. Reciting that passage is considered like offering the sacrifice itself. So we see that aspects of Pesach begin on Erev Pesach; we start to feel the Pesach festival already then. Erev Pesach is also the day on which the miracle of the plague of the firstborn took place. We know that all the firstborn of Egypt were to die. Hakadosh Boruch Hu instructed the Jewish firstborn that, once the destroyer is given permission to destroy, he does not distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. So He gave the mitzvah of the Pesach sacrifice and instructed them to put the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts. In that way, the destroyer would not enter the house to destroy. This was where the distinction was made: the great miracle was that the Jewish firstborn remained alive. Healing for Israel and a blow to Egypt—the Egyptian firstborn died. In memory of this miracle, the Fast of the Firstborn was established on this day. The fast applies to every firstborn. Even if someone is not actually a firstborn but is the eldest in the family, he also fasts. The custom is also that if someone has a firstborn son who is still a child, even if the father himself is not a firstborn, the father fasts on his behalf. There is a significance to this: just as the attribute of judgment was aroused on the eve of the Exodus from Egypt, and since every year a person must see himself as though he had left Egypt—every year the Exodus from Egypt recurs—he is once again subject to the attribute of judgment. As a remedy

23:23 Speaker 2 before the blow, we have the custom to fast. The firstborn fast and return in teshuvah on Erev Pesach. But of course, the main reason for the custom is to commemorate the miracle of the firstborn in Egypt. In practice, our custom is not to fast for the entire day but to participate in a siyum on a tractate. In other words, one fasts until hearing the siyum, and that ends the fast. The verse says, “You shall not slaughter the blood of My sacrifice with chametz,” and the Sages say: Do not slaughter the Pesach sacrifice while chametz still exists. The time for slaughtering the Pesach sacrifice is from midday on 14 Nissan, so we see that, according to the Torah, the time for eliminating chametz is on 14 Nissan. In fact, the Torah already commands us not to have chametz in our homes on 14 Nissan. We know that even before midday, we have already stopped eating chametz. There is a deadline for eating chametz and, after that, a deadline for destroying chametz; you can look them up in the calendar. As for destroying chametz, we know that according to Rabbi Yehudah it is done by burning, while the Sages say that chametz can be destroyed in any way—crumbled and scattered to the wind, or ground up and thrown into the sea. In practice, the halachah follows the Sages, but we take care to destroy the chametz in a way that also satisfies Rabbi Yehudah’s view, meaning specifically by burning it. So there are several stages to eliminating chametz. There is the search for chametz on the night of 14 Nissan, the nullification of chametz after the search, the burning of the chametz, and the nullification after burning it. What is the nullification of chametz that we say after burning the chametz? And what is the nullification we say the night before, after the search? The difference—and it is stated explicitly in the wording—is that the chametz we nullify on the night of the search is chametz we did not see, did not come across during the search, and did not

25:37 Speaker 2 that we know about. After we have searched and checked the entire house, there may still be places where there is chametz that we don’t know about, and we nullify that chametz. But there is also chametz we do know about: the chametz we found in the house and the chametz we still want to eat overnight and into the morning. That chametz, of course, we do not nullify. In other words, the nullification of chametz on the night of the search applies only to chametz we don’t know about. We do not nullify the chametz we do know about, because if we did, we would already have fulfilled the mitzvah of disposing of chametz and would no longer need to burn it. If we want to be careful to dispose of chametz specifically by burning it, we have to keep some chametz that has not yet been nullified, and burn that. So, during the day we burn the chametz. Of course, we need to check the latest time for eating chametz. Before that time, we clean the house very thoroughly. We remove all the chametz from the house, clean up, and go out to burn the chametz. We say the Yehi Ratzon and burn the ten pieces. Even if, for some reason, we don’t have ten pieces, there is still a reason to burn ten pieces—in other words, to make additional pieces so that we are careful to follow what is written about burning ten pieces. But in practice, of course, we make sure to keep the pieces we found during the search for chametz at night—the pieces we prepared for the search and then found. Those are the ones we need to burn the next day when we burn the chametz. Of course, if we want the disposal to be accomplished specifically through burning, we must not pour fuel directly onto the chametz. That would render it unfit for eating, and we would dispose of

27:32 Speaker 2 it through the fuel rather than through the fire. Instead, we can pour the fuel on to build up the fire, and once the fire is strong and large enough, throw the pieces of chametz into it. The custom is also to burn the lulav and the aravos together with the chametz. Some people save the Chanukah wicks to use them for another mitzvah. Since they were already used for one mitzvah, it is fitting to use them for another—the mitzvah of disposing of chametz. That is why we take the aravos and the lulav and use them when burning the chametz. After we finish burning the chametz, we recite the formula for nullifying chametz. Here we say that we nullify every kind of chametz: chametz we have seen and chametz we have not seen, chametz we know about and chametz we don’t know about. At this point, we part with the chametz and get rid of it completely, and our home is clean and ready for Pesach. Of course, there is a deeper meaning to this nullification of chametz. We know that on Pesach, the prohibition against eating chametz applies even to the tiniest amount. So all the extra care we customarily take on Pesach is meant to avoid eating even the tiniest amount of chametz. Beyond that, there is the prohibition of having chametz seen or found in our possession, so we dispose of any chametz that has some significance. Of course, if there are just crumbs on the floor, we wash the floor, but even if some crumbs remain, they are of no significance in that regard. The practical concern is that if a utensil falls on the floor, we won’t use it before washing it. And if it was a hot utensil, we won’t use it at all during the holiday,

29:33 Speaker 2 because the floor is presumed to have chametz on it. There are certainly some crumbs of chametz on the floor, but we do not violate the prohibition against having chametz seen or found in our possession because of them. However, if they were, Heaven forbid, to get into food, or if hot food were placed on those crumbs, they would render the food forbidden, because the prohibition against eating chametz applies even to the tiniest amount. The reason chametz is forbidden even in the tiniest amount is that on Pesach, when we want to leave Egypt, we need to be especially careful to remove our sense of self-importance. By taking greater care and being more vigilant, we will truly arrive at Pesach ready to receive its great light. We were redeemed by the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and in every generation a person must see himself as though he left Egypt today. Then we can truly receive all the special blessings of the Seder night. In preparation for the Seder, we get everything we need ready. We hard-boil eggs for the egg; we roast the zeroa, taking a chicken neck and removing almost all the meat from it; and we grate the horseradish, making sure it stays dry. We soak lettuce leaves in soapy water for at least three minutes, rinse them under a strong stream of water, and make sure to dry all the leaves thoroughly. We also prepare the charoses, which according to our custom is made only of apples, nuts, and pears. We make sure everything stays dry, without a drop of water, and we do not mix in any wine. Only during the Seder, shortly before eating the maror, do we soften the charoses a little with wine from the Kiddush plate. But the charoses served at the Seder is completely dry. We also make sure to have

31:43 Speaker 2 an onion for karpas, and potatoes for women and children who want to use a potato for karpas. We check the matzos to make sure none are folded over or have bubbles, where part of the matzah may not have baked properly. We check that the matzos we will use for the Seder are whole. It is also highly recommended to prepare a kezayis of matzah for each member of the household. It is very, very important to do everything we can before Yom Tov, apart from arranging the Seder plate, which we do on Yom Tov night itself. We make sure to finish those preparations before Yom Tov begins so that we can enter it calmly and, as soon as we return from shul that night, begin the Seder without delay. That way the children won’t fall asleep and can take an active part in the Seder. Of course, it is very important to have the children rest before the Seder, so that they will be alert at night and able to ask the Four Questions, and we can tell them the story and fulfill the mitzvah of “You shall tell your son.” All those preparations really need to be done. Of course, we also prepare the Yom Tov candles. In addition to the blessing for lighting Yom Tov candles, women recite Shehecheyanu. The custom is that when a girl begins lighting candles for the first time, it is preferable for her to start on Yom Tov, when she recites Shehecheyanu in any case. Or, if she is not waiting until Yom Tov, the Rebbe said to buy her a new garment, a new dress, or something similar. From the time she knows how to speak and recite the blessing, we accustom her to this precious mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles, and she begins lighting candles. At this point, the home is ready for the Seder, and we all await the great revelation when the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, revealed Himself to them and redeemed them.

33:55 Speaker 2 “As in the days of your exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders.” As we approach the seventh day of Pesach, today we’ll discuss its customs and the meaning of this holy day. When the Jewish people left Egypt, they were on their way to the Land of Israel. Of course, they first had to pass through Mount Sinai and receive the Torah. At one point, though, they had to stop. They stood and waited seven days for Miriam—Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister. She had to be secluded for seven days, and the entire Jewish people waited for her. Why make such a vast multitude wait seven days for one Jewish woman? Our Sages say that Hashem acts measure for measure. She had stood and waited for Moshe Rabbeinu, as it says, “His sister stood at a distance to know what would happen to him.” The Jewish people were in Egypt, under the oppression and hardship imposed by the wicked Pharaoh. Miriam saw all the poverty, suffering and anguish they were enduring, and she prophesied. The verse calls her “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister.” She prophesied while she was still only Aaron’s sister, before Moshe Rabbeinu was born. What was that righteous woman’s prophecy? That a brother, a third child, would be born into their family; he would bring light to the Jewish people and free them from the hardship of slavery. And indeed, when Moshe was born, the whole house filled with light, and her father rejoiced that her prophecy had come true. But when Moshe was cast into the Nile, her father asked her, “Where is your prophecy?” Throughout that time, she stood waiting to see what would happen to her little brother. As a reward, years later, the entire Jewish people waited seven days for her while she had tzaraas. Because amid the hardship and oppression, she saw not the hardship, not the destruction, not the pain and suffering,

36:15 Speaker 2 but the Geulah. So her waiting has a special significance. Even while they were in exile, she could already clearly see the Geulah beginning to dawn. That is why her waiting has special meaning, and why she merited that all of Israel would wait for her. There is a dispute in the Gemara in tractate Sotah about the day on which she stood there. One opinion says it was Shavuos. It says that Moshe Rabbeinu was destined on that very day to give the Torah—to bring the Jewish people to receive it—so it would not be fitting for such a terrible decree to be made against him on that day. But Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa says in the Gemara in Sotah that it was 21 Nissan—the day on which Moshe Rabbeinu was destined to lead the Jewish people through the Red Sea at Hashem’s instruction. That means the seventh day of Pesach was, even then, a day prepared and destined for Geulah. Miriam the prophetess is in the midst of hardship and slavery. She sees the situation, the suffering, what was done to her brother and what was done to all her brothers. She sees the suffering of the Jewish people, and yet she does not see exile here; she sees Geulah. She sees that baby growing up to save the Jewish people. And that is precisely the meaning of Pesach—of the seventh day of Pesach in particular. We know that, unlike the other festivals, on the night of the seventh day of Pesach we do not recite Shehecheyanu, and the next day we do not recite the full Hallel. In other words, on the last days of Pesach we say only the abbreviated Hallel, as we do throughout the other days of Pesach. The full Hallel is said only on the first Yom Tov days—

38:09 Speaker 2 actually, only on the first day of Pesach. On the remaining days, according to our custom, we do recite the blessing, but we skip the passages omitted on days when the full Hallel is not said. There are reasons in the revealed teachings of Torah for both of these practices—not saying the full Hallel and not reciting Shehecheyanu. We already said Shehecheyanu on the first night of the festival, and that covers all its days. On Sukkos, by contrast, we recite Shehecheyanu on Shemini Atzeres because it is a festival in its own right; for that reason, we also say Hallel, since it is a Yom Tov in its own right. But there is another, deeper meaning: the joy and completeness of the seventh day of Pesach are the completeness of the future Geulah. So the Shehecheyanu we would say on the seventh day of Pesach is really the Shehecheyanu of the Geulah. Only with the Geulah will we truly reach that completeness. As long as we have not reached it, we cannot yet recite Shehecheyanu, because the Yom Tov of the seventh day of Pesach is connected with the Geulah. What is interesting is that as we move forward and draw closer to the Geulah, we begin to feel more of this day’s sense of Geulah. As is known, the Baal Shem Tov would eat a third meal on the seventh day of Pesach—on Acharon Shel Pesach, sorry. And we know that the Rebbe Rashab instituted a third meal in the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva and called it Moshiach’s Seudah. He instructed that matzos be served and four cups of wine be drunk. We know that these correspond to the four expressions of redemption. The Rebbe publicized this practice and said that it applies to every single person. The Rebbe said that when eating the matzah and drinking the wine, one must have in mind that this truly

40:10 Speaker 2 relates to the Geulah; that intention is essential. So one must be careful to eat and drink at this meal, because it is a meal—an act of eating—that relates to the Geulah. Regarding Acharon Shel Pesach, we know that outside the Land of Israel, on the second Yom Tov of the last days of Pesach—the day after the seventh day of Pesach—the haftarah includes verses about Moshiach. And there is something very interesting: throughout Pesach, we are extremely careful not to eat gebrokts. We take precautions, check that no matzah crumbs have fallen into the utensils, make sure, of course, that no matzah crumbs fall into our food, and wipe our lips in case there are crumbs there—all to stay as far away as possible from matzah that has come into contact with water. Then Acharon Shel Pesach arrives, and the custom—outside the Land of Israel, of course, not on the seventh day of Pesach but on the last day, which does not exist as a festival day in the Land of Israel—is to prepare and eat gebrokts with the holiday food. In the Land of Israel it is already Isru Chag, but outside the Land of Israel they observe one more day, called Acharon Shel Pesach. The reason for eating gebrokts is precisely that this festival is connected with the Geulah. All that caution and keeping one’s distance belong to the state of exile. But in a state of Geulah, “I will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth,” so there is no need to keep one’s distance or be afraid. That is why we make a point of eating gebrokts: to express that this day is beyond all those matters that require caution, because this day belongs to the Geulah. And so, with Hashem’s help, may we merit, through this holy day—as the Rebbe Rashab said, the last days of Pesach are times when Hashem revealed His holy arm. These are days when we can receive a great deal. But above all, what matters to us is that from this festival

42:16 Speaker 2 we truly reach the true and complete Geulah, and merit to celebrate it with Moshiach in the third Beis Hamikdash.