Erev Pesach That Falls on Shabbos - Rabbi Yisrael Yitzchok Halperin shlita

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

00:09 Speaker 2 This year, Erev Pesach falls on Shabbos. Many halachos are different from an ordinary year, and we’ll try to cover the main ones. The night of bedikas chametz is on the night of 13 Nissan this year. Every other year it’s on the night of 14 Nissan; this year we do it on the night of 13 Nissan. We search for chametz with a bracha, just as we normally do, with the ten pieces, and afterward we say the “Kol Chamira” that we always say after bedikas chametz. None of that changes. The difference begins with the chametz we set aside. Usually, we gather the chametz meant for burning and leave out the chametz we’ll eat on Erev Pesach morning. This year we need to set aside a larger amount of chametz: enough for Friday morning, Friday night, and Shabbos morning. So we need to take extra care to keep it in a secure place, out of children’s reach, so that it doesn’t get scattered around the house. If, G-d forbid, chametz does get scattered, we may have to search for chametz again, and it’s best not to get into that situation. Friday morning, the morning of 13 Nissan, does not have the status of Erev Pesach. So in several respects we treat it like an ordinary Friday, not like Erev Pesach. To start with, we say Mizmor Lesodah in Shacharis. We don’t say it on Erev Pesach in other years, but this year we do. The same applies to the prohibition against certain kinds of work after midday on Erev Pesach—full-fledged work that the Shulchan Aruch says not to do. This year we follow the rules for any Friday. Work may be done until the time permitted on an ordinary Friday, as detailed in the Shulchan Aruch. In particular, cutting nails and getting a haircut are permitted until close to the onset of Shabbos, even after midday. All this, as

02:24 Speaker 2 I said, is because it isn’t actually Erev Pesach; it’s the day before Erev Pesach. Still, it feels very much like Erev Pesach, especially because the main thing we actively do that day is burn the chametz, since we can’t burn it on Shabbos. The halachic authorities wrote—and this is already ruled in the Shulchan Aruch—that in some respects we try to do things as we would on Erev Pesach, even though it isn’t Erev Pesach. For example, the Shulchan Aruch rules that, ideally, the chametz should be burned at the same time as in any other year. The Shulchan Aruch says “before midday,” and the Alter Rebbe uses that wording too. But that doesn’t mean simply any time before midday. As the halachic authorities have already written, we do it when we do it every year: what halacha calls the end of the fifth hour. In terms of clock time, this year in the central region that is 11:44 a.m., according to daylight saving time, which begins that very day. This is also clear from the Alter Rebbe’s wording: after writing “before midday,” he adds “as in other years,” and repeats “as in other years” later in the same halacha. The reason we burn the chametz on Friday at the usual time, rather than later, is so people won’t make a mistake in other years. Someone might say, “Last year I did it much later, say, close to sunset or close to the start of Yom Tov, so I can do that this year too”—even though Erev Pesach will no longer fall on Shabbos. People might then think they can burn their chametz later, after

04:25 Speaker 2 the time set by our Sages, when it is already forbidden. So the decision is that even this year, when Erev Pesach is on Shabbos and Friday is not actually Erev Pesach, we still burn the chametz at the usual time: as I said, at the end of the fifth hour, which is 11:44 this year. The sale of chametz through the rabbi is also generally carried out then. The rabbi sells it to the non-Jew as he does in a regular year, around 11:44—the time for disposing of chametz. Anyone coming to arrange the sale of their chametz with the rabbi should do so earlier, just as in any other year. You can’t come at the last minute; the rabbi may already have sold the chametz. That applies this year too. Don’t assume you can come to arrange the sale later on Friday, after the time for burning chametz. By then the chametz has already been sold, and the rabbi can no longer accept your form. I myself heard about a year when an elderly Jewish man came to the rabbi to sell his chametz close to the start of Pesach. The rabbi asked him what had happened, and he said, “That’s how it was done last year, so I’m doing it that way this year too.” We see that the concern of our Sages is a real one, and we truly need to be careful. As we discussed, the chametz is burned at the end of the fifth hour, as in every year. Every other year, after burning the chametz, we say “Kol Chamira,” nullifying both the chametz we know about and the chametz we don’t know about, because Pesach is approaching. This year it would not be appropriate to say that “Kol Chamira” then. The one we said last night still stands. That

06:26 Speaker 2 is appropriate, as it always is after bedikas chametz. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to say it today, Friday, since we’ll still be eating chametz on Shabbos. How could we nullify it? We therefore recite the nullification on Shabbos at the proper time, before the end of the time for disposing of chametz, which, as I said, will also be 11:43. This year, after burning the chametz, we don’t recite the nullification, but we do say the “Yehi Ratzon” that we usually say. That was the Rebbe’s practice in the years for which we have records, 5734 and 5741. The diaries record that the Rebbe said the “Yehi Ratzon,” and that also fits its wording: “Just as I remove the chametz from my home and my possession.” When do I remove it? The main act of removal is burning it, and that takes place on Friday. So it is fitting to say the “Yehi Ratzon” then. Someone who forgot to say the “Yehi Ratzon” on Friday may say it on Shabbos. The halachic authorities have already written that, although it contains spiritual requests—“remove those who oppress the Shechinah,” and so on—there is no problem saying them on Shabbos. These are not considered requests for one’s personal needs. They are requests on behalf of the entire Jewish people: to remove those who oppress the Shechinah and to bring the Geulah. The prohibition against requesting one’s personal needs on Shabbos does not apply, so someone who forgot to say it on Friday may say it on Shabbos. After the time for disposing of chametz—which, as I said, is 11:43 or 11:44 in the central region—do not buy any more chametz, because the rabbis sell the chametz to the non-Jew at that time. If you acquire chametz after the sale has already taken place, it comes into your possession afterward, and the sale you arranged does not cover it, because a person cannot sell something that he does not

08:37 Speaker 2 In his possession. The rabbi sold, on your behalf, the chametz you had at the time of the sale, when he stood before the non-Jew. As for anything that was not yet in your possession, the sale does not ordinarily apply to it. There are ways the sale might apply, under the principle that one may act for a person’s benefit without their knowledge, and so on. But we do not want to rely on such things with chametz, given the severity of its laws; we would rely on them only in pressing circumstances or after the fact. So, ideally, a person should not buy chametz in stores after the time for disposing of it, when chametz is burned, and it is best if the stores do not sell it then either. There is also a problem for the seller. If a store owner sells chametz after already selling his store to the non-Jew through the rabbi, how can he sell that chametz to other people? The chametz is no longer his; it has already been sold to the non-Jew. That makes the sale look like mere lip service. We want the sale to be as genuinely real as possible, without legal artifices, and valid under the laws of acquisition. So the sale of chametz ends at that point. In general, we should deal with chametz as little as possible on Friday. That is, someone who does not need to eat chametz on Friday should avoid doing so. There are several reasons why this is the right thing to do. Also, wherever the Shulchan Aruch discusses the chametz left after the burning of chametz, it says to leave food for two Shabbos meals. It does not mention eating chametz on Friday. One cannot say that eating chametz on Friday is forbidden, but when there is no need for it, it is better to leave as little chametz as possible. Sometimes it is hard to get rid of afterward, and we will no longer be able to burn it. We also cannot include it in the sale of chametz, because, as I said, the sale is already closed. I cannot now add new chametz to the sale. The chametz I leave for eating on Shabbos is not sold to the non-Jew. We keep it for ourselves. We do not take chametz from the non-Jew that we have already

10:35 Speaker 2 sold him and eat it. The chametz left at home for the Shabbos meals—or, really, whatever is left after the burning of chametz—is chametz that was not sold. So we try to keep only the limited amount needed for the meals: enough for lechem mishneh at each meal, for… more than a kebeitzah at each meal. Beyond that, there are sometimes leftovers, and how do we get rid of them? We will discuss that, but it is something worth avoiding. On Friday, all the chametz cupboards should be locked, the places being sold with the chametz should be covered, anything that needs sealing should be sealed, the chametz utensils should be put into the cupboards, and the kitchen counters should be covered—everything we usually do each year. Everything is now set up for Pesach: Pesach utensils, Pesach items. The chametz is hidden. On Friday, we conduct ourselves as we would on an ordinary Erev Pesach. As far as we are concerned, everything is already becoming ready for Pesach. On Shabbos, we will not be able to put the utensils back into the cupboards. If we need to do that on Shabbos, we can do it in pressing circumstances. But there must not be chametz in those cupboards, because we do not want to come across exposed chametz right before our eyes at that point. So we try to close everything up on Erev Pesach, Friday, so that we no longer… no longer deal with the chametz. It is best to do all these things before Shabbos begins. We also clean our household garbage bins well before Shabbos, and take extra care not to throw chametz waste into household bins. Any chametz waste we produce between then and Shabbos morning, up to the final time for disposing of chametz on Shabbos, we should collect in plastic bags, garbage bags. As soon as we finish using a bag, we should immediately take it out to the public garbage bins outside. From the time chametz is burned on Friday, it is best not to throw the garbage into

12:52 Speaker 2 the building’s garbage bins. Some halachic authorities hold that, in certain circumstances, the bins belonging to a building—whether in its garbage room, next to the building, or in its courtyard—have some halachic status as a person’s own domain. In some villages and homes, there are even private bins marked for each apartment. If we throw chametz there after the time for burning chametz, and the garbage trucks will no longer collect it, it will remain with us on Shabbos and, more importantly, during Pesach, G-d forbid. In effect, we have not removed it from our possession. So the best thing is to throw the chametz we collect in those bags I mentioned into public garbage bins. After eating, we should throw any chametz leftovers into public bins. There are underground bins and various bins in industrial or central areas that are not associated with any particular person. They are a kind of ownerless property, and the chametz can be thrown there. Someone who needs to use a bin in the building’s garbage room or one next to his home should pour bleach or another substance that spoils the chametz onto it, and then he can throw it away. That way, even though the bin is yours, what you put into it is chametz that has already had bleach poured on it. That chametz is unfit even for a dog to eat, so you have already disposed of it; you no longer have any chametz in your possession that is fit for a dog to eat. Since some halachic authorities discuss whether bleach is muktzeh on Shabbos, a person who wants to use bleach on Shabbos to dispose of chametz left over from the Shabbos meal should, before Shabbos, also write on a note or mark with a pen on the bleach container itself, on the bottle of bleach, that it is designated for disposing of chametz. These steps of designating it—

15:08 Speaker 2 saying that it is intended for disposing of chametz on this Shabbos—and the action we take, which in halachah is called a demonstrative act of preparation, are discussed in section 308 of the Shulchan Aruch. Each of these steps has an effect on its own, but combining them has an additional benefit, and this is not the place to elaborate. In effect, we turn something that might be muktzeh into something that is not muktzeh, and then we can use that bleach without any doubt. On Friday, we do something else as well: we prepare everything needed for the Seder. As we know, the Seder will be on Motzaei Shabbos, but during Shabbos we cannot prepare anything for it, because of the prohibition against preparing on Shabbos for Yom Tov. So on Friday we prepare everything needed for Seder night. If someone is able even to set the table for the Seder, that is wonderful. In many homes—probably most—that is not practical, because people will eat at that table or be around it during Shabbos. We will also still be dealing somewhat with chametz on Shabbos, so many people do not want to set the Seder table so early. But in principle, if someone has a room where he can prepare all the supplies and everything else, even the cushions for reclining and so on, it is commendable and preferable to do it all on Friday. The early halachic works also say to prepare as much as possible before Shabbos. The reason is that there is a mitzvah and a particular halachic reason to begin the Seder promptly when the festival night begins. This year, that means on Motzaei Shabbos: after returning from shul, after the festival prayers and Hallel, we come home and begin the Seder immediately. Necessary preparations take time away from the Seder and make it start later. They can cause the little ones and the children to fall asleep, and then we lose

17:23 Speaker 2 the central mitzvah of “And you shall tell your son.” So the more we can hurry and prepare everything beforehand, before Shabbos, the better, of course. But we’ll focus on the things that every Jewish home can and should do on Friday, even if it can’t prepare the cushions and the table in advance. What are those things? First, preparing what we need for the Seder plate. Some things are better done on Friday not only so that we can start the Seder promptly on Motzaei Shabbos, but because we won’t be allowed to do them then. They’re prohibited not only on Shabbos, because of the prohibition against preparing on Shabbos for Yom Tov, as I mentioned, but on Yom Tov itself as well. For example, roasting the shank bone. As you know, our custom is not to eat it. So if it wasn’t roasted before Shabbos, it will be forbidden to roast it on Yom Tov too. Although cooking food on Yom Tov is permitted, that applies when the food will be eaten. Since we don’t eat the shank bone, we can’t prepare it on the night of Yom Tov. In that case, a person would have to use a cooked wing or something else. So the shank bone should be roasted on Friday. The same applies to preparing the charoses and grinding the charoses and the horseradish. On Yom Tov, those things may only be done with a change from the usual method and under additional conditions. So they should be done before Shabbos. Keep the horseradish in a closed container so it doesn’t lose its sharpness, because it needs to qualify as maror. We also customarily cook the egg on Friday, because the time it takes to cook would delay the start of the Seder. As far as possible, we prepare the other things on Friday too. As for the salt water, according to the strict letter of the law, the Alter

19:26 Speaker 2 Rebbe’s wording indicates that it may be prepared on a Yom Tov that falls on a weekday, so it may be prepared on Motzaei Shabbos. If someone feels that this would cause an unnecessary delay, he should prepare it on Friday too. It may not be prepared on Shabbos, as I said, because that would be preparing on Shabbos for the following day. Lighting candles this Shabbos, which is Erev Pesach, calls for some thought beyond what ordinary Shabbos candle-lighting requires. First, we need to choose where to light them. As you know, the candles are lit where we eat, because the halachah rules that they should be on the table where the meal is eaten, or near that table. If someone is eating outside this year and can’t light candles there because the wind would blow them out, it is preferable, if possible, to light them somewhere inside the house where they can be seen from the courtyard. If they can’t be seen from the place where the meal is eaten outside either—say, on a balcony or in a courtyard—then the candles should be lit where the food for the meal is prepared. That means the kitchen or another room where the food being eaten on Shabbos is kept. That is still preferable to lighting them elsewhere. If it isn’t possible to light them there either, light them in the usual place. But after the meal, eat some fruit or something else near the candles. That way, the candles will be considered to have been lit not just for light, or for what halachah calls preventing someone from stumbling over wood or stone—for which we already have electric lights today—but also, or primarily, for the pleasure of Shabbos that comes with eating. So eat beside them, as though continuing the meal next to the candles inside the house. Alongside the candles, we light another candle, one that is not a

21:31 Speaker 2 Shabbos candle. It burns for about twenty-six hours, so that we can use its flame to light the Yom Tov candles on Motzaei Shabbos. As you know, we may not create a new flame on Yom Tov; we may only transfer a flame from an existing one. So everyone should remember to prepare a candle before Shabbos from which to light the candles on Motzaei Shabbos, the candles for the night of Pesach. Nowadays, candles are commonly lit in two forms. There are candles in little metal cups, called tea lights, and there are small candles in glass cups. Those are low candles that burn for a certain number of hours inside a glass cup. We need to remember that we’re lighting them now, before Shabbos, and on Motzaei Shabbos we’ll want to light the Seder-night candles in the same place. Those empty metal cups are muktzeh. We can remove them only in an unusual way—using the back of the hand rather than the palm, for example, or in some other way that isn’t the normal way of doing it. Then we can clear away the empty cups. With the candles lit in glass cups, a little metal disc remains at the bottom, and it usually sticks firmly to the glass. Removing it to put in a new candle again involves muktzeh: we may not take the disc out by hand, so we can remove it only in an unusual way. Doing that takes a little effort. You need to hold a spoon or fork, but not in the usual way, because that would still be normal and would not count as a change. Instead, hold it awkwardly, behind your hands, while someone else holds the glass cup upside down. Then, over the trash can, work at it with the spoon or fork so that the disc

23:39 Speaker 2 falls out. That isn’t always easy or convenient. Some have suggested putting in a little oil before placing the candle in the cup, so the disc won’t stick. Better still, if possible, is to prepare a separate set of glass cups for Seder night. Then you simply take away one glass cup and put another in its place, avoiding all these difficulties. The candles should burn throughout the meal. On Seder night, the meal doesn’t end until after we’ve finished the Haggadah—that is, until after eating the afikoman. That’s usually close to midnight, with bentching and so on. So if someone plans to use candles that burn for only one, two or three hours, that isn’t recommended: the candles may not remain lit throughout the meal. Choose candles that burn for several hours, at least until midnight, until the meal is over. If he doesn’t have such candles, he can light ordinary candles too; what we’ve described is simply the best option. As for when to light the candles on Motzaei Shabbos, the night of Yom Tov, it must be after Shabbos has ended. Shabbos doesn’t end for this purpose just because the time printed in the calendar has passed; we also need to make a declaration of havdalah. I don’t mean havdalah over a cup, but the kind we say every Motzaei Shabbos in davening, when we say “Atah Chonantanu.” We say a similar passage whenever Yom Tov immediately follows Shabbos. So in the davening for the night of Yom Tov on Motzaei Shabbos, we say a passage called “Vatodi’einu.” It appears in the siddurim and takes the place of “Atah Chonantanu.” After saying it, we may do the permitted forms of work, including transferring a flame from an existing flame to light the candles. A woman who does not daven, or a man who needs to do work before davening Maariv and saying “Vatodi’einu,” or a man who davened Maariv and forgot “Vatodi’einu,” does not

25:45 Speaker 2 Let’s go back to that. Each of the people I mentioned, in order to light the candles, must wait until Shabbos has ended and add a few minutes after nightfall as tosefes Shabbos. Then they should say the words “Baruch hamavdil bein kodesh lekodesh.” Saying those four words is a kind of abbreviated Havdalah. At least as far as doing melachah is concerned, it allows us to light the candles or do other things, like heat food on the hotplate, and so on. We were discussing candle lighting—both the Yom Tov candles and the Shabbos candles. Now, the meals on Friday night and Shabbos day when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbos. On Shabbos, we have to eat bread at every meal, and that bread is chametz. But we’ve cleaned the house and polished it; we haven’t left a crumb. Now we need to eat chametz at the Shabbos meal. What’s the best and most proper way to do that? First, we prepare in advance and take only the amount needed for the Shabbos meal, no more. Each person should calculate how many people will be eating. The minimum amount needed is about sixty grams per person. Children don’t have to eat that much, but estimate how much they need. We need lechem mishneh at the meal, and we can use pitas for that. They hardly crumble, and they qualify as lechem mishneh. There are also smaller pitas that meet the required size. We’ll prepare the right amount for everyone. We’ll eat the chametz in one particular spot, perhaps on a balcony or in another corner that can be cleaned afterward without crumbs spreading through the rest of the house. Of course, we’ll put a disposable tablecloth on the table. It’s also preferable to eat the pitas inside a bag so that as little as possible gets scattered, and then

27:56 Speaker 2 after we’ve finished eating the challah or pitas, we remove the tablecloth. We either shake the crumbs left on it into the toilet bowl and, of course, flush, so they’re disposed of in the sewer; or we can throw them in the garbage, but it must be a public garbage bin—one that isn’t assigned to any apartment or building. Even if a bin is outside the building, on the street, if it belongs to the building, the poskim discuss the possibility that it’s still considered our property. We need to remove the chametz completely from our property so that when the time for disposing of chametz arrives tomorrow morning, on Shabbos, there will be no chametz in our possession. If there’s no such public bin available, such as a municipal underground bin or a large dumpster in a shopping center that isn’t assigned to any building—if there’s no such bin, only bins assigned to the building or bins inside the building or its garbage room, then pour bleach on the chametz to render it inedible, and afterward throw it in the bin. We prepare the rest of the Shabbos meal so that it is entirely kosher for Pesach. The kitchen is kosher for Pesach; we already have the Pesach hotplate and Pesach pots. We cook the food there in Pesach utensils. Better still, if possible, we can cook it in disposable pots. That also saves us from having to wash the pots on Seder night for use at the Seder. If they aren’t needed for the Seder, we’ll have to leave them until after Pesach, after Yom Tov: on Shabbos we may not wash them in preparation for the Seder, and during the Seder, if they aren’t needed for the Seder, we may not wash them for Chol Hamoed. So disposable pots are best. In any case, even

30:04 Speaker 2 if we cooked in Pesach pots, we don’t bring the pots to the table where we’re eating. Even if we ate the chametz on a separate plastic tablecloth, removed it afterward, and are now eating the rest of the meal on another plastic tablecloth, we still don’t bring the pots to the table, out of an abundance of caution about chametz. We use disposable dishes: in the kitchen, we transfer the food from the Pesach pots into disposable serving dishes, and then bring those dishes to the table. We eat the entire meal using disposable dishes. At the end of the meal, we gather everything into a garbage bag and throw it in the garbage outside the home. For the kiddush cup, we use the cup we use all year. After we’ve finished using it, we can drink water or something else from it, which rinses away what remains inside. We may not wash it just to clean it, because it won’t be used again. After we’ve rinsed away the remaining wine by drinking water or something similar from it, we put it in a cupboard included in the sale to the non-Jew. But it should be a cupboard that doesn’t contain actual chametz, because once Pesach begins, we don’t want to open a cupboard containing chametz or handle chametz. We want to put it in a cupboard included in the sale without any concern about chametz or contact with chametz. For cutting the lechem mishneh, it’s preferable to use a disposable knife. As I said, pitas are easy to cut even with a disposable knife. But if, for some reason, someone uses a regular knife, it must be cleaned of crumbs afterward. You can even rinse the crumbs off under the tap, because that washing isn’t cleaning it in preparation for later use; it’s washing it to dispose of chametz. After

31:58 Speaker 2 we’ve washed it, we can put it in the cupboard included in the sale as well. The wine bottle, too: if there’s wine left because we didn’t finish it at the meal, we rinse off any chametz crumbs that may have stuck to it and then put it in that cupboard. Kiddush must be made where the meal is eaten. So don’t make kiddush in one place and eat the bread in another. If someone made kiddush inside the house and went outside to eat, in many cases they haven’t fulfilled the mitzvah of kiddush and must make kiddush again. That’s how the Alter Rebbe rules in section 273. So it’s preferable to make kiddush in the same place where the meal begins with the eating of bread. If someone wants to do this in two places, and both rooms or locations are within the same property, in the same building, with the entire building belonging to that person, then it’s all considered one property. In halachah, this is considered going from room to room. “Room to room” doesn’t necessarily mean that the other place has a roof. As the poskim write, it can be a balcony or even a private courtyard adjoining the house, provided there are no other buildings in that courtyard, it is enclosed on all four sides, and it adjoins the house. The courtyard is then like another room of the house. In such a case, a person may make kiddush in the house and eat the meal in the other room, courtyard, or balcony, on one condition: when making kiddush, they have in mind, “I’ll continue the meal in the other room.” If the two places are on the same property and the person had that in mind, it’s possible. But if someone lives in an apartment building and wants to eat in the stairwell, the stairwell is considered a different domain, shared by all the residents. Leaving the apartment even for the doorstep

34:23 Speaker 2 Even going out to the stairwell closest to the home counts as leaving: the meal is in a different place, not where Kiddush was made. It won’t help for him to think, “I’ll make Kiddush at home and eat in the stairwell.” There is an opinion that if a person can see the place where Kiddush was made from the stairwell or the courtyard, he may make Kiddush at home and eat the meal in the stairwell. Even though the stairwell is a separate area, he can see one place from the other. The Alter Rebbe writes that one should rely on this opinion only in a pressing situation, when there is nowhere else to eat the meal. So, to sum up, a person should make Kiddush and begin the meal in the same place. If that isn’t possible, he should do so only within the same premises, in two rooms, intending from the outset to continue the meal in the second room. We continue with the meal. The meal consists of meat, fish, and all the cooked dishes, kosher for Pesach as explained. In many cases, people find it difficult to eat the long meal in the same place where they eat the bread, because they eat the bread in a confined space, in some little corner, and afterward want to eat the meat and fish somewhere roomier. You should know that this isn’t simple in terms of the laws of blessings over food. We are dealing here with two laws. First, as long as we are eating the meal and have not set aside the bread—that is the first halachic point. In other words, we have not consciously stopped eating bread; we still have in mind that we might eat more bread from time to time. In that case, we don’t need to say a blessing over each food we eat during the meal. But if we have made a decision—even though we are still in the middle of the meal—that we

36:28 Speaker 2 will not touch bread again, that we have set the bread aside, the halachic ruling is that we must say a blessing over every food we eat during the meal. That situation is uncommon today. It was common in the time of the Gemara: people ate at tables, and sometimes, after eating the bread at the table, they would move the table away and eat the fruit or other foods somewhere else or at another table. So the law does apply: when the table is removed and no more bread is eaten, blessings must be said over the other foods. This year, people will eat the bread, remove the plastic covering, and then eat the fish and meat without any bread, having decided not to eat any more bread. That raises a question: does this count as removing the table, as setting aside the bread, or not? In practice, according to the Alter Rebbe, as long as we continue eating the meat and fish at the same table where we ate the bread, this is not considered setting it aside. Although I clearly won’t eat any more bread, I’m eating in the same place where I ate it, so I can continue eating the meat and fish without saying Shehakol over them, or Ha’adamah over the salad, vegetables, or similar foods. But if I’m going to eat at another table, we enter a halachic dispute. Some halachic authorities hold that this counts as setting the bread aside, so one must say blessings again over foods eaten during the meal, even though I’m still in a meal that began with Hamotzi. Other authorities say that the only reason I’m stopping eating bread is a halachic concern: I don’t want to deal with crumbs, not that I actually want to stop eating bread. If this were an ordinary Shabbos, I would eat even more bread than I did.

38:25 Speaker 2 So according to those other authorities, this is not the kind of genuinely setting bread aside that the halachah was discussing. We have a predicament, a halachic doubt: according to some opinions, if you don’t say a blessing, you are eating without one; according to others, if you say a blessing over the fish, meat, and vegetables, you are saying a blessing in vain, because you must not say one. To avoid this predicament, the best advice is that anyone who can eat the entire meal at the same table, where there is a bit more room, should do so. Someone who cannot and needs to eat elsewhere should, immediately after Kiddush and before washing his hands and saying Hamotzi, eat a little vegetable that requires Ha’adamah. I emphasize “a little”: less than a kezayis. Similarly, he should drink a little, less than a revi’is. Once he has tasted a little and said Ha’adamah over the vegetable, having in mind all the Ha’adamah foods he will eat later during the meal, he should do the same with his drink: say Shehakol and have in mind everything he will drink during the meal, or all the Shehakol foods he will eat during it. With this Shehakol and Ha’adamah—and if he will eat fruit, he should also say Ha’eitz—he has resolved the doubt. He can then eat during the meal without saying another blessing, because he already said the blessings after Kiddush, before washing his hands. Another halachic problem we encounter when eating in two places is that Birkas Hamazon must be said where the bread was eaten. Since we may go inside the house to eat the rest of the meal, and no bread is eaten there, we will have to return to the first place, where we ate the bread, for Birkas Hamazon. And that’s not all. There are opinions that hold,

40:23 Speaker 2 and this also appears in halachah, that for it to count as a full continuation of the meal, I must eat bread in the new place too. That would resolve the—no, it would remove all the difficulty with these definitions: I would not have set the bread aside, and I would say Birkas Hamazon where I ate. This is, of course, very complicated, because we would have to save bread for the end of the meal and make sure its crumbs don’t scatter. So this is the less advisable approach. The advice, then, is as I said: we say the blessings. Someone eating in two places should say Ha’adamah and Shehakol after Kiddush, before Hamotzi and before washing his hands. He should eat the rest of the food inside the house, wherever he needs to eat the rest of the kosher-for-Pesach meal, and return to the place where he ate the bread to say Birkas Hamazon, without eating more bread. The Alter Rebbe adds that if he eats the rest of the meal somewhere else but can see from there the place where he ate the bread, he may say Birkas Hamazon without returning to the first place. So according to the Alter Rebbe, we have a better solution. You make Kiddush and eat the bread in a confined space. Before eating the bread, you say Ha’adamah and Shehakol and eat less than a kezayis. You go home and eat the meat and fish there, but leave a door open so you can see the place where you ate the bread. Then you can say Birkas Hamazon in the second place, without returning to the first. After the meal, the crumbs need to be swept up. For sweeping up the crumbs, it is best not to use a broom with bristles, because the crumbs stick to them and the broom is hard to clean. We want to make sure these crumbs don’t remain.

42:29 Speaker 2 in the house, and they also won’t remain in the broom. So we use a squeegee, or a silicone broom if we have one, so the crumbs won’t stick. If they do stick, we can shake them off in the street, outside the house—if there’s an eruv, of course—and nothing more is needed. Afterward, the broom can go into the cupboard where the chametz being sold is kept. Some people take this opportunity to replace their broom. They plan ahead to throw the old broom in the trash afterward. They can do that too, but they must throw it out before the deadline for disposing of chametz, which is 11:53 in the central region. Once we’ve finished eating—the deadline for eating chametz in the central region this year is 10:41. We must finish eating chametz by then. Someone who follows the practice I mentioned earlier, of going back to eat the kezayis, or eating a little bread at the end of the meal, needs to finish the whole meal by 10:41, so there’s time to eat that bread at the end, before bentching, while it’s still before the deadline for eating chametz. Because the meal has to end relatively early, the halachah rules that we must start Shacharis early this Shabbos and daven promptly, without prolonging the davening. Some places omit the Mi Shebeirach; others leave out other things to shorten it. This is the only halachah that says to warn the shliach tzibbur to hurry with the davening. The Rebbe Rashab of Lubavitch also told him to hurry with the davening. It says in the works of tzaddikim that on a Shabbos like this, the yetzer hara persuades people to prolong their davening. We do all this because, G-d forbid, eating in a rush could cause someone to lose track of the chametz, scatter it,

44:32 Speaker 2 put it somewhere, forget to dispose of it, or forget to nullify it, and that could lead to a serious problem. Someone might even, G-d forbid, eat chametz after the deadline. We have to be very careful: get up early and daven early. If someone gets up late, he should ask a rabbi what to do—whether he may skip parts of the davening so he can make Kiddush and eat bread while there’s still time, or whether he won’t be able to eat bread that Shabbos. Eating before davening isn’t an option, because that doesn’t count as the Shabbos meal. Incidentally, on a Shabbos like this, when we daven very early and promptly, eating before davening is permitted halachically only if not eating would interfere with one’s davening. This Shabbos we also try not to eat mezonos before davening, because it crumbles. So if he doesn’t need to eat, all the better: he can drink something and be able to daven. If he does need to eat, he can have a little fruit, and that will see him through until after davening. Once the time for eating has passed and eating chametz is forbidden, we clean the floor as we discussed, clear the crumbs from the table, and put everything in the trash or the toilet. If necessary, we also spoil it with bleach before throwing it in the trash, so that it is disposed of and out of our possession. We’ve swept everything up and cleaned the dustpan and the broom of all crumbs outside the house. We haven’t left a crumb in the house. We put them away without chametz in the cupboard used for the sale of chametz. Now we need to check a few more things: clean out our pockets. In fact, according to what Rabbi Chaim Naeh writes in Luach Colel Chabad, we clean out our pockets on Friday too, at the time of burning the chametz, even though we’ll still be eating chametz over Shabbos. Those are

46:33 Speaker 2 the pockets of our weekday clothes, not our Shabbos clothes. And besides, we do everything as we normally do each year so we won’t forget. Then, on Shabbos morning, we clean out our pockets. Not with a brush, because we don’t use a brush on Shabbos, but we shake them out. We clean... Of course, before going back into the house, we wash our hands and shake out our beard, mustache, and sleeves, so we don’t bring home any crumbs that stuck to us where we ate. We rinse our hands and mouth thoroughly at a sink that isn’t in the kitchen—not a sink used for Pesach food—and then go inside. Anyone going in to bring the cooked dishes to the meal should wash their hands immediately after eating the chametz and shake everything out as I described before serving anything from the kitchen. Once we’ve cleaned out the pockets, including the children’s pockets, and the cuffs of our trousers, and finished everything, we must say the Kol Chamira declaration before the deadline for disposing of chametz—as I said, 11:43 in the central region. We didn’t say it on Friday, and we need to say it now. This year it’s even more serious. If someone doesn’t say it, G-d forbid, he may still have chametz. If chametz remains in his possession, it stays in his possession throughout Pesach. In an ordinary year, the sale document says that we sell chametz wherever it may be, so after the fact, some poskim hold that this covers even someone who forgot to recite the nullification declaration. This year, as we said, the chametz we left for Shabbos was not sold. So we must recite the nullification declaration: there might be a crumb we overlooked, or perhaps even more than crumbs—perhaps a kezayis remains. That could violate the prohibitions of bal yeira’eh or bal yimatzei. Anyone who didn’t say the Yehi Ratzon

48:26 Speaker 2 on Friday after burning the chametz should say it now. It’s very important to clean our teeth after eating chametz. In other years it’s simple: you use toothpaste and a toothbrush, and that’s fine. On Shabbos, there are several halachic details. First, you must not cause bleeding. Someone whose teeth or gums are sensitive and who regularly bleeds needs to find another way that won’t cause bleeding. There are silicone toothbrushes today, or other gentler kinds, that don’t cause bleeding. Of course, you need to try one for a few days beforehand. Then, if you see that it won’t necessarily cause bleeding, you can use it on Shabbos—but you may not use toothpaste. Also, according to our custom, you may not wet the toothbrush before brushing. So someone who wants to clean his teeth this Shabbos, and knows it won’t cause bleeding, should put a little water or Pesach-kosher mouthwash in his mouth and then put the dry toothbrush in. With the moisture already in his mouth—the little bit of mouthwash or water—he can brush his teeth. It’s permissible to use the toothbrush with the moisture inside the mouth, and it should also remove any remaining chametz. After cleaning his teeth, he should rinse his mouth again and check that no chametz remains. The toothbrush should not be washed, because washing it would be preparing on Shabbos for after Shabbos. But if you see crumbs on it, you can shake them off or gently remove them with a napkin, without squeezing the bristles. Then put the toothbrush in the cupboard used for the sale of chametz. Or, as I said, some people plan to throw that away too: they take the opportunity to replace the toothbrush and throw it away.

50:24 Speaker 2 in the trash before the deadline for disposing of chametz. Some people have a water flosser, or another name for the product—a dental water jet. There are all kinds of names for it. It is a kind of tube attached to the faucet that sprays a narrow stream of water to clean the teeth. It may be used on Shabbos without any restriction, of course, unless someone knows it makes their gums bleed. Usually, if the water pressure is not strong, it should not cause bleeding. You can clean your teeth thoroughly with it. But you have to remember that the faucet must be set to cold water only, not hot water or even lukewarm water. Also, do not attach the head of the water jet on Shabbos. It must be attached before Shabbos, because assembling something attached to a faucet on Shabbos raises a question of building, since the faucet is attached to the building. Someone who has dentures, a dental plate, braces, or similar things, if they can remove them from their mouth, should kasher them before Shabbos, on Erev Shabbos. On Shabbos, they should preferably not eat hot food with them—food above forty degrees Celsius. When they finish the meal, if they can take them out, they should remove them and clean them well with a brush. As I said earlier, they can wet the dentures or plate and then brush them with a dry brush. Afterward, they should wipe them dry, and if they can pour boiling water over them, that is preferable. Of course, the boiling water will generally already be in a Pesach vessel, so they should pour it into a cup and pour it over them from the cup. If they have a separate kettle that they will not use for Pesach, they may even pour directly from that kettle, because they already kashered them before Shabbos, so now the pouring

52:16 Speaker 2 is only an added stringency. It is not considered kashering and may be done on Shabbos. Someone with fillings—and even more so, someone with brackets on their teeth that cannot be removed and are hard to clean, because chametz sometimes accumulates there—is advised to do the following: For twenty-four hours before Pesach—before that, before Shabbos morning—they should not eat hot chametz or dip chametz in alcoholic drinks. On Shabbos itself, as long as they have not cleaned away the crumbs left after eating bread, they should not drink anything hot or have hot soup. Only after cleaning away the crumbs should they have something hot. The concern is that the heat of very hot soup could cause crumbs left around the brackets or fillings to become absorbed there. So the advice is to clean thoroughly with a dry brush, as we said earlier, going over every hole and crevice, including those between the teeth and around the metal. Afterward, they should rinse their mouth with water at a temperature at which one drinks hot tea. It should certainly not be hot enough to burn them, but hot enough to tolerate. This is a kind of hagalah, the most thorough cleaning possible for these things. I heard a wonderful, wise suggestion from Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, z"l: On a Shabbos like this, someone with these brackets or problems, with holes in their teeth where a lot of debris can accumulate over the year, should not chew the challah or pita. Instead, they should dip it in a little water,

54:10 Speaker 2 just a little, so that it softens, and simply swallow it. When they swallow without chewing with their teeth, there is almost no concern that crumbs will enter the orthodontic brackets or the holes in their teeth. The matzos on this Shabbos—matzos intended for the Seder night, which people are careful not to give to animals or non-Jews, and which we do not even give to children—are muktzeh. That is because on Erev Pesach, which is Shabbos, one may not eat matzah. They are not intended for any other permitted use on Shabbos either, so they are muktzeh and may not be moved. Chametz becomes muktzeh from the beginning of the sixth hour—as we said, from 11:44. It may not be moved even by holding another object in your hand, not even by pushing it with a stick or something similar. Furthermore, you may not even touch it with your hands, unless you are handling it to shake it off or remove it to the trash. Any other handling of chametz from 11:44 in the central region this year is absolutely forbidden. Throughout Shabbos, one may eat meat, fish, and various fruits. The only things we do not eat are the ingredients of charoses and the maror—the lettuce and horseradish used for maror. But after the tenth hour, which is 3:51 in the central region this year, one should not eat a lot. That includes fruit, meat, fish, or vegetables, because if a person fills their stomach, they will not be able to eat at the Seder night with an appetite, and there is a mitzvah to eat then with an appetite and a feeling of freedom. So from that time, we do not prolong the eating or eat much. There is also a limit on how much wine one may drink—only a small, limited amount—so,

56:21 Speaker 2 it is best to avoid drinking wine as well. There was once a farbrengen the Rebbe held on a Shabbos like this, and he said l’chaim over water. People want to sleep on Shabbos so they will be ready for the Seder night. Sleeping on Shabbos for the sake of the Seder night is permitted. It is not considered preparing from Shabbos for a weekday, or from Shabbos for Yom Tov. But one should not say aloud, “I’m going to sleep so I can stay awake on Yom Tov,” because saying that is what is forbidden. Thinking it is permitted; saying it is forbidden. With children, it can sometimes be harder to persuade them, and we have to find a way to put it—somehow persuade them to sleep without telling them it is so they can stay awake at the Seder night. You can say, “Come on, go to sleep; the Seder night will be here soon,” or use other words, as long as you do not explicitly say it is so they can stay awake at the Seder night. A person is obligated to purify themselves for Yom Tov. A person should go to the mikveh before Yom Tov. This year, many halachic authorities hold that going on Erev Shabbos already counts as going for Yom Tov as well. Since people customarily go on Shabbos morning too, they can certainly have in mind at that time that they are going for Yom Tov as well. It is best not to say this aloud, because, as we discussed, we do not say it aloud. But we should also not create any impression that Shabbos, G-d forbid, makes us impure, or that we consider Yom Tov more important or more honorable than Shabbos. So one may have in mind that immersing on Shabbos morning is also for Yom Tov. There are, however, several prominent halachic authorities who permitted immersion even on Shabbos afternoon for Yom Tov, arguing that it involves no prohibition of preparing from Shabbos for Yom Tov. After Minchah, we recite “We were slaves” through “to atone for all our sins,” as on every Shabbos Hagadol, and afterward we recite the Order of the Pesach Offering. The point to emphasize is that we must finish reciting the Order of the Pesach Offering before

58:13 Speaker 2 sunset. As the Alter Rebbe writes in the siddur, when it is recited at the proper time—that is, before sunset—it is considered as though the person offered the Pesach offering. Of course, there is no reason to wait until the last moment; it can be done earlier. That was also the practice of the Rebbe Rashab: he would daven Minchah early and then recite the Order of the Pesach Offering at length. Sometimes it took him an hour, and sometimes an hour and a half. He would actually study the Order of the Pesach Offering, and several hours would still remain until Maariv. But someone who davens Minchah late should nevertheless try to recite the Order of the Pesach Offering before sunset. On the Seder night, as we said, we begin the Seder as soon as possible. We conduct it as we do every year, but with a few small changes. First, this year Kiddush also includes Havdalah over the same cup. In halachah, this is called YaKNeHaZ, an acronym for the five things said during Kiddush. First is borei pri hagafen, represented in the acronym by yayin, wine. Then comes the Kiddush blessing for Yom Tov. Then there is Havdalah, which ends with the words “Who distinguishes between holy and holy.” There is also borei me’orei ha’eish; we do not bring the candles together, but we do recite the blessing over the light of the fire. Afterward comes shehecheyanu. YaKNeHaZ: wine, Kiddush, candle, Havdalah, time—“time” refers to shehecheyanu. Women who recited shehecheyanu when lighting candles do not recite it again during Kiddush. They may answer amen to it. Regarding the practice of Kiddush for women, there are some who, this year too, also recite the... There are those whose practice is for women to recite the entire text of Kiddush every Seder night, word for word along with the men, and also

1:00:20 Speaker 2 This year, even though Kiddush is combined with Havdalah, women can recite it, since both are said over the same cup. Some have the custom not to recite it themselves, but to listen, as they normally do for Kiddush. Everyone should follow their custom this year as well. In the Haggadah, in the blessing “Who redeemed us,” said at the end before drinking the second cup, we change the wording this year. Usually we say, “from the offerings and from the Pesach sacrifices.” This year we say, “from the Pesach sacrifices and from the offerings,” because when Pesach begins on Saturday night, the order in which the sacrifices were offered was different. One of the halachic authorities said that there is reason to add a little something to the Seder-night meal beyond what we do every year, because we are also observing the mitzvah of Melaveh Malkah after Shabbos. As is known, for the Rebbe, Melaveh Malkah was one of the important meals: he always washed his hands for it, even at times when he did not wash for other meals. The Rebbe was always careful to wash for Melaveh Malkah. May we merit to celebrate Pesach this year, very soon, in the holy city of Jerusalem. There we will eat from the offerings and the Pesach sacrifices, offering the Korban Pesach according to its laws. And all the additional questions that arise because of this year’s calendar and because of the Geulah—may Moshiach Tzidkeinu resolve them in the most ideal way.