Pesach 2 - 5774

Pesach - 5774

Rabbi Hal Miller

We have many customs. Some are limited to small groups, or just families,

others are widespread. Pesach seems to have collected more of these than

any of the other holidays. The danger is that many people seem to think

that these are halachic requirements from the Torah, not to be ignored or

bent. Where did these come from? This year we will look at a few examples.

Most are very recognizable, even widely observed, but what is the purpose

behind them? Are they actually requirements?

Yesterday we looked at the ten pieces of chametz, and the stealing of

afikomen. Today we discuss the egg on the seder plate, and red wine.

Virtually every seder plate has a 'spot' for a roasted egg. Why? The Torah

never mentions this, yet we even have customs and 'rules' about when and how

to eat it. One should hold the egg with a spoon or fork when dipping it in the

salt water so that it not appear that one is dipping food three times at the

Seder instead of twice.

Darchei Moshe explains that the egg is a "symbol of mourning, tied to Tisha

b'Av, commemorating the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash." He says that

"because an egg has no 'mouth' (round), so too do we declare our detractors

should have no mouth to malign us by saying that since G-d has not redeemed us

until now, this proves that He will no longer do so."

The Mishneh Berurah tells us that "because the egg on the Seder plate is a

remembrance of the Chagigah (Festival) offering, one should be meticulous to

eat that egg. The practice of eating other eggs is an extension of that

practice."

Where do we get the tie to the Chagigah? Rav Soloveitchik comments on the

Gemara that requires two cooked foods on the seder plate to commemorate the

Pesach (lamb) and Chagigah. The Gemara gives us opinions on what those two

cooked foods should be: Rav Huna says beets and rice, Rav Yosef says two

types of meat. Rambam agrees with Rav Yosef but notes the custom to use one

type of meat and an egg, so this custom must originate at some point between

the writing of the Talmud and Rambam. Rav Soloveitchik adds that since the

first day of Pesach always falls on the same day of the week as does Tisha

b'Av, the custom includes mourning for the Temple, and the egg thus represents

both joy and mourning.

Kol Dodi says that "we may use any cooked foods as these remembrances, but it

is customary to use a shankbone to symbolize the Pesach, and an egg to

symbolize the Chagigah."

Some write that the combination of roasted lamb and egg are used, because

the Egyptians did not eat either.

Today when we do not have the Temple, and thus cannot eat the Pesach lamb, we

substitute the afikomen matza at the end of the meal. It could be that using

an egg on the seder plate in place of other meat comes from the same reason,

acting as a substitute. The egg is a custom, with no halachic backing, which

seems to have been established as a commemoration. Since it does fulfill the

requirement for one of the cooked foods, according to all but Rav Yosef, the

poskim agree with the Rambam that this custom probably should be kept.

We are commanded to drink four cups of wine during the seder, each cup with

its own rules, and rules in common to the four. A custom dictates that the

wine must be red. There are various possibilities as to where this comes from.

The first cup is Kiddush. Rambam states that one is not permitted to recite

the kiddush over wine that is not fit to be poured on the Altar, which would

include cooked or sweetened wines. Some say that the Altar requires only red

wine. Some say that this applies only to the first cup, while other apply it

to all four.

Numerous commentators point to Mishlei 23:31, "Look not upon wine, that it is

red." In the Gemara [Pesachim 108b] Rabbi Yehudah says, "it must have the

taste and color of wine". Rava then quotes Mishlei to say that the color of

good wine is red. But the Gemara merely said that it must be the color of

wine, which implies that the color of white wine is just as good. The Talmud

Yerushalmi gets more specific, citing the Mishlei and requiring in the name

of Rabbi Yirmiyah that "it is a mitzvah to fulfill the obligation with red

wine."

Kol Dodi and others say that since the Talmud Bavli does not require red,

that white wine is perferable to red when the white is a superior wine. This

is the position of the Tur, Rama and the Gra.

The Shulchan Aruch paskens that one should look for red wine. Rama adds, only

if the white is not superior to the red. Mishneh Berurah goes farther and

says that where non-Jews speak blood-libels, one should not use red wine for

the seder, even if they use it at other times. The Taz said, "In our times we

refrain from using red wine because of the false libels that are raised due to

our many sins."

Rav Soloveitchik says, "One of the purposes of having the four cups of wine is

to demonstrate freedom, and consequently the four cups shold be drunk in a

manner that is expressive of freedom. One of the required elements is that one

should enjoy the wine one drinks. Someone who does not enjoy wine is better

served by drinking grape juice. Regarding the permissibility of using grape

juice, the Talmud states [Bava Basra 97b] that juice squeezed from a cluster

of grape may be used for kiddush." Rav Soloveitchik reviews the Rambam on the

first cup, then continues, "Ra'avad disagrees and points out that the

Yerushalmi states that sweetened wine may be used for the four cups. It is

best for a person who does not enjoy drinking wine to drink unsweetened

non-mevushal wine for the first cup and grape juice for the remaining three

cups."

The custom requiring any particular type of wine appears to be based on an

interpretation of Mishlei with regard to freedom. There is no halachic basis,

and plenty of commentaries that give alternatives to red, all of which point

to the idea of the best possible commemoration of freedom. If one chooses a

white wine, one can certainly fulfill the mitzvah in a beautiful manner.