Today's Halachos dedicated by daily reader, S.Y.D., L'Zeceher Nishmas her dear father
Shmuel ben Gavriel A"H
whose Yahrtzeit is today, 13 Nisan.
May his Neshama continue to climb higher and higher in Gan Eden and may he be a Meilitz Yosher for his entire Mishpacha.
CURRENT TOPIC:
HALACHOS OF CHODESH NISAN AND PESACH
1) Maror: The "bitter herbs" are eaten to commemorate the bitterness that our ancestors endured at the hands of the Egyptians.
The proper vegetable to use for Maror is a subject of debate amongst the Poskim, as today we aren't knowledgeable in the many species of plants that the Talmud discusses. (See Chayei Adam Klal 130:3)
The prevalent custom is to use Romaine lettuce and/or horseradish (which when grated is extremely "bitter").
Some Poskim say it's good to mix the grated horseradish with the romaine lettuce, while some Poskim say it is better to avoid mixing the two and better to eat them independently. (See Halichos Shlomo Perek 9:48)
2) Korech: A Kzayis of Matzah is eaten together with a Kzayis of Maror; a fulfillment of the sage Hillel's understanding of the Posuk (Shmos 12:8)"U'Matzos Al Merorim Yochluhu". (See Mishna Berura Siman 475:16)
Some people dip the Maror of Korech into Charoses while others have the custom not to; each person should hold onto their own custom. (Mishna Berura Siman 475:19)
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers.
These Q&A are taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Today website.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
Questions can be emailed to HalachaForToday@Gmail.com
Reader's Question:
It will be greatly appreciated, if you can explain me the difference between ma'aser and tzedaka.
I separate 10% of my income (after tax) and give it to yeshivas, to funds for needy, etc. What is it - ma'aser or tzedaka?
Answer:
Tzedaka is charity that every Jew is commanded to give. there is no set amount to give, rather one should give what he/she can whenever the need arises to help another Jew.
Tzedakah can also be done by other means besides money. Giving a poor person a bite to eat is Tzedakah. giving an unemployed person a job is Tzedakah. teaching someone a trade is Tzedakah and so on.
Ma'aser is specifically giving a set amount of ones income (or grain, or animals) to specific people. certain ma'aser was given to the Kohen while others were given to the Levites. Ma'aser Kesafim is given to poor people or worthy institutions etc.
when giving Ma'aser one can also satisfy the obligation of Tzedakah, but it is its own obligation as well.
Please see archives: Hilchos Ma'aser Kesafim for more.
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CHIZUK CORNER
This section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmos the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Chaim Yaakov Stein Zatzal , the Mir Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Noson Tzvi Finkel Zatzal and the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Ohr, the great Posek HaRav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg Zatzal.
May we all strive to follow in their ways and may they both be Melitzei Yosher for all of Klal Yisroel.
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זכר צדיקים וקדושים לברכה
The son of the Ba'al Hasulam (Rav Baruch Shalom Ashlag) wrote Ma'amarim for his talmidim. The following was written for Pesach :
"Pesach" is called so because Hashem "jumped over the houses of the bnei Yisrael when he smote the Mitzri'im". In Avodas Hashem, "Yisrael" symbolizes our "Aliyos" i.e. where we succeed in serving Hashem, and the Mitzri'im symbolize the Yeridos which occur in between each Aliyah.
He explains that Pesach symbolizes how Hashem "Kills" our Yeridos, and jumps over them to gather together all of our "aliyos". He then puts the Aliyos all together, and in the merit of them all, we are zoche to leave Mitzrayim - i.e. the bondage of the "self".
After this he writes as follows:
Therefore, we need to learn from this that a person should never look at his "Yeridos" - that he always falls from his spiritual state, but rather he should look only at his aliyos. And therefore, when he sees that he is in a state of shiflus (degration), he should not despair, but rather strengthen himself above his understanding and go back up. And let him not look at his past and say that "since until now I thought I had already come to an understanding that it's not worthwhile to give in to my selfish desires, and yet I still see that right away I lose this state of mind", if so, a person asks himself, "what is the use of my "aliyos" if each time I go up I need to fall? What do I gain from this?"
And the answer is (as the Pasuk says), "and the Jewish people moaned from the difficult labor and their supplications went up to Hashem". This is to say that their "awakening below" brought Hashem to kill the Egyptians, and therefore only the Yisrael were left (i.e. the aliyos), and all the aliyos were gathered together to one big cheshbon, one after another, and through this they had a large vessel to receive the divine blessing (of the redemption)... And from this we see that no good we do is ever lost...
In continuation of this idea, he also writes about the inyan where Hillel used to eat the Korbon Pesach together with the Matza and Maror. Maror symbolizes the bitterness of the struggle with the Yetzer Hara/Self, and Matza is a lashon of "Matzusah" - which means "an argument", i.e. the argument that we have with Hashem when we ask him why he made it so hard for us to let go of the "self".
We eat this bitterness (the Marror) and this argument with Hashem (the Matza) - together with the "Pesach" (i.e. the Aliyos and closeness with Hashem - as explained above), because it is only through the bitterness we felt - and the questions that we had about "why it is so hard", that we are zoche in the end to real closeness to Hashem.
It is precisely through the difficulties we experienced that we ultimately come to the realization that we cannot do it on our own, and through this, we develop the proper vessels and cry out to Hashem and finally He saves us from the bondage of our "selves".
Submitted by a daily reader; Taken from The Guard Your Eyes website.
Important Numbers
