Eating Matzah: Difference between revisions
Created page with "thumb thumb thumb The mitzvah of '''eating matzah''' is an obligation on the Seder night, the first night of Pesach, to eat at least a k'zayis (olive-sized portion) of matzah. The mitzvah commemorates the matzos that the Children of Israel ate when they left Mitzrayim (Egypt). == Source of the Mitzvah == It is a positive commandment from the Torah to eat matzah on..." |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:אפיית מצות.jpg|thumb]] | [[File:אפיית מצות.jpg|thumb|Baking Matzos]] | ||
[[File:אכילת מצה - יציאת מצרים.jpg|thumb]] | [[File:אכילת מצה - יציאת מצרים.jpg|thumb|The idea that eating matzah elevates a person and helps them to "leave Mitzrayim."]] | ||
[[File:מצה.jpg|thumb]] | [[File:מצה.jpg|thumb|Matzah]] | ||
The mitzvah of '''eating matzah''' is an obligation on the Seder night, the first night of Pesach, to eat at least a k'zayis (olive-sized portion) of matzah. The mitzvah commemorates the matzos that the Children of Israel ate when they left Mitzrayim (Egypt). | The mitzvah of '''eating matzah''' is an obligation on the Seder night, the first night of Pesach, to eat at least a k'zayis (olive-sized portion) of matzah. The mitzvah commemorates the matzos that the Children of Israel ate when they left Mitzrayim (Egypt). | ||
== Source of the Mitzvah == | == Source of the Mitzvah == | ||
It is a positive commandment from the Torah to eat matzah on the night of the 15th of Nissan, which is the Seder night, as the verse states: | It is a positive commandment from the Torah to eat matzah on the night of the 15th of Nissan, which is the Seder night, as the verse states:<blockquote>"On the first [day] on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, you shall eat matzos" — Shemos 12:18</blockquote>The obligation to eat matzah is mentioned in additional places in the Torah: "In the second month, on the fourteenth day, at dusk, they shall make it; with matzos and bitter herbs shall they eat it" (from this verse we learn that the Pesach offering must be eaten together with matzos and maror). "You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzos, the bread of affliction, for in haste you went out of the land of Mitzrayim, so that you shall remember the day of your departure from the land of Mitzrayim all the days of your life<ref>Bamidbar 9:11</ref>." | ||
However, the main obligation is learned from the verse "in the evening, you shall eat matzos<ref>See Rambam Hilchos Chametz U'Matzah Chapter 6 Halacha 1 and in the Lechem Mishneh there, and in the citation of the Gemara later in the text.</ref>." | |||
==== During Galus (Exile) ==== | ==== During Galus (Exile) ==== | ||
During galus when we are unable to offer the Pesach sacrifice, there is a dispute in the Gemara whether the mitzvah is from the Torah. However, in halacha, the Gemara follows Rava's opinion that the obligation is from the Torah even during galus: | During galus when we are unable to offer the Pesach sacrifice, there is a dispute in the Gemara whether the mitzvah is from the Torah. However, in halacha, the Gemara follows Rava's opinion that the obligation is from the Torah even during galus:<blockquote>Rava said: "Matzah nowadays is a Torah obligation, while maror is rabbinic. Why is maror different? Because it is written, 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it' - when there is a Pesach offering, there is [an obligation of] maror, and when there is no Pesach offering, there is no [Torah obligation of] maror. But regarding matzah as well, isn't it written 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it'? [For] matzah, the verse returns to it [to obligate it independently], [as it states] 'in the evening you shall eat matzos.' And Rav Acha bar Yaakov says both this [matzah] and that [maror] are rabbinic...A beraisa supports Rava: 'Six days you shall eat matzos, and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Hashem your G-d' - just as [eating matzah on] the seventh day is optional, so too [on] the six days it is optional... One might think that [eating matzah] on the first night is also optional; the verse therefore states 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it.' I only know [that the obligation applies] when the Beis HaMikdash exists; from where [do I know that it applies] when the Beis HaMikdash does not exist? The verse therefore states: 'in the evening you shall eat matzos' - the verse established it as an obligation." — Pesachim 120a</blockquote>This means that the Torah emphasizes that although both for matzah and maror it says "with matzos and maror shall they eat it," regarding matzah the Torah emphasizes "in the evening you shall eat matzos," indicating that even when there is no Pesach offering, there is an obligation to eat matzah. | ||
Rava said: "Matzah nowadays is a Torah obligation, while maror is rabbinic. Why is maror different? Because it is written, 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it' - when there is a Pesach offering, there is [an obligation of] maror, and when there is no Pesach offering, there is no [Torah obligation of] maror. But regarding matzah as well, isn't it written 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it'? [For] matzah, the verse returns to it [to obligate it independently], [as it states] 'in the evening you shall eat matzos.' And Rav Acha bar Yaakov says both this [matzah] and that [maror] are rabbinic...A beraisa supports Rava: 'Six days you shall eat matzos, and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Hashem your G-d' - just as [eating matzah on] the seventh day is optional, so too [on] the six days it is optional... One might think that [eating matzah] on the first night is also optional; the verse therefore states 'with matzos and maror shall they eat it.' I only know [that the obligation applies] when the Beis HaMikdash exists; from where [do I know that it applies] when the Beis HaMikdash does not exist? The verse therefore states: 'in the evening you shall eat matzos' - the verse established it as an obligation." — Pesachim 120a | |||
This means that the Torah emphasizes that although both for matzah and maror it says "with matzos and maror shall they eat it," regarding matzah the Torah emphasizes "in the evening you shall eat matzos," indicating that even when there is no Pesach offering, there is an obligation to eat matzah. | |||
However, on the other days of Pesach, despite the prohibition of eating chametz, there is no obligation to eat matzah specifically, as our Sages interpret "just as [eating matzah on] the seventh day is optional, so too [on] the six days it is optional." | However, on the other days of Pesach, despite the prohibition of eating chametz, there is no obligation to eat matzah specifically, as our Sages interpret "just as [eating matzah on] the seventh day is optional, so too [on] the six days it is optional." | ||
==== Women and the Mitzvah ==== | ==== Women and the Mitzvah ==== | ||
Despite this being a time-bound positive commandment from which women are typically exempt, in this mitzvah both men and women are obligated because the Torah connects the prohibition of eating chametz to the commandment of eating matzah in the verse: "You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzos." Our Sages expounded: "Whoever is included in the prohibition of 'do not eat chametz' is included in the positive commandment of 'eat matzah,' and since women are included in the prohibition against eating chametz, they are included in the positive commandment to eat matzah." | Despite this being a time-bound positive commandment from which women are typically exempt, in this mitzvah both men and women are obligated because the Torah connects the prohibition of eating chametz to the commandment of eating matzah in the verse: "You shall not eat leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzos." Our Sages expounded: "Whoever is included in the prohibition of 'do not eat chametz' is included in the positive commandment of 'eat matzah,' and since women are included in the prohibition against eating chametz, they are included in the positive commandment to eat matzah." | ||
