Wash the Hands M M M 36 / הגדה של פסח. Why do we wash our hands at this point?

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2 36 / הגדה של פסח ו ר ח ץ Wash th Hands W now wash our hands without making a blssing (s opposit). ( inhag Admur: On gos to th sink and washs on's own hands). סידור אדה ז: ורחץ. ונוטל ידיו ואינו מברך: (If you mak a blssing al ntilas yadayim in rror, at matzah now (but not maror and korch), and thn continu with karpas.). CLASSIC QUESTIONS Why do w wash our hands at this point? TALUD: Bcaus th law rquirs us to do so bfor ating a food dippd in liquid (th nxt stp of th Sdr). This is in ordr not to impart th liquid (and thrby th food) with ritual impurity from our hands, for ritual impurity is transmittd mor asily to a wt substanc (s Psachim 115a and Rashi ibid.). Why do w not mak a blssing? ALTER REBBE S SHULCHAN ARUCH: In a cas of Halachic doubt w do not mak a blssing, for far that w would b uttring God s nam in vain. In this instanc, thr is a viw (Tosfos ibid.) that washing th hands bfor dippd food was a mitzvah only practicd in Tmpl tims (Orach Chaim 158:3). If during th yar I follow th opinion of Tosfos and do not wash bfor dipping food, should I still wash now? CHOK YA AKOV: Ys, bcaus this is part of th Sdr, dsignd to arous th intrst of th childrn (Orach Chaim 473:28). Why dos this stp s titl, Urchatz, bgin with th lttr vav (maning and ), which is not th cas with th othr stps? LIKUTEI TA AI U INHAGI: This rndrs Urchatz as a two-syllabld word. It thus nabls th stps of th Sdr, arrangd in stanzas of two words, to rhym: Kadsh, Urchatz; Karpas, Yachatz tc. (s also addndum). TORAS ENACHE Urchatz. ו ר ח ץ [ What is th innr rason why Urchatz is th only stp of th Sdr which bgins with th lttr vav ( and ), suggsting a spcial connction with th prcding stp, Kadsh? (S Classic Qustions.) Th Kabbalists taught that th various stps of th Sdr allud to diffrnt aspcts of th sfiros, th schm of Divin attributs which ar mirrord in th soul of man. In particular, th first two stps, Kadsh and Urchatz corrspond to th first two sfiros, Chochmah (concption) and Binah (cognition). Unlik th othr sfiros which oprat rlativly indpndntly of on anothr, Chochmah and Binah ar a singl, functional unit, two frinds that nvr sparat (Zohar III 4a). And this is th mystical xpla-

3 37 / Haggadah for Psach How to Wash Bfor washing th hands chck that thy ar clan and dry. Th containr is hld at all tims with a towl. Pick up th Filld containr with your right hand, and pass it into th lft hand. Rpat th following thr tims: Pour plnty of watr (at last thr ouncs) ovr your right hand so that th watr covrs th ntir hand up to th wrist. Pass th containr into your Right hand and pour watr thr tims ovr your Lft hand, xactly as bfor. (Lav a littl watr in your lft hand). Lt go of th containr, rub your hands togthr. TORAS ENACHE nation why th stps of th Sdr mbodid by ths two sfiros ar linkd by a vav: to rflct thir intimat working rlationship. Why ar Chochmah and Binah so uttrly dpndnt on ach othr? Chochmah is th sat of th soul s crativity. Its prcption is holistic: it has an xtrmly broad viw of concpts and idas, and it acquirs knowldg intuitivly rathr than rationally. Chochmah s y can rad diffrnt thms simultanously, prciving how thy convrg into a simpl cor ida, or point. Binah, on th othr hand, is quit th opposit. It focusss vry much on dtails and data, analyzing thm carfully and squntially. Its logic is wll rasond and prcis; and it xcls at taking th raw idas which it is fd by Chochmah and flshing thm out with ornat dtail, appropriat dscriptions and hlpful analogis. Chochmah and Binah ar two frinds that nvr sparat bcaus ach xcls in what th othr lacks. Bsids initially gnrating th idas, which Binah could not do on its own, Chochmah s constant influnc is rquird to prvnt Binah from losing th biggr pictur as it focusss on th dtail. Chochmah must always b at hand to hlp its frind synthsiz its findings and to plac in contxt th rathr dizzying amount of information that Binah tnds to gnrat. But as much as Binah is hlplss without Chochmah, Chochmah alon is a mr sid-dish to th main cours of tru intllignc which Binah offrs. Intuition, crativity and holistic prcption ar, of cours, wondrful, but of what us ar thy unlss w hav th apparatus to translat thos whims of abstraction into solid, wll-hond idas? Chochmah has all of th inspiration, but non of th communication skills ncssary to bring its mssag across. Chochmah may b a mastr of contxt, but without Binah thr is no txt at all. So that inconspicuous vav at th bginning of Urchatz rprsnts our ability to harmoniz an innr tnsion that xists within us all: th rational vrsus th intuitiv, th practical vrsus th idalistic, th tangibl vrsus th transcndnt. Thr is no asy solution. Our souls ar powrd by highly contrasting facultis which nd to work togthr so that w can lad fulfilling livs and carry out our God-givn mission in this world. In short: W must listn to both of our minds, and giv ach of thm th rspct that thy dsrv. (Basd on Sichah of Erv Psach 5750)

4 38 / הגדה של פסח כ ר פ ס Rmov th onion (or potato) from th sdr plat. Dip a small pic of it (lss than 0.9oz) into salt watr, mak th following blssing, and thn at it. Hav in mind this blssing also rfrs to all th bittr hrbs atn latr. (Do not lan.) סידור אדה ז: כרפס. נוטל פחות מכזית כרפס ויטבול במי מלח או חומץ ויברך: יכוין להוציא גם המרור בברכה זו. ב רו ך א ת ה י ה ו ה א ל ה ינו מ ל ך ה עו ל ם, ב ו ר א פ ר י ה א ד מ ה: CLASSIC QUESTIONS Why do w dip th vgtabl in salt watr and at it? TALUD: To arous th intrst of th childrn, sinc it is not somthing w do during th rst of th yar (Psachim 114a-b). TORAS ENACHE (Halachah). Dip and Eat th Vgtabl כ ר פ ס [ Th statd rason for Karpas, ating a vgtabl that has bn dippd in salt-watr, is to arous th intrst of th childrn. Th commntators xplain that this rathr odd practic is likly to captur th childrn s attntion sinc dipping is not somthing w do th rst of th yar (s Classic Qustions). In fact, w find this is on of th Four Qustions posd by th child latr on: On all nights w nd not dip vn onc, but on this night w do so twic! Thr sms, howvr, to b a glaring inconsistncy hr. Evn a small child will b familiar with th fact that w do carry out a dipping crmony at othr tims. On Rosh Hashanah, for xampl, w dip an appl in hony. Furthrmor, vry tim w at brad during th yar thr is a rquirmnt to dip it in salt. (In fact, many follow th Arizal s custom to dip th brad in salt thr tims). So how could on say, on all othr nights w nd not dip vn onc? A simpl solution to this problm, which vn a child could apprciat, is that tonight s ritual is uniqu in that it rvolvs around th dipping itslf. On Rosh Hashanah, our main intntion is to rcit a prayr for a swt nw yar, to which th appl dippd in hony is scondary. Likwis, during th yar whn w dip th brad in salt, th mphasis is not th dipping pr s, but th prsnc of th salt on th tabl (sinc th tabl rsmbls th Altar on which salt was always placd), or th gnral mixing of th salt with th brad, in whatvr fashion (to rsmbl th mixing of salt with th sacrifics). Th notion of dipping is thus an outgrowth of th gnral nd for salt. This is not a dipping crmony at all, but a salt crmony that has volvd in such a way that it involvs som dipping. In fact, in on of his discourss, th Altr Rbb stats this point unquivocally: Th ssntial principl is not that w bring salt and dip th brad in it. Rathr, our main intntion is that th brad should somhow acquir th flavor of salt... Th dipping is not a crucial point hr (Short Discourss, p. 500). So, in th final analysis, w s that tonight is th only occasion whn normativ Jwish practic rquirs dipping for dipping s sak.

5 39 / Haggadah for Psach Dip & Eat th Vgtabl Rmov th onion (or potato) from th sdr plat. Dip a small pic of it (lss than 0.9oz) into salt watr, mak th following blssing, and thn at it. Hav in mind this blssing also rfrs to all th bittr hrbs atn latr. (Do not lan.) Blssd ar You, God, our God, King of th univrs, who crats th fruit of th arth. TORAS ENACHE (Whil th abov dfinition of salt dipping is satisfying, for a prson initiatd in th finr points of Jwish law, it is ultimatly unncssary. From a strictly Halachic viwpoint dipping hr rfrs to dipping in a liquid (which is why w ar rquird to wash our hands first s abov, p. 36), and th salt in which w dip our brad throughout th yar is, as a gnral rul, dry. Tonight, by contrast, both of our dippings ar wt: th vgtabl in salt-watr, and th Bittr Hrbs in Chaross, a past mad with win. So thr is rally no qustion in th first plac: from th prspctiv of Jwish law w nvr dip brad in salt.) (Basd on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Kdoshim 5741) (Kabbalah). Dip and Eat th Vgtabl כ ר פ ס [ According to th Kabbalah, tibul, dipping, is symbolic of bitul, surrndr (or ngation) of th slf, which is why in Hbrw w find that on word is an anagram of th othr: ט יב ו ל = ב יטו ל (Siddur im Dach, Sha ar Kavanos ha-ikvah). And on dosn t nd to b a mystic to apprciat why. Th purpos of dipping a food into a flavoring agnt is so that th food should surrndr som of its own tast and giv way to a mor dsirabl quality found in th flavoring agnt. But, ironically, whil dipping food suggsts an xprinc of surrndr and slf-ngation for th food substanc, it bars th vry opposit connotation for th dippr himslf. What drivs a prson to dip? Bcaus, as somthing of a connoissur, h knows that th food is lacking its full gourmt potntial and that it would b nhancd gratly by th right sauc hardly a momnt of slf-surrndr and go nullification! But on Psach, all this changs. Psach is a fstival of bitul: W at unlavnd brad which has no chanc to ris, symbolic of humility; and w clbrat th birth of our nation, a point in history whn Isral s spiritual standing was vry low, and w had littl of which to b proud. So our dipping tonight is invitably diffrnt from any dipping throughout th yar. Normally, dipping food is an xprssion of culinary xprtis, an xrcis aimd at nriching thos plasurs of lif that our gos so dspratly pursu. But tonight, whn our souls ar awaknd, w raliz that thr is somthing mor important, mor nobl and, ironically, mor rwarding than th pursuit of happinss for its own sak. A voic within is tlling us that only through gnuin bitul can w mak a transition from th distortd, gocntric, human viw of rality, to a mor tru, thocntric standpoint. Aftr all, a gnuin mystical union with our Crator must b on His trms, and not on ours. God took us out of Egypt so that w would b fr to srv Him: fr from th Egyptians and, mor significantly, fr from th obsssiv dsir for slfnrichmnt which draws us away from our tru calling in lif. So tonight, lt us mulat th Karpas and dip ourslvs too, ndavoring to surrndr to God, and not mak our obsrvanc of His law contingnt on our own, mortal undrstanding. (Basd on Sichos of Nights of Chag ha-psach 5748)