Let s find the Afikomen Analysis and Insights

Transcription

1 Let s find the Afikomen Analysis and Insights Rabbi Avie Schreiber At times, the afikomen gets a little lost. Not in some hidden recess of a cabinet, or beneath a planter, but right on the dining room table. By the time we reach the eating of the afikomen, we tend to be tired and we tend to be full. As a result, it is difficult to appreciate and sometimes even fulfill this mitzvah. Let us examine an aspect of the afikomen, and thereby perform the mitzvah with greater awareness and enjoyment. The halacha is that we may not eat any food after eating the afikomen. This dessert will be the last food we eat on the seder night. The source for this practice is the mishna in Masechet Pesachim 1 that states אין מפטירין אחר הפסח אפיקומן meaning essentially 2 that one may not eat food after consuming the korban Pesach. In the gemara, Rav Yehudah quotes Shmuel as extrapolating from this halacha and saying that המצה אין מפטירין אחר,אפיקומן meaning that nowadays, when we do not have the korban Pesach, one may not eat any food after eating the final piece of matzah, which we refer to as the afikomen. Since we eat the final piece of Matzah as a symbolic reminder for the korban Pesach itself, the Chachamim extended the prohibition to not eating after the final piece of matzah the afikomen - as well. Also, the reason for not eating after the korban Pesach, may equally apply to the matzah as well, as we will see later. Let s return to the original halacha of not eating after the korban Pesach. What is the reason for this prohibition? What is wrong with partaking of food after consuming the Pesach offering? The rishonim and other commentaries 3 offer what seem to be two separate explanations for this halacha. 1) The pesach needs to be the last food that we eat so that its taste lingers in our mouths even after we are actually finished eating 4. 2) The prohibition of eating after the korban Pesach is in order to ensure that we fulfill another requirement - that of eating the Pesach on a full השובע stomach 5-6.על The logic פסחים קיט: 1 2 According to one Amora and what appears to be the consensus. 3 See below.ד"ה אין מפטירין Rashbam Pesachim 1119b.ד"ה מפטירין 4 The Baalei Tosafot - see Tosfot Pesachim 120a.ד"ה אין מפטירין 5 Rashbam Pesachim 1119b פסחים דף ע 6 1

2 is as follows: knowing that we will not be able to eat anymore once we finish eating the meat of the korban Pesach, we will make sure to not be hungry when we begin eating it. (Even more so when we consider that is was common for people to only be able to eat a כזית of the korban since often large group of people would share one korban.) We need to further investigate both of these reasons. Why is it so important for the taste of the korban Pesach to linger in one s mouth? What is the reason for the obligation to eat the korban Pesach only after already feeling satiated? 1) The requirement for the taste to linger: Various explanations are suggested by the Rishonim. a) The Baal HaMaor There was a concern when the Beit HaMikdash was standing that one may forget to sing Hallel after eating the korban. This was especially so due to the vast crowds that gathered in Yerushalayim. Because space was limited and very tight, it was common practice that once a person finished eating his portion of the korban, he would ascend to the rooftop and recite hallel there. (The korban itself had to be eaten on the ground floor, because the ground of Yerushalayim had the requisite level of Kedusha for eating the korban.) Since people excused themselves from the group and left their dinner location, it was very possible that someone may forget to say hallel. Having the taste of the meat in one s mouth served as a reminder. b) The Ravad The Ravad strongly disagrees with the Baal HaMaor and instead suggests that the purpose for the taste to remain in our mouths is to remind us to not leave over any meat of the korban until morning; rather we should eat it prior to sunrise (or perhaps midnight) to prevent it from becoming נותר - leftover meat of a korban which would then need to be burned. By allowing the taste to remain with us, we will continuously think about the korban Pesach, thereby ensuring that we fulfill our responsibility to finish eating it in a timely manner. c) The Rambam The Rambam writes in 8:9 of Hilchot Chametz U matzah: וטעם בשר הפסח או המצה בפיו-שאכילתן היא המצוה. The reason the taste of the Pesach and the matzah need to remain is because eating them is the (main) mitzvah. 2

3 Rav Yerucham Fishel Perlau 7 explains this statement of the Rambam based on the mishna regarding tekiat shofar on Rosh HaShanna. In the beit hamikdash, the person blowing the shofar would be flanked by two kohanim blowing the trumpets. The shofar sound, however, needed to continue and extend beyond the trumpet sound - the trumpets would blow for a short time and the shofar for a more extended time, because, says the mishna, the mitzvah of the day is the shofar. Likewise, even though there are many mitzvot that involve eating that we perform on the night of the seder, the main mitzvot are the matzah and the pesach. For this reason, they should be lengthened and stand out. We accomplish this by allowing their tastes alone to linger in our mouths. )הגרי"ד( d) Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Solovetchik The Rav explains that the motivation to not eat after the korban pesach and the matzah, thereby keeping their taste in our mouths, is to fulfill the requirement of - "בשעה שיש מצה ומרור )וגם פסח בזמן המקדש( מונחים לפניך" that telling the story of yetziat Mitzrayim needs to be done while the matza and maror are in front of us. According to many, completing hallel after the meal and singing praises to Hashem is an extension of the mitzvah of יציאת מצרים.ספור As such, by having the taste of the matzah and pesach in our mouths, we fulfill the requirement to link the telling of the story with the matzah and the pesach. 8 על השובע (2 Eating Let us now return to the second reason offered by rishonim for not eating after the korban Pesach to ensure that we fulfill the requirement of eating the pesach על השובע after already feeling full and satisfied. What is the basis for this obligation? a) Yerushalmi The requirement to eat the korban Pesach על השובע is to prevent us from violating the ועצם לא תשברו states: prohibition of breaking the bones of the korban as the pasuk 9 If we eat the meat in a state of hunger, then in our enthusiasm to eat, we are liable.בו to break a bone of the korban. Various reasons are offered to explain why the Torah forbids the breaking of the bones of the korban Pesach. The Rashbam and the Chizkuni 10 link this requirement to the more general theme of eating the korban 7 See Hagadat Hegyonei Halacha who quotes this opinion. 8 According to this explanation, it is unclear why there isn t a similar requirement to keep the taste of maror in our mouths as well. A student of mine, Efrat Putterman, raised this question. Perhaps we can suggest that the mitzvah of sippur yetziat Mitzrayim after the meal is different than before the meal. At this later point, we focus only on the shevach on the positive and on praising Hashem. As such, the food items that need to be present are only those that relate to our redemption, i.e. the matzah and the pesach,but not the maror. שמות יב:מו 9 שם 10 3

4 pesach בחפזון in a hurried state. Chewing on the bones and eating the marrow expresses a sense of relaxation and unhurried eating. b) Rashbam The Rashbam and others explain that the requirement of eating on a full stomach is actually part of a more general requirement that according to the Rashbam, applies to all korbanot. Based on the pasuk, ב נ י י שׂ ר א ל ל ך נ ת תּ ים ל מ שׁ ח ה,ל כ ל ק ד שׁ י we learn that the korbanot need to be eaten in a manner of nobility and dignity, in the manner of kings. By eating the korban after already being mostly satiated, we are acting as kings who generally do not eat out of a state of great hunger, and who sometimes finish off their meal with some type of beef dish. Some elaborate and explain that for other korbanot, the obligation of eating in a noble manner is reserved for the kohanim since they have a mitzvah to partake of the meat of the korban. For the korban pesach, this requirement of eating in a dignified manner, applies to all Jews since we all have the mitzvah of eating the korban Pesach. מכילתא (c The מכילתא on Parshat Bo 11 derives the obligation of eating the Pesach on a full stomach from the pasuk מצות ומרורים יאכלוהו.על The מכילתא writes: מכאן אמרו הפסח נאכל על השובע ואין מצה ומרור נאכלים על השובע From here we learn that the pesach needs to be eaten on a full stomach, but matzah and maror do not. Essentially, according to this, while we have a source for the halacha, there is no particular reason given and we are left on our own to figure out the rationale for this requirement. After surveying the different reasons for the prohibition of eating after the korban pesach and in our times, after the afikomen, we notice something very interesting. The reach of the mitzvah of eating the afikomen (and the korban pesach) extends far beyond the actual moments of eating it. The afikomen governs what we do leading up to eating it and what we do after eating it. Looking back at the beginning of our meal on the seder night, in a sense, the entire meal can be viewed as preparation for the afikomen. We eat to be satisfied in order to fulfill the requirement of eating the afikomen השובע.על Looking ahead to the latter part of the night, the afikomen remains in our minds because eating it triggered the issur of not eating anymore, and because its taste remains in our mouths. Far from mere child s play and far from an afterthought, it can be argued that eating of the afikomen is in fact the center and fulcrum of the seder. מכילתא בא ו:ו 11 4

5 We can suggest homiletically, that the halachic reach of the korban pesach and the matzah at the seder, is a metaphor for the historical and spiritual significance of the korban pesach. The Jews partook of their meal on the night of the 15 th of Nissan for just a few hours. But those few hours had been planned for and anticipated many years in advance since the brit bein habitarim some 400 years earlier. The history of the Jewish people beginning with Avraham led us to Mitzrayim and to that profound night as we awaited our freedom. And those few hours of that night reach forward in time as well, as they continue to affect, influence and inspire the lives of the Jewish people during the night of the seder and throughout the year. 5