The Terumat Ha'deshen (Rav Yisrael Isserlin, 1390-1460), in a famous responsum (139), writes that there is a Misva Min Ha'mubhar (especially high standard of performing the Misva) to swallow the Ke'zayit of Masa at the Seder all at once. Meaning, one chews the Masa as he puts it in his mouth without swallowing, and only after the entire Ke'zayit is…

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The work Yalkut Yosef (English edition, p. 262) records a custom to eat a boiled egg immediately after Kiddush at the Seder, in commemoration of the Korban Hagiga, a sacrifice which was brought along with the Korban Pesah in the times of the Bet Ha'mikdash. This is not, however, the custom we follow. We eat the egg just before the meal, after we co…

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Halacha requires drinking four cups of wine at the Seder, and each cup must contain at least a Rebi'it – approximately 3.2 ounces – of wine. Preferably, one should drink the entire cup, but one fulfills his obligation even if he drinks less, as long as he drinks at least the majority of the cup (Shulhan Aruch Orah Haim 472:8). The question arises, …

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It is preferable to use red wine for the four cups of wine on Pesah night. According to the custom of the Sepharadim, red wine is preferred even over higher-quality white wine. Although some communities have the practice not to recite the Beracha of "Boreh Peri Ha'gefen" on wine that is Mebushal (meaning, it had been heated), our custom is to recit…

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If a person cooks rice on Yom Tob, may he use a measuring cup so he can prepare a specific amount of rice? Halacha certainly allows one to cook on Yom Tob, but the question arises as to whether measuring is permissible as part of the process of food preparation. The Sages forbade precise measuring on Yom Tob, but not making rough measurements. Ther…

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According to the accepted custom, women are not required to observe the Ta'anit Bechorot (Fast of the Firstborn) on Ereb Pesah, or participate in a Siyum to absolve themselves from the fast. Nevertheless, there are some firstborn women who have the practice of refraining from eating until they receive some cake from the Siyum made in the synagogue …

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A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

There is a Misva to eat Massa at three points during the Seder: "Mosi -Massa," "Korech" and the Afikoman. For Mosi-Massa, the Shulhan Aruch states that one should eat two Kezaitim. The Mishna Berura explains that eating a second Kezayit solves a Halachic dilemma with regard to the Beracha "Al Achilat Massa." This Beracha is recited while holding th…

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Rav Pinhas Zevihi (contemporary) writes (listen to audio recording for precise citation) that one must make a point of reciting Birkat Ha'ilanot – the Beracha over the blossoming of fruit trees – as early as he can during the month of Nissan. Once Rosh Hodesh Nissan arrives, one should endeavor to find two blossoming fruit trees and recite the Bera…

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Reciting the Maggid section of the Haggada at the Seder fulfills the Torah obligation to tell the story of Yetzi'at Mitzrayim (the Exodus), as the Torah writes, "Ve'higadeta Le'vincha Ba'yom Ha'hu" ("You shall tell your children on that day" – Shemot 13:8). The importance of this Mitzva is expressed in a passage in the Zohar which comments that any…

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The Arizal (Rav Yishak Luria of Safed, 1534-1572) taught that on the night of the Seder, a great spiritual light descends from the heavens as a result of the Misvot that we perform. Although we always bring down spiritual light through our performance of Misvot, the Arizal explained that the lights come down on the night of the Seder in a special w…

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Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his Yehaveh Da'at (1:11), addresses the case of jelly that was prepared before Pesah with only kosher-for-Pesah ingredients, but in pots that had been used with Hametz and were not koshered for Pesah. Assuming the pot was perfectly clean when it was used for preparing the jelly, may the jelly be eaten on Pesah, as it does no…

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

Many people ask whether grape juice may be used instead of wine for the Misva of "Arba Kosot" – drinking four cups of wine at the Seder. This is, indeed, an important question with which the Halachic authorities have grappled, both in regard to this Misva as well as in regard to the Misva of Kiddush. When it comes to Kiddush, the Rambam (Rav Moshe …

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Metal pots with an enamel covering may be koshered for Pesah; the enamel has no effect on the pot's status as far as koshering is concerned. If somebody purchased before Pesah a used utensil from a gentile, and it therefore requires both koshering and Tebila (immersion in a Mikveh), it should first undergo koshering so the taste of non-kosher food …

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Generally speaking, when a piece of forbidden food falls into permissible food, we apply the rule of "Battel Be'shishim," which means that we consider the forbidden food "nullified" if it constitutes one-sixtieth or less of the mixture. If the proportion of permissible food to forbidden food is 60:1, or more, we may consider the forbidden food null…

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Ashkenazim have the custom not to eat "Kitniyot"-various beans and legumes on Pesah. The earliest authority to record this custom is the SaMaK, (Sefer Misvot Katan by Rabbi Yishak of Corbeil, 13th century) who lived 750 years ago. The reason he gives is that these foods can be confused with Hames grains, such as wheat. Just as wheat can be ground i…

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The Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 442) rules that if a product contains Hametz, but is inedible such that even a dog would not eat it, one may have such a product in his home on Pesah. This Halacha is relevant to many products which we have that often contain Hametz, such as shoe polish, ink and makeup. Such products occasionally contain Hametz, but sin…

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Strictly speaking, one may keep in his home and use during Pesah the same broom he had used throughout the year to sweep the floors in the kitchen and other rooms. Although the broom likely has small particles of Hametz caught among the bristles, these particles are not significant and do not make the broom forbidden for use during Pesah. Neverthel…

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A Daily Gemara podcast, brought to you by Daily GemaraDe către Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

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In the second chapter of Hilchot Teshuva (Halacha 4), the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-Egypt, 1135-1204) describes the way a person should conduct himself as part of the process of repentance (listen to audio for precise citation). A penitent sinner should accustom himself to cry and pray to God for forgiveness, donate money to charity to …

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The Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-Egypt, 1135-1204) begins the seventh chapter of Hilchot Teshuva (listen to audio for precise citation) by emphasizing the importance and value of Teshuva (repentance). Having established in the previous chapter the philosophical basis of the doctrine of free will, that God does not interfere with man's deci…

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The Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Ki-Tese (12), discusses a number of prohibitions regarding the way one speaks to others. First, he addresses the prohibition of "Genebat Da'at" (literally, "stealing one's mind"), or misleading another person. The Torah forbids misleading another person even if the misleading inf…