Setting the Table with Attractive Vessels

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 472, se'if 2
"He should set his table nicely, with attractive vessels, as much as he can afford, and he should prepare his seating place so that he will recline in the manner of freedom"
(Shulchan Aruch)

(The table itself must be set while it is still day, as is explained at the beginning of the se'if.)

Setting the Table with Attractive Vessels

"With attractive vessels - even though during the rest of the year it is proper for a person to reduce this, as a remembrance of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, on the night of Pesach it is a mitzvah to increase it"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 6)

Remembering the destruction all year: It is not fitting for a Jew to display excessive splendor in his vessels and his wealth, and therefore the custom is to leave something aside and not to set out all one's finest vessels, because the Beis HaMikdash is not standing.
The night of Pesach is different: On Seder night it is a mitzvah to set out many attractive vessels, because an abundance of vessels is itself a sign of freedom: a man who owns many vessels and displays them on his table shows that no one has him in subjugation.
An additional reason given by the commentators: The abundance of vessels recalls the great wealth with which our forefathers left Mitzrayim.
The story cited in the Mishnah Berurah: The Maharil, Rav Yaakov Molin, one of the Ashkenazi sages of the fifteenth century, held pledges belonging to non-Jews, among them fine vessels. He never used them at all, but on Pesach his practice was to place them on the table in order to take pleasure in seeing them.
Why this specifically gave him joy: The very sight of these vessels, handed over into his possession by non-Jews, made clear who was the master of the house, and that gave him a feeling of freedom, not merely a way of impressing his guests.

(The whole practice of accepting pledges arose because Jews were not permitted to earn a living in any way other than trade and lending, and this caused them a great deal of trouble. There is also a separate discussion as to whether one may use the pledged item itself.)

Disposable Vessels and Another Tradition

Disposable vessels: In our day there is a dispute whether they fulfill this idea. Some have argued that today there are disposable vessels that are no less attractive than regular ones, and the question is whether the point is the beauty, or the very fact that the vessel can be used a second time.
A tradition in the name of Rav Hillel Lichtenstein: One sefer on the laws of Pesach brings, in the name of a sage who lived about a hundred years ago, a student of the Chasam Sofer, that on Seder night he would place on the table all the sefarim and works he had written and printed, and that was his expansiveness of spirit in place of attractive vessels. The one who brings it writes himself that he does not know whether it is accurate, and he has no other source for it.

(Rav Hillel Lichtenstein's son-in-law was Rav Akiva Yosef Schlesinger, and both of them were among the strictest of the Hungarian sages.)

Preparing the Place of Reclining and the Definition of Heseibah

"He should recline - meaning that his head is tilted to the left side, upon the couch or upon the bench, with cushions beneath his head, next to the table"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 7)

Tilting the head and the body: Some say that tilting the head alone is not enough, since that produces nothing but a stiff neck; rather both the head and the body are tilted to the left.
Why specifically the left: Because the stomach is on the left side, and this is also where the health benefit lies.
Placing a cushion: If he can place a cushion beneath his head, that is included in the ideal, but he is not obligated to do so.
A chair with an armrest: Some poskim have said that it is enough to lean on the arm of the chair, or on one's own arm, toward the left, and this counts as heseibah.
A chair without an armrest: What people commonly do, placing a cushion behind the back and leaning backwards, does not count as heseibah according to the poskim, since the tilt must specifically be to the left. This is a practical difficulty with modern chairs.
Leaning on another person: It was mentioned in the shiur that if one leans on the person sitting to his left there is something to that, based on what was done in the yeshivah of Rav Yosef.

(In the vocalized text the form appears as "hasabah," and one must distinguish it from "hasavah," which means transferring something from one role to another.)

The Source of the Halachah - Royal Banquets in the Time of Chazal

The norm of those days: In the time of Chazal, and as we know from Roman practice as well, a royal banquet was eaten lying on the left side, each person reclining on his own couch with his own small table in front of him, rather than everyone at one central table.
Support from the pesukim: In Megillas Esther, at the feast of Achashverosh, we read of "couches of gold and silver," which does not refer to beds for sleeping but to couches on which they ate; and likewise in Amos, "those who lie upon beds of ivory."
Chazal's ruling: Chazal adopted this norm and established that the meal of Seder night should be like a royal banquet, eaten reclining.
Why it became one of the Four Questions: "On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, and on this night we all recline." In very old Haggados this question does not appear, since at every royal meal people reclined and there was nothing unusual about it. Over time reclining became unusual, and this question was inserted in place of a different one.

Which Parts of the Seder Require Heseibah

The four kosos: One who drank without reclining must drink again.
Matzah and korech: These must be eaten reclining.
Maror: It does not require reclining, since there is nothing of the manner of freedom in eating maror.
The meal itself: Eating the soup and the other foods is not part of the actual mitzvos of the night, which are matzah, maror and the four kosos; it is rather the seudah of Yom Tov. There were poskim who said that it too should be eaten reclining, but in practice today people are not particular about this because of the difficulty, while they are particular about the mitzvos of the night themselves.

A Poor Man and Difficult Circumstances

"And even a poor man who has no cushions should recline on the bench"
(The Rema)

The Mishnah Berurah notes the precise wording: "should recline," not "should sit." Even one who has no cushions to lean upon should eat on the bench in a reclining position, for by that very act he shows that he is in a state of freedom.

"Should recline on the bench - and to his left side; and if he has no bench and sits on the ground, as in the eastern lands, there too he must recline to the left"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 8)

Leaning on a friend's knees: The poskim ruled that one who supports himself on his friend's knees is considered to be reclining under pressed circumstances, as was done in the yeshivah of Rav Yosef in Bavel, where it was very crowded and there was no room, and each one leaned on his friend's knees.
But not on one's own knees: One who sits and leans on his own knees has not fulfilled the obligation, because it looks like distress; he appears to be sitting in discomfort.

(It was mentioned that people have heard of families in the settlements who conduct the entire Seder sitting on the floor with cushions, in the manner of the eastern lands.)

Se'if 3 - The Direction of Reclining and the Left-Handed Person

"When he reclines he should not lean on his back, nor on his face, nor on his right side, but on his left, and there is no distinction between a left-handed person and anyone else"
(Shulchan Aruch)

What the problem with a left-handed person is: A left-handed person is one who does not use his right hand but his left. If he reclines on his left side, how will he eat, when his dominant hand is occupied?
Why we do not simply say he should recline to the right: The location of the stomach does not change; it remains on the left side, and therefore tilting to the right is not healthy.
What Rashi and the commentators add: There is more here than a health concern. The windpipe and the esophagus are adjacent to one another, and at the time of eating something closes off the passage to the windpipe. When eating while lying on the right side, food is liable to enter the windpipe, and there is a danger to life through choking. For this same reason we warn about certain foods with small children.
The conclusion: Danger is treated more stringently than prohibition. On one side stands a transgression of the words of the Sages, who said to recline to the left, and on the other side stands a concern of danger. Therefore even a left-handed person reclines on his left side, which keeps the stomach on the left and removes the concern that food will enter the windpipe. This is what the Shulchan Aruch means when it writes that there is no distinction between a left-handed person and anyone else.

(Rav Chaim Kanievsky composed an entire pamphlet on the laws pertaining to a left-handed person, going through the whole Shulchan Aruch and noting, for every halachah that depends on right or left, how a left-handed person should conduct himself. Here the Shulchan Aruch itself states the halachah explicitly, so there is no room to differ.)

Se'if 4 - Reclining for a Woman

"A woman does not need to recline, unless she is a woman of distinction"
(Shulchan Aruch)

"And all our women are called women of distinction, yet they did not have the custom to recline, because they relied on the words of the Ravyah, who wrote that nowadays one need not recline"
(The Rema)

"Nowadays one need not recline - his reason is that since it is not customary in our lands to recline during the rest of the year, one simply sits in his usual way"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 13)

The view of the Ravyah: The Ravyah, one of the important Rishonim at the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century, wrote that nowadays one need not recline, because it is not the way of the local people to recline during the rest of the year. Some have the reading in his words "one should not recline," that is, to abolish the practice entirely.
His reasoning: Times have changed. Reclining is no longer the manner of freedom but an affliction to a person, and it detracts from the joy of Yom Tov, since nobody is accustomed to eating that way.
The view of the other poskim: The poskim of his own time, who knew his words and his position, disagreed with him and held that one must indeed recline, and his view remained a lone opinion.
The scope of his words: The Ravyah's statement was made generally, about every person, and not about women alone, and "nowadays" means his own time.

Defining a Woman of Distinction, and the Practice of Women

The difficulty: The Gemara did not define what a woman of distinction is, and that is the practical problem.
The definitions offered: Some say she is a woman of distinguished lineage, some say a wealthy woman, and some say wealth alone is not enough but she must have servants who do the work in her place. There is no uniform definition, and although various authorities try to define it, each one defines it differently.
What women actually do: The Rema wrote that all our women are women of distinction, and nevertheless they did not have the custom to recline, relying on the Ravyah. In the works on minhagim it is written that specifically Ashkenazi women do not recline, while Sephardi women do, and this is an interesting point: even though the status of distinction was granted to them, they did not want to accept the privilege, among other reasons because there is no uniform definition of a woman of distinction, and because of the words of the Ravyah.
Traditions about the wives of the great Torah leaders: Reports were mentioned that the wives of great men did recline, such as the wife of the Chazon Ish, the wife of the Steipler and the wife of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, and also the daughter of Rav Akiva Eiger, and that a cushion was prepared for her for this purpose. The reasoning is that a woman married to a great man is considered a woman of distinction, since a wife follows her husband's status.

A Mourner and Reclining, and Wearing a Kittel

"A mourner within twelve months... although he is obligated to recline, nevertheless it is proper that he not recline upon an adorned couch... and as for a kittel, the custom is that mourners do not wear it"
(Mishnah Berurah)

A mourner is obligated to recline: Even a mourner must recline; it is only that it is proper for him not to recline on an adorned couch.
The kittel: According to the Shulchan Aruch and the poskim, the kittel is considered a distinguished garment, a distinguished white garment. Therefore a mourner in the first year, who should not rejoice so much and does not wear distinguished garments, follows the custom of not wearing a kittel. All this was said specifically about a mourner and not about everyone.

In passing · The meaning of the quotation marks in the word "kittel"

The question as it was asked: Someone asked what the letters of "kittel" stand for as an acronym. But the question itself is imprecise, since there is no acronym here.
A mark and its interpretation: One must distinguish between the mark itself and the meaning of the mark. The double apostrophe is a mark, and an acronym is one of its possible meanings, not the only one.
Examples: In "Tzahal" the mark indicates an acronym, Tzava Haganah LeYisrael, the Israel Defense Forces. In "Tashpah," a year, the mark is not an acronym at all but a sign that this is not a Hebrew word but a number; otherwise the reader would read it as a word. Likewise a quotation mark at the beginning of a word and at the end of a sentence means a quotation, and one does not ask of a quotation what its letters stand for.
And as for kittel: The mark comes to indicate that this is not a Hebrew word. In Hebrew its meaning is a white garment, a sort of cloak.