Shulchan Aruch, Siman 471, se'if 2, in the words of the Rema:
"Some have the custom not to eat chazeres on erev Pesach, so that they will eat the maror with an appetite."
(Rema)
Identifying "chazeres": romaine lettuce
- This is not today's chrein: What Chazal and the Shulchan Aruch call "chazeres" is not what we call chazeres today (horseradish). It is what we call romaine lettuce.
- The preferred maror: According to the Gemara the choicest maror is chasah (lettuce), and the reason given is a play on the word: chasah, chas rachmana alan, the Holy One had mercy on us. We take a food whose very name evokes mercy.
- Which lettuce: The poskim write that the reference is to lettuce whose taste tends slightly toward bitterness, and that variety is preferable.
- The five species: Just as the Mishnah lists five grains with which one fulfills the mitzvah of matzah (wheat, barley, spelt, oats and rye), so the Mishnah lists five species with which one fulfills the obligation of maror. The first is chasah, and after it charchavina, endives and the like.
- Why chrein became the custom outside Eretz Yisrael: Outside Eretz Yisrael lettuce was not readily available, and where it was available people were concerned about insects. So they took a different one of the kosher species, such as horseradish. It is not because horseradish is bitter (its taste is sharp, not bitter), but simply because there was no lettuce. The poskim recommend lettuce, and one who cannot obtain it takes one of the other species.
- Chazeres and maror on the ke'arah: On the Seder plate both "chazeres" and "maror" are listed, and some have the custom to use a potato. The details of this and the brachos will be explained in their place.
The reason for the custom and the view of the Mishnah Berurah
"Maror with an appetite: there is no reason for this custom."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 15)
- The difference between matzah and maror: With matzah there is room to refrain from eating it on erev Pesach so that one eats it at night with an appetite. Maror, on the other hand, is eaten in order to recall the bitterness of our forefathers' bondage in Mitzrayim, and there is no point at all in eating it with an appetite. Therefore there is no reason for the custom to refrain from chazeres on erev Pesach.
Eating less matzah on the first day of Yom Tov outside Eretz Yisrael
"Therefore some have the practice to eat less matzah on the first day, in order to eat it on the second day with an appetite."
(Rema)
"Strictly speaking one must be careful on every first day of Yom Tov, since it is erev the second day of Yom Tov."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 16)
- The practical difference: This applies outside Eretz Yisrael, where there is a second Seder night. There one eats less matzah on the first day so that there will be an appetite for the matzah at the second Seder. In Eretz Yisrael there is no second day of Yom Tov and the issue does not arise.
A further stringency: fruit, because of the charoses
"And some are even more stringent not to eat fruit, in order to eat the charoses with an appetite."
(Rema)
- What charoses is made of: Charoses is made from fruit and wine. According to Tosafos one takes for the charoses those fruits mentioned in Shir HaShirim, to which Klal Yisrael is compared, such as pomegranate and apple, as well as dates and almonds.
- The view of the Mishnah Berurah: One need not be concerned with this custom.
A further stringency: crumbling matzos on erev Pesach
"And some are stringent not to crumble or break the matzos on erev Pesach."
(Rema)
- The reason for the stringency: Someone busy handling the matzos may come to taste them by mistake on erev Pesach.
- The view of the Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 17): One need not be concerned with this either, since a person is not accustomed to eating matzah all year round. With chametz, which a person eats all year, there is room to worry that he will put some in his mouth absent-mindedly, but with matzah there is no such concern.
Matzah that was crumbled and kneaded with wine and oil
"Matzah that was baked properly and afterward was crumbled and kneaded with wine and oil is not called matzah ashirah, and it is forbidden to eat it on erev Pesach."
(Shulchan Aruch)
"It is not called matzah ashirah, and the status of matzah has not been removed from it through this."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 20)
- The principle: The matzah that may not be eaten on erev Pesach is matzah with which one could fulfill the obligation on the Seder night. The proof: matzah ashirah is permitted on erev Pesach according to the Sephardim, precisely because one does not fulfill the obligation with it at night.
- A halachah that applies to Sephardim as well: Matzah baked properly and then crumbled retains the status of matzah, and is therefore forbidden on erev Pesach.
- And nevertheless one does not fulfill the obligation with it: Even though it retains the status of matzah, one should not use it to fulfill the obligation at night, because other ingredients have been mixed into it.
"Nevertheless, it is not proper to use it to fulfill the obligation of matzah at night."
(Mishnah Berurah)
Cooked matzah
"All this is when it was not cooked, but if it was cooked, as is our practice in these lands to make matzah balls, matzah cooked in a kli rishon may be eaten before the tenth hour."
(Mishnah Berurah)
- The reason: Matzah that has been cooked is no longer called matzah, and it is therefore permitted.
- Matzah meal: There are differing opinions on this, and some are lenient.
Se'if 3: one who began eating before the tenth hour
"If he began eating before the tenth hour and his meal extended until nightfall..."
(Shulchan Aruch)
- What case is being discussed (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 21): He began eating matzah ashirah, following the Sephardic custom. Even though he began permissibly, he must stop; he may eat only until bein hashemashos, and afterward he must wait until he is certain it is night.
- According to the Ashkenazic custom (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 25): The Acharonim write that according to the Rema's practice, that one does not eat matzah ashirah at all, even on erev Pesach, the Mechaber's halachah does not apply here at all, since he never started eating bread to begin with. There is no way to say "he began permissibly so he may continue," because from the tenth hour one eats nothing made of grain at all.
- Fruit for Ashkenazim: Fruit is permitted both before the tenth hour and after it.
Preparations on erev Yom Tov
"It is a mitzvah to bathe and to shave on erev Yom Tov, and to wear fine clothing as on Shabbos."
(Shulchan Aruch)
- Honoring the Yom Tov: Pesach is Yom Tov, and in certain respects even more than that, so it is obvious that one should get a haircut, shave and wear fine clothing in order to receive the Yom Tov properly.
- Immersing in honor of the Yom Tov (Mishnah Berurah): "After midday he should go and bathe and immerse in honor of the Yom Tov." The basis of this is the halachah that a person is obligated to purify himself for the Yom Tov. According to some poskim this applied in the times of the Beis HaMikdash, when people would come up to Yerushalayim and enter the Mikdash, while other poskim hold the mitzvah applies even nowadays. Accordingly, some people do not immerse on erev Shabbos but do immerse on erev Yom Tov.
- Studying the order of the korban Pesach: "After Minchah it is proper to occupy oneself with the laws of the korban Pesach," and it is considered for him as though he actually brought the korban. In the Haggados there are pesukim and passages printed at the beginning to be recited, along with the piece of Rav Shimshon of Ostropoli. After Minchah, when one has to prepare the ke'arah, if there is still time he should say these passages.
- One more thing mentioned there: A halachah relating to an avel on erev Pesach.
All of these practices serve one purpose: that he should come to the meal at night with an appetite, and therefore he is not given any substantial food beforehand.
Shulchan Aruch Siman 472: the laws of reclining and the four cups, containing 16 se'ifim
"He should set his table while it is still day, so that he can eat immediately when it gets dark; and even if he is in the beis midrash he should get up, because it is a mitzvah to hurry and eat for the sake of the children, so that they will not fall asleep. But he should not recite Kiddush until it is dark."
(Shulchan Aruch, se'if 1)
1. "To eat immediately when it gets dark": not literally eating
"So that he can eat immediately when it gets dark: not literally. The intent is that he should be able to begin the Seder as soon as it gets dark and not delay."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 1)
- The difference from Shabbos: On Shabbos one makes Kiddush and immediately begins the meal, whereas on the Seder night one makes Kiddush and then begins the Haggadah, which is a lengthy narrative.
- The practical conclusion: Everything should be prepared in advance, and as soon as it is all ready one begins the Seder without delay, especially when the hour is late because of daylight saving time.
2. Hurrying for the sake of the children
- Even one immersed in learning (Mishnah Berurah): Even one who is occupied with his learning in the beis midrash should get up. The same applies to davening: he must hurry himself to say Krias Shema and daven, and go straight home.
- "It is a mitzvah to hurry and eat" (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 3): The intent is not the eating itself, but to move along and conduct the Seder so that the children will not fall asleep.
- The main point of the night: A central component of the Seder night is the children. When the children see something different they will naturally ask "Mah nishtanah," and he will answer them and thereby fulfill "and you shall tell your son on that day." The mitzvah of the night is a mitzvas asei, and to fulfill it properly the children need to be awake.
- Practical advice: Whoever can should put the children to sleep in the afternoon so that they will last through the night. The afikoman likewise serves as an inducement to keep the children awake.
3. Why we do not make Kiddush while it is still day
"But he should not recite Kiddush: that is to say, do not think that since it is a mitzvah to hurry he should begin Kiddush and the Haggadah while it is still day, as we find on Shabbos and Yom Tov that one may add from the weekday onto the holy day and make Kiddush and eat while it is still day, as above in Siman 267 regarding accepting Shabbos and Yom Tov. This implies that regarding Pesach it is not so, because the eating of matzah is compared to the korban Pesach, as it says, 'with matzos and bitter herbs they shall eat it.'"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 4)
- The comparison to the korban Pesach: Eating matzah is compared to the korban Pesach, and the korban Pesach is eaten only at night, as it says, "and they shall eat the meat on this night." Therefore the korban cannot be eaten before tzeis hakochavim, and consequently the matzah and maror, which are an inseparable part of that same eating, may not be eaten before night either.
- Why Kiddush is drawn along with it: One might have thought to make Kiddush while it is still day and say the Haggadah unhurriedly, and then eat the matzah after tzeis hakochavim. But one of the foundations of the Haggadah is "ba'avur zeh": I said this only at a time when matzah and maror are lying before you. The Haggadah is bound up with the matzah and maror, and if the matzah belongs to the night alone, one may not begin the Haggadah beforehand.
- An additional reason: The cup of Kiddush is one of the four cups, and all of them are drawn along with the Haggadah, the matzah and the maror; they form one single unit.
- How long one waits (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 5): "Until it is dark" means until tzeis hakochavim, and not bein hashemashos.
- The conclusion: Although he may daven early, come home, arrange the cups, the Haggadah and the table, he cannot make Kiddush until tzeis hakochavim itself.
The four cups and their roles
- The first cup: the cup of Kiddush.
- The second cup: the cup of the Haggadah, over which the Haggadah is recited.
- The third cup: the cup of Birkas HaMazon.
- The fourth cup: the cup of Hallel.
Se'if 2: setting the table with fine vessels
"He should set his table with fine vessels according to his means, and prepare his seat so that he will sit at the meal in the manner of freedom."
(Shulchan Aruch)
"And even though all year round it is proper to do less of this as a remembrance of the churban, on the night of Pesach it is a mitzvah to do more, for this is included in the manner of freedom."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 6)
- Remembering the churban all year: Strictly speaking one leaves something on the table that is not arranged or not attractive, as a remembrance of the churban. Although not many are careful about this today, on the night of Pesach the halachah is the opposite: one should do more and set the table as beautifully as possible.
- The reason: On the night of Pesach a person must feel like a free man, and that feeling of freedom is expressed by a table set generously and richly. Therefore one puts out all the fine vessels he owns.
The Maharil's practice with pawned vessels
- Who the Maharil was: Rav Yaakov Levi Molin, one of the great authorities of Ashkenaz in Germany, at the end of the fourteenth century.
- The practice: When he held pledges from non-Jews, fine vessels such as goblets and platters, he would not use them at all during the year, but on the Seder night his practice was to set them out on a special table.
- The background: Jews in those days were barred from many occupations, and many of them made a living from lending on interest. With no banks or promissory notes, the lender would take a valuable object from the non-Jew as a pledge: a gold goblet, a silver platter and the like.
- The first reason: To rejoice that the nations are subservient to us; this is the way of free men.
- An additional reason: As a remembrance of the plunder of Mitzrayim, as it says, "and they requested from the Egyptians vessels of silver and vessels of gold and garments."
- Why he did not use them for food: The vessels were not kosher, and immersion alone does not help without hagalah, so they were set out for display only and not used.
- A similar custom: It is told of one great rav who would set out on his table on the Seder night not vessels, but the seforim he had authored, saying that these are his ornaments and in them is his delight.
In passing · Rav Yosef Zalman Meltzer, the Chofetz Chaim and "Eishes Chayil"
- The shidduch: It is told of Rav Yosef Zalman Meltzer that he was a serious bachur in yeshivah, and he was chosen as a match for the daughter of a very wealthy man who was looking for the greatest lamdan. In the middle of the negotiations the bachur fell seriously ill, and when he emerged from the illness he could barely walk, so the father wanted to call off the shidduch.
- The kallah's stand: The girl insisted that she wanted to marry specifically a talmid chacham, even though her parents objected with all their strength. In the end she proposed that they go to the Chofetz Chaim and do whatever he said.
- The Chofetz Chaim's answer: After hearing everything he said to her: "Listen, you should know. There are people who are healthy, and there are people who live long lives." And so it was: sickly though he was, he lived a long life.
- Gratitude in his seforim: He thanks her in his seforim, because she sold her jewelry to fund their printing.
- "Eishes Chayil": In this connection the discussion arose of what "chayil" means in "Eishes Chayil." There are many explanations, and one of them is that it refers to money as well, for in that chapter it says "she stretches out her hands to the distaff and her palms grasp the spindle," and also "she makes a linen garment and sells it." From here we see that the wife is also engaged in business and earns, and from those earnings she can fund the printing of seforim.