Torat Imecha
Mrs. Tobi Wolf, Principal
The Mishna in Pesachim (119b) tells us:
אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן
One does not conclude by eating after the consumption of the Korban Pesach.
There is a famous dispute between Rav and Shmuel regarding this law. Rav says that the Rabbis formulated this prohibition so that a person would not leave his/her חבורה, (designated group) after eating the Korban and eat of the Korban Pesach of another חבורה. (Think of Succah hopping….)
Shmuel explains that the term “Afikomen” refers to varied delicacies that people eat after the meal; in modern terms, we are talking about dessert. The Rashbam elaborates on Shmuel’s’s view: Even within the same חבורה, it is forbidden to eat anything after the (Korban) Pesach, שלא יאבד ממנו טעם הפסח , so that the taste of the Pesach will not be lost from him
However, we do drink the last 2 cups of wine after finishing the meal that concludes with Korban Pesachl. We are also permitted to drink water after the Seder, so the taste of the Korban Pesach is technically “washed away”. Then what is Shmuel’s saying? And how can we understand this machloket?
According to Rav, the Rabbis formulated a technical prohibition to engage in an act of eating outside the חבורה. The Rashbam explains that Rav’s view would actually allow a person to eat dessert after eating the Korban, as long as the person stays within one’s own חבורה.
Shmuel understood the halacha differently. The entire purpose of the Seder is to recount the story of leaving Mitzrayim through the mitzvot of the night, Pesach, Matzah and Maror. When the Rashbam talks about the taste of the Korban Pesach, he is not referring to the actual taste of the food. He means the טעם המצוה, the taste of the mitzvah of Korban Pesach that was eaten with Matzah and Maror. He is referring to an attitude towards the mitzvah that we call חבוב המצוה, the love of the mitzvah.
The Seder night is supposed to impact each one of us, so that we emerge from the experience filled with gratitude to Hashem for saving us and molding us into a viable nation. We experience awe when we contemplate the miracles that demonstrated His exquisite control over the natural word. In halachic terms, the involvement in the unique mitzvot of this night is supposed to produce a new גברא, a new state of mind of gratitude and awe. The prohibition to eat serves to preserve that state of the גברא, so that he/she can savor the beauty of the mitzvah. To eat something extraneous to this סעודת מצוה, to engage in the mundane activity of normal eating, would distract us and neutralize that special state of mind.
And so, as we busy ourselves with preparing for Pesach, let’s allow ourselves to relax a bit before the Seder. Let us sit down with our families and savor our Seder experience, through the mitzvot of this special night, the fifteenth of Nissan. Let us go to sleep with the sweet taste of mitzvah lingering on our lips.
חג כשר ושמח!
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