Delving into the Daf

Korban Pesach Conundrums

By Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

There is a well-known line we recite in the beginning of the Haggadah in the paragraph of Ha Lachma Anya. “Anyone who wants, may come and eat; anyone who wants, may come and join in the Pesach.” Seemingly, this line is a throwback from when we had the Korban Pesach. In the times of the Beis Hamikdosh, we used to invite any interested parties to partake of the Korban Pesach. Nowadays, when we sadly no longer have the Korban Pesach, we still say the same text.

However, this theory could not possibly be true. To partake of the Korban Pesach, you must have been one of its subscribers before it was slaughtered (Pesachim 61a). It is too late on Pesach night to decide that you want to partake of a particular Korban Pesach. The Korban Pesach was already sacrificed on Erev Pesach.

Indeed, this actually explains a rather peculiar custom that developed in certain communities. The custom was not to have guests for any meal the first two days of Pesach. Furthermore, they altered the text of the aforementioned line to read, “Whoever wants can come but may not eat anything.” This actually could be a throwback from when we had the Korban Pesach. You couldn’t invite last minute guests to partake of the Korban Pesach. Therefore, even if someone came and visited, they could observe but not eat.

The Bnei Yissaschar, however, explains the meaning of the text as it is recited by most of world Jewry. Indeed, he explains the flow of the first two sentences. We recite, “This is the poor man’s bread that our fathers ate in Egypt. Anyone who wants, may come and eat; anyone who wants, may come and join in the Pesach.” The Bnei Yissaschar explains that we eat matzah before and after the meal at the seder. The matzah before the meal is to fulfill our biblical mitzvah of eating matzah. However, the matzah after the meal is eaten as a remembrance of the Korban Pesach. The Korban Pesach was not eaten when one was starving, but after some food was eaten. Therefore, we eat the afikomen as a remembrance of the Korban Pesach that was also not eaten on an empty stomach. (Contrary to popular belief, one should still be somewhat hungry when he eats the afikomen. If one eats the afikomen on a full stomach, he has not fulfilled the mitzvah in the choicest manner. Understandably, this fine point in halacha is hard to fulfill.)

This then, suggests the Bnei Yissaschar, is the connection between the two statements. “We are eating poor man’s bread to fulfill the mitzvah of matzah of which anyone may come and join. We will also use the same matzah at the end of the meal to remember the Korban Pesach.” Implied in that statement is that since we do not have an actual Korban Pesach, anyone can even join in the seder at this late point.

Whole Wheat or White Flour?

One can offer a totally different interpretation of the first part of Ha Lachma Anya. Many hand matzah bakeries give the customer a choice of 100% whole wheat matzah and regular matzah. Regular matzah does have some bran, but not as much as the whole wheat version. Which matzah is preferable? It is clear that either option is acceptable to fulfill the mitzvah. The Nechamas Yosef suggests that perhaps the choice depends on what the matzah symbolizes. If it symbolizes the cheap bread that we ate as slaves, then certainly it should be minimally processed whole wheat. The Egyptians didn’t spend the time to sift the flour to make a better product. However, if the matzah symbolizes what we ate when we left Egypt, it should be made with the finest flour. Before they left Egypt, the Jews were not in a rush when they prepared fine flour and dough. They had to leave in a hurry and did not have time for the dough to rise. However, there is no reason to assume they didn’t take the time to prepare fine well sifted flour before they made the dough. Therefore, to achieve this symbolism, we should use matzah made from fine, well-sifted white flour.

This leads one as to a quandary as to which symbolism to choose: Slave food of whole wheat flour or “freedom matzah” made of fine flour.

Whatever one chooses is fine. We recite, “This is the poor man’s bread that our fathers ate in Egypt.” Therefore, choosing whole wheat is fine. “Anyone who wants, may come and eat.” Since one serves his guest the best food, serving matzah made with finely sifted flour is also acceptable. What if one has no guests? “Anyone who wants to partake of the Pesach may do so.” This alludes to the other reason for eating matzah. After Hashem skipped over the Jewish houses, the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim. Anyone who wants to symbolize the matzah that was eaten at that junction may do so. This permits finely sifted flour.

As noted above, the Shulchan Aruch rules that one may fulfill the miztvah of matzah in the preferred manner with matzah that is either made with whole wheat flour or with finely sifted white flour.

Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow is a rebbe at Yeshiva Ateres Shimon in Far Rockaway. In addition, Rabbi Sebrow leads a daf yomi chaburah at Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park in West Hempstead, NY. He can be contacted at ASebrow@gmail.com.