Pesach: Eating Matzah - Part 2 - Rabbi Reuven Lauffer

I anyone who's obligated to eat matza is obligated to eat a cos I'd because I'd is a minimum amount we have to see what I cause I'd is exactly two just to make sure that we understand I heard the most fascinating story from a bush a vice told over a story about a year accosted who during during the Holocaust in the in the ghetto and Warsaw was attacked by the Nazis and beaten up just before pesach and they smell actually they smashed him pretty badly and they smashed that his teeth and he was left in on a state of great pain and disrepair as well and he came to I think it was rough and I from ziemba was the one of the one of the biggest time they took on him in the in the ghetto at the time and he was very upset very upset and if we imagine right so resemble was sure that that this fellow was going to come and complain why he's got do this to me what's going on and said the only thing he came in he asked was that he says how on earth am I going to be able to fulfill the literal eating matter on Channel Baeza they knocked out all my teeth so I was never told him he said he gave him permission to grind up the Lancer into may turn it into small pieces as possible he said them to eat it together with water than what to wash it down that's a big thing why the housesitting that's a big thing because they'd only what's called Braga broke i don't eat matza there's been mixed with liquid and he said that resemble said that this fellow left in tears over the fact that he was going to have to fulfill the mitch's entire life he never eaten matter that was mixed together with liquid and now he's going to have to do it in or fulfill the mitzvot and it's like I'm Jane Kathleen so you know it make it it's always sound to us very very detailed very very you know i don't i don't know like sort of like to detail like that does it really make any difference how much month so we go we just gonna be like this amount that not that amount of what difference is available of mater this is this is how we're going to fulfill the meter right Judaism is a very a very exact religion it's very detailed religion and it's inconceivable that you should able to eat there's a mitzvah to eat mud from pay stuff and it's not going to tell you how much money you need to eat what's the minimum so let's have a look we are going to use the rulings of the husband is just to explain there are three basic approaches to or in the culture room which is sizes the the most stringent is the cousin ish that's who was considered to be the hierarchical authority in Israel I lived in the 50s over here there's a medium like an answer like a medium sized and that's right moshe feinstein and then there's a smallest size of all which is our crime know which is coming from a disagreement where is it coming from it's coming from a sort of like some a somewhat vague definition of how much these amounts are supposed to be right it's each one has got their own definition of how much aikizai it is right and so what we're going to use is we're going to use the the measurements of the cousin ish it's true that they are going to be larger than the other measurements but on the other hand that way at least we know that we've covered our bases over here so deal ricer torah obligation for focal olympics of eating occurs eyes is going to be a half of a hand matzah or two thirds of a machine mutter right now hand wats is a bigger than machine mutters yesterday we spoke about the idea that machine monsters are square and hamlet is around and the hamlet is normally considerably considerably bigger the best way of describing half of a hand matter size-wise is to say that it's about half of a hand size matter that's why I think that's about the most accurate way of describing it if you want to describe it a watermelon terms then please feel free to do so but of course it does depend on the size of the watermelon here and and where you cut it of course in watermelon is not round it's it's more of an ovoid shape shape you know only things the hand mutters are bigger machine much as a small that means you got to eat more of a machine man certain order fulfill emitter that's all right so it's two thirds of a machine matter path of a hand but Sir there are burnin a rabbinical obligation so it's going to be less a Durant bonin so we were going to be a little bit less stringent right there's room for a little bit of a flexibility liberal and leniency and that means that in order to fill a dura bonin which are a bit achill a rabbinical obligation which is definitely the koi Auschwitz definitely the sandwich that he'll owe makes using the matter and the morrow for that you need a quarter of a hand matter and a third of a machine matter I mean it you look you know the truth no matter is that this correct is the sandwich that he'll 08 it doesn't have to be a sandwich sure you don't have to you know together put the put the mower in between two pieces of matter it's just the easiest way to eat it but you could just put them are on top of the matter and eat it like that you don't have to have a another piece on the top so now we worked out how much mutter use Posey the question is within how much time you're supposed to eat it I'd everything's got a time frame there's something in our locker called kadai a keyless press cudahy lat press what is that kadhi a key that price is the amount of time that it would take you to eat acres ice of food because I said bread right now how long is that so for a deal riser it's going to be two minutes now that may sound okay to you but it's actually it's quite a it's quite an avoided to take the because I have mutter and two you've got to eat it and swallow it all within two minutes right matter is not an easy thing to swallow you can wash it down with water but if you're washing it down with water of course it's going to it's just going to take longer to wear and we're not even going to discuss over here the opinion of the brisker of which is that the cause I of matza needs to be in one go and swallowing one go where we're going to talk about that because if you do that you may never do anything ever again but at least you'll have you know at least you'll have made enough you'll have made it upstairs in the middle of a mid so which is probably the best way to go right the Gabara says that one I come and one of the tannoy you said that that's how yes how wants to die in the process of doing a mitzvah so that before she ran screaming the process why not having just fulfilled the mitzvot surely that's the way to go and they say no that the best way to go is really in the in the midst of the midst for itself again I'm not suggesting anything over here you know and it's a shame you could you can you can push that off for a long time in insertion it all events for at DIA riser two minutes for a deer are born on for a bitter commit sir we've got much more time up for nine minutes so again what have we got over here we've got for the first Lloyd C matter you're going to have to eat a half of a a half of a hand matter in two minutes or two thirds of a machine matter in two minutes for the coil rack which is the sandwich together with the morrow so you can eat a quarter of a hand matter or a third of a machine lancer yeah within nine minutes you've got much more time to be able to do it it there is a custom that some people have not to eat mutter before pesach the question is from when so some people have a custom not to eat matza from pouring a whole month before they don't need anything that's got mad sir so that would include canailer and you know and anything anything that's got matter inside of it you know what let's start at the beginning that the the indian is you're not you're not allowed no one is allowed to eat matza on air of Pesach I which means that when we go into pesach was supposed to be eating the mutts and it's gonna be the first time we've eaten it at least that day we're going to eat it with an appetite and it's going to be something special some people have taken that further they said okay you know what obviously you're not supposed to eat the matter on the day before pesach so obviously there's a ningun over here of not eating matzah in order to have an anticipation and excitement about eating it so some people have the custom not to eat a month before some people have the custom not to eat from rosh chodesh which is two weeks before and the the the the meaning of unchi liter Lithuanian Lynn ugh is just to do as our locker says and not to eat matter and from the day before pesach until the night of paisa whatever you do it just really depends on your on your mimic right your family may take your community manager boom by the Hasidim that's a big thing they normally stop a month before I must admit that in my family we didn't we didn't stop and we didn't eat very much matter to begin with actually except for on pacer it was a very it was a it's a very economical food because on top of everything else it doesn't go stale which is that you know you can bake a batch of it and then you just you've got it it's just there but the idea of not eating on air of pesach is that when we come to eat it on pace I can tell we're going to make a broker of a lucky lad some matzo right and it should be something no should something you found something new something fresh so Friday unit so for thursday night from thursday night for the people who hold according to the lithuanian custom in a glitter so they should they should stop eating mutters only from the night before right on your download from the decas comments on words they should be eating lots of everybody else again follow follow your family minik follow your family custom follow your community custom like i mentioned before by the Hasidim they tend to they tend to stop eating a lot before everybody else does and whatever you whatever you do it's absolutely fine really you know the only thing that I college bowl can pin on you when you get upstairs the 8220 is that you ate mad so after I Scottish nissen then you're in pretty good shape i reckon much that's a Shearer you can eat because that's not considered to be the matter of pacer I don't mean that I mean you know today we eat message that has to be go sure we know where they come from when we receive on the box face up not matters that were made for 4pm that I've called matters because that all they are is is flying and now so all all mods that all matter right it's just a stop eating all matter regardless of when it was made of regardless of why it was made as well there is in the market i mentioned the other day there is matter which is hamid stick right what is called what is what is hamid stick matter can't be used on Pesach obviously but what is covered sig matter because the flower that's being used is flour that's not been supervised if it's flour that's been through a sister it's been it's been through a production and it's not it's fantastic it's 11 you written on the box customer service all the other most anchor the same it tastes exactly the same it looks exactly the same but the truth of the matter is even that's ashira looks the same as other mats and they taste different right there not so sure if you remember the matter with the egg in it or with with the juice in it that kind of matter you can use without any problem whatsoever even on your dollar which means if you're a matzo fiend with which I mean I don't really know you well enough to say but I would say you're half of that is true and the meaning is not to eat for a month before so just use matter I share that's okay that's not considered to be matter even though it looks like matter it's not considered to be matter get one of the definitely matter is let him only like we spoke about first time I'm hearing that people leave much for no other reason why my wisest Nick my white uncle yes you imagine that most people don't even matter because they have to my wife's uncle loved matzo loved it and he would he would make a mighty on matzo you know given the choice he would make a mighty over matter and he certainly made a mighty and shallow shoot is always a matter and they used to buy lots of the stuff a pesar comes you just keep its really yeah you know but that was his particular thing the you're actually tell you I'll tell you a fascinating story about him he was a very front man and he actually created he invented the first nuclear submarine together with Admiral rickover they were partners they were working for the American government and they invented the first nuclear submarine and he told me he was a nuclear physicist after the chemin alia and he lived over here in Israel and he worked in Barry Chevy University in Tel Aviv University on the on things that apparently Israel doesn't have so I'm not quite sure what he was working on our glow-in-the-dark watch faces perhaps that maybe that's why they needed the uranium I something something like that anyway and he told me that every single bit of research that he ever did in the laboratory brought him closer to a xem nuclear physics is a fascinating thing I like the idea of breaking things down smaller and smaller and smaller and then imagine that you've got to the smallest and breaking the Atem and then going further and further and where they're holding our bike walks or something I think at some point they're going had to stop because I can't think of any more names but in the meat in the meantime so I sent him that's interesting i said but what about admirable admirable was Jewish he just he would happen to be completely assimilated he was married believe it or not he was married to a from Roman Catholic woman anyway so I asked my wife's uncle I said to him okay know if every bit of research brought you closer to a Shem so what about recover what happened to him so he said well every single bit of research to recover ever did brought him closer to the next bit of research he looked at he looked at you know science as being a bill to an end all and that that was his that was his passion and like I said you know like they between them they created something which was truly an astonishing an astonishing concept the idea of having a submarine that can run on a nuclear engine that's going to stay underwater for months and months and be almost undetectable all right we're done with matzo let's have a look at morality what we've got over here so in that deposit says I'll mattos or modern in yellow right that we have to eat matza tomorrow on Pesach night however in order for the morrow to be a deal right in order for it to be a total obligation we have to eat it together with the korban pesach with a pesach offering now we don't have a temple right now it's a shed maybe before pesach everything will be taken care of we will have right if you people just down and over Chinese liver is a break yeah the it's got to be with in order for the bars to be a deal rice it's got to be with a comment a Saxon something with it with a piece of offering that means that unless all of you do chua right now it could be that I'm pesar the midst of eating the morrow is only going to be a rabbinical mitzvah and not a tyrant mitzvah what is Mara thanks Amara that the simple of the simple translation of the word Mara is bitter herbs right the word mar means something which is bitter the the Gomorrah lists five different possibilities of what can be used as more are and the interesting enough the least desirable choice is the most obvious choice which is what's called tanka tanka is horseradish accepted that like the best choice is lettuce believe it or not and the least choice because actually fuzzer yeah tamson why oh hey we're good it's all been in a minute let's have a look and see so not just any old letters but romaine lettuce you'll see in a minute why what the difference is which is the great big leafy very Glee feet leaves of lettuce what what's the big deal about that it was incredible idea a bunch of fighting explains like this it was an extraordinary idea remain romaine row row main that dark green leafy lettuce is when you start eating in it sweet you would have actually thought it's the absolute opposite of what you would need to eat to fulfill the mitzvot of Mara right and yet what happened says I voice you're finding did you keep eating it keep chewing it it becomes bitter I never worked for that oh so here that's what you've got to do on on say tonight you've got to chew and chew and it represents what happened in Egypt when we went down to Egypt Yaakov went down to Egypt together with it with his sons right and they set up their dwelling over there and they live the truth is that for 17 years that yankov was still alive they lived like kings over there they live they had everything they lived their life it was truly a life of luxury after yankov died it wasn't quite as good after the brothers died Yosef died first and then the other brothers died and then things started getting worse and worse and that that's when the terrible slavery started taking place says what Moshe fighting the Indian and eating more or is not just to remember that things were bitter in Egypt but to remember how things got better in Egypt they started off sweet they started off good daily letters D oh so what's what's the problem with horseradish the problem with the horseradish is it is better immediately you don't you don't get that you don't get that that build-up to reach the bitterness to understand what was happening over there so before we go any further and others not not to do with our lockers of morrow but there's most incredible much incredible lesson over here something which is absolutely vital to understanding what the concept of Exile really is yaakov avenal lived for 17 years in Egypt he lived like a king and that's part of the exile after you after you met yourself right Yitzhak who lived before Yakov Yitzhak from the 400 years accounted for the birth of Yitzhak for we have 400 years of being in godless of being in exile right Yitzhak never left the Land of Israel and yet the amount of time that he was there is included inside of the 400 years so the rabbi's explains something very very important over here exile is not a state of being it's a state of mind if we understand that we're in exile then we can live anywhere in comfort and it's going to be okay right so for example Yitzhak aveeno can live in Israel and it's part of the exile because he knows that this is not the way it's supposed to be yet Yaakov Levine who can live like a king in Egypt and it's part of the exile because he knows the whole time this is not where he's supposed to be when does a physical when is it become physical when does it start becoming nasty when does it start becoming bitter only when we start losing sight of the fact that this is not the way that it's supposed to be was then deep insight into the fact that language Joseph died then things started yet yes sorry Hudson he was such a dick that after it's like yeah you said yes it is a glue Lelouch yeah pretty much yes Joseph is the glue that holds the Jewish people together and keep some pointed in the right direction when Yosef is no longer around so all of a sudden it's like here we are this is where we're supposed to be and I'll tell you this interesting thing you can go back into the writings of the early authorities what are called they were showing it and you'll see among some of them they they talk they decry the the the enormous houses that people are busy building themselves Jews are busy building themselves in the communities that we live in outside of Israel and he says that these people have lost sight of what it is that they're supposed to be doing right what would you think that when a person coming 20 when a person builds himself a beautiful mansion what does that person really saying I'm saying I'm here this is this is where I am right this is where I'm going to be and that's not it that's not a great that's not a great state of mind to be in that's not healthy for the Jewish people I've met over the years very few very wealthy people who do not buy they don't own their own homes outside of Israel the rent they may rent beautiful places but the fact that they're renting is for them an indication that means you're not worried mid-session we're going to get it rather than chef is going to come gonna leave it all behind it's going to be great it's going to be fine so you hear that the idea of the lettuce apparently the romaine lettuce is that it starts off sweet and then it gets bitter and that's what we that's the whole you know in a sense that's like the essence of of Jewish history is that we we never learn anything from what's going on we never pay any attention so we get thrown out of one country and we go off to the next country and over a few generations we started stabbing our show establishing ourselves and just becoming you know more and more established wondering you The Wandering Jew right wondering why it is that we're wondering I guess What's Wrong MA by the way interestingly enough horseradish for those of you are not familiar with it horseradish is when you grate it it becomes it's it's incredibly powerful but if you leave it for a while then the it's not yet it starts to die down the the intensity and that's why interestingly enough the Nile offered says that if you're gonna if you are going to use horseradish you should great the horseradish just before the Seder and not great it in the afternoon at some point right but in the old days you couldn't do that so they say that you shouldn't you should create the horseradish just before the Seder that it should have a potent see to it that it wouldn't have otherwise in all events how much so a cos ious akka sighs how much is a cos IOUs okay so here we go for romaine lettuce with the emphasis on the oh oh we're talking about enough leaves to be 8 by 10 inches or 20 20 and a half centimeters by 25 and half centimeters 8 by 10 inches I would just take take a bunch of leaves put them together normally if you if you got sort of biggish leaves it's like to maybe two it's going to be enough for you to be able to fulfill the mitzvot of eating the horseradish as the sorry the lettuce if you're using horseradish so it's 32 milliliters what 11.1 fluid ounces for anybody here who doesn't understand milliliters so it's quite it's quite an amount right in the horseradish terms it's quite the mount who's obligated with a mr. Amaro everybody anyway let's finish with a little story I told this story hoga at the that that thing that we had a couple of weeks ago but it's a cute stories I want to tell him again by my many many years ago decades ago in the area that we lived in a non Jewish family opened up a green grocery store fruits and vegetables and it was a couple of weeks before pesach and my mother mother believed that it was it was like a mid sir to go and support the local stores so she she told me she told all her friends that she got make their face of Hoarders by this fella so off everybody went now yet to summer than in the non-jewish world horseradish is some you know that the greengrocer will stalk you know a few bits of horseradish not more than that and all of a sudden it's like army of housewives are coming and they're making that big orders for pesach you need lots of things I lots of potatoes off the lettuce and they wanted horseradish as well and he wasn't really really wasn't geared up for this and he ran out of horseradish and then what whatever a lot of people were pretty upset about it all anyway in all events a couple of weeks later my mother goes in to make her weekly order and the fellow he says mrs. Lavery says come I want to show you something and he takes it to the back room to the storeroom where although all the produce is that's not out right and he shows in the middle of the storm on the floor there's like a mountain of horseradish and he says is it he took my mother said he was so pleased with himself he said he found that there was another Jewish festival coming up and he was going to make any mistakes his time and he'd ordered all right he heard all of the horseradish that he could get he lorded it all I and my mother did not know what to do with her so because on the one she didn't want to upset it you know he went to all this trouble and trying to help out the Jews over here and then right but on the other hand he couldn't let she couldn't let him sell this stuff try tried selling this stuff to all the Jewish clients to come in right here yeah can I give you can I give you a couple of kilos of horseradish is you know yeah what we all need is stuff on pacer so she didn't know what to do so in the end my mother who was like she was like a real Sudeikis and she actually want to hurt anybody so she bought she bought tons of the stuff NASA's of it it just it just lay around in our garden shed for months until my father finally threw it away anyway in all events just one last thing which is very very important with regards to tomorrow and we'll finish with this for today even though I told you were going to finish with that story but I said something which was definitely an accurate but lettuce lettuce is prone to bugs infestation and it's absolutely vital first for bahasham today you can buy Lettuce there is as it's got no no bugs it's not great it's not grown in the ground doesn't have to be organic hydroponic lettuce it's bug-free it's been grown in very special ways it comes already with a hatchet on it saying that it's bug-free all you have to do is wash it off because it's a little bit sandy and you can you can you can use that without having to check if you're not going to do that checking lettuce is a real avoider you've got to take the lettuce leaves like Sean soak them rinse them hold them up to the light I mean it's a great big thing it really is why my friends father's went out and bought himself you know that the machines that they have yet they stick the x-rays into rightly stick of it he bought one of those to put on the table and that's how he checked is how he checked his letters in his rice but it's like it's a real bahasham today you donít we don't have to do it you're really done you can just go out its cost a little bit more depends what rice you're using but some rice comes in vacuum-packed packets that have got a hechsher on them other other other right if you don't have actual it's got to be checked rice rice that gets eaten for pesach anybody a week spacer or anyone who eats pays off on rice or even Bryce on pizza needs to be checked three times why is that because it's not just the buggy's you it's it's grains right you just and the grains get mixed together you've got to get rid of all everything except for the rice has got to be taken out sumsung there are some spotty communities where they don't where they'd only right on pace I've got my kidneys either but for those are doing just something you know something it needs to be done it so it's a big it's a big job a real big job in all events it's worth paying a little bit more to get lettuce for the Seder that's been checked no bugs you'll have to worry about anything and that way you know it saves an awful lot of energy you