Cf. Siddur, p. 368-371
[Every day from Rosh Chodesh Nissan until the twelfth of the month, usually after
Shacharis,] one reads the passage [from
Bamidbar 7-8:4] that describes the offering brought on that day by a particular
Nasi, or tribal prince, for the dedication of the altar of the
Mishkan. [In common parlance, each day's passage itself is often referred to as "the
Nasi."] This daily reading is followed by the prayer which opens with the words
yehi ratzon (and which appears in
Siddur Torah Or [as well as in
Siddur Tehillat HaShem, p. 371]). This prayer is recited even by a
Kohen or a
Levi [despite its seeming relevance only to tribes other than the Tribe of Levi].
[284]
The second of Nissan is the
yahrzeit of [the fifth of the Rebbeim of
Chabad,] Rabbi Shalom DovBer - the Rebbe Rashab [5621 (1860) - 5680 (1920)].
"The Rebbe Rashab passed away at about 4:30 a.m. on Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Vayikra, before daybreak on the second of Nissan, 5680, in Rostov [on the River Don], and his resting place is there."[285]
"At about twenty minutes after four, with the approach of dawn on the second day of the first month, the highest heavens opened up, and the pure soul ascended - to pour itself forth into its Father's bosom. With a holy sweetness, with a noble tranquillity, our holy master handed over his soul to G-d, the L-rd of all spirits."[286]
The eleventh of Nissan is the birthday of the seventh of the Rebbeim of
Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson - the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Shlita, who was born in 5662 (1902), and assumed the mantle of leadership in 5710 (1950).
[287] May he be blessed with long and happy years!
The thirteenth of Nissan is the
yahrzeit of the third of the Rebbeim of
Chabad, Rabbi Menachem Mendel - the
Tzemach Tzedek, who [was born in 5549 (1789) and] assumed the leadership in 5588 (1827).
[288]
"Moreover, we must inform you of the passing of our holy master during the night preceding Thursday, the thirteenth of Nissan, 37 minutes after ...[289] a.m."[290]
This was in 5626 (1866); his resting place is in the village of Lubavitch.
The
Haftorah beginning
vearvah (
Malachi 3:4-24) is read only when
Shabbos HaGadol falls on
erev Pesach. This passage tells of the tithe that was to be brought to the storehouse [of the
Beis HaMikdash], and the time for clearing one's home of tithes (in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical cycle) was
erev Pesach.
Following the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, end of sec. 430, after Minchah on Shabbos HaGadol we read part of the Haggadah, from avadim hayinu until lechapeir al kol avonoseinu, because the redemption and the miracles began on the Shabbos before Pesach.[292]
It is not the custom in the Rebbe's household to make the
rav an
agent for the sale
(mechiras chametz); rather, the leaven is sold to him outright, with an
areiv kablan, a third-party guarantor.
[293]
The search for leaven
(bedikas chametz) takes place after
Maariv.[294]
It is customary in the Rebbe's household to place ten pieces of hard bread in various places, each wrapped in paper.
One searches by the light of a beeswax candle (Shulchan Aruch, sec. 433) and with a feather. The chametz found is placed in a small paper bag. After the search one places the bag, together with the feather and any remnant of the candle, in a wooden spoon. All this is then wrapped in paper (except for the spoon handle which remains uncovered), and bound several times with string, which is then knotted.
From the morning of
erev Pesach until after the
korech of the Second
Seder it is our custom not to eat any of the ingredients of the
charoses or
maror.
"Some time after writing the above," [notes the Rebbe Shlita,] "I read that certain people are accustomed not to eat chazeres [for a certain time] before Pesach, and that this was the custom of the Rashba."
The Rebbe
Shlita has asked everyone, especially
rabbanim, shochatim and anyone else involved in communal activities, to endeavor to distribute round, hand-baked
matzos - specifically
shemurah - to their acquaintances, sufficient for at least both
Sedarim. People organizing communal
Sedarim, in hotels and the like, should also attend to this.
[296]
The Rebbe Rashab used to be present at the baking of shemurah matzah after midday on erev Pesach. He would join in the Hallel, interrupting his recitation - even in the middle of a chapter - to direct the kneading, baking, and so on.[297]
It is the custom of the Rebbe Shlita to distribute shemurah matzah after Minchah on erev Pesach, at which time he wears the silk surtuk (frock coat) of Shabbos and Yom-Tov, and a gartl.[298]
When
Shabbos coincides with a
Yom-Tov or
Chol HaMoed, the last stanza of
Lechah Dodi reads
gam besimchah uvtzahalah.
When a Yom-Tov or Chol HaMoed coincides with Shabbos, the following passages are said in a whisper: shalom aleichem, eishes chayil, mizmor leDavid, da hi seudasa.[299]
Though the Torah
[300] ordains that one should rejoice on
Yom-Tov, one should certainly not become intoxicated, and the like; as
Rambam writes with regard to
simchas Yom-Tov, "One should not over-indulge in wine
[301] and so on."
[302]
Rabbi Chayim Avraham (son of the Alter Rebbe) once visited his brother, the Mitteler Rebbe (Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch), to wish him a good
Yom-Tov. On that occasion he related that the Alter Rebbe had once said: "On Pesach one does not offer a visitor food and drink, but the visitor may help himself."
[303]
On the second night of Pesach, the Prayer Before Retiring at Night follows the same order as on any other festival.
[304]
Notes:
- (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 41. (According to the instructions given for this reading in Siddur Torah Or and Tehillat HaShem, on the thirteenth of Nissan one should read [the summarizing paragraph which begins] zos chanukas mizbeiach (i.e., from Bamidbar 7:84 to 8:4). This would appear to be an oversight, because in his Shulchan Aruch (429:15) the Alter Rebbe writes that on the thirteenth day one should read from [the beginning of] Parshas Behaalos'cha until kein asah es hamenorah (i.e., Bamidbar 8:1-4), a passage that corresponds to the Tribe of Levi. - The above comment is among the last of the notes with which R. Avraham Chayim Naeh introduces his Piskei HaSiddur.) The actual practice to be followed requires clarification.
- (Back to text) From Chanoch LaNaar (Kehot, N.Y.), p. 16; see also HaYom Yom, entry for 2 Nissan. Regarding the circumstances of his passing, see Ashkavta DeRebbe [by Rabbi Moshe DovBer Rivkin; Vaad LeHadpasas HaKuntreis, N.Y., 1953].
- (Back to text) From a letter of the Rebbe Rayatz, published in Chachmei Yisrael Baal Shem Tov [and in Igrois Koidesh (Letters of the Rebbe Rayatz), Vol. I, p. 110].
- (Back to text) For an outline of the biography and activities of the Rebbe Shlita, see the introductory summary in HaYom Yom (bi-lingual edition, pp. A19-A26). [See also Yemei Melech (a documented biographical study of the Rebbe Shlita), compiled by Rabbi M. M. Laufer (Kehot, Kfar Chabad, 1989; 3 vols., Heb.).]
- (Back to text) For his biography, see the Appendices to the Responsa entitled Tzemach Tzedek, in the section dealing with Orach Chayim; see also [the Biographical Appendix to] Derech Mitzvosecha, collated by the Rebbe Shlita; and see Beis Rebbe, Part III.
- (Back to text) The manuscript page is torn at this point.
- (Back to text) From the manuscript book known as "87-Schneiderman," p. 49a.
- (Back to text) The majority of the following customs of the Pesach season are taken from the Haggadah shel Pesach im Likkutei Minhagim VeTaamim [compiled and edited by the Rebbe Shlita. Page references in the present work are to its bi-lingual edition (see footnote 226 above), here referred to in brief as Haggadah for Pesach.] See there at length.
- (Back to text) See Haggadah for Pesach, p. alef.
- (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 45.
- (Back to text) Appendix to Haggadah shel Pesach, p. 63; HaYom Yom, p. 45.
- (Back to text) [More grammatically, matzah shemurah ("guarded matzah"); i.e., matzah baked from wheat that has been guarded with especial care against dampness and consequent leavening. "Shemurah matzah" is the inverted form of the term commonly used by Yiddish- and English-speakers.]
- (Back to text) From a talk of the Rebbe Shlita on Shabbos Mevarchim Nissan, 5714, which appears in full [in Yiddish] as an appendix to the second edition of Likkutei Dibburim, Likkut 23; for English translation, see Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. V.
- (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 45.
- (Back to text) Such was the practice of the Previous Rebbe in his latter years.
- (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 46.
- (Back to text) This obligation applies likewise today; see: Rambam, Hilchos Yom-Tov 6:17-18; Chinuch, Mitzvah 488; Shulchan Aruch (Beis Yosef and Alter Rebbe), Orach Chayim, end of sec. 529; and elsewhere, including Shaagas Aryeh, where this view is expounded at length in sec. 65. It differs from Tosafos, s.v. asah, in Moed Katan 14b. See also Sdei Chemed, Divrei Chachamim, sec. 84.
- (Back to text) Hilchos Yom-Tov 6:20-21. See also Shulchan Aruch, end of sec. 529, which quotes the above words of Rambam, and adds (presumably in order to conclude on a positive note), "...but all should be holy," in the spirit of the teaching in the Yerushalmi (Yevamos 2:4) and in Vayikra Rabbah (24:6), that "one who keeps his distance from promiscuity is called kadosh, holy" - and it is this that the Shulchan Aruch alludes to in its reference to transgression. (Note of the Rebbe Shlita.).
- (Back to text) From the Introduction by the Rebbe Shlita to Kuntreis No. 100.
- (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 47. [The reason: to avert embarrassing a visitor who may have undertaken certain stringencies involving his Pesach food.]
- (Back to text) Ibid., p. 45.
Rosh Chodesh