Save
Copy
Add to Collection
Export to Google Docs
Shareתָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: הַכֹּל חַיָּיבִין בְּאַרְבָּעָה כּוֹסוֹת הַלָּלוּ, אֶחָד אֲנָשִׁים, וְאֶחָד נָשִׁים, וְאֶחָד תִּינוֹקוֹת. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה: וְכִי מָה תּוֹעֶלֶת יֵשׁ לְתִינוֹקוֹת בְּיַיִן? אֶלָּא מְחַלְּקִין לָהֶן
The Sages taught in a baraita: All are obligated in these four cups, including men, women, and children. Rabbi Yehuda said: What benefit do children receive from wine? They do not enjoy it. Rather, one distributes to them
Why would the sages need to state that "all are obligated in these four cups, including men, women, and children"? What is different about men, women, children, and what reasons might you think they'd pose for why women /children might not be obligated in this ritual?
What is Rabbi Yehuda's objection to the statement that children are obligated in the four cups?
What arguments might you offer for and against obligating children in the four cups?
ואחד התינוקות - שגם הם נגאלו:
.And children-- That they also were redeemed
ובי מה תועלת יש לתינוקות - הלא פטורין מן המצות:
And what purpose is there for children? Behold they are exempt from mitzvot
Children are exempt from mitzvot, and yet , they have a central role at the seder....
קְלָיוֹת וֶאֱגוֹזִין בְּעֶרֶב פֶּסַח כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁנוּ, וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ. אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא שֶׁהָיָה מְחַלֵּק קְלָיוֹת וֶאֱגוֹזִין לְתִינוֹקוֹת בְּעֶרֶב פֶּסַח כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁנוּ, וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ. תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: חוֹטְפִין מַצּוֹת בְּלֵילֵי פְּסָחִים בִּשְׁבִיל תִּינוֹקוֹת שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁנוּ.
roasted grains and nuts on Passover eve, so that they will not sleep and also so they will ask the four questions at night. They said about Rabbi Akiva that he would distribute roasted grains and nuts to children on Passover eve, so that they would not sleep and so they would ask. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: One grabs the matzot on the nights of Passover on account of the children, so they will not sleep.
... And the truth is that Tana Kama obligates children to drink four cups in order to teach them like we teach them how to do other mitzvot. And to that Rabbi Yehuda responded "and what purpose does it serve to give children wine as they do not enjoy and are not happy, with them and it is not for them a sign of freedom." And his intent is to say that they have not reached the age of chinuch for this, as all mitzvot have a particular time for chinuch when he reaches the time where he knows how to fulfill them each in the way they are meant to be performed...
In Conclusion, the Halacha is:
(טו) תינוקות שהגיעו לחינוך מצוה ליתן לכל אחד כוסו לפניו:
(טז) מצוה לחלק לתינוקות קליות ואגוזים כדי שיראו שינוי וישאלו:
Seif 15: Children that reached the age of chinuch, it is a mitzvah to give each one his/her cup.
Seif 16: Mitzvah to distribute roasted grains and nuts so that they see the change and ask.
.
Back to keeping children awake....
Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Akiva suggest keeping children awake and engaged with gains and nuts. (" so that they will not sleep and they will ask...")
Rabbi Eliezer has a different approach: Grabbing the Matzah...
How are these two approaches different? What do they have in common? Do they point to different understandings of the flow of the seder and the children's role in it?
Possible answers:
1. One should eat them very quickly (and the children will inquire into the meaning of this unusual practice, or perhaps just still be awake to be able to ask questions?)
2. Grab the matzot away, so that the children won't eat so much that they fall asleep..
3. Grab the matzot... [steal them... as in hiding the afikoman?? A game to keep the children amused and awake..
(נ) (נ)... וישאלו. וצריך לעוררם שלא יישנו עד אחר עבדים היינו וכו' שידעו ענין יציאת מצרים דעיקר המצוה הוא התשובה על שאלת בנו וכמו שנאמר והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה וגו' (ולא כמו שעושין איזה המון שאחר אמירת מה נשתנה מניחים לילדים לילך ולישן ואינם יודעים שום תשובה על שאלתם):
So they will ask... And we need to wake them up so they don't sleep until after "We were slaves in Egypt" so they will know about the exodus from Egypt as the main part of the mitzvah is the answer to the question of the child, as it says "And you will tell your child on this day, saying: it is on account of this..." (and now how many people do that after ma nishtana they let the children go to sleep and they don't receive an answer to their question.)
Braita: ("external"): An oral law tradition from the same period as but not included in the mishah. Braitot have close to the same level of authority, and can be used to challenge or interpret mishnah.
Shulchan Aruch ("The Set Table")- Written by Joseph Karo in Safed, in1563. Generally now printed with the Mapah'("The Tablecloth") glosses by ashkenazi Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the Shulchan Aruch is now the central code of Jewish law.
Mishnah Berurah - a compendium of Jewish law written [mostly] by the Chofetz Chayyim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, Poland 1838-1933). It is a commentary on the Orach Chayyim the first section of the Shulchan Aruch, dealing with daily halacha (prayer, synagogue life,.
תַּנְיָא, אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: מִיָּמָיו לֹא אָמַר הִגִּיעַ עֵת לַעֲמוֹד בְּבֵית הַמִּדְרָשׁ, חוּץ מֵעַרְבֵי פְסָחִים וְעֶרֶב יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים. בְּעֶרֶב פֶּסַח — בִּשְׁבִיל תִּינוֹקוֹת, כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִשְׁנוּ. וְעֶרֶב יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים — כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּאֲכִילוּ אֶת בְּנֵיהֶם.