Haggadah: Urchatz

Hi,

The title of the Haggadah's second section, "Urchatz", means "and wash". The section consists of washing before Karpas. Why are we washing?

When we have a Beit haMikdash, we wash before handling produce in order to avoid communicating impurity. In an era without a Beit haMikdash, most halachic authorities contend that we do not wash. (Rabbeinu Yonah, the Taz and the Vilna Gaon are notable in their disagreement.) Why, then, do we wash before handling karpas?

1. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, in his early 20th century Aruch haShulchan (Orach Chaim 473:18), says it's just another way we draw our children's interest to the events of the night. Varying our routine attracts the attention of our children.

2. Rabbi Mordechai Yafeh, in his 16th century Levush (Orach Chaim 473), says we wash because the karpas is being used for a mitzvah. The mitzvah warrants extra sanctity.

3. Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, in the introduction to his late-19th century haggadah Imrei Shefer, notes that several Seder practices are meant to take us back to the way things happened in the Beit haMikdash. Think of the Koreich sandwich, for example. Therefore, we wash for karpas in order to recall the way we washed in the Beit haMikdash.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Holiness and purity require knowledge of Torah

Hi,

"It is written (Yechezkel 22:26), ‘Her priests have vandalized My Torah and desecrated My sanctuary.’

"Why did they not distinguish between the sacred and the mundane, and why did they not inform people of the difference between impure and pure? Because they are not people of Torah, they know not how to distinguish between sacred and mundane, between impure and pure."

(Midrash Tanchuma, Terumah 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Passion and Purity

Hi,

"Pure thought depends upon awakening and passion, and passion depends upon pure thought. Were a person capable of softening his heart and being continually passionate, his thoughts would be more pure. Were a person possessed of pure thought, he would be able to be increasingly passionate and awakened whenever he prepared himself.

"Therefore, a Jew needs both of these: To work and to elevate his thoughts as well as the awakening of his passion."

(Rav Klonymus Kalman Shapira, Bnei Macshavah Tovah, Seder Emtza'ei v'Yesod haChevra 8)

Gmar chatimah tovah,
Mordechai