Session 12 – Correction on the Reading of Vol. III, p. 102
Joel Dinin
The comments from our participants during today's session inspired me to look back over Keter Shem Tob's entry on the origin of the custom to eat only thin Matsot. This time I saw that Rabbi Gaguine was aware of the contradictions in the Talmudic sources that he brought, so I thought it would be worthwhile to translate this brief section for the benefit of our online listeners.
Naturally, any critique of a sage like Rabbi Gaguine, deserved or otherwise, is meant only with the fondest reverence. I'm having a great time engaging with the book, and look forward to learning more of his Torah!
Naturally, any critique of a sage like Rabbi Gaguine, deserved or otherwise, is meant only with the fondest reverence. I'm having a great time engaging with the book, and look forward to learning more of his Torah!
The Custom to Eat Only Thin Matsot
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Why do [most Jews] have the custom to bake the Matsah as thin wafers and not thick bread?
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מדוע נהגו לאפות המצא דקה כרקיק, ולא פת עבה
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[The reason is] because if you make Matsah thick according to the usual manner of baking loaves during the year, this is not the "bread of affliction." This is made clear in Pesahim: 1) "What can be inferred from the Scriptural words 'bread of affliction'? [Deuteronomy 16:3] – that this excludes escalders and Lesbiacus (Rashi: dumplings or cakes made from fine flour), which is also what Rabbi David Abudarham wrote 2) when quoting the homilies of Rabbenu Abraham ben David of Posquieres. In that same passage of Talmud, it also says: "Our Sages taught: we do not bake thick bread (on Yom Tob) on Pesah – so say Bet Shammai; but Bet Hillel permit. And how much is 'thick bread'? Rab Huna said: a handbreadth, since we find that [this was the thickness of] the shewbread [which could not be leavened]." However, Rab Yosef attacked this [definition of 'thick' by saying]: "what is 'thick bread'? – large quantities of bread. And why was it called 'thick bread'? – Because the dough is thick when you kneed that much at once" (cf. Rashi, 37a, s.v. "Pat Merubeh"). Also, look at the Mishnah in Betsah: 3) "[On Yom Tob,] we do not bake twisted bread (forming thick loaves, because of the extra trouble), but rather wafers," and see the ensuing Gemara [22b]. In the Yerushalmi on Betsah, 4) [it says that] "we don't bake twisted bread [on Yom Tob]... because it takes too much trouble."
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משום שאם יעשה את המצה עבה כדרך שאופים הככרות במשך השנה אין זה נקרא לחם עוני. וכן מבואר בפסחים (1) מה ת"ל לחם עוני, פרט לחלוט ולאשישה [פי' לחם או גלוסקאות וחשובות]. וכ"כ הרד"א 2) בשם הראב"ד בדרשותיו, ושם בגמ' ת"ר אין אופין פת עבה (בי"ט) בפסח דברי ב"ש וב"ה מתירין וכמה פת עבה אמר רב הונא טפח שכן מצינו בלחם הפנים, ושם מתקיף לה רב יוסף וגו' מאי פת עבה פת מרובה ואמאי קרו ליה פת-עבה משום דנפישא בלישא. (עי"ש רש"י ד"ה פת מרובה) ועי' משנה בביצה 3) ואין אופין פתין גריצין (ככרות עבים משום טרחא) אלא רקיקין, ועי"ש בגמרא, ובירושלמי ביצה 4) שאין אופין פתין גריצין וכו' משום שטרחתן מרובה
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[Given that the Talmudic sources conflict,] it might be possible to suggest that the reason behind the custom to bake thin Matsot instead of thick ones is that as long as the loaf is wafer-thin, there is no doubt that leaven [might remain inside], which is not true when it is thick. Cf. the Tur and Shulhan Ngarukh, 5) who say that "we don't make bread thicker than a handbreadth on Pesah; and see the Ba'er Heteb, 6) [who allows thicker Matsah post facto, but recommends checking it more thoroughly, and not relying on it for the commanded Matsah at the Seder.]
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ואפשר לומר בטעם שנהגו לעשות המצות דקות ולא עבות כי כל מה שהככר נעשה דק כרקיק לא חיישינן לחומץ, אשר לא כן אם הוא עב. ועי' בטור וש"ע 5) אין עושין בפסח פת עבה טפח ועי"ש בבאה"ט. 6).ו
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Sources
1) Page 36b 2) In Hilkhot Pesah; and all the more so in the Kol Bo, Siman 3 3) Chapter 2, Halakhah 6 [citations 3 and 4 are inverted in the Hebrew] 4) Venice Edition, p. 61 [Hebrew text says p. 21, an easy typo for the printers to make] 5) 460:5 6) 460:9 |
מקורות
א) שם ל"ו ב) בה' פסח וכ"כ הכ"ב סי' ג' ו ג) דכ"א ד) פ"ב ה"ו ה) סי' ת"ס ס"ה ו) סק"ט שם |