Pesach
Pesach
The Haggadah describes Yaakov's descent to Mitzrayim as 'anuss al pi hadibur,' forced by Hashem's own command — a phrase that seems self-contradictory, since the avot, as the merkavah, wanted only what Hashem wanted. The resolution turns on the difference between a shlichus and a home: even when a descent is exactly what Hashem wants, a Yid must never feel at home in a lower place, or he risks being pulled in by it. The same duality applies to golus generally — sent by Hashem and embraced with simcha, yet never comfortable — which is precisely what makes it possible to bring kedusha into the golus rather than be swallowed by it.
Pesach
Hashem's words to Moshe at the burning bush link leaving Mitzrayim to arriving at Har Sinai, describing not a simple sequence of events but a single unfolding process. Mitzrayim represents limitation in general, and the shiur traces rising levels of transcending limits — a plant's growth, an animal's movement, a human's intellect — showing that even Torah and mitzvos performed through one's own reasoning remain, in a sense, still bound by the self. Real Yetzias Mitzrayim is reached only through kabbalas ol and becoming meshubad to Hashem, which is what began at Matan Torah.
Pesach
The Chacham's question isn't about which mitzvos exist — he already knows them — but why any mitzvos come with reasons at all, when everything should ideally be kept purely because Hashem commanded it, like a chok. The answer is that Hashem wants kabbalas ol to penetrate even the intellect, so that understanding itself becomes an expression of bittul rather than a substitute for it, echoing na'aseh before nishma. The halacha that the taste of the korban Pesach must linger through the night captures this — the taam, both taste and reason, of mesirus nefesh is meant to carry through the whole year, not just the moment of the mitzvah.
Walking Through the Rebbe's Pesach Seder, Step by Step
A detailed, practical walk-through of minhagei Chabad for the Pesach Seder -- from bedikas chametz and building the ke'arah through Yachatz, Maggid, the Four Cups, and Hallel -- drawing on firsthand recollections of exactly how the Rebbe conducted each step (the fold of the cloth, the size of the maror, breaking the afikoman into five pieces). Closes with practical questions on wine versus grape juice and Yom Tov observance for visitors to Eretz Yisrael.
Can a Mouse Carry Chametz Into Your Clean House?
A Pesach sugya on the halachic status of chametz possibly moved by a mouse or air current, comparing regular doubt to a compounded safek sfeika, with applications to tumah in a private versus public domain.
Can You Still Sell Your Chametz an Hour Before Pesach?
A Pesach sugya on the Beis Shammai-Beis Hillel dispute over selling chametz close to the deadline, and the Tur's ruling that chametz may be sold right up until Pesach begins.
Who Must Check for Chametz When Renting an Apartment?
A Pesach sugya on the three-way machloket between Rashi, Tosafos, and the Ran over who bears responsibility for bedikas chametz in a rental, and the requirement of a halachic nullification afterward.
Why Nullifying Chametz Requires Both Thought and Action
Continues the sugya on a landlord's chametz obligations, explaining why bitul (nullification) needs genuine intent alongside a physical act, illustrated by the metaphor of the world as an airplane.
Does Nullifying Chametz in Your Mind Really Work?
A detailed Pesach sugya on whether chametz nullification is a form of hefker (ownerless-making) or simple mental distraction, and why you can't forbid something that isn't yours just by thinking about it.
Can You Ask Someone Else to Transgress for You?
A short sugya on the prohibition of appointing an agent to commit a sin, and the halachic deadline for bedikah and bitul of chametz.
Must Chametz Be Destroyed by Fire, or Any Method Will Do?
A Pesach sugya on Rabbi Yishmael's and Rabbi Akiva's dueling proofs for the deadline and method of biur chametz, and how their broader philosophies of Torah shape the dispute.
What Counts as 'Owning' Your Rental for Chametz Purposes?
Continues the sugya on checking for chametz in a rental, the Alter Rebbe's stringent view requiring immediate bedikah, and whether a key alone transfers ownership of the chametz within.
Does Handing Over a Hotel Room Key Count as a Sale?
Explores chametz ownership questions in rentals and hotels, the Tosafos-Rashi machloket on whether a key constitutes a full kinyan, and the Rogatchover's ten-fold analysis of types of acquisition.
Can You Nullify Chametz After It's Already Forbidden?
A detailed sugya on the proper timing of bitul chametz, whether a rabbinic ruling can affect a Torah-level prohibition, and the Tanya's view on the weight of rabbinic law.
Does a Few Crumbs of Chametz Really Count?
A Pesach sugya on the status of an halachically insignificant amount (half-measure) of chametz, including the Shaagas Aryeh's position and the Alter Rebbe's ruling on stray crumbs.
Does the Korban Pesach Override Shabbos for Everyone?
Explores whether a voluntary Korban Pesach carries the same severe consequences (karet) as the obligatory one, and how it compares to other mitzvos performed on their own schedule like tzitzis and mezuzah.
A Full Walkthrough of the Pesach Seder Plate
Covers practical Seder preparation -- selling chametz, the timing of bedikas chametz, arranging the Seder plate's zeroa, egg, and charoses, and choices for maror and the Seder cup.
Why Some Communities Skip Piyutim After the Fourth Cup
A short practical note on the Seder custom of omitting piyutim after the fourth cup, with a preview of an upcoming series on Yoreh Deah.
A Full Walkthrough of the Pesach Seder, Step by Step
Covers the practical details of each Seder step -- urchatz, karpas, maggid, korech, and the afikoman -- closing with the story of Yaakov moving the stone from the well.
Why Chametz Is Stricter Than Any Other Forbidden Food
Covers why chametz never becomes nullified in a mixture (no batel b'shishim), practical methods of kashering a kitchen for Pesach (hagalah versus libun), and dealing with modern self-cleaning ovens.
Everything You Need to Know About Chametz Before Pesach
A comprehensive pre-Pesach halacha class covering bitul and physical destruction of chametz, selling chametz to a non-Jew, bedikas chametz, kitniyos, and a long list of Lubavitcher Pesach minhagim (milk, matzah, garlic, gebrokts).
Why Four Cups of Wine -- and Three Matzos -- at the Seder
Explores the symbolism of the four cups (tied to four expressions of redemption) and three matzos at the Seder, and the halachic rules for tasting matzah and maror.
Why We Check for Chametz by Candlelight at Night
Explores delivering difficult news gently, the halachic reasoning for searching for chametz specifically at night, and why Mashiach is called 'Menachem' (comforter).
Why Pesach Sheni Still Matters Today
Explores who qualified for the 'second Pesach' make-up offering, the two spiritual levels it represents, and the Rebbe's directive making Pesach Sheni's message relevant to every Jew today.
What Does 'Bari' Really Mean in a Claim?
A short sugya on loan repayment and a woman's rights, terumah and chametz handling on Pesach, and the halachic weight of a confident ('bari') claim versus a hesitant one.
Could 12 Million People Really Bring the Korban Pesach?
Explores the famous debate over the Temple door's locking mechanism, the controversy around Akavya ben Mahalalel's cherem, and the staggering population numbers behind the Korban Pesach count.
Why a Bride Felt Embarrassed Eating the Korban Pesach
A mix of halacha and hashkafa -- proper table etiquette, the Alter Rebbe's spirit-bottle mishap, and the difference between the levels of eirusin and nisuin in marriage.
Why You Shouldn't Go Out in Pairs at Night
Covers the superstition against even numbers (zugos) when leaving the house, the Rambam's rejection of demons, and the practice of drinking four cups at the Seder.
Why Charoses Has Ginger and Cinnamon In It
A lighter piece identifying rabbis by their multiple names, old food-related folk advice, and the reasons behind the Seder's charoses recipe.
How Much Hallel Do We Say Before the Second Cup?
Covers why we retell the Exodus story to our children, differences across Haggadah texts, and the symbolism of the egg on the Seder plate.
Mechiras Chometz According to the Alter Rebbe
A shiur for Yeshiva Gedolah of Miami on the sale of chometz: how it developed beyond the Gemara's bedikah and bittul, concerns that it looks like a ruse, the role of the contract, deposit and arev kablan, selling through the Rav as agent, the per-person prutah question, and modern tax issues.
Leaving Home Before Pesach: Hayotzei Mibeiso Lifnei HaPesach
A shiur for Yeshiva Gedolah of Miami on Pesachim 6a — whether someone leaving home within 30 days of Pesach must search for and destroy chometz. Covers the dispute of Abaye and Rava, the Shulchan Aruch's ruling, Tosafos and the Minchas Chinuch, the Rebbe's approach to the exemption from Korban Pesach for someone far away, and whether the chometz obligation begins before Pesach.
The Obligation to Destroy Chametz Before Pesach: Part 1
A Pesach sugya on the requirement to both nullify and physically destroy chametz, the dispute over burning chametz on Yom Tov itself, and how the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch phrases the halacha.
Chassidic Explanations of the Haggadah
A chassidic reading of the Haggadah built around the recurring number four -- the four sons, four questions, and four cups mapped to the Four Worlds in Kabbalah -- before turning to why the Seder opens with Ha Lachma Anya, what connects the invitation to the poor with the promise of next year in Yerushalayim, and the chacham's obligation to draw the rasha back in.
The Obligation to Destroy Chametz Before Pesach: Part 2
Explores whether the chametz prohibition can apply to something not yet in existence, using the analogy of an egg laid on Yom Tov.