{"id":5666,"date":"2011-03-04T12:01:37","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T10:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5666"},"modified":"2021-03-22T11:52:21","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T09:52:21","slug":"04-12-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-12-01\/","title":{"rendered":"01. The Mitzva of Eating Matza"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a Torah commandment to eat matza on the night of the 15th of the month of Nisan, as it says, \u201cIn the evening, you shall eat matzot<\/strong>\u201d (Shemot 12:18). Even though the Torah also says, \u201cyou shall eat matzot<\/strong> for seven days\u201d (ibid<\/strong>. 12:15), the Sages inferred, based on the rules for interpreting the Torah, that the Torah does not mean to command us to eat matzot<\/strong> all seven days. Rather, the intent is that matza is the staple food that we eat on Pesa\u1e25 in lieu of bread. However, one who wants to live off of fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products may do so.<\/p>\n

The simple meaning of this is that one who eats matzot<\/strong> all seven days of Pesa\u1e25 does not thereby fulfill a mitzva.<\/strong> This is what the Sages meant when they said (Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 120a) that eating matza during the seven days is \u201coptional\u201d (\u201creshut<\/strong>\u201d). Yet many leading halakhic authorities have written that although eating matza is obligatory only at the Seder, and indeed that is why the Sages instituted the special blessing over the eating of matza at the Seder only, nevertheless one who eats matza on the other days of Pesa\u1e25 still fulfills a mitzva, even if it is not obligatory. In this view, the Sages referred to eating matza on the remaining days of Pesa\u1e25 as a \u201creshut<\/strong>\u201d only by way of contrast with the obligation to eat matza on the night of the 15th. According to this view, the verse \u201cyou shall eat matzot<\/strong> for seven days\u201d retains its simple meaning. This is how Ibn Ezra and \u1e24izkuni explained the verse, this is implied by a statement by Rosh, and this was the practice of the Vilna Gaon. However, even they maintained that the mitzva consists of eating a kezayit<\/strong> (olive\u2019s bulk) of matza at each meal, and that eating more does not add to the mitzva.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n[1]<\/a>. Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong> 120a explains this based on one of the rules for interpreting the Torah, namely, that any item singled out from a class of items did not leave the class to teach a new idea only about itself, but to apply the new teaching to the entire class. In this case, the \u201cclass\u201d is \u201cyou shall eat matza for seven days.\u201d However, the Torah says later on, \u201cfor six days you shall eat matza, and the seventh day will be a festival for the Lord, your God\u201d (Devarim 16:8). Clearly, the \u201cseventh day\u201d was excluded from the general class in that there is no mitzva to eat matza on that day. This in turn teaches about the entire class \u2013 all seven days \u2013 that there is no mitzva to eat matza. Only on the night of the 15th, the Seder night, is there such a mitzva, for we were commanded especially: \u201cIn the evening you shall eat matzot<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most Rishonim and A\u1e25aronim do not mention any mitzva associated with eating matza during the seven days of Pesa\u1e25, implying that there is in fact no such mitzva. However, many Rishonim and A\u1e25aronim do actually mention such a mitzva, including: Ibn Ezra on Shemot 23:15, \u1e24izkuni on Shemot 12:15, and Responsa Rosh <\/strong>3:23 citing the Ge\u2019onim that one does not wear tefillin<\/strong> on \u1e24ol Ha-mo\u2019ed <\/strong>Pesa\u1e25, since there is already a \u201csign\u201d on Pesa\u1e25, namely, eating matza. So states MB 475:45 in the name of Gra (Ma\u2019aseh Rav \u00a7<\/strong>185).<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a Torah commandment to eat matza on the night of the 15th of the month of Nisan, as it says, \u201cIn the evening, you shall eat matzot\u201d (Shemot 12:18). Even though the Torah also says, \u201cyou shall eat matzot for seven days\u201d (ibid. 12:15), the Sages inferred, based on the rules for interpreting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12-the-laws-of-matza"],"yoast_head":"\n01. 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Even though the Torah also says, \u201cyou shall eat matzot for seven days\u201d (ibid. 12:15), the Sages inferred, based on the rules for interpreting […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-12-01\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-04T10:01:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-22T09:52:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/04-12-01\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/04-12-01\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u05e6\u05d5\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8822293bfa4f7cd35b44a3c311851b63\"},\"headline\":\"01. 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