From the Rav’s Desk: 1)The Kabbalistic reason behind the slavery in Egypt 2) What to use for the Zeroa if no chicken necks available 3) Should one cook the Zeroa prior to roasting it and more

Topic: The Kabbalistic reason behind the slavery in Egypt

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1. Question: [Tuesday, 14^th Nissan, 5783]

What was the Kabbalistic reason behind the slavery of the Jewish people? Why did we have to be punished? Why are we deserving of such hard labor?

Answer:

According to the teachings of Kabbalah, the spiritual journey of the souls of the Jewish people did not begin in Egypt, but rather from the times of the beginning of creation. The Arizal explains as follows: the souls of the Jewish people who were enslaved in Egypt were reincarnations of the sparks of the souls that Adam wasted throughout the first 130 years of creation, between the births of Kayin and Seth. These souls were then incarnated into the generation of the flood. They were then reincarnated into the generation of the Dor Haflaga. They were then eventually incarnated into the souls of the Jewish people in the generation of slavery in Egypt.

Now, as for the explanation of why they needed to be enslaved, this is because souls are similar to gold. Just as gold does not grow as blocks in the ground and must go through a fine refinery process to remove the gold from the earth, dust, and other impurities, until it is finally sifted out. So too, the Jewish soul must go through this same refinery process, to remove from it all the evil forces that became attached to it with the sin of Adam. In detail, the decree to throw the children into the Nile was a cleansing for the sins they performed in the generation of the flood. Likewise, the hard labor of making bricks and building pyramids was to rectify the sins they performed in the generation of the dispersion.

Sources: Shaar Hakavanos Inyan HaPesach Derush Alef

Topic: What to use for the Zeroa if no chicken necks available

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2. Question: [Tuesday, 14^th Nissan, 5783]

I cannot find any chicken necks in the store, what should I use for Zeroa?

Answer:

If chicken necks are not available, then one may use the leg or the wing, or even any cooked chicken or meat, even if it does not have a bone. 

Explanation: From the letter of the law, one can use any two cooked food in memory of the Pesach and Chagiga sacrifices. However, the custom is to use meat for one of these two foods.  The second food could be even the gravy in which the meat was cooked. However, the custom dating to the early generations is to take a roasted shank bone of a sheep, known as a Zeroa, for this meat. Practically, today the widespread custom is to use the neck of a chicken , and so is the Chabad practice. Some however use other parts of the chicken such as the leg or the wing.  Others until today use the arm of an actual sheep or the arm of a cow, which is the original definition of the Zeroa.  In all cases, one is to try to use a bone with a small amount of meat.  If chicken necks, or other normally chosen part, are not available, then one may use any cooked chicken or meat, even if it does not have a bone.  If there is no meat or chicken available at all, then one may use any cooked food.

Sources: See Admur 473:20; Michaber 473:4; P”M 473 A”A 7; M”B 473:27; Kaf Hachaim 473:60; 63; Piskeiy Teshuvos 473:12; Sefer Hasichos 1942 p. 93; Haggadah of Rebbe p. 6; Sefer Haminhagim p. 75 [English]; Toras Menachem 5748 1:368; Shulchan Menachem 2:313; Otzer Minhagei Chabad p. 129; Pesach Chassidi 96

Topic: Should one cook the Zeroa prior to roasting it

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3. Question: [Tuesday, 14^th Nissan, 5783]

I have always been taught the first cook the Zeroa and then roast it. Someone recently told me that this is not the Chabad practice, is this correct?

Answer:

According to Chabad custom, we are not particular the first cook the Zeroa before the roasting, and it is simply roasted.

Explanation: There is no record in any Chabad literature of the practice of some to first cook the Zeroa and only then roast it. All the various Chabad publications simply state that it is to be roasted. Nonetheless, there are some are particular to 1^st cook it and then roast it in order to negate any similarity to the Pesach sacrifice. Whatever the case, from the letter of the law the Zeroa is valid whether it is cooked or roasted, and some record that in certain years the Rebbe used a cooked Zeroa.

Sources: See Admur 473:20; Tosafos Pesachim 114b; Hagahos Maimanis 8:2; Piskeiy Teshuvos 473:12; Otzer Minhagei Chabad p. 130; Maaseh Melech

Topic: Eating eggs potatoes and onions on Erev Pesach

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4. Question: [Tuesday, 14^th Nissan, 5783]

I have always understood that on Erev Pesach that one should not eat from any of the foods that go on the Seder plate. Someone however told me that this is not accurate and that you are allowed to eat eggs, and we only avoid eating the lettuce and ingredients of the Charoses. What is correct?

Answer:

There is no need to avoid eating eggs on erev Pesach. The same applies regarding potatoes or onions. According to Chabad custom, we only avoid eating the lettuce and the ingredients of the Charoses.

Explanation: The recorded Chabad custom is to abstain from eating on Erev Pesach any of the foods that enter into the Charoses [i.e. nuts, apples, pears] and Maror [lettuce or horseradish], until Korech [of the second Seder in the Diaspora]. No mention is made in any Chabad literature, and to the best of my knowledge it is neither recorded in any Halachic literature at all, that we should also avoid eating other foods from the Seder plate. To the contrary, in many publications explicitly write that these foods may be eaten.

Sources: See Admur 471:11-12; M”B 471:15; Rebbe in Haggadah Shel Pesach p. 37; Sefer Haminhagim p. 73 [English]; Shulchan Menachem 2:302; Otzer Minhagei Chabad 39; See Chikrei HaMinhagim 1:155

Topic: Eating almonds on Erev Pesach

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5. Question: [Tuesday, 14^th Nissan, 5783]

May I eat almonds on Erev Pesach, or is it included in those things that we avoid due to being in the ingredients of the Charoses?

Answer:

Those who do not enter almonds into the Charoses may eat it on Erev Pesach without restriction.

Explanation: The recorded Chabad custom is to abstain from eating on Erev Pesach any of the foods that enter into the Charoses. Accordingly, ingredients that one does not enter into the Charoses may be eaten. Accordingly, those who use other nuts for the Charoses, as is the Chabad custom to use hazelnuts or walnuts, then they may eat almonds. This is despite the fact that almonds are listed separately in the Shulchan Aruch as one of the ingredients of the Charoses, as in practice we do not use it. If a person were to use it, then in truth it should to be avoided.

Sources: Admur 471:11-12; M”B 471:15; Rebbe in Haggadah Shel Pesach p. 37; Sefer Haminhagim p. 73 [English]; Shulchan Menachem 2:302; Otzer Minhagei Chabad 39; See Chikrei HaMinhagim 1:155; See regadring using almonds in Charoses: Admur 473:32-33; Rama 473:5; Tosafos Pesachim 116a in name of Geonim