Swallow It - Or Not? - My Name And Profession - Dreams

לע"נ הרב משה בן הרב מנחם רייניץ ז"ל

רבקה רחל בת ר' מרדכי רייניץ ז"ל

ר' אליהו שמואל בן ר' יוסף זאב קאלא ז"ל

עטל בת ר' שלמה אריה הלוי קאלא ז"ל

The Rambam [Chometz Umatza 6/2]  paskens that if one swallows matza he is yotzei while if he swallows maror he is not yotzei. What is the rationale for this distinction?

The problem is compounded when we look at the gemara. In Brachos [38b see there] we learn that טעם מצה  - the taste of matza, is required, which excludes cooked matza. That means that the matza must have the taste of matza but the person need not actually taste it. So if he swallowed it he can still be yotzei. In the language of the Rogochover –

דבלא טעם מצה לא שמה מצה רק הוא אין צריך שיטעום.

So far so good but we run into trouble when we get to maror. The gemara there [39b] establishes a rule that all we need is the TASTE of maror and as long as the maror is one of the species mentioned there in the mishna [39a] one may be yotzei, which would mean that even if the person doesn't taste it but swallows it, that is sufficient. 

We also see in Succah [13b] in Rashi [ד"ה ירקות שאמרו חכמים] that moist maror is לאו מאכל אדם – inedible, and yet one can be yotzei with such vegetables. This shows that we are not concerned with taste because what is not food, doesn't have taste.

If so – what is the problem with swallowing maror without tasting it?? Why does the Rambam say that one is not yotzei??

To answer this we first need to digress: The are three aspects to mitzvos – פועל פעולה ונפעל. The person doing the mitzvah is the פועל. The   מעשה מצוה  is the פעולה  and the נפעל     תכלית   is the   that emerges from the mitzvah. For instance, with regard to eating matza there is the פועל   who is the person eating the matza, and the פעולה  which is the act of eating the matza. So when a person eats matza [the פועל] first there must be a חלות  of a mitzva, meaning that the matza must have a שם מצה  [such that if it would talk and you would ask "what is your name?", it would answer "matza – delighted to meet you"]. Afterward comes the act of eating which is the מעשה מצוה. Therefore, since the act of swallowing is considered eating, it has the status of a מעשה מצוה.  

There are mitzvos that when the תכלית  of the mitzvah is fulfilled, the mitzvah takes effect. For instance, when the kohen receives 5 selaim for pidyon ha-ben, the giving of the money is considered a mitzvah of pidyon ha-ben. When a man gives and a woman receives money for kiddushin, the money attains the status of "kiddushin money". The Rogochover defines that as יש דבר אשר שמו של הדבר ופעולת הדבר חל כאחד  - Sometimes the name of the matter and the act involving the matter, take place simultaneously. This is not the case when talking about קידושי שטר וגט  andמתנות כהונה. In those cases, first the document attains status as a valid document and then it is to be given over to the woman. First the food has the status of מתנות כהונה  then it is handed over to the kohen. The same with matza. First it is matza and then it is consumed. So too with maror according to the Torah - as long as it is one of the five vegetables listed in the mishna it has the status of maror.

Based on this, the Rogochver says that following chiddush:

דזה רק בזמן הזה דקיי"ל מרור דרבנן, וא"כ צריך לטעם המרור,  לא להמרור בעצמו ולכך לא יצא.

There is a distinction between the mitzva of maror from the Torah and the mitzvah of maror in our times which is only rabbinic. When it comes to matza, first there is the פועל the person eating the matza, then there is the פעולה , the act of swallowing the matza which is considered eating. When it comes to the Torah mitzvah of maror there is also a פועל  and פעולה  which suffices and בלע מרור יצא –  if he swallows the maror he is yotzei. But rabbinically that is not enough. First there must be a נפעל  - it must taste bitter like maror. The rabbis stated that it must be bitter in memory of וימררו את חייהם  the Egyptians embittered our lives. If it is not bitter then there is no mitzva. After it is bitter then the person [פועל] performs the פעולה  [of eating and thereby feeling the bitterness  - the נפעל]. At the time of the eating and feeling the bitterness it is considered maror [and not before as by matza and even maror according to the Torah]. That is what the Rogochover means when he says צריך לטעם המרור - we require the taste of maror and לא להמרור בעצמו - not just the correct vegetable. ולכך לא יצא - Therefore one is not yotzei if he swallows the maror without tasting the bitterness. So all of the sources that indicate that swallowing the maror is fine are correct - מן התורה. But מדרבנן we must taste it.  

The language of the Rebbi ztz"l is very cryptic but so this seems to be his intention. He continue on with further discussion which is also [as always] very cryptic and if Hashem gives me the כח  and מוח  I hope to explain in the future.  

[עפ"י צפנת פענח המבואר ועוד]  

I was recently at a Shabbos table when I was in NY and the host asked us to go around the table and say our names, what we do and what is our dream job. So I said that my name is Derek Jeter, I am a professional ballerina and my dream job is to be the personal psychologist of the President of the USA [so that instead of merely suspecting that the President is crazy, I will know for sure]. 

I didn't say that.

But I do dream of finding a sponsor so I can devote my efforts to presenting the Torah of the Rogochover to the world in English. In the meantime, no sponsor, less Torah. Nu - you daven for me and I'll daven for you. A man has to dream. The Rogochover Gaon's first name was Yosef and his sefarim are called צפנת פענח. Yosef taught us how to dream and how dreams come TRUE!:-)  

זכותו יגן עלינו!!