RABBI MICHAEL WHITMAN
(Instructions and Schedule for this Erev Pesach follows this essay)

I have the pleasure and privilege of teaching a course in Talmudic Law at the McGill Faculty of Law. One of my students, Cassandra Brown, is the editor of "Quid Novi," a weekly student publication. Here is her column from the week of March 4, 2008.
RABBI MICHAEL WHITMAN

A warm welcome back to school! I hope that you had a chance to relax over the break, whether with a sunny vacation or just a cup of hot chocolate and a coursepack in front of the fireplace at Second Cup. With a houseguest who was visiting Montreal for the first time, I was attempting a combination of winter vacation and study. Those two things don't normally go very well together, but for me they led to a (little) insight into an issue that was à la fois académique et très personnel. It started a few weeks ago in Talmudic Law, when we covered the history of the law of lost objects. Over 2000 years ago in the Kingdom of Israel, this law basically stated that a finder cannot take a lost trivial object for his own benefit until its owner has abandoned hope of re-finding it (an event known as "ye'ush"). To explain how Jewish legal controversies were debated in the medieval period, our professor, Rabbi Whitman, presented two opposing arguments on the meaning of this law and asked the class which one made more sense. I argued for the opinion that creates a legal presumption of ye'ush for certain commonly found objects even where the finder has no knowledge that this abandonment of hope has occurred. I like to be able to just get on with things in life like that, instead of creating situations that cause much drama and unnecessary expenditure of effort.

Later that day however, in a bout of serendipitous misfortune, I lost my favorite winter hat somewhere in the faculty. I lamented about this for a long time: I visited all three (?!) lost and found boxes in the faculty without success. I asked caretakers and Pinos staff if they had seen it. I retraced my steps over and over. Even though the situation began to seem hopeless, I did not actually give up hope of finding my beloved hat.

The following week in Talmudic law, Rabbi Whitman revealed that my opinion had lost out in the medieval debates. According to modern Jewish law a finder is not allowed to presume that an owner has given up hope of recovering his lost item, even if it is of little value with no identifying marks. He then told an inspiring anecdote about a woman he knew who had picked up some cash lying in the street and had wanted to donate it to charity, implicitly assuming that the owner must have experienced ye'ush. After he told her the Talmudic legal status of the cash however (it was not hers to donate), she advertised it and was able to find the true owner, who identified himself by stating the exact amount lost. I suddenly thought of my lost hat and was no longer certain about my opinion. The legal norm that I had argued against would have obligated my hat's finder to pick up the item, not use it for herself, and not rest until she found its proper owner, me!

Over the break I had many occasions to ponder the Halakhic law of lost hats, both while I was studying my Talmudic Law coursepack, and while I was showing off Central Canada to my vacationing friend. Because Shelley wanted to see outdoor sights such as the Rideau Canal Skateway, Old Montreal, St. Catherine's and a Caban à Sucre, I had to wear my replacement hat for much of the week. Every time I put it on I thought briefly of the lost hat, becoming more convinced that it was gone forever. I was also bonding with my new hat - so my desire to re-find the old one was diminishing as well.

As reading week ends and I write this editorial, I can finally say that I have officially given up all hope of recovering my favorite hat. Ye'ush. According to Talmudic law - the side of the controversy that won out - if you find it lying around somewhere now, you are allowed to keep it (provided that you are able to tell that it's mine of course - otherwise, it might belong to someone who has not given up on it). But in my moment of ye'ush I have realized something more than the fact that I will never see
my hat again: I have realized that I was right in the first place about the law of lost trivial things. Having put my own loss completely behind me, I can now see this law for what it truly is - by looking through the lens of abstract logic instead of emotional personal experience. I still believe passionately that the medieval Jewish scholars should have created a presumption of abandonment so that finders could make personal use of the small common objects that they found which are impossible to attribute to any owner. I cringe to think of the chaos and waste of a world in which an endless number of lost trivial items must be picked up by a person who sees them lying around: and then never thrown out, never used, until the true owner is found. It just makes less sense than the alternative.

Well, there you have it: the sum-product of my reading week vacationing and studying. I can only hope that you don't find this little insight into the law of lost trivial things in medieval Talmudic law too...well... trivial to be interesting- and of course that you had similar success in grappling with the complex academic issues that we confront every day at law school during your own week off.

by Cassandra Brown

 

Instructions and Schedule for this Erev Pesach

This year the Jewish calendar presents us with a remarkable opportunity since the first night of Passover falls on Motzei Shabbat, Saturday night April 19, 2008. This will allow us to enter Pesach directly through the spiritual energy and physical rest of Shabbat. This also causes a number of logistical changes from regular years. On Shabbat afternoon, April 12, I will present our annual Shabbat HaGadol Drashah to discuss the reasons and significance of these changes. The subject matter is very interesting and helpful to our lives as Jews, and I hope you will join us for this presentation.

Meanwhile, I think it will be helpful to have a guide for what is coming, to make our preparations easier and calmer. Thursday, April 17, is the Fast of the Firstborn. Services at the Adath begin at 6:30 a.m., followed by a Siyum and a special breakfast. By 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, we should be ready for Pesach. Our homes should be cleaned, Chometz and Chometz utensils should be put away (except for the pieces of Chometz we will hide to find during the Search for Chometz), and any utensils or appliances to be Kashered should already be Kashered. Though we are still allowed to eat Chometz until Shabbat morning - see below - it is highly advisable to make sure our home, car, and office are all completely Kosher for Pesach by 8:30 p.m. Thursday night.

Also, by Thursday night we should arrange for the sale of our Chometz (the sale to the non-Jew actually happens early Friday morning). Any Chometz that comes into our possession after the sale to the non-Jew early Friday morning, must be destroyed by 11:43 a.m. on Shabbat morning.

Beginning at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, we are obligated to search for Chometz. Before searching we recite the Brachah and after searching we recite the Bittul (Kol Chamirah), like every year.

On Friday morning, April 18, before 11:43 a.m., we burn the Chometz we found during the search the night before, but we do not recite the Bittul (Kol Chamirah) that we usually recite at this time. All preparations for Shabbat and for Yom Tov should be concluded on Friday. This includes preparing the Seder dinner and the items on the Seder plate, making the salt water, grating the horseradish, washing the romaine lettuce, and setting the table if possible. Also, just before Shabbat begins, it is a good idea to light a yartzeit candle that can be used to light the Yom Tov candles the next night, since on Yom Tov we can only light a candle from an existing flame.

At the Adath we will begin Shabbat early. Minchah will be at 6:00 p.m. Candlelighting should be no earlier than 6:19 p.m., and no later than 7:28 p.m. At approximately 7 p.m. we will have a delicious Shabbat Seudah dinner. In this way we can celebrate this Shabbat together as a community without the hassle of dealing with Chometz in our homes so close to Pesach. Reservations are necessary and space is limited - PLEASE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS EARLY! On this Shabbat we may not eat any matzah that is Kosher for Passover.

On Shabbat morning, April 19, Shacharit is at 7:30 a.m., followed by Kiddush at about 9:30 a.m. We will have challah rolls and the opportunity to use this Kiddush as our Shabbat Seudah meal. The latest time for eating Chometz is 10:34 a.m. Daf Yomi will be at 10:15 a.m. The second Bittul (Kol Chamirah - that is usually said after burning the Chometz) is said this year after finishing eating Chometz and before 11:43 a.m.

On Shabbat morning, any Chometz you still have in your possession (aside from what was already included in the sale to the non-Jew on Friday morning) must be destroyed by 11:43 a.m. (e.g. by flushing down the toilet)

If you will be eating at home on this Shabbat, I suggest your home be completely Kosher for Pesach by Thursday evening, as outlined above. For the Friday night and Shabbat morning meal I suggest you use egg matzah instead of challah. Be careful to finish eating egg matzah on Shabbat morning by 10:34 a.m. Also by this time - 10:34 a.m. - clean and dispose of any egg matzah crumbs and put away any remaining egg matzah together with your Chometz till after Pesach.

Shalosh Seudot - the third Shabbat meal - should be eaten at home in the early afternoon, no earlier than 1:30 p.m. For this meal we may not eat bread, matzah, or even egg matzah. Additionally we may not eat any baked food that contains matzah meal. We may eat fruits, vegetables, and foods for which we make the Brachah "SheHakol" such as cheese, eggs, and gefilte fish (even if made with matzah meal, because it is cooked in liquid and not baked). No preparations for the Seder may be done on Shabbat.

Minchah at the Adath will be at 7:20 p.m., followed by learning and Maariv. Candlelighting and preparations for the Seder may begin no earlier than 8:31 p.m.

Concerning a number of these suggestions there are more than one opinion. These will be discussed in the Shabbat HaGadol Drashah on April 12, as well as my reasons for choosing the positions I have mentioned here. May our dual concern for honouring the Shabbat and properly preparing for Pesach allow us to merit feeling deeply the 'Time of our Freedom.'