[Avodah] Bedikas Chometz BFOUR

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Thu, Mar 30, 2017 at 09:28:30PM -0400, Cantor Wolberg via Avodah wrote:
: The number four plays a very important role in the observance of Pesach
: and the Seder ceremonies. There are the arba parshios, the four special
: Sabbaths before the holiday. There are the arba kosos, the arba kushyos and
: the arba bonim. There are the four characteristic foods essential to the 
: Seder ritual: 1) the Pesach (shank bone)  2) the matzah  3) maror, and
: 4) charoses             Finally, the holiday has four different names:
: 1) Chag hamatzos  2) Chag HaPesach  3) Chag Ha’aviv 
: 4) as well asZ’man Cheyruseynu

Is charoses an essential food? Isn't is just a condiment for maror --
and not even me'aqeiv? The wine, OTOH, is a mitzvah derabanan, getting
Rabbi Gamliel's 3 mitzvos deOraisa up to 4.

: There is yet another “four” associated with the preparation of Pesach and 
: that pertains to the ceremony of bedikas chometz which has four distinct
: steps. 1) recitation of the b’rocho before commencing the search 
: 2) the bedikah itself (looking for any traces of chometz)  3) the bitul, which
: is the relinquishing of ownership, and 4) the biur chometz, the burning of
: leftover chometz.

Berakhos are not me'aqvos, so it can't be considered a significant part of
biur chameitz.

OTOH, I once claimed there are four elements to the concept of matzah:
1- We start with "Ha lachma anya -- this is the poor mans bread which our
forefathers ate in the land of Egypt..." The bread of servitude. "Lechem
oni -- bread of poverty."

2- Then we ask questions, and teach Maggid embodying the other idea of
"'lechem oni', sheonim alav devarim harbei -- that we answer upon it
many things."

3- We have the matzah upon which one must eat the qorban
pesach. Historically, this concept of matzah was given third, before
the actual redemption.

4- The matzah also represents the haste of the exodus itself. Rabban
Gamliel's is the matzah that we eat "because the dough lacked [the time]
to leaven before the King of Emperors. the Holy One blessed be He,
revealed Himself to them and redeemed them."

See http://www.aishdas.org/asp/lechem-oni
and http://www.aishdas.org/asp/who-knows-4

(The latter finds a theme of transformation in 4, linking the 4 cups to
the Rambam's 4 steps of teshuvah.)


There is also the four Barukhs in Barukh haMaqom.


:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Every child comes with the message
micha at aishdas.org        that God is not yet discouraged with
http://www.aishdas.org   humanity.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   - Rabindranath Tagore