Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 116a

פסחים קט״ז ע״א

Learn Pesachim 116a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 116a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

חרוסת and לחם עוני, the מה נשתנה questions, and how the father tells the story of יציאת מצרים at the סדר.

Overview

This amud opens by finishing the explanation of why מצה is called לחם עוני. A poor person eats a broken piece, and a poor couple bakes quickly. The גמרא then discusses חרוסת. If it is not a מצוה, it is brought to counter the harmful קפא in the bitter herbs. If it is a מצוה, as רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק holds, it recalls either the apple tree (רבי לוי) or the mortar (רבי יוחנן), and אביי rules that it should be made both tart and thick. A new משנה then teaches that after the second cup the son asks מה נשתנה, and the father teaches the story at the son's level, beginning with disgrace and ending with praise. A ברייתא adds that someone must always ask, even a man alone or two scholars. רבא and רב ספרא reword the question about dipping, and רב and שמואל disagree about what the 'disgrace' is. The story of רב נחמן and דרו shows that the questions only exist to open the telling. The amud ends as a new משנה of רבן גמליאל begins; it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אַף כָּאן בִּפְרוּסָה.

So too here, with a broken piece.

דָּבָר אַחֵר:

Another explanation:

מָה דַּרְכּוֹ שֶׁל עָנִי

Just as the way of a poor person is

הוּא מַסִּיק וְאִשְׁתּוֹ אוֹפָה,

he heats the oven and his wife bakes,

The steps (27)

  1. ConclusionSo too here, a broken piece of מצה
  2. StatementA second meaning of poor man's bread: baked in a hurry
  3. QuestionIf חרוסת is not a מצוה, why bring it?
  4. Responseחרוסת protects against a harmful substance in the bitter herbs
  5. StatementA chain of remedies for vegetable poisons
  6. StatementAn incantation to say while waiting for the remedy
  7. QuestionWhat מצוה does חרוסת fulfill?
  8. ResponseRemembering the apple tree or the mortar
  9. ConclusionMake חרוסת both tart and thick
  10. ProofA ברייתא supports רבי יוחנן
  11. ProofJerusalem spice-sellers called it a מצוה
  12. StatementThe second cup is poured and the son asks
  13. StatementThe four questions of מה נשתנה
  14. StatementHow the father teaches the story
  15. StatementWho asks the questions if there is no wise son
  16. StatementThe משנה's question about dipping
  17. Challengeרבא objects that we do not have to dip every night
  18. Resolutionרבא rewords it in terms of obligation
  19. Challengeרב ספרא objects: an obligation for children?
  20. Resolutionרב ספרא's wording: we do not dip even once
  21. QuestionWhat does 'beginning with disgrace' mean?
  22. Responseרב: our ancestors were idol worshippers
  23. Responseשמואל: we were slaves
  24. Questionרב נחמן asks דרו about a freed slave
  25. Responseדרו: he must thank and praise
  26. Conclusionרב נחמן skips מה נשתנה and starts 'עבדים היינו'
  27. StatementA new משנה opens with רבן גמליאל's teaching