Page 13 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

Kavana or not. It starts by introducing a Mishna that tells us, “[a er the head of the table made
kiddush] they bring brought out before him [vegetables for Karpas], he dips [and eats] le uce
before he reaches the course that is secondary to Matzah (which would be Maror, as Maror
comes a er Matzah). And then a er the Karpas, they brought out le uce (for Maror), Charoset
and two cooked dishes…” Reish Lakish comments on this Mishnah and says that we see from
here that Mitzvot require Kavana. He explains that because the le uce is being dipped twice
(first for Karpas and second for Maror), you must have not fulfilled the obliga on of Maror
when you dipped the le uce for Karpas (le uce can be used for both Maror and Karpas). The
Gemara then refutes Reish Lakish and says that perhaps we are not dipping the le uce twice
because Mitzvot need Kavana, but rather it is possible we dip twice so the kids will ask
ques ons (which is a common theme on Pesach). The Gemara and Reish Lakish go back and
forth dispu ng this, un l Reish Lakish brings in a separate Braita which states that “Even though
you already dipped once with le uce (at the me of Karpas), it is a Mitzvah to bring out (at the
later me) le uce (for Maror), Charoset and two cooked dishes.”. Reish Lakish uses the word
“Mitzvah” found in this Braita to prove his point that Mitzvot need Kavana. Simply, his reasoning
was that even though you already dipped le uce once for Karpas, you s ll have a Mitzvah to
bring it out again, thus you did not fulfill your obliga on of Maror when you did Karpas.
All of this probably seems kind of confusing, and that’s because it is. To put things simply, this
dispute is not actually resolved in Masechet Pesachim. This is one of the many mes our Sages
discuss whether Mitzvot require Kavana. Today, the Halacha is s ll unclear, so we should try to
have Kavana whenever possible to fulfill the obliga on. This teaches us a very important idea
that we should try to implement into our everyday lives: always have Kavana when doing
Mitzvot, otherwise you may not have Halachically fulfilled your obliga on yet. So, now that you
have learned all about Mitzvot requiring Kavana, share this concept with others so they too will
not miss out on opportuni es for Mitzvot, or make a mistake by not having Kavana.

Yachatz – ‫יחץ‬

Take the middle matzah and break it into two, one piece larger than the other. The larger piece
is set aside to serve as Afikoman. This is traditionally hidden, by the leader of the Seder for the
children to “steal” or “find” and then ransom for a something at the end of the Seder. The
smaller piece is put back, between the two matzot. This smaller piece, along with the top matzah
is what will be used for the “Motzi-Matzah” and “Korech.”

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