Chapter 2. Additional Laws Pertaining to the Seder Night

-- The Amount of Matzah to Eat --

For the leader of the Seder
70. The leader of the Seder should, ideally, eat two kezayit-portions on the Seder night, and the participants should eat one kezayit [1] .

Since the halachic authorities differ regarding the size of a kezayit, and the larger measure (55 cc) is equivalent to two kezayit-portions according to the smaller measure (27 cc),

therefore, in practice, all the participants and the leader of the Seder should eat matzah weighing 30 grams, which contains 55 cc. This amount includes one large kezayit, which is two small kezayit-portions [and since the law that the leader of the Seder must eat two kezayit-portions is rabbinic, it is sufficient to eat the amount of one large kezayit, which includes the amount of two small kezayit-portions].

Usually, one square machine-made matzah weighs 30 grams [2] , and with hand-made matzot it is approximately half a matzah (depending on the size of the matzah, since there are large matzot where one kilogram equals sixteen matzot, and there are matzot where one kilogram equals 22 matzot).

Likewise, for the afikoman, for which one must eat 2 kezayit-portions, one should ideally eat one whole machine-made matzah or half a hand-made matzah (depending on the size, as above).

For korech, 10 grams of matzah is sufficient, which is one third of a machine-made matzah and one fifth of a hand-made matzah. This is the ideal amount [3] .

One who finds it difficult
71. One who finds it difficult may be lenient even with 17 grams of matzah, both at the beginning and for the afikoman; the same applies to children under bar mitzvah age, for whom this amount is sufficient. One who is forbidden to eat this quantity should ask a Torah scholar even regarding a smaller quantity.

For the blessing of al netilat yadayim
72. Regarding the blessing of al netilat yadayim: anyone who eats a whole matzah should wash his hands with a blessing [4] .

-- The Four Cups --

With wine
73. It is preferable to use non-cooked wine, unless the cooked wine is better [5] .

Pasteurized wine
74. Pasteurized wine is not considered cooked wine, and one may fulfill the obligation with it even ideally.

Intoxicating wine
75. Ideally, one should drink intoxicating wine, for this is the manner of freedom [6] ; therefore, ideally one should drink wine and not grape juice, or at least one third wine and two thirds grape juice [or at any rate one sixth wine], if the taste of the wine is clearly noticeable in it. One who finds this difficult may fulfill his obligation with grape juice.

Chamar medinah
76. Chamar medinah is valid for the four cups if one has no wine, but it is not clear what is called chamar medinah in our times. It may be said that, after the fact, one fulfills the obligation with tea, coffee, or Coca-Cola; and since this matter is not clear — whether there is chamar medinah in our times — it is therefore proper also to use the principle of shome’a ke-oneh, as explained below [7] .

What blessing should be recited
77. Since the blessing on chamar medinah is shehakol, one should not recite a blessing on the second and fourth cups, because they are covered by the first and third blessings [8] .

A diabetic patient
78. A diabetic patient who cannot drink any wine or grape juice at all, even dry wine, fulfills his obligation with chamar medinah and also through shome’a ke-oneh, as explained below.

Shome’a ke-oneh
79. Tosafot [9] were uncertain whether one can fulfill the obligation of the four cups through the rule of shome’a ke-oneh, as with kiddush, where the one reciting kiddush sanctifies over the cup and others fulfill their obligation through him even regarding drinking. So too with the four cups, the participants would fulfill their obligation through the blessing of the head of the household. In Chiddushei Maran R. Y. Z. HaLevi [10] it is explained that the essence of the mitzvah of the four cups is not the drinking of the cups, but the blessing over the cup.

The size of the cup
80. Ideally, one should use a cup that holds a revi’it (150 cc) and drink all of it for each of the four cups. Sick people and children who cannot drink this amount should drink from a cup that contains 86 cc (a revi’it according to the smaller measure), and if they cannot drink all of it, they should drink at least the majority of a revi’it, which is 44 cc. See further in the laws of the Seder night, section 15.

A sick person
81. A sick person who can drink 86 cc and no more is subject to uncertainty: should he take a large cup containing 150 cc and drink most of it, or take a cup of 86 cc and drink all of it? It appears preferable that he take a cup containing 150 cc and drink most of it.

-- The Laws of Eating Matzah for a Sick Person --

Crumbling the matzah and dipping it in water
82. A healthy person may crumble the matzah into fine crumbs and eat them, or dip the matzah in water without soaking it, or drink a little water while swallowing [11] .

A sick person
83. A sick person may soak the matzah in water until it softens and then eat it, but it must not become dissolved or mushy [12] .

Vomited
84. If one ate matzah or maror and vomited, he has fulfilled his obligation, but he should not recite an after-blessing [on the matzah] if he vomited everything he ate and no kezayit remained [13] .

-- The Amount of Maror --

With lettuce
85. When reciting the blessing over eating maror: the one reciting the blessing should eat 50 grams of lettuce [which is close to the weight of water], and for those listening, 17 grams of lettuce is sufficient. For eating korech, 17 grams is sufficient both for the one reciting the blessing and for the participants. [See above, section 50].

With chrein
86. Chrein is like the weight of water. Therefore, the one reciting the blessing should eat 50 grams for maror and 17 grams for korech, while for those listening, 17 grams is sufficient for all the eatings.

-- The Laws of Reclining --

To the left side
87. One always reclines to the left side, whether right-handed or left-handed [14] .

Leaning the body in the air
88. A person who sits on a chair and leans his body unsupported in the air to the left side has not fulfilled the obligation of reclining.

The proper manner
89. When reclining, one should turn the chair so that the backrest is on the left side, lean himself to the left side, and rest upon the backrest [15] .

It is difficult for him to begin while reclining
90. One who finds it difficult to begin drinking while reclining may begin drinking without reclining and continue drinking the amount of a revi’it while reclining.

[1] Shulchan Aruch (section 475, paragraph 1).
[2]  It should be noted that with chaburah matzot from the “Halperin” bakery, the matzot are thinner, and each
matzah weighs approximately 27 grams.
[3]  See at length in the addenda, section 14.
[4]  See Shiurei Torah by the Kehillot Yaakov, who wrote that a kezayit of matzah is the measure of 15 grams, since
matzah has a large volume. Although regarding Torah law he was more stringent, regarding washing hands
one may rely on this, especially since many halachic authorities adopted the view of the Gra that a kezayit is sufficient
to obligate the blessing of al netilat yadayim.
[5]  Shulchan Aruch (section 472, paragraph 12) and Mishnah Berurah (subsection 39).
[6]  As explained in the Gemara in Pesachim (108b) and Tur (section 472).
[7]  Shulchan Aruch (section 483) and Mishnah Berurah (section 472, subsection 37).
[8]  Sha’ar HaTziyun (section 483, subsection 8).
[9]  Pesachim (99b).
[10]  Laws of Chametz and Matzah, chapter 7.
[11]  Shulchan Aruch (section 461, paragraph 4) and Mishnah Berurah (subsection 18).
[12]  Ibid.
[13]  Sha’arei Teshuvah (section 208).
[14]  Shulchan Aruch (section 472, paragraph 2).
[15]  Mishnah Berurah (ibid., subsection 7).