By COLlive reporter
The 14th of Iyar is “Pesach Sheni,” the alternative day prescribed to bringing the Korban Pesach for those who weren’t able to do so before Pesach on the 14th of Nissan.
The Torah tells that “There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day.”
They approached Moshe and Aaron and they said: “Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?”
In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a “second Passover” for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.
The day thus represents the “second chance” achieved by teshuvah the power of repentance and “return.” In the words of the Frierdiker Rebbe, “The Second Passover means that it’s never a ‘lost case.'”
It is customary to eat matzah on this day. Rabbi Levi Garelik, a halachic authority in Brooklyn and Brussels who also dean of TheOnlineRabbi.com, recommends that Lubavitchers do so at two different times.
“In Igros Kodesh, the Rebbe writes that the Minhag Beis Chayenu (in the household of the Frierdiker Rebbe), the minhag is to eat by day,” he says, quoting Igros Kodesh, Volume 2, page 352.
On the other hand, “In several Farbrengens, the Rebbe mentioned many times the minhag to eat at night, following Pesach Sheni – the eve of the 15th of Iyar.”
Rabbi Garelik concludes that “Therefore, we eat Matzo during the day meal, and (also later) at night, with the certainty that IY”H tonight we will celebrate Pesach Sheni in Bais Hamikdosh Hashlishi.”
This is a free translation of a quote from the sicha of Pesach Sheini 5740:
“Some eat matzah the night of Pesach Sheini, some eat by day, and others in the afternoon. Those that are “gor mehader” (very scrupulous) eat all three times, plus the day before Pesach Sheini and after Pesach Sheini”
Much appreciated.
Rabbi Garelik is straightforward and reliable.i enjoy his reminders. Please keep them coming