5785 - The Rarest Year of Them All Part IX
Erev Pesach Shechal B’Shabbos (Part 1)
As detailed in previous installments in our series, our current year, 5785, is not only a rare one, but calendarically speaking, actually the hands-downrarest of them all. 5785 is classified as a HaSh”A year in our calendars. This abbreviation is referring to Rosh Hashana falling out on Thursday (hei), both months of Cheshvan and Kislev being shalem (shin - 30-day months instead of possibly 29; these are the only months that can switch off in our set calendar), and Pesach falling out on Sunday (aleph).
A HaSh”A year is the rarest of years, and out of the 14 possibilities in Tur’s 247-year calendar cycle, this year type occurs on average only once in about 30.19 years (approximately 3.3 percent of the time). Indeed, at times there are 71 years (!) in between HaSh”A years. The last time this year type occurred was 31 years ago in 5754 / 1994. The next time will be 20 years hence in 5805 / 2044. The next several times after that are slated to be 27 years further, in 5832 / 2071 and then a 51-year gap in 5883 / 2122.
The reasons and rules governing the whys and whens this transpires are too complicated for this discussion; suffice to say that when the Mishnah Berurah discusses these issues he writes “ain kan makom l’ha’arich,” that this is not the place to expound in detail, which is certainly good enough for this author.
Obviously, such a rare calendar year will contain many rare occurrences. This series sets out to detail many of them. As we get nearer to the actual events, we will perhaps discuss them in greater detail. Let’s continue on our journey through our unique year.
Erev Pesach Shechal B’Shabbos
Our previous installments discussed Purim falling out on a busy Erev Shabbos this year and the incredible Purim Meshulash celebrated in Yerushalayim. Yet, whenever there is a Purim Meshulash, there is an even greater phenomenon with great halachic ramifications that will occur exactly one month later: Erev Pesach Shechal B’Shabbos. When this happens, we need an entirely new rulebook on how our Pesach preparations are supposed to ensue. Let’s try to make some Seder (pun intended).
Pesach Pre-emptive Prep
For starters, the traditional Shabbos Hagadol Drasha is likely pre-empted to the previous Shabbos. Not to be outdone, the customary Erev Pesach Taanis Bechorim (Fast of the Firstborns) gets preempted two days earlier to Thursday. Perhaps more importantly, Bedikas Chometz cannot be done the night before Pesach as usual. Since Erev Pesach is Shabbos, Bedikas Chometz (and its declaration of ‘Kol Chamira’) must be performed on Thursday night instead. But that means that Sereifas Chometz (the burning of the Chometz) has to take place on Friday morning, Erev Erev Pesach (still preferably done before Sof Zman Sereifas Chometz as in a regular year). But we can’t recite Kol Chamira yet, as we still need to save some chometz for the Shabbos Seudos (remember, Shabbos is Erev Pesach), as it is forbidden to eat Matzah on Erev Pesach.
Certain prep work for the Seder should preferably be done before Shabbos, as well, including checking the lettuce (for Maror), making the charoses and salt water, roasting the egg and zeroa (shankbone), as well as grinding the horseradish. Longtime Rav of Yerushalayim in the early 1900s, Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, cited practically by several later authorities, advises that when feasible and practical, even the Seder table should be set on Friday. Also, it is worthwhile to make sure to have Yahrtzeit candles lit from before Shabbos to enable the Yom Tov candles to be lit on Motzai Shabbos–Leil Haseder, as transference of flame (as opposed to creating a new flame) is permitted on Yom Tov. Hence, in a way, this Erev Shabbos takes on the status of a traditional Erev Pesach, even though it is truly not.
An important reminder for this marathon Shabbos: as it is Shabbos that is immediately preceding Pesach, one may not perform any preparations on Shabbos for Yom Tov, and all Seder preparations may only begin from Tzeis Hakochavim (nightfall), after reciting“HaMavdil Bein Kodesh L’Kodesh,” either by itself or as part of the “Vatode’ainu” prayer in the Yom Tov Maariv Shemoneh Esrei.
YaKNeHa”Z
Whenever we have an Erev Pesach Shechal B’Shabbos, the Seder night’s Kiddush becomes a YaKNeHa”Z Kiddush. YaKNeHa”Z refers to the special hybrid Kiddush-Havdalah that is only recited when a Shabbos exits directly into a YomTov (not necessarily Pesach).
The word YaKNeHa”Z is an acronym of the properorder of brachos in this Kiddush/Havdalah. It stands for Yayin (“Borei Pri Hagafen”), Kiddush (“Mekadeish Yisrael V’Hazmanim”), Ner (“Borei Me’orei Ha’Aish”), Havdalah (“Hamavdil Bein Kodesh L’Kodesh”), Zman (“Shehechiyanu”). In Chutz La’aretz, this year there is a secondYaKNeH”a on the eighth (last) day of Pesach as well – just without the bracha of ‘Zman,’ as Shehechiyanu is not recited on the last days of Pesach. Due to Yom Tov Sheini,YaKNeHa”Z Kiddushim are quite a bit morecommon inChutz La’aretz than in Eretz Yisrael.
YaKNeHa”Z Candles
To help facilitate this special Kiddush that needs its own Havdalah candle(s) that will go out by itself/themselves (in order not to unwittingly transgress the prohibition of ‘Kivui,’ extinguishing, or even ‘Gram Kivui,’ causing it to be it extinguished), several companies recently started making “YaKNeHa”Z Candles” (a.k.a. “avukalehs”) – small candles containing several wicks (to be classified as an ‘avukah’ – torch, for Havdalah; as opposed to the traditional one-wick candle) that go out by themselves after several minutes – made especially to facilitate easy YaKNeHa”Z performance. It is reported that Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv’s “face lit up with joy” the first time someone brought him one of these YaKNeHa”Z candles, as it enabled him to properly perform thisKiddush/Havdalah without any potential issues. Mi K’Amcha Yisrael!
Wabbit Season?
Speaking of YaKNeHa”Z es makes this author ruminate about what is possibly the oddest connection to it. In what appears to be an interesting turn of phrase, many classic Ashkenazic Illuminated Haggados over the centuries, including the Cincinnati, Ashkenazic, Prague, Venice, and Augsburg Haggados, depict an interesting phenomenon next to the hybrid Kiddush-Havdalah of YaKNeHa”Z: a rabbit hunt. Yes, you read that right. Not even remotely related to either Kiddush or Havdalah (or in fact anything else in Yiddishkeit; except possibly the Noda B’Yehuda’s famous teshuva regarding hunting for sport or pleasure), a full-fledged rabbit hunt.
Scholars theorize that the reason this picture is placed specifically at this point of the Haggada is the similar-sounding German phrase “Jag den Häs,” which translates to “Chase the Rabbit” or “Hunt the Hare.” Apparently, this was an easy, albeit whimsical way to remind the locals in their vernacular of the proper order of brachos of this Kiddush-Havdalah on Seder night.
Although YaKNeHa”Z Kiddush is pretty common – as it is performed anytime Shabbos ends into Yom Tov, nonetheless, as with Purim Meshulash, Erev Pesach Shechal B’Shabbos is not slated to occur for another twenty years – in 5805 / 2045.
Our fascinating journey detailing the many remarkable facets of our rare year will IY”H be continued…
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch famously wrote that “the Jew’s catechism is his calendar.” It is this author’s wish that by showcasing the uniqueness of our calendar year and its rare minhagim, this series will help raise appreciation of them and our fascinating calendarical customs.
This author wishes to thank R’ Yosef Yehuda Weber, author of ‘Understanding the Jewish Calendar,’ for being a fount of calendarical knowledge and for his assistance with this series.
Disclaimer: This is not a comprehensive guide, rather a brief summary to raise awareness of the issues. In any real case one should ask a competent Halachic authority.
L'iluy Nishmas the Rosh HaYeshiva - Rav Chonoh Menachem Mendel ben R' Yechezkel Shraga, Rav Yaakov Yeshaya ben R' Boruch Yehuda.
