Q&A: On Reclining
On Reclining
Question
It is well known that on the night of the Seder one is supposed to sit like a free person.
In the time of the Talmud, when people sat on the floor, the way to do that was to recline.
Nowadays, when the way of free people is to sit like normal human beings without reclining, it would seem that one should sit upright and not recline.
And this is not something where you can say, fine, then be stringent for both opinions, since according to the view that one should sit upright, if you sit reclining you do not fulfill your obligation.
What is the Rabbi’s view on this?
Thank you very much
Answer
The view of the Raavyah is well known: nowadays one does not need to recline, because today the manner of freedom is different. Also well known is the compromise made by the Rema, according to which women do not recline because of the Raavyah’s reasoning.
This is very puzzling. If one adopts the Raavyah’s position, then men should not recline either; and if not, then why should it apply specifically to women? Especially since in our time women are considered important, and there is no reason to distinguish them from men.
I once heard from Rabbi Mann of Or Yisrael a nice distinction on this issue. There are two reasons to recline on the night of the Seder: 1. To sit in a manner of freedom. 2. As a commemoration of what they did then, when they went out to freedom. (I am ignoring the fact that this “manner of freedom” apparently belonged more to the Roman period than to Egypt. That is how the Sages understood it, and that is how they instituted it.) The second law is part of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and its remembrance, and therefore it does not depend on what counts as a manner of freedom today, but on what it was then. The claim is that the one leading the Seder is also supposed to tell the others assembled about the Exodus from Egypt, so he reclines for both reasons, and therefore he should recline even today, when this is not a normal manner of freedom. By contrast, the listeners (not necessarily women, though women are usually among the listeners) recline only for the first reason, and therefore, since today this is not a manner of freedom, they are exempt from reclining.
Beyond all this, there is logic to reclining even today, even though it may no longer be the accepted manner of freedom. Because when we recline, precisely due to the change and the deviation from the ordinary way, we are reminded that we are supposed to feel freedom—something that will not happen if we sit in a chair or comfortable armchair, however comfortable they may be.
Bottom line: there is room to be lenient, but in my opinion it is proper to recline. The one leading the Seder certainly should, and so should the others.
Discussion on Answer
Very interesting. Thank you, Rabbi.
According to the remark at the end, are women obligated to recline on the night of the Seder just like men?
Can each woman decide for herself, based on her own importance or her own understanding of the concept of freedom?
Today there is no difference between women and men.
And perhaps this is behind the variant readings in Maimonides—whether one is obligated to see himself or to show himself as though he had left Egypt.
Also, “a manner of freedom” is not just another word for comfort. It may be that even today reclining expresses freedom in the best way. This is really just another formulation of my last remark in the previous message.