17 Mar EISHES CHAYIL ON THE SECOND NIGHT OF PESACH

The wonderous Haggadah
Otzros Pla’os HaTorah
writes it was the minhag
of the Minchas Elazar,
following the opinion of the
Darchei Chaim Vhasholom,
that after eating the egg
at the second Seder, they
would sing Eishes Chayil. The venerable
Vayaged Moshe also recalls that his father, Reb
Asher Anschel Katz, sang Eishes Chayil by the
meal, specifically during the second Seder.
No reason is given and it immediately raises
two obvious questions. First, why not on
the first night? The women most definitely
deserve recognition for making a sparkling
home, free of chometz, and for all their
wonderful Seder preparations. The second
question is why wouldn’t Eishes Chayil be
sung at its customary position, right before
Kiddush?
To unravel these mysteries, we should
start with another question. I have over
200 Haggadas in my home. One hundred
and ninety-seven do not include Shalom
Aleichem and Eishes Chayil before Kiddush.
The question is, “Why not?” Every so often,
Pesach falls out on Friday night. Shouldn’t
we sing Shalom Aleichem and Eishes Chayil?
The commentaries inform us that since the
Shechinah itself visits us on the night of the

Seder, as it says, “Uv’mora gadol -zo gilu’i
Shechinah – With great awe – this is the
revelation of the Divine Presence.” So, we
don’t need the visitation of the angels. We
might add perhaps that on the night that we
say, “Lo al y’dei malach, v’lo al y’dei shaliach
– Not through an angel, and not through an
agent,” we decline to mention angels just like
we avoid mentioning Moshe’s name (except
for the incidental “Vaya’aminu baHashem
uv’Moshe avdo – And they had faith in
Hashem and in Moshe, His servant.”).
In a break from the norm, the prestigious
Mesivta Haggadah includes Shalom Aleichem
and Eishes Chayil, and this is consistent with
the custom of Belz that sings Eishes Chayil
on Friday night when there is a Seder with the
explanation that even though we don’t need
the angels when Hashem is there, we show
them gratitude for their visitation all the rest
of the year.
It dawned on me this year that a very possible
reason for the omission of Shalom Aleichem
and Eishes Chayil is that, when we come
home the table is supposed to be already set so
that we can start Kiddush immediately. This
is so the children can be awake at least for the
questions of Mah Nishtanah and the answer
of Avadim Hayinu. This would answer the
riddle of why they inserted Eishes Chayil
during the meal after all the mitzvahs (except
for Afikomen and the later kosos) are already

done and not before Kiddush.
But the puzzle remains, Why
specifically on the second night?
Bear in mind that we never
say Eishes Chayil on Yomtov.
It’s only on Shabbos so, Why
the exception? I believe that
answer is as follows. On the
second night of Pesach, in a
gutsy move Esther manipulated
Haman and she caused the
enemy to be hung. And the
Eishes Chayil that we sing is
in honor of Esther HaMalka
who risked her life to save her people. I even
thought of a nifty hint that the first four words
of Eishes Chayil highlight this. For these
words, “Eishes Chayil mi yimtza,” the roshei
teivos, the first letters of these words are
alef, ches, mem, and yud. These letters can
stand for Esther, Charvonah, and Mordechai
Yehudi, all the players involved in Haman’s
hanging. This allusion to the miracle of the
hanging of Haman is consistent with a custom
of the Chasam Sofer, zt”l, zy”a, who would
serve tongue at the Seder meal on the second
night of Pesach since one who is hung, his
tongue sticks out, and it is in remembrance of
the downfall of Haman.
(As an aside, Rav Reuven Feinstein, shlit”a, in
his special Haggadah, recommends tongue as
a perfect food for the Seder menu. People are
always wondering what to specially serve
on the second night when you can’t have
any type of roast. Rav Reuven says tongue
is a perfect option since it’s a delicious meat
which honors the Seder cuisine. I would
also like to add that it’s also symbolically
perfect, for at the Seder the thrust is to
correct the diba ra, the evil tidings of Yosef
and the slander of Dasan and Aviram that
led us down to Egypt. So, tongue is very
appropriate to be on the Seder menu.)
Many decades ago, I started my own
custom at our seder. In light of the
celebration on the second night of our
victory against our nemesis Haman, during
the meal on the second night we would sing
Ma’oz Tzur, the popular Chanukah song.
I would explain that it is more fitting on
Pesach than on Chanukah. When it comes
to Chanukah, only one stanza applies:
“Y’vanim nik’bitzu alai – The Greeks
gathered against me.” But for the second
night of Pesach, there are three relevant
stanzas; the second, the fourth, and the last.
The second stanza, “Ra’os sav’ah nafshi –
My souls was full of bad,” and it continues
to say Malchus Eglah which refers to the
Egyptian era. Then there’s the fourth
stanza, “Kros komas b’rosh bikeish,” that
Haman Agagi cut a mighty cypress tree
and it ended up being his undoing. Finally,
the last stanza, “Chasof z’ro’a kadshecha,
v’kareiv keitz hayeshuah – Uncover your
mighty arm (Hashem) and bring the time of
redemption,” is perfect for the Seder night
since the Seder night is Leil Shimurim, the
night that we await the final redemption.

To conclude, I will share with you two
humorous stories that my custom generated.
The first incident happened when I was living
in Staten Island on Rupert Avenue. Our Seder
traditionally went so late that people were
already walking home when we were just
eating our meal. Walking by outside, they
heard us singing Ma’oz Tzur. The next day in
shul, someone commented that “Rabbi Weiss
got ‘good and shikur,’ (very intoxicated). He
was singing Chanukah songs at the Seder!”
The second story occurred when I was at the
wonderful Pesach program by Mel,Schick,
and Motti Katz many years ago. Before
davening maariv on the second night, I said
over my custom to sing Ma’oz Tzur. The
bakery chef heard this and liked it so much
that he baked pesachdig hamantaschen for
desert that night!
We certainly can sing Eishes Chayil and tell
our wives that besides Esther, we have them
in mind as well for the wonderful job they did
in preparing the house for Pesach and making
the beautiful and delicious Seder.
In the merit of all the wonderful minhagim,
may Hashem bless us with long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.