Q:
What are the Halachos relevant to Maariv on Pesach evening?
A:
One does not need to wait to say maariv after Tzes HaKochavim, especially considering the fact that the Shulchan Aruch 472:1 rules that one should stop learning earlier so that you can start the meal early so that the children will be awake to ask questions.The Sephardim have the custom of reciting Hodu LaHashem ki tov, chapter 107 of tehillim before reciting Maariv.
In maariv of Pesach night, we conclude the brocha of hashikevenu like we do on Shabbos and not like we normally do on a weekday.Many ashkenazim have the minhag to recite vayidaber Hashem es moadei Hashem el bnei yisrael before reciting the kaddish after the brochas of shema. Some sephardim have the minhag to say ele moadei Hashem mikraei kodesh asher tikriu osam bimoadam, some have the minhag to say vayidaber Hashem es moadei Hashem el bnei yisrael, and some say both.
If the first night falls on Shabbos
If the first night of pesach falls out on Shabbos, the perek of bameh madlikin is not read – Rama 270:2.After hashkivenu those who usually add the pesukim of vishamru add it on this night as well.The middle brocha of the shemonei esrei on yom tov that falls out on Shabbos is mikadesh haShabbos viyisrael vihazmanim – Shulchan Aruch 487:1.
There is no Mein Sheva on a Friday night that falls out on the first night of Pesach. Some mekubalim have the practice to say it – Mishna Brurah 487:9 explains that since it is a night protected from any danger there’s no concern about those who are taking longer to daven. Rav Yitzchak Yosef explained how this is the correct minhag of Yerushalayim unlike the Rashash. But if they incorrectly started they should finish it. Kaf Hachaim 487:23 writes that the minhag of Izmir and Bet El shul in Yerushalayim was like the Rashash and they can continue to follow that practice since there’s no safek brachos if there’s a minhag.
As on the other yomim tovim, the middle brocha that we recite is mikadesh yisrael vihazmanim. There is a discussion among the poskim if one concluded instead with just mikadesh yisrael if he nevertheless fulfilled his obligation.Many have a minhag to recite hallel after the shemoneh esrei with a brocha on the first night of Pesach, as well as the second night of yom tov sheni shel galuyos. Therefore, if one has the custom to recite it but is in a shul where they do not, he should nevertheless say it on his own.
Some poskim say that even one who davens on his own should recite the hallel with a brocha. The recitation of the Hallel in shul is because of the miracle of Hashem taking us out of Egypt and so it applies to women as well just like the other mitzvot of the night. It can be said even without a minyan before kiddush with a bracha. Some poskim, however, disagree.
For those who allow saying maariv early on the night of the seder, the hallel in shul can also be said early.Many Ashkenazim however, didn’t have this custom. One who doesn’t usually recite it, but finds himself in a shul where they do, should recite it along with them. Rama O.C. 487:4, Mishna Brurah 487:16. Moadim Uzmanim 3:260 and Kaf Hachayim 487:45 however, write that nowadays the minhag has become that even ashkenazim recite hallel with a brocha. Sefer Mikraei Kodesh (Hilchos Leil Haseder by Rabbi Moshe Harari) page 113 says that Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook would make sure to go to a Chabad shul where they would recite hallel with a brocha on the first night of Pesach. |