When Lory and I lived in Teaneck, New Jersey, we ate a lot of our Shabbat meals with our good friends Shimon and Amy. One thing was always clear at each meal - Shimon liked a sandwich. He would take his gefilte fish, put it between two pieces of challah and eat it as a sandwich. He would take each piece of chicken, wrap a hunk of challah around it and eat it as a sandwich. He would even take cholent between remnants of challah and eat it as a sandwich.
As much as he may love it, Shimon did not invent the sandwich; history records that the sandwich was created in 18th century England by John Montague. Montague was a gambler, famous for his round-the-clock card games. In order not to miss a second of the action while eating, he would order his servant to bring him pieces of meat between slices of bread. Soon this handy bread-and-meat combination became known as the "sandwich," derived from Montague's title, the Earl of Sandwich, England.
While history credits John Montague with the creation of the sandwich, I believe that my friend Shimon draws his inspiration from one of our greatest sages - Hillel. In truth, it is Hillel, and Hillel alone, who should have be remembered as the Earl of Sandwich!
During the Seder, we will take two pieces of matzah, some maror and some charoset and create the Koreich - the Hillel Sandwich. This tradition dates all the way back to the Second Temple Period when Hillel would take two pieces of matzah, the maror and the meat of the Korban Pesach - the Paschal lamb and create a Pesach hero at his Seder. The Rabbis, however, were a little concerned with this practice: they were afraid that the individual tastes of each component would be lost in a sandwich, so they ruled that each ingredient must be eaten separately (Pesachim 115a).
This, of course, is what we do at the Seder: all of the ingredients are eaten one at a time. But then, we follow Hillel's custom! We eat all foods as a sandwich. This is pretty amazing. It goes against an established principle of Jewish Law: "Yahid Verabim, Halakhah Kerabim - When an individual argues with a group, we follow the opinion of the group." Since Hillel disagreed with a group of Rabbis, his view should have lost out. So why then do we make his sandwich each and every year at the Seder?
Dr. Yitzchak Belizon provides a fascinating answer, which he derives from a Chasidic commentary on the Haggadah called Beit Hayayin (By Rabbi Meyer Yehuda Leibush of Turka, Poland). There is a famous midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30:14) which teaches that each of the four species of Sukkot represents a different type of Jew. By binding them all together, we are reminded that the entire Jewish People is united as one. The Beit Hayayin learns the same lesson from the Seder. Each of the main foods represents a type of Jew. The Korban Pesach represents the righteous, the Maror symbolizes the wicked person and the matzah stands for the average Jew – who abstains from evil and aspires to do good. When we make the Hillel sandwich, we are cementing the bond between Klal Yisrael, the entire Jewish People.
Of course today, one ingredient of Hillel's sandwich is missing. Because the Temple was destroyed, the Pesach lamb can not be part of the hero. Hillel's sandwich has gone vegetarian. This happened on account of Sinat Hinam - unwarranted hatred. Because one Jew hated another, and because Jews still hate one another, our Temple was destroyed and remains destroyed. We eat the Hillel sandwich - despite the fact that it was never the accepted Halakhah - to teach us that unity is what we lack. Unity must be achieved before the Temple can be rebuilt. Hillel taught us this when he was asked to summarize the entire Torah while standing on one foot. He responded, "Veahavta Lereiakha Kamokha - Love your fellow Jew as yourself" (Vayikra 19:18, Shabbat 31a). And he teaches it each year when we eat his Sandwich. Care and love for one another is the essence of the whole Torah!
In the 20th century, the revivers of the Hebrew Language discussed what word should be used for a "sandwich." It was first suggested that it be called a "Hilleleet," after Hillel. Later, they settled for "Karikh" after "Koreikh," the sandwich that Hillel created. Today, Israelis call it a "Sandvitch." It is truly a shame that the sandwich did not become known as a "Hilleleet." Then Hillel would finally be known as the Earl of Sandwich and Jewish unity would be at hand not only at Pesach, but almost every day of the year.
Rabbi
Mordechai Friedfertig
Congregation B'nai Shalom
Williamsville,
New York
Email: mordechai at utj.org
Copyright 2001-2003 by Mordechai Friedfertig