Pesach Segulot
Pesach Segulot
1. The Arizal (may his merit protect us) teaches that anyone who completely avoids even the slightest amount of chametz throughout Pesach will not sin for an entire year, because chametz alludes to the “sitra achra.”
2. Protection from chametz for the entire year
Maor Va-Shemesh says that eating matzah on Pesach protects the neshamah from being harmed by chametz throughout the year.
Rabbi Nachman’s Prayer—how to be saved from chametz throughout Pesach:
“Ribono Shel Olam, save us and protect us through Your abundant compassion from even the slightest trace of chametz or leaven, so that we do not find even the smallest amount of leaven within our borders or possessions throughout all the days of Pesach. For it is revealed and known before You, Master of the entire world, that flesh and blood cannot be vigilant on their own against even the slightest trace of chametz, except through Your salvation and compassion.”
3. Rabbi Chaim Vital adds that any aveirah (sin) committed on Pesach is worse than if it were committed at another time of the year.
4. A segula to be rid of mazikim on Erev Pesach
The Mekubalim teach that every effort a person makes while preparing for Pesach (becoming tired and weary) destroys all the mazikim (destructive angels), called “nigei bnei adam.” (“Kav HaYashar,” ch. 90)
One should not complain about women who clean beyond the requirements of halachah;
One should not say: “Pesach is so difficult.” (Rokeach, Hilchot Pesach)
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Pesachim 10:4) states: “Rasha mah hu omer—mah ha-avodah hazot”—a wicked person is one who says, “How difficult this work is.” (The “Kav Naki” commentary on “Kav HaYashar”)
5. Bedikat chametz (checking the home for chametz by candlelight)
The candle used during Bedikat HaChametz illuminates our soul and erases all negativity. Each room is a chamber of our soul; by inspecting it, we purify every part of our soul. Chazal advise writing 10 notes listing the bad traits we wish to rid ourselves of and placing them in different corners of the home. By finding them, we remove them from ourselves.
6. Aravot for Pesach
Aravot left over from Hoshana Rabbah may properly be burned together with the chametz (although some aravot should be kept for shemirah). This destroys the “impure forces.” (Kav Naki, Kav HaYashar, based on Yesod Yosef)
7. Erev Pesach—the segula of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli (the great-grandfather of Toldot Yaakov Yosef): read his commentary on the Ten Plagues in Egypt. The best time to read it is on Erev Pesach in the afternoon.
At the end, he writes that anyone who studies this commentary at least once a year, especially on Erev Pesach, will be protected from troubles for the year and will succeed in all his endeavors. The complete text is here:
The complete text is here:
Iggeret of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli on Erev Pesach — a great segula
8. Arvit before Pesach
Arvit on Erev Pesach is as significant as the prayer of Ne’ilah—the fifth prayer of Yom Kippur. The Sages reveal that Pesach can be read as peh sach (the mouth speaks). And peh ra refers to Paro (Pharaoh). Thus, the Pesach Haggadah rectifies Pharaoh’s kelipah.
9. Ke’arah
The Ben Ish Chai teaches that a ke’arah is essential on the Pesach table. According to the system of Atbash, the letters of the word “ke’arah” (the Seder plate) come before the letters of the word “shofar.” According to Kabbalah, this means that the Seder plate with matzah eliminates the need for a shofar on Rosh Hashanah.
The arrangement of the foods—the simanim—on the ke’arah is also important:
Left:
Beitzah (Gevurah)
Karpas (Hod)
Center:
Maror (Tiferet)
Chazeret (Yesod)
Right:
Zeroa (Chesed
Charoset (Netzach)
The “ke’arah” itself represents Malchut
8. Matzah—shemirah (protection)
Kav HaYashar teaches that matzah is a protective safeguard, like a mezuzah. There is a minhag to preserve a piece of the afikoman as a segula for protection.
The “Orach Chaim” states that it protects from robbers and from “harmful forces,” because matzah alludes to Mikol Tzarah Hatzileinu (save us from all suffering).
9. Shmurah Matzah.
Those who seek to fulfill the mitzvah in the best possible manner eat only special matzah—shmurah matzah (“guarded” matzah).
Shmurah matzah is made from wheat that was guarded from any contact with liquid from the time of harvesting.
10. Matzah and Rosh Hashanah
“The mitzvah of eating matzah is comparable to the mitzvah of hearing the shofar.” (Tzemach Tzedek)
“If the Jewish people observe the laws of matzah on Pesach and remove chametz, they will not stand trial on Rosh Hashanah.” (The Zohar on “Tetzaveh”)
11. Gaon Ben-Tzion Mutzafi teaches the tradition that before eating matzah for the first time, one should embrace and kiss it as a sign of kavod (respect)—a segula for parnasah. We kiss the matzah keneged the way a student kisses the hand of a sage.
—Each time one eats matzah, one should say the Aramaic phrase for healing: “michla de’asvata.”
12. Rabbi Ben-Tzion Mutzafi conveys from the Mekubalim that on the first night of Pesach one should eat plenty of chasa (lettuce), alluding to the fact that Hashem “chas” (has compassion and spares) His people;
13. Maror—a segula for parnasah
Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz teaches that the harvest is judged on Pesach; therefore, Pesach itself is an appropriate time to pray for parnasah.
Chiddushei HaRim says the same and adds another reason: earning a livelihood is considered as difficult as Keriat Yam Suf, the splitting of the sea, which occurred on Pesach.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches that eating a kezayit of maror on Pesach is a segula for parnasah. (Sefer HaMiddot)
Rabbi Nachman of Cherin explains that the “Masechet Eruvin” says that the dove sent by Noach said: “Ribono Shel Olam, yihyu mezonotai marurim kezayit be-Yadecha”—Master of the Universe, let my food be as bitter as an olive, provided that it comes from Your hand. It is therefore good to recite the verse of the “Yonah” (dove) from “Perek Shirah,” while dipping the maror in charoset, and asking Hashem that one’s parnasah not be bitter or difficult this year.
14. Secrets of the Afikoman
The Kabbalists teach that in order to break the afikoman (dessert), one takes three sheets of matzah—the upper one symbolizing Avraham, the middle one Yitzchak, and the lower one Yaakov—and breaks the middle one [because Yitzchak is associated with Gevurah]. By breaking the matzah, one breaks the yetzer hara, judgments, decrees, and everything negative, drawing down mercy: “lehafich midat ha-din le-midat ha-rachamim.”
In addition, it is broken into a larger piece of matzah (symbolizing Olam HaBa) and a smaller piece (Olam HaZeh).
It should be broken in the shape of the letter ו, “vav,” and the person who breaks the afikoman distributes and wishes each person whatever he needs (refuah, parnasah), because the gematria of “Yachatz Afikoman” is 395, equal to the gematria of “parnasah,” while “afikoman” itself has a gematria of 287, equal to the word “rofeh” (doctor).
15. “Mah Nishtanah”—a segula for having sons through “Mah Nishtanah”
Before “Mah Nishtanah” in the Haggadah (and also in the Talmud Yerushalmi), it says: “ve-kan haben sho’el.” This can be read as: “and here, ask for a son.”
This is a mesugal practice for someone who has no children or only daughters: to ask the Almighty for a son, so that he may fulfill the mitzvah of “vehigadeta le-vincha,” meriting to tell the Haggadah to that son on Pesach.
16. Raising children
The “Sifrei Chassidut” state that Seder night is mesugal for speaking with children about the Haggadah and emunah, even when they are very young, because it enters their neshamah.
17. Telling a story about a miracle during the meal
Rabbi Chaim Palaggi of Izmir teaches that recounting a miracle on the night of Pesach brings about another miracle, because Pesach night itself was a miracle, and whoever tells a story of a miracle that night draws a miracle toward himself. It is customary on this night to tell the story of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, as related by the Maggid of Kozhnitz, about a miracle involving wine—a segula for parnasah throughout the year.
The story of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk on Pesach night
Erev Pesach – A Segula for Parnassah in the Merit of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk
18. The night of open doors
“On the first two nights of Pesach, the doors of the home are opened.” (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 480) At the end of the Seder, we customarily open the door for Eliyahu HaNavi.
Our Sages say: “Whatever He does, He commanded His children to do.” (Shemot Rabbah 30:9; Yerushalmi, Rosh Hashanah 1:3)
This means that on Pesach night, all doors and gateways open for every Jew. In “Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer” (32) it says: “On this night, the treasuries of Divine dew are opened.”
Caution—the doors are opening
The First Two Nights of Pesach — or, Beware: Doors Are Opening
19. A post-Seder segula with a mezuzah to protect the home
The segula of Rabbi Chaim Pinto is performed at the end of the Seder to protect Jewish homes from epidemics and all forms of harm.
After the Seder, take some of the charoset that was on the table and dip it into the Kos (cup) of Eliyahu HaNavi. Then smear this charoset around the mezuzah and repeat three times:
“Ve-lo yiten hamashchit lavo el bateichem lingof”—and G-d will pass over this entrance and will not allow the destroying angel to enter your homes to strike you. (Shemot 12:23)
This parallels the way the Jews smeared blood on their doorposts and saved their homes during the plagues in Egypt.
Afterward, say twice:
“Vihi noam Ado-nai Eloheinu aleinu uma’aseh yadeinu konenah aleinu uma’aseh yadeinu konenehu”. (Tehillim 90:17)
Then recite Tehillim 91 three times
This segula saved the Jewish community of Morocco on Pesach and has protected Jewish homes ever since wherever this tradition is kept alive.
Segula of Rabbi Chaim Pinto on the Eve of Pesach
20. “Shir HaShirim” on Pesach at Chatzot HaLailah
One should read all of “Shir HaShirim,” then offer personal requests, and conclude by reading “Echad Mi Yodea.”
“Shir HaShirim” is read on all eight days of Pesach. The enslavement of the Jews began after Levi’s death, and 117 years passed from Levi’s death until the Exodus from Egypt. “Shir HaShirim” contains exactly 117 verses—it foretells the future redemption of our people. (Rabbeinu Chida)
21. Hachnasat Orchim on Pesach
עני—(“ani”—poor) and עין—(“ayin”—eye) consist of the same letters.
“Ayin hara” (the evil eye) brings a person to poverty, while “ayin tov” (a good eye) can avert misfortune.
“Welcoming guests on Pesach is very important—this mitzvah helps bring healing from poverty.” (Chazal)
The letters “mem tzadi” in the word “matzah” = 130, equal the gematria of the word “ani” (poor) = 131 with the kolel. (Rabbeinu Chida)
“Welcoming guests is more important than standing before the Shechinah.” (Bavli, Shabbat 127)
22. Tikkun Pesach
On the night of the seventh day of Pesach (the 21st of Nisan), the Jews entered the sea. By morning they had reached dry land and witnessed the terrible punishment that the Almighty brought upon the Egyptians. Then Moshe and the entire nation of Israel sang the song: “Shirat HaYam” (on this night, the Written and Oral Torah are studied, and the night concludes with a chapter from the holy Zohar about the crossing of the Yam Suf).
Pesach segulot from the Kise Rachamim Yeshivah
—After returning from the synagogue, do not argue;
—After “Mah Nishtanah,” do not speak; make personal requests;
—After the Seder, read “Shir HaShirim”;
—Read “Shir HaShirim” on all eight days of Pesach;
—On the seventh day of Pesach, read “Shirat HaYam”;
—Recite Birkat HaMazon joyfully;
—For a husband’s parnasah: on Saturday night, pour salt into a packet and place it in the pocket containing his documents (carry it for all 49 days);
—Beginning on the second day of Pesach (16 Nisan), before reciting Sefirat HaOmer, take the packet of salt in the right hand and count the Omer with it all 49 days—a segula against ayin hara and all negativity from Rabbeinu Chida.
Salt During Sefirat HaOmer – Rabbeinu Chida's Segula
—For parnasah—“Yachatz afikoman” (breaking the afikoman) = 395, equal to the gematria of “parnasah” (livelihood).
—For shalom bayit, place a kezayit of matzah from the afikoman in the bedroom—(“mi-tzarot hatzileni”—save me from troubles—the phrase contains the letters of the word “matzah”);
—For a successful journey, always take one’s afikoman along when traveling;
—For success in exams and negotiations, take one’s afikoman;
—For refuah, matzah from the Pesach Seder is healing (keep it throughout the year and take it as medicine);
—While reciting the Ten Plagues in Egypt, pour out 16 drops of wine (have the intention that the home be freed from negativity):
—When saying the words: “Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke”—3 drops;
—When listing the Ten Plagues—10 drops;
—When saying the three acronyms: detzach, adash, be’achav—3 drops;
—For a shidduch: a daughter should place the cup of Eliyahu HaNavi by the threshold of the open door; a son should place a roasted chicken from the Seder, wrapped in foil, in his jacket pocket
(Kise Rachamim Yeshivah, Rav Adir Amruzi, from his teacher Gaon Rav Meir Mazuz, transmitted by Yura Plishtiev, compiled from the lessons of Rav Ben-Tzion Mutzafi and Rav Raphael Avitan)
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Tags: Segulot, Passover, Pesach Segulot, Segulot for Pesach, Pesach Segulot, Pesach Segulot from the Kisei Rachamim Yeshivah
