נשיכת הפיטם כסגולה ללידה קלה

There is a מנהג that a woman who is expecting a child bites a פיטם as a סגולה for an easy childbirth. In this article we will present the source and reason behind this custom and examine its legitimacy.

The earliest source for this idea is the נזיר שמשון quoting a(n anonymous) manuscript, in which the following was written:

"Expectant women have a custom that on הושענא רבה (after their husbands return home from shul) to take [1] the פיטם of the אתרוג (the reason for this being that there is an opinion that the fruit of the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג [2]), and they give money to the poor so that הקב"ה should save them and their baby from death.

They then say the following תפלה:

רבון העולם בשביל חוה שהיא אכלה מעץ הדעת - אותו החטא הוא שגרם מיתה בעולם. ואם הייתי באותו מקום לא הייתי אוכלת ולא הייתי נהנית ממנו, כמו שלא רציתי לפסול אתרוג זה בשבעת ימי החג שעברו, והיום שפסלתי אין בו מצוה. וכשם שיש לי הנאה בפיטם זה כן הייתי נהנית לראות עץ הדעת שאמר הקב"ה לאדם וחוה שלא לאכול ממנו ולא הייתי עוברת את ציוויו, ותקבל ברצון את תפלתי ואת תחנתי שלא אמות מלידה זו. ותושיעני לילד בנחת ובלי צער, ולא יהיה שום נזק לי או לולדי כי אתה האל המושיע

Translation (mine):

Master of the World, because חוה ate from the עץ הדעת therefore death was caused to exist in the world. If I were in her place, I wouldn't have eaten or benefited from it, just as I did not want to פסל this אתרוג during the seven days of יו"ט that just passed by, and today that I did פסל it - there is no מצוה to be done with it anymore. And just as I have pleasure from [eating] this פיטם - so would I have had pleasure from [only] seeing the עץ הדעת that הקב"ה told אדם and חוה not to eat from; and I wouldn't have transgressed His command. In this merit You should accept my תפלה and תחנה - that I should not die from this birth - graciously. Please save me such that I can give birth easily, without pain, and that there shouldn't be harm to me or to my child - for You are the L-rd Who saves."

We will now proceed to enumerate a number of problems inherent in this מנהג:

1) In the original תפלה (found in אלף המגן תרס:ו), there are numerous grammatical mistakes and instances of faulty sentence structure (which I have edited out for easier reading).

2) While there is an opinion that the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג tree, this does not account at all for those opinions which disagreed [2]. Moreover, even if the עץ הדעת was an אתרוג tree, the connection between that fact and biting the פיטם - and not any other part of the fruit - is not entirely clear.

3) To assert that, had one been in חוה's place, one would not have partaken of the עץ הדעת is wildly presumptuous at the very least, and even seems to be full-blown גאוה and עזות; how any sane, rational person could sincerely believe such a statement is not clear.

4) The subject of the תפלה attempts to prove that they would not have committed the חטא עץ הדעת by showing that they did not פסל the אתרוג the entire יו"ט. This is ludicrous as there was no specific temptation to do so, in which case one has a difficult time indeed making this a line of advocacy on their own behalf.

5) The assertion that פסלing an אתרוג on הושענא רבה does not interfere with the מצוה is inaccurate, as the entire day one can still fulfill the מצוה, so the אתרוג still has a use at that point.

6) The subject asserts that she has pleasure from the פיטם. What pleasure is referred to here is unclear, as פיטם doesn't necessarily taste like anything in particular.

7) The assumption of the תפלה seems to be that death from childbirth is a frequent occurrence בר מנן. Today, however, this is not the case 'בחסדי ה.

8) In general, the entire category of סגולות is suspect, [3] as the psychology behind a סגולה is an attempt at forcing G-d's Hand. To this end, the only סגולות that certainly have authentic validity are those that are reliably sourced, which brings us to our next point: one may counter that this סגולה is found in אלף המגן, a reliable source of פסק הלכה.

דרכי חיים ושלום, however, [4] contends that this entire paragraph (which is, in fact, copy-pasted from חיים וברכה אות רכח quoting נזיר שמשון) did not appear in the early editions of אלף המגן, rather it seems to have crept in at some later point, in which case this סגולה does not carry the אלף המגן's stamp of approval.

Conclusion

Biting a פיטם as a סגולה for an easy childbirth would seem to be not much more than an old wives' tale that has no clear basis in הלכה ומנהג and, as such, should be frowned upon.

Appendix

There are those who countered to me, in my discussion of the topic with them, that מנהג ישראל תורה, and, as such, one should keep this (or any) מנהג even where it does not make sense. Although the entire premise of this claim is not palatable to the logical mind, we will בעז"ה address this important principle in a future article.

The information in this article was compiled with the research assistance of members of the Sofrim Google group for writers.

[1] While the specific instructions are only to take, rather than bite, the פיטם, presumably the purpose of taking the פיטם is to then eat it - as is evinced from the accompanying תפלה in which experiencing pleasure from the פיטם plays a role.

[2] בראשית רבה פרשה טו אות ז

[3] For more on this point, see here. Note: the sentiments or opinions held by that author (in that article and elsewhere) are solely his own; I am only מציין to that article specifically as it expresses my point clearly.

[4] אות תשצו. See also מקור חיים סי' תרסד who is also critical of this מנהג.

My Visit to Shearith Israel

Over the past חול המועד my wife and I had the occasion to visit Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, for Minha/Arbit. In this post I will present a brief report of my observations there.

We arrived a few minutes early, with some time to get acquainted with our surroundings and settle in. We were given special חול המועד editions of their Book of Prayers (edited by R David de Sola Pool and first published by the Union of Sephardic Congregations in 1941), which had, in the inside of the front cover, an instructions page pasted, as well as a few minor additions throughout the book.

The Hazzan began the afternoon service with Psalm 84 (Tehilim are chanted before and after each service, thereby grounding the service in Biblical literature), which was chanted aloud by the Hazzan, with the congregation chiming in at specific points. (At this point the Hazzan sits on a bench facing his Reader's Desk, also called a Tebah, which is on a platform a few feet above the floor; the railing around the platform has long candlesticks that are lit at every service - originally to provide actual light but today just pro forma [1].)

The Hazzan then rose to begin Ashre, which was largely chanted aloud by the Hazzan, with the congregation chiming in at specific points.

The beginning (until האל הקדוש) and ending (from רצה until המברך את עמו ישראל בשלום) sections were chanted aloud by the Hazzan, with the congregation reading along in a whisper, except in certain places where they were expected to chime in, such as מודים, the beginning of which is chanted by the congregation with the Hazzan in unison. [2]

Alenu (of which only the first paragraph is said at all) was chanted in unison by the congregation with the Hazzan, to this tune.

The same pattern, more or less, was used for the evening service (preceded by Psalm 134 and concluding with Psalm 121) with the exception of the Hazzan chanting the Amidah aloud, which is not done at the evening service.

Following the evening service we had dinner in the Elias Room (a side room used as a Bet Midrash) sucah. This room is used all year for classes and the like. Before Sucot the roof is raised by a hydraulic system and the opening is covered with sekhakh [3].

On our way out we took a few pictures which we are happy to share with you:

above: Dutch chandelier, reflecting architectural tastes of the congregation's founders

above: fresh citrus fruits to keep away insects, doubling as succah decorations; facing is the remainder of the Elias room, which functions as a bet midrash and kiddush room

above: corn, used as a succah decoration, representing the food of America

above: the Small Sanctuary, used on weekdays; this room is meant to be a replica of the original synagogue built in 1730

above: talets (plural for talet, see here) and prayer books

above, background: hat gemach (one may only be called to the Torah on Shabbat and Festivals if one is properly attired in a hat, jacket and tie; in case one does not have a hat, there is a gemach to suit a variety of styles and tastes); foreground: displays used for various periodic exhibitions

I must add that, in general, the congregants were very kind and welcoming. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to visit.

[1] The congregation's current building was built in 1897, before electric power was commonplace. The entire building relied on candlelight until the 1920s, where electric power was installed.

Interestingly, the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam (also called the Esnoga - considered the mother synagogue of the Spanish-Portuguese congregations worldwide) as well as Bevis Marks (considered the mother synagogue of the Spanish-Portuguese congregations in England) still use candlelight to this day. (Some have commented to me that this phenomenon is in consonance with the concept of צורת הישיבה, in that an institution has a distinct character which needs to be preserved even in the appurtenances of its physical structure.)

[2] This is also done for מוסף on Shabbat and Festivals, the only difference being that מוסף is chanted aloud in its entirety.

The reason for this practice seems to be that, in the case of מנחה, people tend to be in a rush to get back to work and, in the case of מוסף, to finish the already-long service, so the early Western Sephardic rabbis established a Minhag that, for these services, the Hazzan should chant the entire Amidah aloud, with the congregation following along quietly.

[3] This was originally built with a mechanical system that needed to be cranked up, which is still done at the Esnoga.