This week on “You’re Asking Me?” we attempt to answer an age-old question.
Dear Mordechai,
What is the origin of the custom to eat Seudah Shlishis in shul?
Mizmor L’David
Dear Mizmor,
That’s a great question. It’s definitely not because it’s unimportant. In fact, Seudah Shlishis (pronounced “Shalashudiss”), is just as important as the other two meals – maybe more so. Case in point, it’s pronounced “Shalashudiss” (“3 meals”) even though you barely eat enough for one. If your wife made a supper like this on a regular night, you’d probably say, “Nah, I’ll see if they have anything to eat in shul.”
And if someone invited you for Seudah Shlishis and you didn’t know what it was, you’d be pretty insulted when you got there – cold gefilte fish from last night, egg salad from this morning, and a half a jar of herring. It’s like the guy said, “You want to come help me clean out my fridge?” In fact, this might be why the rabbis called it “shalosh seudos” and said that eating it is equivalent to eating the other two meals combined – because it’s actually made up of the other two meals combined. And if you can muscle through it, you show Hashem that you’re really just eating for the mitzvah.
But then why don’t we eat it at home? There are several possible reasons:
1. There’s no time to get home, eat, and then get back again. And you’re not going to run all the way home for tuna.
2. Most people just pick at their Seudah Shlishis, especially in the winter. We just finished lunch. But our wives get offended if we do this at home, as they were slaving away in the kitchen all week. But when you pick at your food in shul, no one’s offended. They just put it back in the fridge and it comes out again the next week. This is why sponsoring Seudah Shlishis is not that expensive. Basically, we eat in shul to hide the fact that we’re not eating. We basically just sit there and sing songs to pass the time until Maariv.
3. Maybe guys actually want to eat all 3 meals in shul, but you know what your wife will do to you if you told her you were going out for lunch? You sort of do, if you’ve ever eaten too much at a kiddush and then came home and attempted to fake your way through lunch. So one out of the 3 is a compromise.
Dear Mordechai,
Are there any Jewish record holders?
Curious
Dear Curious,
Not in sports. The Jewish records are where you’d expect them to be: in food. For example, Empire Kosher recently unveiled the world’s largest chicken nugget at Kosherfest – the world’s biggest kosher industry trade show (another food record), where people go to unveil new products, mostly in the form of small samples, and attendees go from booth to booth, sampling products. It’s like the world’s biggest kiddush, except that you don’t have to come home and fake your way through lunch afterward.
And it’s not just food products. Put the word “kosher” in front of anything, and they’ll let you into Kosherfest. For example, one booth had a product called “kosher diapers.” This is a real thing.
But what kind of hashgacha do they have? Do I need separate diapers for meat and dairy?
So I looked at the packaging, and it turns out that they’re made to be used on Shabbos, because a lot of people don’t want to use diapers that have tape. So instead this one has Velcro, and you don’t have to worry about ripping off the tape on Shabbos. You know, because the diaper is going to fall off by itself. Maybe we should give the baby a belt to wear over it, just in case. Or suspenders. But I guess Velcro is a great alternative to what people have been doing, which is leaving the diaper on all day and ruining everyone’s oneg Shabbos. This is why men started eating Seudah Shlishis in shul.