Dear Kosher Spirit,
In your recent issue of Kosher Spirit (Spring 5770, p. 14) Rabbi Gornish writes, “All grating should be done Erev Pesach so as not to delay the Seder.” Actually, according to the Shulchan Oruch HaRav (sec. 504:4) one may not grate chrein on Yom Tov. Since it is normally done in bulk, i.e. several days supply at once, therefore it is not justified to do on Yom Tov.
Wishing you much success in promoting kashrus and Yiddishkeit in general,
L.Y. Raskin
Dayan, Lubavitch Community, London, UK
Rabbi Gornish responds:
Dear Dayan Raskin,
Thank you for your comment. The Mishna Brura (473:36) brings an opinion that one should intentionally grate the maror after returning from shul so the flavor will remain strong, otherwise the mitzvah will not have been fulfilled. I suppose in that situation, one would only prepare the amount needed for the seder since any additional grated maror for the following night’s seder would be weakened and thus defeat the original purpose of freshly grating the maror. I tried to steer clear of disputing traditions and only listed the basic reasons in the article.
Kind Regards,
Rabbi Yitzchak Gornish