What Story Are We Telling? Four Stories in the Haggadah

MISHNA: They pour for him the second cup, and here the son asks his father. However, if the son does not have knowledge, his father teaches him: How is this night different from all other nights? ... According to the son's knowledge/intellectual capacity, his father teaches him. He begins with degradation and concludes with praise; and he interprets [doresh] from “My father was a fugitive Aramean” until he completes the entire section.¹

GEMARA: ... "He begins with degradation and concludes with praise". What does "begin with degradation" mean? Rav said: "At first our forefathers were idol worshippers..."²; and Shmuel said: "We were slaves."³ ...

MISHNA: Rabban Gamliel said: anyone who does not say these three things on Passover has not fulfilled his obligation, and these are them: Passover sacrifice, matzah, and bitter herbs. Passover (pesach), because the Omnipresent passed over (pasach) the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, (as it is stated: “That you shall say: It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Paschal offering for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses” (Exodus 12:27)); matzah, because our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt (as it is stated: “And they baked the dough that they took out of Egypt as cakes of matzot, for it was not leavened, as they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual” (Exodus 12:39)); bitter herbs (maror), because the Egyptians embittered (mer'ru) the lives of our ancestors in Egypt (as it is stated: “And they embittered their lives with hard service, in mortar and in brick; in all manner of service in the field, all the service that they made them serve was with rigor” (Exodus 1:14)).

(5) ... “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. (6) The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. (7) We cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression. (8) The LORD freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents. (9) He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10) Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O LORD, have given me.”...

From the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshipers. And now, the Place [of all] has brought us close to His worship, as it is stated (Joshua 24:2-4), "Yehoshua said to the whole people, so said the Lord, God of Israel, 'over the river did your ancestors dwell from always, Terach the father of Avraham and the father of Nachor, and they worshiped other gods."

And I took your father, Avraham from over the river and I made him walk in all the land of Canaan and I increased his seed and I gave him Yitschak. And I gave to Yitschak, Ya'akov and Esav, and I gave to Esav, Mount Seir [in order that he] inherit it; and Yaakov and his sons went down to Egypt.'"

We were slaves to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. And the Lord, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched forearm. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our ancestors from Egypt, behold we and our children and our children's children would [all] be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. And even if we were all sages, all discerning, all elders, all knowledgeable about the Torah, it would be a commandment upon us to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. And anyone who adds [and spends extra time] in telling the story of the exodus from Egypt, behold he is praiseworthy.