(א) וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ׃ (ב) וְלָקַחְתָּ֞ מֵרֵאשִׁ֣ית ׀ כָּל־פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר תָּבִ֧יא מֵֽאַרְצְךָ֛ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָ֖ךְ וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ בַטֶּ֑נֶא וְהָֽלַכְתָּ֙ אֶל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִבְחַר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לְשַׁכֵּ֥ן שְׁמ֖וֹ שָֽׁם׃ (ג) וּבָאתָ֙ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֑ם וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו הִגַּ֤דְתִּי הַיּוֹם֙ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כִּי־בָ֙אתִי֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יְהוָ֛ה לַאֲבֹתֵ֖ינוּ לָ֥תֶת לָֽנוּ׃ (ד) וְלָקַ֧ח הַכֹּהֵ֛ן הַטֶּ֖נֶא מִיָּדֶ֑ךָ וְהִ֨נִּיח֔וֹ לִפְנֵ֕י מִזְבַּ֖ח יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ (ה) וְעָנִ֨יתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ֜ לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה וַיָּ֥גָר שָׁ֖ם בִּמְתֵ֣י מְעָ֑ט וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֕ם לְג֥וֹי גָּד֖וֹל עָצ֥וּם וָרָֽב׃ (ו) וַיָּרֵ֧עוּ אֹתָ֛נוּ הַמִּצְרִ֖ים וַיְעַנּ֑וּנוּ וַיִּתְּנ֥וּ עָלֵ֖ינוּ עֲבֹדָ֥ה קָשָֽׁה׃ (ז) וַנִּצְעַ֕ק אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּ וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע יְהוָה֙ אֶת־קֹלֵ֔נוּ וַיַּ֧רְא אֶת־עָנְיֵ֛נוּ וְאֶת־עֲמָלֵ֖נוּ וְאֶת־לַחֲצֵֽנוּ׃ (ח) וַיּוֹצִאֵ֤נוּ יְהוָה֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם בְּיָ֤ד חֲזָקָה֙ וּבִזְרֹ֣עַ נְטוּיָ֔ה וּבְמֹרָ֖א גָּדֹ֑ל וּבְאֹת֖וֹת וּבְמֹפְתִֽים׃ (ט) וַיְבִאֵ֖נוּ אֶל־הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וַיִּתֶּן־לָ֙נוּ֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ (י) וְעַתָּ֗ה הִנֵּ֤ה הֵבֵ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־רֵאשִׁית֙ פְּרִ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תָּה לִּ֖י יְהוָ֑ה וְהִנַּחְתּ֗וֹ לִפְנֵי֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֔יתָ לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ (יא) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֣ בְכָל־הַטּ֗וֹב אֲשֶׁ֧ר נָֽתַן־לְךָ֛ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ וּלְבֵיתֶ֑ךָ אַתָּה֙ וְהַלֵּוִ֔י וְהַגֵּ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ׃ (ס)
(1) And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and dost possess it, and dwell therein; (2) that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which thou shalt bring in from thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee; and thou shalt put it in a basket and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. (3) And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him: ‘I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the land which the LORD swore unto our fathers to give us.’ (4) And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. (5) And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. (6) And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. (7) And we cried unto the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression. (8) And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders. (9) And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10) And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land, which Thou, O LORD, hast given me.’ And thou shalt set it down before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God. (11) And thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the midst of thee.
(א) מצות קריאה על הבכורים - שנצטוינו בהביאנו הבכורים למקדש לקרות עליהם הכתובים אלו הנזכרים בפרשה זו, והן, מארמי אבד אבי עד הנה הבאתי את ראשית פרי האדמה אשר נתתה לי ה'. ועל זה נאמר (דברים כו ה) וענית ואמרת לפני ה' אלקיך וגו'. וזאת המצוה יקראו זכרונם לברכה (סוטה לב א) מקרא בכורים. ומצות הבאתן כתבתיו בסדר משפטים במצות הבאת הבכורים (מצוה עב), ונכפלה המצוה להביאן כמו כן בפרשה זו, וכבר נודע כי הרבה מן המצות נכפלות בתורה, וכלן לענין ולצרך גדול.
(ב) משרשי המצוה. לפי שהאדם מעורר מחשבותיו ומציר בלבבו האמת בכח דברי פיו, על כן, בהיטיב אליו השם ברוך הוא ובברכו אותו ואת אדמתו לעשות פרות וזכה להביאם לבית אלהינו ראוי לו לעורר לבו בדברי פיהו ולחשב כי הכל הגיע אליו מאת אדון העולם, ויספר חסדיו יתברך עלינו ועל כל עם ישראל דרך כלל, ועל כן, מתחיל בענין יעקב אבינו שחלצו ה' מיד לבן, וענין עבודת המצריים בנו, והצילנו הוא ברוך הוא מידם, ואחר השבח מבקש מלפניו להתמיד הברכה עליו, ומתוך התעוררות נפשו בשבח השם ובטובו זוכה ומתברכת אותו (נ''א אישו), ועל כן צונו ברוך הוא על זה, כי חפץ חסד הוא.
(1) The mitzvah of reading for the first fruits - That we were commanded when bringing the first fruits to the Temple, that we should recite the pesukim in this Perasha, which begins with "Arami Oved Avi" until "Heneh heveti..." On this act is said: And you will answer and you will say in front of Hashem your G-d. The Hachamim called this mitzvah "Mikra Bikkurim." The mitzvah of bringing the bikkurim is mentioned in Seder Mishpatim and repeated in this Perasha. It is known that many mitzvot are repeated in the Torah, and they are all relevant and necessary.
(2)From the root of this commandment. So that a man arouses his thoughts and draws in his heart the truth with the power of speech. Therefore, when Hashem improved his well-being, and blessed him and his land to bear fruits, and he merited to bring the fruits to the Temple, it is appropriate to stir his heart with speech and ponder that everything arrived to him from the master of the universe, and he should share Hashem's kindness on ourselves and every member of Am Yisrael generally. Therefore, we begin the subject of Yaakob Avinu that Hashem released him from Laban, and the subject of the Egyptian slavery, that were saved from them. Following the praise, we request from Him to eternally bestow the blessing on him, and from this awakening of the soul with praise of Hashem and his goodness, he is meritorious and becomes blessed. As a result, Hashem commanded this mitzvah because he desires the kindness.
Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, Arami Oved Avi: Why is the Bikkurim Proclamation Recited in the Haggada?
Why did the rabbis choose to relate the Exodus from Egypt [in the Hagaddah] by analyzing verses which appear in the Torah as a proclamation recited when bringing bikkurim, the first fruits?
Why do we expound on verses from Devarim and not from Shemot?
At first blush, it would seem that the book of Shemot would be the best way to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. In the Haggada, though, we recite four verses in Parashat Ki Tavo in Devarim (26:5-8), which tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt in a much shorter form.
[...]Another reason for choosing these verses is related to the fact that the verses in Devarim are recited as part of the ceremony of bringing one’s first fruits to the Temple. In this context, the telling of the Exodus from Egypt is a description of the past as well as a demonstration of how to properly tell over the Exodus from Egypt in an experiential way, as more than just a description of events that took place.
One can add another reason: the commandment of bringing the first fruits to the Temple expresses the attribute of gratitude. The person goes down to his field, looks at his crop, and recognizes that everything he has comes from God, as stated there in the summary verse: “You shall rejoice with all the good that the Lord, your God, has granted you and your household” (Devarim 26:11). In this section, there is one major operative verb that is repeated time and time again – the root nun-tav-nun – to give. These are: “Gives to you” which appears twice, “to give to you,” and “who gave you the land,” “God gave me,” and “the Lord your God gave you.” By being personally grateful and identifying with God’s abundant generosity, a person learns to thank God for all that He has done for the Nation of Israel, for its deliverance, and for its redemption.
We can offer yet another reason why the Haggada uses the verses in Devarim instead of those in Shemot. While it is true that the text regarding the first fruits is much shorter than that in Shemot, the former text does not look only at the Exodus from Egypt by itself like the latter one does. The recitation upon bringing one’s first fruits also looks backwards, beginning the description of the redemption from the time of Yaakov. One thanks God by examining the course of history of the Nation of Israel. This way, we understand that there is a Divine plan that leads our nation, from the beginning of the period of our forefathers down to the present day. As such, our thanks are not only for the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus from Egypt serves as the paradigm of how God has helped Israel historically throughout the generations, and we thank Him on the seder night for all of His help throughout time.
This principle of the importance of reviewing the past in order to thank God at present, is manifest not only in the proclamation recited on bringing the first fruits, but it is indeed implicit in the very notion of the first fruits. The first fruits are the first crops, “the first fruits of the land.” The first fruits return the person to his beginnings, to the source. The person takes the first fruit which reminds him to think about his primary principles, his foundation, and he thus begins to think of the beginnings of the Nation of Israel, the forefathers of our nation, and the good which God granted to them and to us.
One may combine the last two ideas mentioned in the verses about the first fruits: the thankfulness brought out in this commandment, and our examination of the past. Thankfulness causes us to thank God for all the good He is giving us right now, but at the same time, when we look back to the past we are grateful to Him for all that He has done for the Nation of Israel, from its founding until now. This emerges from the word of the Sefer Ha-chinukh (mitzvah 606).
[...]
In the entire section in the Torah about the first fruits, the description of the slavery in Egypt and of the Exodus from Egypt are formulated in language which includes the entire nation, throughout all the generations – particularly the time of the person making the declaration at the time. Thus, one who brings first fruits states: “the Egyptians treated us cruelly,” “and afflicted us,” “we cried out to the Lord,” and “the Lord brought us out from Egypt.” This style teaches us that every single person in the Nation of Israel is an integral component of the entire nation, and must feel a partner in the fate of all the events involving the nation. Every Jew must know that his personal successes are all part of the contemporary community, as well as a part of the historical process of the entire Jewish People. It is possible that that is the source for the statement of our Sages that “In every generation, it is one’s duty to see himself as though he had personally come out from Egypt” (Pesachim 116b). The Torah teaches us that even when we are in the Land of Israel, we must feel that the Egyptians oppressed us personally, and that we personally left Egypt. The Nation of Israel is a single body, one organic unit, and is part of the course of our entire history.
(2) Tze u’limad, Come and Learn: This passage suggests that Laban was worse than Pharaoh. In the context of telling the Passover story, this seems quite strange. The Haggadah, however, instructs us to consider how Laban “sought to destroy” to our forefather, Jacob. Laban not only thought about hurting Jacob and his family. He set out with the intention of harming them and would have done so if God had not intervened and appeared to him in a dream warning him to leave Jacob alone. At first glance one might presume that Pharaoh was worse than Laban; Pharaoh, however, never had planned to annihilate the entire nation and was motivated out of fear that the Israelites might join Egypt’s enemies. Pharaoh wished to subjugate the nation, not destroy them. Laban, on the other hand, sought to destroy Jacob and his offspring completely.
This is implied by the words of the Torah, Arami oved avi, (“Laban sought to destroy my father”). The Torah uses the word oved, “destroy” rather than the word he’evid, “caused destruction;” transitive verb rather than the causative verb implies that his thoughts and plans were as destructive as if he actually succeeded. Also the word oved, which is present tense, implies that Laban and his descendents would continually try to destroy the children of Israel.
(1) There are so many questions on this opening verse of the Maggid. Who was the Aramean that the Torah speaks of and what did he seek to do to our forefather Jacob? Rabbi Lorberbaum offers a daring explanation of this passage that parts ways with most commentators and with the plain sense meaning of the passage in the Haggadah. The problem is that the Haggadah has already parted ways with the plain sense meaning of the verse Arami Oved Avi. Most contemporary translations render these words “My father was a wandering Aramean,” instead of “An Aramean sought to destroy my father.” But as you will see, Rabbi Lorberbaum searches for a way to hold on to the traditional understanding of this verse without doing violence to the plain sense meaning of the words. Does he succeed? I will leave that for you to decide.
At the same time Rabbi Lorberbaum solves another problem: why are we talking about Laban in the first place? What does he have to do with the story of the Exodus from Egypt? Rabbi Lorberbaum finds an ingenious connection between Pharaoh and Laban that allows the reader to explore the feminine and masculine aspects of the Exodus. Laban is a danger to Israel spiritually and not physically.
(2) Go and learn: Why does the Haggadah choose to blame the descent to Egypt on Laban and on this passage which begins, “My father was a wandering Aramean...”? What does the expression Arami Oved Avi mean?
Laban sought to destroy Abraham’s descendents by severing Jacob’s connection to his covenant as well as to his family. Like many Biblical personalities, he tried to accomplish this by using ‘imaginative actions’ (Poel Dimayon) as a way of predicting his family’s destiny. ‘Imaginative actions’ are acts that are meant to reflect a deeper reality through symbolism and sympathetic magic. The performer carries out an act which mimics or foreshadows what he hopes the destiny of another may be. Jewish and non-Jewish prophets alike performed such acts. For instance, Jeremiah throws a stone into the river as a way of illustrating that Babylon will sink and be destroyed. The imaginative and symbolic action is predictive of a future reality. Pharaoh also used such ‘imaginative actions’ as a way of destroying Israel. Since Israel is connected to the male side of divinity, by casting the male children into the Nile, he believed that he would weaken Israel’s connection to the divine.
Laban went one step farther than Pharaoh. He threatened to destroy both the men and women in the family of Jacob by inciting them to leave their faith in the true God and thereby destroying any connection to the divine – not just the male aspect of the divine as Pharaoh would do, but the female aspect as well.
It wasn't so much that Laban wished to physically destroy Jacob and his family as he wished to destroy their spiritual connection to God. The verse then should be read, “My father, Laban, was a “lost Aramean” who lacked a basic belief in the true God, and he wished to seduce Jacob and his family into adopting idolatry.
Rav Hirsch, Commentary on Devarim 26:5-9
וְעָנִ֨יתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ֜- He holds in his hand the basket of fruits which, by the act of tenufah, he has already dedicated to endeavors on behalf of God and mankind; and he has already stated that he brings them in order to express his awareness that he possesses the Land only because God has fulfilled his oath to the patriarchs. Now, he looks back to these early beginnings of the Jewish people, and he stresses the historical facts that attest for all time to come that, at the establishment of Jewish national experience, only God's Will and almighty power were active; no other factor participated in creating Jewish nationhood.
אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י- אֹבֵ֣ד in the kal is always intransitive, and means "to go to ruin." אֹבֵ֣ד, then, means going to ruin, close to ruin. Thus, אֲרַמִּי֙ and אֹבֵ֣ד are both predicates of אָבִ֔י, and the disjunctive accent on אֲרַמִּי֙ calls attention toאֲרַמִּי first, after which אֹבֵ֣ד is added as a second predicate: "An Aramean, close to ruin, was my father."
The fruits in the basket attest that their owner achieved blessed independence in his own land, and the antithesis of this is best expressed by the predicate "אֲרַמִּי", by which the bringer describes his forefather.
Canaan was not the birthplace of the patriarchs. Avraham was born in Aram; it was Aram he called "eretz molad'ti," "my country and birthplace." In Canaan he had no native rights to bequeath to his descendants. The father of the nation was without a homeland in the land that is now the homeland of our nation, and it was only by a special favor that he was permitted to acquire, on the soil that is now the homeland of his descendants, a burial plot for his wife. As for his first grandson, Yaakov-Yisrael, whose name the nation now bears--when he returned as a refugee to the Aramean homeland and by hard labor gained a living there, the Aramean homeland, too, would not tolerate him. Threatened by physical destruction, he fled from him scheming father-in-law and, to and, together with his wives and children, returned to Canaan as a refugee. However, there, too, he found no peace, and finally he was forced to leave, to escape famine. He was still an אֲרַמִּי, still without a homeland, and, in addition, had until then suffered bitter blows of fate, he was judged by people to be אֹבֵ֣ד, without prospects of ever attaining independence. Thus, as an אֲרַמִּי and as an אֹבֵ֣ד, he went down to Egypt, a foreign land even more alien to him in its language, its customs, and its outlook on life.
The patriarchs has been promised a future as an independent nation in the land of Canaan, yet it was a family without a future, with rights of domicile only in Aram, that they went down to Egypt: אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י וַיֵּ֣רֶד מִצְרַ֔יְמָה, and the Haggadah adds: anus al pi hadibbur. By any human reckoning, the move of Yaakov's family down to Egypt removed them even further from the realization of the future that had been promised to them. Notwithstanding the momentary splendor from which they came, their migration was a yeridah, a descent, in the fullest sense of the term. hence the need for words of encouragement: אַל־תִּירָא֙ מֵרְדָ֣ה מִצְרַ֔יְמָה (Genesis 46:3). Hence Yosef, too, in all the splendor of his high office, departed this world convinced that a special pekidah, a special intervention of Divine providence, would be required to bring the people out of Egypt and up to the promised land, only that he was fully confident that this pekidah would surely come. However, they went "down," seemingly "close to ruin," "forced" by the pressure of circumstances and al pi hadibbur, in obedience to the Divine Word.
[...]
וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֕ם- and there, against all reasonable expectations, they became a ג֥וֹי, a separate national entity. For they preserved their spiritual and moral uniqueness, which distinguished them from the rest of the population. Thus, they were metzuyanim sham, "they stood out (from among the others)," a great national entity; and by God's blessing, they became strong and numerous.
[...]
וַיְבִאֵ֖נוּ אֶל־הַמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה- He brought us to this place, which He chose as the site of the Sanctuary of His Torah. And for the sake of this Torah, for the fulfillment of the Torah, which rests here, He gave us the blessed Land which encompasses the Sanctuary, its center. Our possession of this Land gave us the homeland we never had before.