TRANSLITERATION
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
TRANSLATION
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of Torah.
(א) שאין נופלים על פניהם כל ניסן. ובו ב' סעיפים:
שואלים בהלכות פסח קודם לפסח שלשים יום: הגה ומנהג לקנות חטים לחלקן לעניים לצורך פסח וכל מי שדר בעיר י"ב חדש צריך ליתן לזה: (א"ז):
(1) 1. We learn the halakhot of Pesach for 30 days before Pesach.
Today we follow in this age-old custom to prepare ourselves for Passover.
To be able to experience the Passover story with fresh eyes and new perspectives, we'll take a close look at the Haggadah - the guidebook for the Seder.
Survey question: Which part of the Seder is most meaningful to you personally (or to your family)?
I'd like to focus first on a part that suggests a lens or framework for the whole Seder experience:
(ה) רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הָיָה אוֹמֵר, כָּל שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר שְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים אֵלּוּ בְּפֶסַח, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פֶּסַח, מַצָּה, וּמָרוֹר. פֶּסַח, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁפָּסַח הַמָּקוֹם עַל בָּתֵּי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַיִם. מַצָּה, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁנִּגְאֲלוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרַיִם. מָרוֹר, עַל שׁוּם שֶׁמֵּרְרוּ הַמִּצְרִים אֶת חַיֵּי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְמִצְרָיִם. בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יג), וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה ה' לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם. לְפִיכָךְ אֲנַחְנוּ חַיָּבִין לְהוֹדוֹת, לְהַלֵּל, לְשַׁבֵּחַ, לְפָאֵר, לְרוֹמֵם, לְהַדֵּר, לְבָרֵךְ, לְעַלֵּה, וּלְקַלֵּס, לְמִי שֶׁעָשָׂה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ אֶת כָּל הַנִּסִּים הָאֵלּוּ, הוֹצִיאָנוּ מֵעַבְדוּת לְחֵרוּת, מִיָּגוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה, וּמֵאֵבֶל לְיוֹם טוֹב, וּמֵאֲפֵלָה לְאוֹר גָּדוֹל, וּמִשִּׁעְבּוּד לִגְאֻלָּה. וְנֹאמַר לְפָנָיו, הַלְלוּיָהּ:
The tanna of the mishna further states: In each and every generation a person must view themselves as though they personally left Egypt, as it is stated: “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: It is because of this which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8).. Therefore we are obligated to thank, praise, glorify, extol, exalt, honor, bless, revere, and laud [lekales] the One who performed for our ancestors and for us all these miracles: God took us out from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to a Festival, from darkness to a great light, and from enslavement to redemption. And we will say before God: Halleluya.
How can we see ourselves as though we left Egypt?
Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Benaya: 4 cups of wine at Seder correspond to 4 redemptions in these Torah verses.
(Yerushalmi Pesahim 10:1)
- Take you out
- Save you
- Redeem you
- Take you to Me
Rabbi Isaac Ha'Cohen Kook: 4 stages in the redemption from Egypt
- "I will take you out" -- Jewish people's suffering to stop - our ancestors could not believe they could be free, so stage 1 - lessening the pressure so they could begin to contemplate freedom
- "I will save you" -- stop working, taste freedom, still in Egypt but not slaves anymore
- "Redeem you" -- Actually leave Egypt - needed first two stage -- only when work slowed down did people desire freedom, only when the work stopped could they begin to appreciate that freedom
- "Take you to Me" - not enough to leave Egypt and wander, if we just wandered, we'd not be Egyptians but also not independent
What about the 5th cup of wine? Not required -- 5th cup connected to Hallel, one additional term of redemption...
Rav Kook: Why is the 5th cup optional?
When we were in exile, we could not celebrate this redemption, and so instead we dedicate a cup to Elijah (Eliyahu) who will announce the great redemption.
Searching for Chametz
https://www.ou.org/holidays/the-symbolism-of-chametz/
מַגִּיד
מגלה את המצות, מגביה את הקערה ואומר בקול רם:
הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַּׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל. הָשַּׁתָּא עַבְדֵי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין.
The Recitation [of the exodus story]
The leader uncovers the matsot, raises the Seder plate, and says out loud:
This is the bread of poverty (?) that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Anyone who is famished should come and eat, anyone who is in need should come and partake of the Pesach sacrifice. Now we are here, next year we will be in the land of Israel; this year we are slaves, next year we will be free people.
- Poverty
- Affliction, suffering
- Responding, telling
- Poverty - we left Egypt with very little personal possessions, by eating it we return to a time when we ate only this simple food
- Affliction - Suffering of slavery, pain of loss, mental and physical trauma
- Responding, telling - Memory stays alive through active engagement
They had been in a state where they greatly enjoyed the taste of the forbidden, the abominable in G’d’s eyes. Hence G’d said to them: “I am the One Who takes you out from this moral morass,” i.e. the סבלות מצרים. G’d promised that henceforth they would no longer find these abominations enjoyable but would shun them like death. Instead they would learn to enjoy spiritually uplifting experiences such as the study of G’d’s Torah and observance of its commandments. They would find satisfaction in prayer and the fact that G’d listens to their prayers, and responds positively to their good deeds.
This passage in the Haggadah comes from:
(3) You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live.
- What would be the impact on us if we forgot about the Exodus?
- What/who could be stand-ins for Pharaoh today?
- Does anything feel different this year for us celebrating Passover than previous years?