Disgrace And Praise – Haggadah And The Seder 4/5

There are three places in the Tanakh where we can find an abbreviated retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Read these three texts, note how they are similar and how they differ. All three of these texts are used in various places in the Haggadah, so look for them there!

Why do you think the rabbis chose Deuteronomy 26 as the central text of the seder? Why that text and not the others?

Why not use the stories themselves from Exodus?

Why recite the story beginning with disgrace and ending with praise?

In the following source two amoraim dispute the meaning of “disgrace” as referred to in the Mishnah.

This statement appears a little bit after the above dispute about the disgrace.

What do you think Rava is referring to? Where do the words “and He took us out of there” come from?

On the right hand side is the Eretz Yisraeli version of Rav’s words. Where is the quote from? How does the “Israeli” version of Rav’s interpretation of disgrace differ from the version on the left, the Babylonian version? What different aspects of “disgrace” do they emphasize?

Assuming that the version on the right is original (the Yerushalmi usually is assumed to preserve a more original version of statements) why would the Bavli adjust the statement.

The following source is an excerpt from an ancient Eretz Yisraeli Haggadah found in the Cairo Geniza. Note how this Haggadah matches the Yerushalmi quoted above.

The following is a teshuvah, a responsum, written by R. Neturai Gaon in the 9th century C.E. The geonim, the spiritual and political leaders in Babylonia, engaged in fierce polemics against the Jewish leadership in Eretz Yisrael. Many battles were fought over the proper versions of prayers. While you read this teshuvah note how he accuses those who use this Haggadah of being Karaites. Today, we know that those who recited this Haggadah were simply Eretz Yisraeli rabbinic Jews, certainly not Karaites.

Thus said R. Netronai Gaon, Head of the Yeshiva: One who says for Kiddush on Pesah ” אשר קדש את ישראל” and when he finishes Mah Nishtanah he doesn’t say “Avadim Hayyinu” and he doesn’t say, “In the beginning our ancestors will idol worshipers” but he just says, “And Joshua said to the people” until “And Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt” and he says, “Baruch shomer” until “tze ulmad” and he reads “arami oved avi” until he finishes the parsha, just the verses and he doesn’t say any midrash and he says “Rabban Gamaliel” and “Asher Gaalnu” and Hallel.

This is utterly perplexing. Oone who acts in such a way has certainly not fulfilled his obligation. Rather anyone who does this is a heretic and he denies the words of the sages and despises the words of the Mishnah and Talmud. And all of the communities of Israel should excommunicate him, as it is written, “And he should be separated from the community of the exiles.” And is Avadim Hayyinu that the sages said not from the Torah, “And you shall say to your sons, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.” “And Joshua said to all of the people” doesn’t that mean that originally they were idol worshippers, as we taught, “He begins with disgrace and ends with praise” and we said, “What is disgrace? Rav said, “In the beginning… and Shmuel said, We were slaves.” …Rather these people are heretics and they despise the words of the sages. And they are the disciples of Anan, may his name rot…

The following few sources are older versions of the text that lies at the heart of the Haggadah—, the Arami Oved Avi midrash. You should look at these texts and compare them to the longer text found in modern Haggadot. Our Haggadot contain the fuller “Babylonian” version, one that probably originated in Babylonia and was later adopted in most European countries. Note how sparse these versions are. It is possible that when the text was still oral, the tendency was to keep it short. Once the text was written down, it became possible to use a much more expanded version.

Ancient Eretz Yisraeli Haggadah (published by Rovner)

Another Ancient Eretz-Yisraeli Haggadah

And he went down to Egypt:” compelled by the divine word. See how beloved was our forefather Jacob, how beloved he was before God, as it is said, “I Myself will go down with you to
Egypt and I Myself will also bring you back” (Genesis 46:4).

“And dwelled there with meager numbers. But there he became a great nation.”

See how beloved was Israel, how beloved they were before God, that they only went down to Egypt with meager numbers as it is said, “Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons in all; and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven” (Deuteronomy 10:22).

“And God took us out of Egypt”, not by an angel, not by a seraph, not by an agent, but rather the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself as it is said, “For that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all of the gods of Egypt, I the Lord” (Exodus 12:12).

“With a mighty hand”—two. “With an outstretched arm”—two. “With awesome power”—two. “With signs”—two. “With wonders”—two.

These are the ten plagues which the the Holy One, blessed be He, brought upon Egypt, and these are they: blood, frogs, lice, beasts, cattle-plague, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, slaying of the first-born.

And he took us out from there, as it is said, “and he took us out from there” (Deuteronomy 6:23). Not on our own merit did the Lord take us out of Egypt but through the merit of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as it is said, “God heard their moaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites and God took notice of them” (Exodus 2:24).

Ancient Babylonian Haggadah (also published by Rovner)