עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם, וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מִשָּׁם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה. וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי בָנֵינוּ מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם. וַאֲפִילוּ כֻּלָּנוּ חֲכָמִים כֻּלָּנוּ נְבוֹנִים כֻּלָּנוּ זְקֵנִים כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעִים אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מִצְוָה עָלֵינוּ לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם הֲרֵי זֶה מְשֻׁבָּח.
We were slaves to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. And the Eternal our God took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One of Blessing had not taken our ancestors from Egypt, 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 wise, all experienced, all knowledgeable about the Torah, we are commanded to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. And anyone who spends extra time telling the story of the exodus from Egypt deserves praise.
בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים, שנאמר (שמות יג), והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, בעבור זה עשה יי לי בצאתי ממצרים.
לפיכך אנחנו חיבין להודות , להלל, לשבח, לפאר, לרומם, להדר, לברך, לעלה, ולקלס, למי שעשה לאבותינו ולנו את כל הנסים האלו, הוציאנו מעבדות לחרות, מיגון לשמחה, ומאבל ליום טוב, ומאפלה לאור גדול, ומשעבוד לגאלה.ונאמר לפניו, הללויה.
In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: ‘It is because of what the Eternal did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’”
Therefore it is our duty to thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore God, who performed all these miracles for our ancestors and us; God brought us forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into great light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore let us say Hallelujah!
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
-- Emma Lazurus, The New Colossus
The degradation, the wrongs, the vices that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe. They are greater than you would willingly believe.
My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things. My soul revolted against the mean tyranny. But where could I turn for protection? There is no shadow of law to protect the slave girl from insult, from violence, or even from death. All these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men.
When they told me my new-born babe was a girl, my heart was heavier than it had ever been before. Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications specifically their own….
God gave me a soul that burned for freedom and a heart nerved with determination to suffer even unto death in pursuit of liberty.
-- Harriet Jacobs, Life of a Slave Girl: An Autobiography, 1861
The Winter of 5605 [1945] was a difficult one in the Feihingen concentration camp in Germany. We suffered from arduous labor in the stone quarries, cold, and hunger; as well as an epidemic of typhus which killed many. To those who died of typhus were added the victims of the cruel murders of the SS men. The result was despair and apathy and indifference to our fate.
But in this death camp there were some who stubbornly held fast to their Judaism until the last moment. Passover was coming. How does one refrain from eating hametz? A few days before Pesah one of the SS men entered the foundry where I was working as a sign-maker. He asked if I could prepare some targets for rifle practice. At the moment an idea sprung into my mind and I proposed it to him. I would prepare targets with figures of soldiers affixed to them. But I would need a quantity of flour with which to prepare the paste. … Ultimately I received fifteen kilos of flour. When I got the flour to the foundry I told my friends of the miracle – and it is impossible to describe their joy. The will to live which was almost extinguished, was kindled anew.
We “liberated” some wood, scraped a table with glass, and “kashered” it with hot bricks…we began to bake the matzot…on the night of the first seder we gathered in the foundry as the marranos did in ancient Spain.
We started awesomely. “We were slaves.” Each of us had three matzot. In place of wine we used water sweetened with sugar. We had potatoes for karpas, and white beets for maror. Salt and water were not in short supply. We recited the Haggadah from some siddurim which we had succeeded in hiding all this time.
When we were about halfway through the Haggadah, Azriel began to preach to us not to despair and to withstand the test of affliction, for redemption was near…
-- Mordekhai Eliav, Ani Ma’amin
In every generation one must see oneself as if he/she personally went out from Egypt, as it says: [Exodus 13:8] And you shall tell you child on that day, saying: 'Because of what the ETERNAL did for me when I went out from Egypt'.