The Weekly Shtikle - Leil Seder
I am once again repeating one of my favourite thoughts on the seder, as gleaned from the haggadah of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in order to expose two new significant supporting findings.
The many brilliant essays in R' Sacks's haggadah follow a theme which has inspired a perspective on the entire seder experience which was new to me and changed the way I understand the "duties of the day." The mitzvah of sipur yetzias Mitzrayim is, in fact, a two-way street. It is well known and much discussed that we must do our best to transport ourselves back to the great redemption from the hands of Egyptian servitude - "chayav adam lir'os/lehar'os es atzmo..." We need to imagine ourselves there. However, at the same time, we need to "bring the geulah to us." We need to understand that yetzias Mitzrayim is nothing short of a blueprint for HaShem's constant Divine intervention on our behalf. This is perhaps made most evident by the "Vehi She'amdah" passage which declares that it was not just in that generation but in every generation that our very existence hangs in the balance and HaShem ensures that we survive and endure.
It occurred to me that the text of the haggadah itself makes it very clear that this perspective is incumbent upon us as we ponder the events of exodus. The haggadah could have simply charged us to view ourselves as part of yetzias Mitzrayim with the text exactly as I quoted above, "chayav adam, etc." for the task would remain the same, no matter when in history we find ourselves. However, we are commanded, "bechol dor vador chayav adam." What is the significance of declaring that this is required in each generation? It is clear that we are being instructed in every generation, despite all of its particular challenges and hardships to seek out and appreciate the geulos of our day. Over the past few years, we have unfortunately seen our share of churbanos – painful reminders of the state of exile that still shackle us to this day. But we must still recognize the miracles with which HaShem is constantly delivering us. Just as a matter of practical examples – when we are able to rescue and recover a hostage alive, when hundreds of missiles are shot at our homeland and we remove nearly every single one from the sky, when we can eliminate thousands of our sworn enemies with the press of a button – these are mini replicas of yetzias Mitzrayim in our day.
I was blown away recently by a comment from yet another of this generation's giants of Judaism, Rabbi Berel Wein, which underscores this point. He was being interviewed by Yaakov Langer on the Living Lchaim podcast and was asked a very simple question. "If there is one point in history, if you could transport to that time of the Jewish People – where would you transport yourself to?" Before you read on, close your eyes and imagine how you would answer this question. Rabbi Wein, without even flinching, answered simply, "I was there already, the revival of the Jewish people after Holocaust… We live in miraculous times and have seen miraculous things over and over again." This link jumps straight to that exchange in the podcast.
Just as the Dayeinu song expresses the ultimate purpose and completion of our exodus as the acceptance of the Torah and settling of Eretz Yisrael, statements such as "lashanah haba'ah b'nei chorin" and the themes found in the songs of Nirtzah express our trust and our yearning for our ultimate redemption, may it come speedily in our day.
Have a good Shabbos and a chag kasher ve'sameiach!
For a collection of previous seder night shtikles, please check out my archive of past Seder shtikles.
Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com
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