Chag HaPesach
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We learn in the Mishnah in Pesachim 116A that when the second cup of wine is poured the son asks his father questions. The Gemara adds to this with a Braiysa which teaches that if the son isn't intelligent enough to ask, then his wife asks him, and if she doesn't ask him, then he asks himself. There is an insistence that the mitzvah of "Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim" be fulfilled by asking a question first. Even when we learn in the next Mishnah the famous teaching of Rabban Gamliel that one must mention Pesach, Matza, and Marror, he doesn’t require us to just mention the source of these three mitzvoth. We must state each one with a question, Pesach al Shum Mah?, why do we eat the Pesach and then we answer, and the same is true with Matza and Maror. (This is how the Rosh brings this Mishnah and how it is printed in the Hagadah). Why is it so essential that the mitzvah of "Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim" be performed specifically in this format of a question first followed by an answer?
One of the fundamental requirements of the Leil HaSeder is to see ourselves as participants in the process of Yetzias Mitzrayim. The same Mishnah which teaches the three fundamental mitzvoth of Pesach in the form of a question continues with the statement that in every generation each person is meant to see himself as if he went out from Egypt. Bechol Dor V'Dor Chayav Adam Liros es Atzmo Ke'Ilu Hu Yatza M'Mitzrayim. And we begin the section of Magid by pointing out that had Hashem not taken our forefathers out of Mitzrayim, we would still be there today enslaved to the Egyptians. We begin the mitzvah of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim by stressing its relevance to ourselves as well as to our ancestors.
Rav Tzadok learns from here that one of the most important aspects of the Leil HaSeder is to feel something new and exciting. We begin each discussion with a question to emphasize that a new idea is being taught. There is a point being elucidated that wasn't understood previously, hence the question beforehand. And even though we learned this last year and the year before, we need to approach the Seder this year as if we never knew or properly understood before what Yetzias Mitzrayim is about.
This is teaching us an important lesson about life. We should never approach life with complacency and of taking life for granted. We already know this or we previously experienced that, as the slang goes, been there, done that. At the Leil HaSeder we are wide-eyed and excited to truly understand the significance of Yetzias Mitzrayim once again. And in order to fully understand and appreciate its significance, we need to relate to it personally and consider ourselves as if we experienced Yetzias Mitzrayim.
One of the mitzvoth of tonight is doing unusual acts, including dipping twice for the purpose of "Hekeirah L'Tinokos", to get the children to ask questions. However, we do these things at the Seder even if there aren't any small children present. And as we mentioned above, even if there are no children present, we ask questions first even if the participants are Torah Scholars. Perhaps, then, the point of "Hekeirah L'Tinokos" isn't only to get the children aroused to ask. But the point is to inspire the child part in each and every one of us. The child part in us that gets excited about and appreciates the small beauties and pleasures in life, and not the cynical adult that approaches the routine of life with boredom and skepticism. We all need to be enthusiastic and moved by the meaning and depth of Leil HaSeder.
The mitzvoth of Leil HaSeder are primarily performed with the mouth; eating the Pesach, Matza, and Maror, telling over the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim, saying Hallel, and drinking four cups of wine. This is significant in that eating and speaking are activities we do constantly. Yet tonight at the Seder, the mundane act of eating is transformed into the kedushah of mitzvoth. We speak all the time, often without thinking, and tonight our words enable us to perform a mitzvah from the Torah which connects us to our past and to the entire Jewish people as well. Our words are used to praise and give thanks to Gd for the miracles He has performed for us.
This is what we need to accomplish at the Seder. The mundane needs to become holy and the routine and the commonplace must become new and exciting. This is why we need to personalize the experience of Yetzias Mitzrayim and truly feel it for ourselves. We need to look around our world and ask questions and be amazed and in awe at the chesed and kindness we receive from Hashem. And when we are able to properly accomplish this, we can naturally conclude the section of Magid with V'Nomar Lefanav Shirah Chadashah, Hallelukah.
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