Pesach 5779
Rabbi Jablinowitz
The Mishnah in Pesachim 116A states in the name of Rabban Gamliel that in order to fulfill the mitzvah of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim one needs to mention Pesach, Matza and Maror. This teaching of Rabban Gamliel is mentioned in the Haggadah in the conclusion of the Magid section and the Mishnah Berurah comments that all need to be present at this juncture in order to fulfill this important mitzvah. (This is the commonly held position, though the Ramban and others, notably the Maharsha, learn that Rabban Gamliel is referring to the mitzvah of eating Pesach, Matza, and Maror).
Rav Tzadok asks a question regarding the order of the mitzvos as presented by Rabban Gamliel. Since Maror commemorates the bitterness of the slavery, as the pasuk says (Shemos, Chapter 1, Pasuk 14), Vayemararu es Chayeihem, And they embittered their lives, certainly Maror should be mentioned first. Since both Pesach and Matza relate to Bnei Yisrael leaving Mitzrayim while Maror commemorates the actual slavery, why doesn't Rabban Gamliel mention it first. And if one might respond that the pasuk by the Karban Pesach also has this order (Shemos, Chapter 12, Pasuk 8), V'Achlu es Habasar Balaylah Hazeh U'Matzot al Merorim Yochluhu, then the question can be asked on the pasuk. Why is Maror last in the pasuk?
The Shelah Hakadosh teaches that these three mitzvos correspond to the Avos. Avraham corresponds to the Pesach, Yitzchak to Maror, and Yaakov Avinu to Matza. I would like to focus on the connection between Yitzchak and Maror. The Medrash Rabbah on Bereishis (65, 9) teaches that Yitzchak Tava Yisurin, Yitzchak requested from Hashem that he suffer and Hashem responded in kind as we read in parshat Toldos (Chapter 27, Pasuk 1), Vatich'hena Einav Mir'os, and Yitzchak's eyes became dimmed.
Why did Yitzchak want suffering? And why did Hashem think it was a good idea and start a new reality called suffering?
The Medrash teaches that when Yitzchak asked for Yisurin he explained that without some amount of suffering, Midas Hadin is waiting to incriminate people when they reach their final judgment. The difficulties that a person endures in life enables him to strengthen himself and conquer his yetzer hara and meet his future challenges. Then he is able to confront his judgment. But when one lives his life without any challenges or tests, he finds it difficult to control himself and overcome his yetzer hara. He is used to getting everything he wants, even when he shouldn't be. This is why Yitzchak Tava Yisurin since Yitzchak is epitomized by the Mishnah in Avos (Chapter 4, Mishnah 1), Eiyzehu Gibor, Hakovesh es Yitzro; the strong person is the one who exercises self-control.
This was the point of the suffering in Mitzrayim. Ultimately, the bitterness enabled us to become the strong nation of Kovesh es Yitzro that we needed to become. When Bnei Yisrael were taken out of Mitzrayim, it was total chesed from Hakadosh Baruch Hu; we were not deserving on our own merit. Yet Hashem skipped over the houses of Yisrael in killing the firstborns of the Egyptians and commanded us the Karban Pesach and the mitzvah of Matza. But the effect of the Maror came later. The suffering in Mitzrayim enabled us to strengthen ourselves and reach a point where we were deserving on our own merit. The whole point of Yetzias Mitzrayim was for us to stand at Har Sinai where we said Na'ase V'Nishma and stood bereft of the yetzer hara. And this only came about through the purification process which defined the slavery and the bitterness in Mitzrayim.
In conclusion, the commemoration of Vayemararu es Chayeihem is not to remember the actual suffering which took place before Pesach and Matza. It commemorates that which we gained through the suffering. Just as Yitzchak demanded suffering from Hashem and achieved it, we needed to have the bitterness of Mitzrayim in order to reach the level of strength and self-control we needed in order to serve Hashem instead of Pharaoh. And just as we appreciate the answers we are given at the seder when they are preceded by questions and confusion, so too we appreciate our freedom more when we deserve it and accomplish it by making it through the bitterness and reaching the sweetness of strength.
Good Shabbos and Chag Kasher V'Sameach
Print this article