"והגדת
לבנך"
During the cold
European winter the water in the mikva was freezing. There was one appointed
fellow whose job it was to take hot water from the samovar (urn) on the fire
and periodically pour some of the boiling water into the freezing waters of the
mikva to warm the water.
One morning the Chofetz
Chaim entered the shul and asked the gabbai if the mikvah was warm. The man
replied that it was. But when the Chofetz Chaim touched the water he found that
it was cold as ice. The man replied that he had just poured water from the urn
into the mikvah. The Chofetz Chaim touched the side of the urn and realized
that it was cold. The fire under the urn had gone out.
The Chofetz Chaim mused
that if the source from where the water is drawn is hot then it can heat up
whatever it is poured into. But if the source is itself cold then it will not
be able to warm anything else.
If a father/rebbe
(mother/morah) is excited and passionate about serving Hashem then he can
convey those feelings to his children as well. But if he himself is unemotional
then the child will hardly be ‘turned on’ to Avodas Hashem.
The night of the Seder
is integral part of chinuch. Our children will remember the Seder for their
entire lives. We don’t want them to just remember the food, but also the
lessons and excitement, the foundation for Avodas Hashem all year.
Haggadas Chasan Sofer
makes this point as well (paragraph – Chayav adam liros es atzmo): “It
is known that it is extremely important that on this night one must relate to his
family and young children all of the miracles and wonders, in order that faith
should take root in their hearts through telling over about the exodus from
Egypt, which contains the fundamental ideas of our holy Torah.
If a person wants to
relate something to his friend in a profound manner so that it will become
rooted in his friend’s heart, it is only possible if he himself believes it
completely. Words that emanate from the heart penetrate the heart! The same is
true in regards to the Seder. If a father wants to ingrain in his children the
fundamentals of Yetzias Mitzrayim, he must ensure that it is deeply rooted in
his own heart, and that he himself can relate to the feeling of leaving Egypt
“Zecher L’Yetzias
Mitzrayim”
How many times
throughout the year do we ‘remember’ Yetzias Mitzrayim?
Twice every day during shachris, titzis,
tefillin, every time we touch the mezuzah, Kiddush on Shabbos and Yom Tov…
Approximately 2,000 times!
Why so many remembrances?
It wasn’t just a
company, it was a massive corporation. Grant and Co., as it was known, took up
about three city blocks of space. There were many different branches within the
corporation, and it basically ran the entire city. There was an energy
department; electricity, phone, production, and all of the city’s official
offices including City Hall were located there as well.
The corporation was
owned by its overseer, the elderly Mr. Grant. He had been running the city as
long as anyone could remember. In fact he had practically built it from scratch.
Despite the fact that he was the wealthiest and most powerful person in the
city, he was loved by everyone. He was dedicated, efficient, and extremely
fair. He always had time for people, and he got things done. Every department
of the corporation had its own CEO with hundred of employees working in each
department. Most of the CEOs were Grant’s own nephews and grandchildren. But he
insisted that they have the same wok ethic and dedication to their constituents
that he had. Sluggishness or arrogance was never tolerated.
Very frequently one of
the CEOs would suggest that they change something. Why don’t we use a different
type of gas? Why don’t we change the days of production? Why are we replacing
the old electric servers? Why are we building that here and not on the other
side of town.
Mr. Grant always
listened to their suggestions and tried to explain to them why he disagreed.
But they didn’t always understand or agree.
One Monday morning
every CEO and department head was summoned into Mr. Grant’s stately office.
“Gentlemen”, he began. “This week we are going to do something very different.
I am altering production lines from each department each day this week. Then I
will have engineers taking apart the machinery and sources for each department.
I will demonstrate to you how each one works, and why I decided what I did. I
will show what will happen if we follow any one of your suggestions, and then
you will understand why we don’t change.
“I want you all to
understand that this will be costing Grant & Co., particularly me, millions
of dollars, not to mention lost revenue and profit. But I feel it’s worth it so
that you all realize that nothing I do is for myself, but rather for the good
of the city. Pay close attention because this is a one time event, and I will
never do it again.”
For the duration of
that week, Mr. Grant led all of his corporation leaders around the corporation.
They went from department to department and saw clearly the raw makeup of each
one. They soon understood the extent of Mr. Grant’s wisdom and vision.
At the end of the week
Mr. Grant addressed them again: “Now you all have a keen understanding of why
we do what we do. Explain it to your employees and make sure they all
understand it as well. Long after I’m gone and my successors have assumed the
leadership of this company, when suggestions are made to change things, they
will use this week as a point of reference to understand why it cannot be
changed.”
In His infinite wisdom
Hashem created the world and set it on a course of natural laws. But for one
stretch in history, Hashem suspended all of natural law in order to demonstrate
how He runs the world. During the process of Yetzias Mitzrayim, throughout the
makkos, the actual yetziah, and culminating with k’rias Yam Suf, Hashem took
apart the world, as it were, and showed how He alone dominates land, heaven,
sea, animals, people, food, etc.
Rav Shimshon Pinkus
zt’l explained that each of the Makkos was a course in emunah, in how Hashem
runs the world. Hashem altered all of nature to demonstrate His love for us,
and that He chose us to be His people.
Hashem’s message to us
is that for the sake of maintaining our Free Choice this will never happen
again. But from then on we have a point of reference for us to reflect back on
and remind ourselves of the many truths which were proven to us at that time.
Throughout our days we remind ourselves of Yetzias Mitzrayim to strengthen our
resolve and awareness that this world – and everything and everyone in it – is
all dictated and orchestrated by Hashem alone.
Kittel
Rabbi Chaim Zev Levitan
related that he was teaching his class about the Seder and related that there
is a minhag that the men wear a kittel during the Seder. One boy announced that
his grandfather doesn’t wear a kittel at the Seder. Rabbi Levitan countered
that perhaps he doesn’t have that custom. The boy replied that every year his
grandfather dons his striped shirt that he has from when he was a prisoner in
the concentration camps and that’s what he wears during the Seder.
Rabbi Levitan told the
boys that his grandfather wears the ultimate kittel during the Seder.
Why is it the ‘ultimate
kittel’?
Rama (610:4) offers two
reasons for wearing a kittel at the Seder. The first reason is to ‘resemble the
ministering angels’ who are clothed in pure white linen. The second reason is
because dead people are dressed in a kittel. Therefore wearing a kittel helps a
person maintain a sense of humility and seriousness.
Accordingly, the
clothing worn by concentration camp inmates, who didn’t die al Kiddush Hashem,
but were forced to live and suffer al Kiddush Hashem (i.e. just because
they were Jews) is surely tantamount to the clothing of angels. As far as a
sense of seriousness and humility, there is nothing more humility-inducing than
the shirt worn by a concentration camp inmate.
The Gemara in
Pesachim (65b) describes the manner in which the Jewish people would carry
their Korban Pesach back home with them. Rashi tells us that this was the same
way that Ishmaelite merchants carry their goods when they travel.
What is the
significance of this description of how the Jews returned home on the eve of
Pesach; and more specifically – what is Rashi telling us by the comparison to
the Ishmaelite merchants?
Rav Shlomo
Kluger zt”l, Yerios Shlomo (Rav Shlomo Kluger Haggadah), explains
that at our Pesach Seder we talk at great length about the evils of Pharaoh,
the hardships forced upon us by the Egyptians, and the glorious redemption by
G-d. Although we do review the pre-Egyptian
history of our people, we never seem to address the fundamental cause of our
enslavement. Why did Hashem subject us to such brutal slavery in Egypt
We were made
slaves because we sold our brother, Yosef, into slavery to the socharim
yishmaelim. When we take our Korban Pesach home in the very
same manner as Ishmaelite merchants, we are inaugurating the entire Yom
Tov of Pesach triggering the connection to those same Ishmaelite merchants to
whom we sold our brother Yosef.
What triggers
this memory nowadays, in the absence of the Korban Pesach?
After Kiddush, we wash
our hands before eating a vegetable, which is referred to as Karpas. Why do we
call it Karpas when it would seem that Yerek - vegetable - would be a more
appropriate and accurate name for what we are doing? What does Karpas mean, and
do we use this term to refer to our eating of a vegetable dipped in salt water?
In the beginning of
Parshas Vayeishev, the Torah records (Bereishis 37:3) that Yaakov made for
Yosef a tunic made of "passim." Rashi explains that the word
"passim" means fine wool, adding that it is similar to the term
Karpas which is used in Megillas Esther (1:6) to describe the opulent decor at
Achashverosh's royal party. Achashverosh certainly wasn't hanging vegetables
from his walls; he was hanging decorations made of fine wool, which is what
Karpas means.
What does fine wool
have to do with dipping a vegetable into saltwater at the beginning of the
Seder? In his commentary on Mishneh Torah (Hilchos Chometz U'Matzah 8:2), Rabbeinu
Manoach writes: “V’anu nohagin b’karpas zecher l’kesones
passim she’asah Yakov Avinu l’Yosef asher b’sibasa nisgalgel hadavar v’yeirdu
avoseinu l’mitzrayim”. The word Karpas hintes to the words ‘Kesunes Pasim’ the
extra cloak Yaakov Avinu gave Yosef, which was the basis for the brother’s
enmity of Yosef, which subsequently drove them to sell him down to Egypt
Ben Ish Chai adds that
the dipping of the Karpas in saltwater symbolizes that the brother’s dipped
Yosef's tunic into goat’s blood (Bereishis 37:31). In light of this, we now
understand that Karpas means fine wool, not vegetables, but we use the term to
remind us of the sale of Yosef into slavery by his brothers.
Why bring this up now? Because as we ponder leaving Egypt
In order to commemorate
this, we dip a vegetable in salt water and call it Karpas.
We then break the matzah, a rupture symbolizing
unity torn asunder. We then hide the bigger piece for afikoman and look for it
at the at the end of the seder. At some point, we find the afikoman. The
ultimate way to redemption, both personal and national is through the search
for a way towards unity. The geulah will beckon the ten tribes. After the
afikoman we call in Eliyahu, the ultimate unifier of the generations – present
at bris, seder and redemption.
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In halacha there is no reason for Karpas except
that the children should ask. According to Rabbeinu Manoach that Karpas hints
to a very significant event, in fact the very root cause of our descent into
exile (selling Yosef).
Rabbi Chaim Zev Levitan explained that the two
ideas are interconnected. Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky zt’l explained that because of
his dreams/prophecies and preferential treatment and extra learning with Yaakov
Avinu, the shevatim were convinced that Yosef was seeking to become the fourth
patriarch. That would mean that they would become ousted from Klal Yisroel,
much like their father Yaakov had become the bearer of the heritage to the
exclusion of Eisav, and had happened with Yitzchok to the exclusion of
Yishamel. Therefore they deemed Yosef a pursuant (rodef). Halacha unequivocally
states that if one comes to kill you, you may kill him first.
Their mistake was that they didn’t clarify
their view with their father. They acted on their own accord, convinced of the
veracity of their comprehension of the situation.
Seder night is to be a night of questioning.
Particularly it is a night when a son inquires from his father about the
foundations and fundamental ideas behind Judaism and living as a Jew.
The Egyptian exile is rooted in a cataclysmic
event in which our righteous forbearers acted without seeking the advice and
opinion of their saintly father. Had they done so the course of history could
have been different. This cements in our souls the importance of our mission
tonight, sons need to look to their fathers, and fathers need to be prepared to
convey to their children, the very essence of our greatness as a people.
THE SYMBOLISM OF
CHAROSES
One of the fascinating
symbols at the Seder is charoses. It is made from apples, almonds,
cinnamon, red wine and, depending upon one’s custom, a variety of other
fruits.
The Gemara (Pesachim
114) states that the texture is reminiscent of the mortar used to make the
bricks in Egypt
Shulchan Aruch (473:5 -
based on Tosafos in Pesachim 116a) adds that there is a custom to add to the
charoses all the varieties of fruits which Klal Yisroel is compared to in Shir
Hashirim – apples, figs, walnuts, and pomegranates. Tosafos adds that one
should also add almonds because G-d ‘shakad’ weighed the end, i.e. He
released them from bondage before the allotted time.
If the charoses is
symbolic of painful events, how come the charoses tastes sweet? Also, why
do we add to the charoses ingredients which symbolize the uniqueness and
greatness of Klal Yisroel? Why should we add an ingredient which alludes to our
leaving early, which is cause for gratitude and celebration?
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Danny was really
excited. It was a dream come true. He had wanted to go to this Basketball camp
for years. Now it was finally a possibility. The camp worked on scholarships
and Danny could receive a full scholarship if he completed all course
requirements for school by June 15. The scholarship committee would review all
entries on June 17, and inform the winners by June 18. Camp began July 1.
In January Danny
approached his teacher Mrs. Smith and asked her to help him take care of what
he needed so he can get in to camp. She promised she would speak to the
principal, Mr. Raymond, and would help him in any way she could.
Mr. Raymond was well
respected by the students and staff of the school. He was a disciplinarian and
didn’t accept nonsense, but all of the students knew he cared about them and
was interested in their success. When Mrs. Smith mentioned Danny’s request he
assured her that he would make it happen.
Danny was doing
decently with his studies, but he was still very nervous about receiving the
scholarship. On June 3, while Danny was daydreaming about camp, he was summoned
to Mr. Raymond’s office. When he walked in to Mr. Raymond’s office, Mr. Raymond
seemed agitated and overly stern. He didn’t ask Danny how he was doing in his
usual pleasant manner. He motioned for Danny to sit down. As Danny nervously
did so, Mr. Raymond placed a large folder on his desk. “Listen well Danny!” he
began. “I have been looking through your work and you are not producing as well
as you can be. In these folders there is a list of requirements that you will
need to complete in order to pass your classes. If the work is not done fully,
and done well, you will be here for summer school, every day this summer. Good
day!”
Danny was stunned.
Forget about scholarships and camp; he was staring at the possibility of being
forced to attend summer school. He opened the folder and was shocked. There
were worksheets, essays, and lengthy assignments. How was he going to do all
that work in two weeks?
Danny went straight to
Mrs. Smith. He poured out his heart as tears unabashedly trickled down his
cheek. Not only had Mr. Raymond callously shattered his dream, he was
threatening him with the most miserable summer of his life. Mrs. Smith shook
her head dolefully. She couldn’t understand it either. She told Danny she would
give him as much time as she could to help him.
Later that day Mrs.
Smith met Mr. Raymond in his office. “Why did you do this to Danny? Don’t you
think you’re being overly harsh?” Mr. Raymond gently replied that there was
nothing he could do. Danny had to do the work and there was nothing to discuss.
As Mrs. Smith began to leave dejectedly, Mr. Raymond curtly said “Just wait;
you’ll see it will all work out.”
The next two weeks were
the most miserable days of Danny’s life. He didn’t sleep, hardly ate, and
didn’t play ball with his friends, despite the fact that he was a great
athlete. When he finally finished one assignment he immediately continued with
the next one.
On June 14, a
bleary-eyed, overly-fatigued, and burnt out Danny walked in to Mr. Raymond’s
office. He handed the bulging folder to his principal, a man he know detested.
Mr. Raymond said nothing more than “I’ll take a look at it.”
On June 18, Mr. Raymond
summoned Danny to his office. Danny was literally trembling as he walked in.
Would he have to stay for summer school? When he walked in Mr. Raymond stood up
and with a big smile on his face, he handed Danny an official looking letter.
Danny began reading: “Dear Danny, after careful review of your academic
progress, we are excited to inform you that you are one of five young men in
the United States chosen to
receive a full scholarship at Camp
Hoops
Mr. Raymond walked over
to Danny and gave him a hug. “Danny, with so much fierce competition, and a
mere five slots available, I knew you had little chance of getting the
scholarship with your present grades. I also knew that if I assigned to you
extra work in February you would keep pushing it off, and it would never get
done. I decided that the only way you could have a fighting chance was if I
forced you to do a tremendous amount of work in a very short time, and
subjected you to two weeks of ‘academic purgatory’. Believe me, it wasn’t easy
for me to be so harsh, especially with you. But now with that letter in your
hand, you tell me if I made a mistake!”
Danny looked up at Mr.
Raymond. There were tears in his eyes, as he said something he never thought he
would say: “Thank you so much. Thank you for forcing me to kill myself for
those two weeks. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me!”
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The Torah relates that
Moshe did not want to be G-d’s emissary. He was not confident that he could
persuade the hapless Jews, and he feared that because of his speaking
impediment he was the wrong person to be G-d’s representative before Pharaoh.
Hashem insisted and Moshe instructed to Pharaoh to free the Jews.
Pharaoh’s response was
swift and harsh. He ordered that the Jews no longer receive straw to make the
bricks. They would have to collect the straw they needed and yet produce the
same quota of bricks. The elders of the Jewish people spoke harshly to Moshe
for meddling and making the situation worse. They said that “G-d should see and
judge” for giving the Egyptian’s further excuse to attack and berate the Jewish
slaves. Moshe turned to G-d and asked why G-d had sent him. What was the
purpose of his mission if things only became worse and the Jews became even
more hopeless? G-d’s response was that there was no place for questioning G-d.
The final verse in Parshas Shemos is G-d’s response to Moshe: “Now you will see
what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand he will send them, and with a
strong hand he will chase them from his land.”
The Rishonim explain
that the increased brutal and oppressive servitude was actually what allowed
the Jews to leave Egypt Egypt
G-d therefore had to
take them out precisely when He did, otherwise they could never have accepted
the Torah and become Klal Yisroel. How could G-d take them out early if the 400
years were not completed? Because the Jews had been subject to such overly
harsh servitude they completed the work of 400 years in a mere 210 years.
Thus, it was the
extreme harshness of the mortar that saved us from an extra two centuries of
additional labor. It was therefore a bitterness that had a sweet result.
Vilna Gaon illustrated
this with the following gematria: He points out that on the words
“Vayimoreru es chaiyehem – The Egyptians embittered our life,” the tropp, the
musical cantellation is ‘kadma v’azla’, which literally means to come
earlier. Thus the musical notes point to the fact that because of the
bitterness the redemption came earlier. The numerical value of kadma v’azla
is 190 - the exact number of years that the redemption came earlier than the
forecasted 400 years.
The charoses symbolizes
this dichotomy. On the one hand it reminds us of the harsh and overbearing
servitude, particularly their working with mortar and making bricks. But
therein lies the hidden blessing, because if they would not have been
overworked they would have never been able to overcome the spiritual abyss of
the Egyptian exile. All of those lofty titles mentioned by Shlomo Hamleceh in
Shir Hashirim only came to be because the nation left, and transcended,
Egyptian exile.
Once it was over the
Jews looked back at the bitter servitude and thanked G-d, acknowledging that it
was the best thing that could have happened to them.
---------------------------------------------------
What does the word
charoses mean? The Mordechai, in Masechtas Pesachim, says that it has as its
root cheres which means earthenware for the charoses symbolizes the mortar of
the bricks, the work of the earth. The Sefer HaPardes states that the
definition of charoses is a dip or a relish. It is interesting to note
that the Rambam’s custom was to continue to dip the cuisine of shulchan oraich
into the charoses during the Seder.
Rav Moshe Meir Weiss
suggested the following:
The commentaries
explain that when we dip the karpas into the saltwater at the beginning of the
Seder, the name karpas represents samech-perech (a rearrangement of the Hebrew
letters in the word karpas). Samech equals sixty, and thus samech-perech
represents the sixty myriads of the Bnei Yisroel who suffered the backbreaking
labor, which is perech. In a similar vein, I would like to suggest that
charoses, when we rearrange the letters, spells samech-cheirus, the sixty
myriads of Bnei Yisroel who were freed from Egypt Egypt
It is also interesting
to note that the samech-perech of karpas is not an exact number for, when we
were suffering the horrible servitude, we were much more than sixty
myriads. After all, it was only during the plague of darkness that
four-fifths of Klal Yisroel died. Thus, during the time of perech, there
were another 240 myriads who were engaged in perech. The samech-cheirus
however is a precise number. For, when we were emancipated, we were sixty
myriads of men from the ages of 20 to 60.
רָשָׁע מַה הוּא אוֹמֵר? מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת
לָכֶם?
לָכֶם ולֹא לוֹ. וּלְפִי שֶׁהוֹצִיא
אֶת־עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל, כָּפַר בָּעִקָּר.
וְאַף אַתָּה הַקְהֵה אֶת־שִׁנָּיו,
וֶאֱמָר־לוֹ:
"בַּעֲבוּר זֶה, עָשָׂה ה' לִי, בְּצֵאתִי
מִמִּצְרָֽיִם" - לִי וְלֹא־לוֹ.
אִלּוּ הָיָה שָׁם, לֹא הָיָה נִגְאָל:
State of the Union address
The House Chamber is packed. Every
member of congress is in attendance. Exclusive members of the press are there
as well. The assemblage, including political foes and dissidents of the
president, sit in respectful silence as the president reviews the
accomplishments of the past year as well as his vision for the future. At some
points there are those who applaud, while those in disagreement maintain their
silence.
Suddenly, there is a loud noise. One of
the members of the senate stood up and banged on the floor with his foot. “Mr.
President, this is a load of rubbish. We all know that you have done nothing to
bolster the fledgling economy, our international relations have only worsened,
your immigration reform has been a disaster, and unemployment has reached an
all time high. In a word Mr. President, you’re a waste of space! Let’s just
admit to the truth and move on!”
We can only imagine how swift and
punitive the reaction would be. By morning, not only will the former senator be
out of a job, he may even be facing worse charges. Either way his political
career will be over, and he will have to deal with fierce censure and
condemnation for his blatant disrespect for the highest office in this country.
It is no secret that the members of
congress from the opposing political party, and perhaps even dissenting members
of his own party will critique and debate the president’s accomplishments
during the following days. But no one would dare ridicule the president in such
an egregiously insolent manner.
If a child (not necessarily a young
child, perhaps even an adult) approaches his father and asks him why we observe
Shabbos, what the point of davening is, or how do we know Torah is real, the
father has a responsibility to gently explain to his son the answer to his
legitimate inquiries.
But if the father is about to daven
Shemone Esrei and he shows his son the place and his son replies “What do I
need to do this for?” the son is not asking because he wants an answer. The
same would apply if a rebbe tells his class it’s time to begin learning, and
one student blurts out “Why do we need to learn for? This is a waste!” It’s
more likely that he doesn’t have patience to learn and wants to derail the
lesson. If he really wanted an answer there’s other times and ways to ask.
The Torah relates the question of the
wicked son in midst of its discussion of Korbon Pesach. Erev Pesach was the
busiest and most exciting day in the Bais Hamikdash. Every Jew was in
Yerushalayim and almost all men were at the Bais Hamikdash awaiting the
slaughtering of their korbon. The excitement of the upcoming Yom Tov, and
especially the Seder was palpable in the air, and the frenzied activities, and
Kohanim reciting hallel just added to the atmosphere. And right then and there,
while his father is impatiently waiting to get back his korbon so he can rush
back to Yerushalyim to roast it before Yom Tov, his son blurts out “Why are YOU
doing all this work?!”
How should the father reply?
Returning to our parable, how would a
wise and patient President respond to such an overtly blatant outburst by a
Senator?
The President looked out at the crowd
with calmness and confidence. He looked everywhere except at the brazen senator
and he began to gently layout and reiterate how much has been accomplished
during his tenure. He discussed where international relations have improved and
how it can be seen, he noted in which areas the economy has grown, and his
continuing plans for immigration reform.
In other words, he replied to every
point of attack, but he did not reply to the aggressor. He understood that the
outburst wasn’t merely about individual points but about a deep-rooted enmity
towards him. There was therefore no point in addressing him directly. But for
all those who heard his virulent words, the President made clear that his
arguments had no merit.
The wise father doesn’t directly reply
to his brazen son. He understands that his son doesn’t really want a reply.
Perhaps at some later point when his father is able to inspire him he will
return to address his questions. But for now the bigger concern is for those
who heard his disdainful comments. To them the father gently replies – as the
pasuk instructs him to do - “This is a Korbon Pesach for Hashem, because Hashem
saved us during the final plague when He passed over our homes…”[1]
But in regards to the questioner
himself, the father’s response is very different.
Meshech Chochma (Beha’aloscha) explains
that the Korbon Pesach served to engrain within the hearts and psyches of every
Jew that their sole allegiance is to Hashem. Living in an idolatrous society,
and being quite influenced by their polytheistic beliefs for over two
centuries, the Jews needed to bring the Korbon Pesach prior to the exodus. By
slaughtering a sheep, which represents the constellation which the Egyptians
worshipped, the Jews demonstrated their faith in G-d alone.[2]
When the wicked son questions, or
rather scoffs, at the bringing of the Korbon Pesach, it isn’t merely this
isolated mitzvah that he seeks to undermine. If he is challenging the Korbon
Pesach, which symbolizes a Jew’s complete faith and allegiance in G-d alone,
then he is insinuating that he does not wish to be included in the Jewish
people. This is indeed what the haggadah states: “And since he has removed
himself from the general public” i.e. by demonstrating that he does not wish to
believe in G-d alone, he has denied the most fundamental underpinning of
Judaism.
The first step is to answer the
challenge he posed, albeit directed at the others who heard his scornful words.
“And also you shall blunt his teeth”. In other words, after relating the
Torah’s response to the other children, then we deal with our recalcitrant son.
We do not knock out his teeth, but we seek to ‘unsharpen him’. He is not yet
ready to hear a full response, but at least we want to leave him with ‘food for
thought’ which will sweeten some of his bitterness. A person uses his teeth to
bite and chew something.
The pasuk (Tehillim 112:10) states:
“The wicked man shall see and be angered, he will gnash his teeth and melt
away, the ambition of the wicked shall perish.” Commentaries explain that the
wicked man is infuriated when he sees the lofty life of the righteous. He grids
his teeth in anger and hopes to uproot all of the ways of the righteous.
At the Seder we want to convey to the wicked son how
meaningful and endearing what we are doing is. Without answering his verbal
attacks, we want him to see that whatever it is that we are doing grants us
meaning and a sense of fulfillment.
“It was because of this – i.e. so that
I will be able to fulfill His mitzvos[3] that G-d did for me[4] when I left Egypt
But the wicked son would not have been
redeemed. Note that the father does not say that the wicked son would not have
left, but that he would not have been redeemed.
There is an important difference
between redemption and exodus. In fact they transpired at different times. The
redemption occurred on the night of the fifteenth of Nissan. As the Jews
remained sealed off in their homes eating their Seder, Pharaoh ran through the
streets shouting in a voice that all of Egypt
The redemption came about because they
were free to serve Hashem. They had discovered the spiritual bliss of being
connected to G-d and there could be no greater joy. But the wicked son has
renounced all of those feelings and conveyed his desire to be excluded from it
all. If he had lived then with such an attitude, he may have participated in
the exodus, but he would not have been redeemed. He may have physically left Egypt
Thus the father gently tries to
demonstrate to his wayward son that the mitzvos he performs, including the
Korbon Pesach, are for his own personal benefit. They are not merely ‘work’
that must be performed, but they are the essence of life itself. At this point
that son is not interested in hearing rebuttals to his challenges. The most his
father can do is to try to make his son feel that his belligerent attitude is
hurting himself.
We wordlessly
invite him to taste the spiritual bliss of redemption. Our goal is that when
the Seder is over the wicked son is left with a whetted appetite to return to
the ways of Torah.[5]
[1] The
Vilna Gaon notes that the pasuk writes a totally different response to the
question of “What is this work for you!” than the Haggadah writes. But the
pasuk’s response begins with the word “And you will say”. It does not say “And
you will say to him” only that you should say. Vilna Gaon derives from
there that the father does not directly address his brazen son, but rather
responds aloud for everyone else to hear, particularly for the ‘Son who doesn’t
ask”, because we are most concerned about him. How can he sit at a Seder and
not be motivated to ask at all? He apparently feels similar to the wicked son
but just isn’t as brazen and so does not verbalize it. Therefore, the
Haggadah’s response to the Wicked Son is actually the verse the Torah states in
reference to the Son who doesn’t ask, because he is the one we are addressing
after the Wicked Son asks his question.
[2] Meshech
Chochma notes that throughout the forty years in the desert the nation did not
offer a Korbon Pesach, except for the first year after the exodus. He explains
that in truth they were exempt from the Korbon Pesach, as the obligation only
began once they completed conquering and dividing Eretz Yisroel. However, after
they had committed the Sin of the Golden Calf, which appeared to be a form of
idolatry (even if it wasn’t genuine idolatry) they needed the spiritual effect
of the Korbon Pesach to reconfirm their complete dedication to Hashem.
They also offered the Koron Pesach immediately after
entering Eretz Yisroel with Yehoshua. Even though the land was not yet
conquered, because much of the nation had sinned with the idol Ba’al Peor,
during their final year in the desert, they again needed the Korbon Pesach to
reaffirm their faith in Hashem.
[3] Rashi
[4] Ma’aseh
Nisim notes that the verse uses the word ‘asah’ which literally means
did, but also connotes an acquisition. In order that I perform His mitzvos, G-d
acquired me as His people, when I left Egypt .
[5] Medrash
(Shir Hashirim 1:59) relates that the blood of the Korbon Pesach in Mitzrayim
had an unpleasent odor, so G-d blew, as it were, a secnt of Gan Eden, “ והיתה נפשם קוהא לאכול – and the (Jews’) souls were longing to
eat it”. Rav Tevele Bondi in his haggadah (published by Feldheim) explained
that from the vernacular of the Medrash it seems that the word ‘koheh’ connotes
yearning to ingest and partake of something. When a person is enticed with an
aromatic food and then deprived of the food, he begins to salivate so much that
his teeth begin to hurt.
That is our goal
with the wicked son. We want to leave him yearning to be part of what he has
rejected. That is what the Haggadah means that we are ‘hakheh’ the teeth of the
rasha.
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