Teaching the Maggid of Seder Night

(4) They pour a second cup [of wine] for him. And here the son questions his father. And if the son has insufficient understanding [to question], his father teaches him [to ask]: Why is this night different from all [other] nights? On all [other] nights, we eat leavened and unleavened bread, [but] on this night, [we eat] only unleavened bread. On all [other] nights, we eat all kinds of vegetables, [but] on this night, [we eat only] bitter herbs. On all [other] nights, we eat meat roasted, stewed or boiled, [but] on this night, [we eat] only roasted [meat]. On all [other] nights, we dip [vegetables] once, [but] on this night, we dip [vegetables] twice. And according to the son's intelligence, his father instructs him. He begins [answering the questions] with [the account of Israel’s] shame and concludes with [Israel’s] glory, and expounds from “My father was a wandering Aramean” until he completes the whole passage.

(7) In the beginning, anyone who knew how to read would read and anyone else would have it read for him. [Then,] people were reticent to bring and they declared that it would be read for those who know how to read and those who do not know.

(1) (Devarim 26:5) "And you shall answer": "answer" is written here, and elsewhere (Ibid. 27:14): Just as there, in the holy tongue; here, too, in the holy tongue. "And you shall answer and you shall say":

(2) From here they said: In the beginning, whoever could recite the formula (by himself) did so, whoever could not, recited after another — whereupon they stopped bringing bikkurim (to avoid embarrassment). It was, therefore, ordained to have one who knew how (to recite it) do so; and for those who did not know how to recite it, they relied on "and you shall answer" — "answering" is in response to another.

(3) "and you shall say before the L-rd your G-d: 'An Aramean would destroy my father'": We are hereby apprised that Jacob went down to Aram to his own destruction, and Scripture accounts it to Lavan the Aramite as if he had destroyed him, (this having been his intention).

(4) "and he went down to Egypt": Lest you say he went down to receive the crown of kingdom; it is, therefore, written "vayagar sham": We are hereby apprised that he went down there only to sojourn ("lagur") there. And thus is it written (Bereshith 47:4) "And they said to Pharaoh: 'To sojourn in the land did we come. For there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is sore in the land of Canaan. And now, let your servants abide in the land of Goshen.'" I might think, in great numbers; it is, therefore, written "in scant number," viz. (Devarim 10:22) "With seventy souls did your fathers go down to Egypt."

(5) "and he became there a nation": We are hereby apprised that Israel was distinctive there.

(6) ("and he saw our pain": as it states (Exodus 1:16): "And you see on the birthstool..."

(7) "and our toil": as it states (Exodus 1:22): Every son that is born shall you cast in the river". Aggadah).

(8) "great and mighty": as it is written (Shemoth 1:7) "And the children of Israel were fruitful and teemed and multiplied and became exceedingly strong, and the land was filled with them."

(9) "and populous": as it is written (Ezekiel 16:7) "I made you as numerous as the plants of the field; you increased and grew, and you entered the prime, etc."

(10) (Devarim, Ibid. 6) "And Egypt wrought evil unto us": as it is written (Shemoth 1:10) "Come, let us outsmart it, lest it become numerous, and it be, that if a war break out, etc."

(11) "and they afflicted us": as it is written (Ibid. 11) "And they appointed taskmasters over it in order to afflict it with their toils, and they built treasure cities for Pharaoh."

(12) "and they placed us under hard labor": as it is written (Ibid. 1:13-14) "And Egypt worked the children of Israel with (back-) breaking labor. And they embittered their lives with hard toil: with mortar, and with brick, and with all the labor of the field; all of the labor with which they worked them was (back-) breaking."

(13) (Devarim, Ibid. 7) "And we cried out to the L-rd, the G-d of our fathers": as it is written (Shemoth 2:23) "And it was in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel moaned under the toil, and they cried out, etc."

(14) "and the L-rd heard our voices": as it is written (Shemoth, Ibid. 24) "And G-d heard their outcry."

(15) "And He saw our affliction": This refers to (enforced) separation from conjugal relations, as it is written (Shemoth, Ibid. 25) "… and G-d saw the children of Israel, and G-d knew (i.e., He "took it to heart.")

(16) "and our toil": the children, viz. (Shemoth 1:22) "Every son that is born, into the Nile shall you throw him, and every daughter shall you keep alive."

(17) "and our lachatz": This is oppression, viz. (Shemoth 3:9): "and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them."

(18) (Devarim, Ibid. 8) "And the L-rd took us out": not through an angel, and not through a seraph, and not through a messenger, as it is written (Shemoth 12:12) "And I shall pass through the land of Egypt in this night, and I shall smite, etc.": "And I shall pass through the land of Egypt" — I, and not an angel. "and I shall smite every first-born" — I, and not a seraph. "and upon all the gods of Egypt I shall wreak judgments" — I, and not a messenger, "I am the L-rd."

(19) (Devarim, Ibid.) "with a strong hand": This is the pestilence, as it is written (Shemoth 9:3) "Behold, the hand of the L-rd is in your cattle in the field … a very sore pestilence."

(20) "and with an outstretched arm": This is the sword, as it is written (Joshua 5:13) "with his sword sh'lufah in his hand": ("sh'lufah" =) outstretched.

(21) "and with great fear": This is revelation of the Shechinah, as it is written (Devarim 4:34) "Or has a god ever done miracles to come and take for himself a nation with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great fears, before your eyes?"

(22) "and with signs": This is the staff, as it is written (Shemoth 4:17) "And this staff you shall take in your hand, wherewith you shall do the signs."

(23) "and with wonders": This is the blood: as it is written (Joel 3:3) "And I will set wonders in heaven and earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke."

(24) Variantly: "with a strong hand": two. "with an outstretched arm: two. "and with great fears": two. "and with signs": two. "and with wonders": two. These are the ten plagues that the Holy One Blessed be He brought upon the Egyptians.

(25) R. Yehudah would give them (the ten plagues) signs: d tz ach (dam [blood] tzfardea [frogs] kinim [lice]; a d a sh (arov [mixed multitude] dever [pestilence] shchin [boils]); b a cha v (barad [hail] choshech [darkness] arbeh [locusts] v (=b) [(the plague of) bechoroth (the first-born)].