A joke to start it off
Here are the top ten ways to Know the guy your daughter brought home for the Passover Seder isn't going to work out...
10. Hides the afikomen in his pants
9. Won't stop asking when the Latkas are going to be served
8. When welcoming Elijah he checks the chimney
7. After the fourth time calling your wife "Ma' Nishtana" still hopes to get a laugh
6. In return for the afikoman, he asks to see your Tax Returns
5. To comply with the Hagadah, he punches the person who reads the "Wicked Son" in the mouth
4. You are at the third cup of wine, he's on number 9
3. After the afikoman is stolen, he starts pocketing silverware
2. When everyone points to the Marror, he points directly at you
1. As a gift, he brings fresh baked Challah, or a bottle of Crown Royal
Why are we here? ein kedusha bli hachana
Disagreement of Rav and Shmuel
מתני׳ מזגו לו כוס שני וכאן הבן שואל אביו ואם אין דעת בבן אביו מלמדו
מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות שבכל הלילות אנו אוכלין חמץ ומצה הלילה הזה כולו מצה שבכל הלילות אנו אוכלין שאר ירקות הלילה הזה מרור שבכל הלילות אנו אוכלין בשר צלי שלוק ומבושל הלילה הזה כולו צלי שבכל הלילות אנו מטבילין פעם אחת הלילה הזה שתי פעמים ולפי דעתו של בן אביו מלמדו מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח ודורש מארמי אובד אבי עד שיגמור כל הפרשה כולה:
MISHNA: poured the second cup for, and here the son asks his father. And if the son does not have the intelligence, his father teaches him: Why is this night different from all other nights? As on all other nights we eat leavened bread and matza on this night all matza. As on all other nights we eat other vegetables; on this night bitter herbs: As on all other nights we eat roasted, stewed, cooked meat, on this night all roasted: As on all other nights we dip once, on this night twice. And according to the intelligence of son, his father teaches him. He begins with disgrace and concludes with glory. And he expounds from: “An Aramean tried to destroy my father” (Deuteronomy 26:5), until he concludes the entire section.
seder starts with questions
מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח: מאי בגנות רב אמר מתחלה עובדי עבודת גלולים היו אבותינו [ושמואל] אמר עבדים היינו
[The Pesach Story] begins with disgrace and concludes with glory: What: With disgrace? Rav said: At first our forefathers were idol worshippers. And Shmuel said: We were slaves.
when we start the story, we start with shame and conclude with glory
According to whom do we follow?
column 1- shmuel
column 2- rav
we do both
והאידנא עבדינן כתרוייהו:
Why do we follow both?
we will leave this question open
Why do we start with questions?
- so children will be interested
- we are going to see a story in the gemara, we see there might be more.
- source #4
The Importance of the Questions
למה עוקרין את השולחן אמרי דבי רבי ינאי כדי שיכירו תינוקות וישאלו אביי הוה יתיב קמיה דרבה חזא דקא מדלי תכא מקמיה אמר להו עדיין לא קא אכלינן אתו קא מעקרי תכא מיקמן אמר ליה רבה פטרתן מלומר מה נשתנה:
Why does one remove the table? The school of Rabbi Yannai say: So that the children will notice and they will ask:
Abaye was sitting before Rabba He saw that they were removing the table from before him, and he said to: We have not yet eaten, and you are taking the table away from us? Rabba said to him: You have exempted us from reciting: Why is this night different [ma nishtana].
כדי שיכיר התינוק וישאל - כלומר ומתוך כך יבא לישאל בשאר דברים אבל במה ששאל למה אנו עוקרין השלחן לא יפטר ממה נשתנה וההיא דאביי לא פי' הגמ' אלא תחלת שאילתו:
- let's say, father is standing on the table,
- kids ask, why are you standing...
- there, no ma nishtana
- not a question about yetziat mitrayim
- we see from here that there's a goal of asking questions even if it is not related to yetziat mitrayim
- the kids ask questions, even if it's nonsense... then, they'll get to more substance oriented ideas and questions
- there's an age of children- lama... answer... lama
- sometimes we're fed up
- tonight, on leil haseder, that's exactly what we want
- [hint to this in the hagaddah- ma nishtana halayla haze...- that is the main part, step 1.
- step 2- in all other nights... ]
not all the parts which relate to passover.
another explanation
- gemara says, if no child to say the questions, you need to ask yourself
- what does this mean to ask yourself
- used to be, you see someone talking to themselves, you think they're crazy
- what's the point of asking yourself questions
- we understand there's a deeper reason to ask questions
- answer 1- to ask, is to help understand yetziat mitzrayim
- answer 2- one of the differences between a slave and free person is- asking questions?
a slave just does what he's told
a ben chorin has ability to ask questions and not to be afraid to ask- questions about life, myself, what's right, what's wrong and be a better person
- questions are part of the cherut of leil haseder
[b'chol dor v'dor- we see ourselves as if we left, how do we do this- by asking questions because that's exactly what the Jews gained by going free]
[you know all their complaints- we look at that as a bad thing, but guess what, all it means is that they're free.
- now, there's complaints and there's complaints, a complaint is really a question- i don't know how to get what i need, something is wrong, i don't know how to fix it. not a productive for of communication. but that's another issue.]
- so this applies to adults as well.
- so i recommend, everyone plan something, out of the ordinary, which no one knows about, at their seder, something that will cause people to say- umm, what are you doing
- part 1 had ma nishtana, on column/page 2
- colum 1 was rav's hagadda
- can you recognize a question on page/column 2-
- the 4 children-
- read the 4 questions...
- we have avadim hainu
- and m'tchila
- before avadim, we have ma nishtana
- before m'tchila, we have the 4 sons
Part Three
- what is the goal of everything we are doing this night?
- yes, we were slaves and now free, but what's the goal
Rabbi Y"D Solovetchik Shiurim in memory of his father, part 1, page 2, comment 4
The obligation of remembering does not impose on the person the obligation of praise and thanksgiving, whereas the commandment of reciting the story obligates us not only to tell of the wonders and miracles that God did but also to praise and thank Him
Therefore it is our duty to thank, praise ... " and that is the basis for the recital of hallel on the seder evening.
- let's look at a story in source 8
Rav Naḥman said to his servant, Daru: a slave who is freed by his master, who gives him gold and silver, what should the slave say to him? Daru said to him: He must thank and praise his master. He said to him: If so, you have exempted us from reciting the questions of: Why is this night different, as you have stated the essence of the seder night. Rav Naḥman immediately began to recite: We were slaves.
- what is rav nachman trying to teach his family?
- it is about shevach, saying toda
- every day we remember the story
- what's added by sippur- praise
- we want to reach level of praise
- now, go to hagaddah
- 1st column after avadim hainu, can you recognize a praise... before the 4 sons
- answer- baruch hamakom
- now, go to the second column, rav said, m'tchila... can you see a shevach after Rav...
- baruch shomer...
- recognize that we might have 2 hagaddot combined together
- shmuel's
- rav
- geniza of eretz yisrael of very old hagaddot
- does not have the first part [shmuel]
- hagaddot from eretz yisrael do not have the first part of avadim hainu...
- that's rav
- he was an amora originally from israel
- shmuel was in nehardai, babel- has ma nishtana
- rav's has 4 children
[interestingly- shmuel who was not in israel, focused on the galut of we were slaves in egypt, galut. rav who was in israel, focused on the spiritual galut of being idol worshippers.]
- could be combination of 2 hagaddot
- no we go back to the hagaddah
- tze ul'mad...
- then brings 4 psukim from dvarim, not shmot, about the story of bikkurim
- then hagaddah takes the psukim and breaks it into pieces doing a drasha on every word
- first pasuk- arami oved...
- go through highlights of the drasha until the end of the 4th which discusses the ten plagues
- till now, we've told the story ofmitrayim a third time... shmuel- avadim hainu, rav- m'tchila...
now , a 3rd time according to the psukim in dvarim.
- then, kama ma'alot tovot... praise.. dayeinu...
- we're starting to see a pattern
- what's at the end? dayeinu?
- what's next- rabban gamliel
- why pesach
- why matzah...
- why maror...
what is the hagaddah doing? telling a story a 4th time in response to questions.
- what after the story- l'fikach... anachnu... PRAISE
summarize
1. each question, story and praise
- first 2 started with questions
- what about 3rd? where is it?
- what about 4th? where is it?
Haggadah of the Netziv of Volozhin, Ha Lachma Aniya
This is the bread of affliction etc.: The addition of this introduction to the main part of the Haggadah was introduced in Babylon which can be confirmed by the end of the paragraph which states "this year we are here etc.". Also, the fact that it is written in Aramaic serves as evidence to this.
ודורש מארמי אובד אבי עד שיגמור כל הפרשה כולה
And he expounds from the passage: “An Aramean tried to destroy my father” (Deuteronomy 26:5), until he concludes explaining the entire section.
(ד) את העבדה הזאת. שֶׁל פֶּסַח; וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר לְמַעְלָה "וְהָיָה כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ וְגוֹ'", וְלָמָּה חָזַר וּשְׁנָאָהּ? בִּשְׁבִיל דָּבָר שֶׁנִּתְחַדֵּשׁ בָּהּ, בְּפָרָשָׁה רִאשׁוֹנָה נֶאֱמַר "וְהָיָה כִּי יֹאמְרוּ אֲלֵיכֶם בְּנֵיכֶם מָה הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת לָכֶם" — בְּבֵן רָשָׁע הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל, וְכָאן "וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ" — בְּבֵן שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִשְׁאֹל,
וְהַכָּתוּב מְלַמֶּדְךָ, שֶׁתִּפְתַּח לוֹ אַתָּה בְּדִבְרֵי אַגָּדָה הַמּוֹשְׁכִין אֶת הַלֵּב (מכילתא):
(4) את העבודה הזאת THIS SERVICE — that of the Paschal offering. But has it not already been said above, (Exodus 12:25) “And it shall come to pass when ye be come into the land … [that ye shall keep this service]”? Why then does it repeat it again? On account of a new matter that is introduced here; viz., in the former chapter it says, (v. 26) “And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?” and there Scripture is speaking about a wicked son who excludes himself from the Israelite community (by saying ye, as though he does not wish to participate in the service), whilst here it states, (v. 8) “And thou shalt tell thy son”, referring to a son who does not know how to enquire,
and Scripture teaches you that you yourself must open up the conversation with Agadic explanations which attract the heart (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 13:14:1; Shabbat 87a).
Why did the Ba'al haHagadda (redactor of the Hagadda) make it so complicated? Why the repetition?
(ב) מִצְוָה לְהוֹדִיעַ לַבָּנִים וַאֲפִלּוּ לֹא שָׁאֲלוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יג ח) "וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ".
לְפִי דַּעְתּוֹ שֶׁל בֵּן אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ. כֵּיצַד.
אִם הָיָה קָטָן אוֹ טִפֵּשׁ אוֹמֵר לוֹ בְּנִי כֻּלָּנוּ הָיִינוּ עֲבָדִים כְּמוֹ שִׁפְחָה זוֹ אוֹ כְּמוֹ עֶבֶד זֶה בְּמִצְרַיִם וּבַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה פָּדָה אוֹתָנוּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ לְחֵרוּת.
וְאִם הָיָה הַבֵּן גָּדוֹל וְחָכָם מוֹדִיעוֹ מַה שֶּׁאֵרַע לָנוּ בְּמִצְרַיִם וְנִסִּים שֶׁנַּעֲשׂוּ לָנוּ עַל יְדֵי משֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ
הַכֹּל לְפִי דַּעְתּוֹ שֶׁל בֵּן:
(2) It is one's duty to inform the children even if they ask no questions, as it is written: "You shall tell your son" (Exodus 13:8).
The father should instruct his son according to the child's understanding. For example,
he should say to one small or foolish: "My son, all of us were slaves in Egypt, like this maidservant or like this manservant, and on this night God redeemed and liberated us."
If the son is grown up and intelligent, he should inform him about everything that happened to us in Egypt, and about the miracles that were wrought for us by our teacher Moses;
all in accordance with the son's understanding.
we saw a machloket in the beginning, shmuel and rav.
- Shmuel- we need to speak about the physical redemption- we were slaves, we came out
- [he was in galut, babylon, so emphasized the physical redemption]
- Rav- we need to speak of the spiritual redemption- we worshipped idols… \
- We follow both because they're part of one story- spiritual is the goal but without the physical , we won't reach the spiritual
- [besht- healthy body to a healthy soul]
- this reflected in the questions.
- Ma nishtana- physical or spiritual? Physical questions open physical hagaddah
- 4 sons questions- spiritual questions open the spiritual hagaddah
- Baal hagaddah said, we need to share story for every child- how?
- We do it in different ways and repeat it
- Physical, then spiritual.
- Then, one that doesn't like to learn
- the msg of passover is not simple- emunah, Hashem, miracles
- so we need different modalities of learning
- some kids need stories, proofs- where is it written, intellectualism, other child, needs visualization
- baal hahagada had an idea- let's say the story a few times
- first a physical story
- then a spiritual story
- story time.
- But what if you're not into stories. you're more the intellectual analytial type
- meticulous, not easily satisfied...
- so hagaddah says, let's learn it a 3rd time and a 3rd way- tze ul'mad, go and learn... so we take more time... these kids might often take the most time
- for some kids, story doesn't speak to them, and the intellectualism also not...
- so we tell the story a 4th time and we look at the pesach... point... look, it's the matzah, touch it... why... maror... point at it, why...
- this person needs visualization, a show, something tanglible to experience...
- this is also why this section continues to say, everyone needs to see themselves as if they themselves left Egypt, so we role play and act it out so we could "touch" and sense the experience.
- now everyone can understand
[5th- every one needs to tell story, harei ze meshubach- the 5th story is your question, answer, praise and methodology]
- this teaches us- when saying dvar torah, don't think just what, but how will say it- who are the children, the listeners, what do they need to hear... how are we transmit it in a way that will speak to their heart.
- and bh, we will all have a chag kasher v'sameach