March 26, 2021
Telling the Story of the Exodus
Shabbat Hagadol/Tzav, 5781
How can we ever forget last year’s Seder? No communal prayers and no guests. It was a nightmare scenario. And yet we can never forget it. In order to appreciate the blessings of future Sedarim we must never forget last year’s Seder. Last year we were all warned not to travel at all and not to invite even our closest relatives to join us at the Seder. There was tremendous sadness in the air as the holiday began. We were up against a deadly virus which had no known cure and no vaccine.
One sad and difficult year later, many of us (but not yet all of us) are eagerly looking forward to the holiday. For sure, the pandemic is very far from over, but we can rejoice at the progress that science has made in the areas of multiple covid-19 vaccines and advances in our knowledge of the virus.
Too many people spent last Pesach alone. In our congregation, for the first time since I arrived, we were unable to hold a Communal Seder. This year, we will not be holding a formal Seder, but we are making progress as we will be gathering outside for an hour on the eve of the Seder to tell the story of our ancestors’ departure from the land of Egypt. Children will chant the Ma Nishtana and then participants will be given a Seder plate and a box of individually wrapped food to take home.
Maimonides writes: “According to a biblical positive command, we must tell on the night preceding the fifteenth day of Nisan all about the miracles and wonders that were performed for our forefathers in Egypt” (Laws of Chametz U’Matzah, 7:1).
There is a positive commandment from the Torah to tell the story of the Exodus on Seder night. It is a commandment that is an absolute blessing. I have so many beautiful memories of fulfilling this commandment at many different Seder tables throughout my life. In most instances when there is a positive commandment to do something there is also a formal blessing recited before performing the mitzvah. How come there is no recitation of a blessing before we tell the story of the Exodus at the Seder?
There are many answers to this classic question. Each of these different answers offers us insight into the nature of the mitzvah of telling the Exodus story and what we are seeking to accomplish on Seder night.
1.The 14th century work Abudraham offers two explanations.
First, in the name of Rabbenu Peretz he suggests that no blessing is required because we have already fulfilled the obligation of telling the story by mentioning the Exodus in our recitation of the Kiddush which begins the Seder.
Second, he cites Rashba’s position that the telling of the story of our leaving Egypt is a blessing without any limit or required amount, therefore no blessing is recited.
2. The 14th century Italian work, Shibolei Haleket, offers another approach. The Talmud tells us that when we speak about the Exodus on Seder night, we are supposed to begin the story with our disgrace and then move to praise Hashem for redeeming us –maschil begnus umesayem beshvach. The blessing on telling the story of our redemption is a blessing of redemption. But since we are supposed to start the story with the disgraces of our ancestors – i.e. their worship of idolatry and their servitude to Pharaoh -- it would not be appropriate to make a blessing at the beginning of the story in the context of a disgraceful memory. So, instead, the blessing on telling the story is said at the end of the maggid section of the Seder when we are praising Hashem for our redemption.
3. Rabbenu Asher (also known as Rosh) addressed this exact question in a responsum. He argued that we do not recite a blessing because there is actually not a separate mitzvah to tell the Exodus story. The mitzvah of sippur yetziat mitzrayim is just part of the context of the entire holiday.
4. The Shevach Hapesach suggests that we do not make a blessing because the mitzvah of telling the story of the Exodus is dependent upon someone else; i.e. the mitzvah is based upon the idea of vehigadeta lebincha, you must tell your child the story. In this instance, a child does not only refer to one’s biological or adopted child, it means a child in a much broader context. But still, there is a commandment to tell others the story. One only fulfills this commandment if another person hears the story of the Exodus. Since the commandment is dependent upon others, we do not recite a blessing.
5. In contrast to the previous answer, the Maharal of Prague contends that the main mitzvah of telling the story of the Exodus is not actually telling the story, but understanding the story. It is not so much about us explaining it to others, but rather about us comprehending it properly in our mind. Since the mitzvah is primarily about what we understand, it is not appropriate for us to recite a blessing on a mitzvah that relates to understanding, as opposed to acting or doing.
6. R. Shlomo Kluger’s approach is to suggest that we do recite a blessing over telling the story, but not in the traditional way. The mitzvah of telling the story of the Exodus is part and parcel of the mitzvot of eating matzah and maror on Seder night. Those two food items symbolize the concepts of the Seder that recall the Exodus. Therefore, it is a way of telling the story through rituals. When we recite the blessings on matzah and maror we should have the intention of not only eating matzah and maror but also of telling the Exodus story.
7. The Ponovitche Rav understands that what we are doing on Seder night really falls under the rubric of Torah study. We are sitting around the table and studying Torah. All the items on the table—including the delicious dinner that is often served—are props to our Torah study. Since we have already made a blessing on Torah study during our daily morning blessings there is no reason to recite another blessing before telling the Exodus story.
8. Sefas Emes points to a story from the Talmud to answer our question. The Talmud states:
“Rav Naḥman said to his servant, Daru: With regard to 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” (Pesachim, 116a).
Sefas Emes argues that this story indicates that even if we had not been commanded to tell the story of the Exodus, we would have of course been obligated to tell the story. We are like Daru in the Talmud. We were freed by our Master and given gold and silver. Since we have a self-evident requirement to praise our Master, how can we possibly recite a blessing that Gd commanded us to tell the story? A command cannot be issued for something that we would know on our own to do. For this reason, it is not appropriate to recite a blessing on telling the story of the Exodus.
The essential reason why we don’t recite a blessing is because the telling of the Exodus story is not an external commandment that we are supposed to perform but something we are supposed to internalize.
As Jews there is a commandment for us to remember the Exodus every single day. On Seder night we are supposed to do more of it; we are supposed to tell the story “until we fall asleep.”
The commandment to tell the story every day reminds us that the lessons of the Exodus story must be part of our core identity. We must remember daily that we were once slaves and that must be part of our identity. We must remember daily that Hashem redeemed us from bondage and that whatever we face in the world and wherever we face it, we can be redeemed by Hashem. And we must tell this story with overwhelming joy and gratitude to our Creator.
This is the Exodus story that we must tell every single day of our lives.
There is a Chassidic story that beautifully encapsulates why we do not make a blessing at the Seder on the Exodus story.
Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was known for his love of the mitzvah of making a Seder. On Seder night he would wrap himself in his pure white kittel and spend hours at the table telling and retelling the story of Pesach and passionately singing Pesach songs.
One year, as he was finishing his Seder at dawn and feeling very proud of his beautiful Seder, he heard a heavenly voice say, “Your Seder was very nice. But it was not as pleasing to Me as the Seder of Chayim the Water Carrier.
Rav Levi Yitzchak immediately set out with his chasidim to find Chayim the water carrier and discover what was so special about his Seder.
They asked all over town. But no one seemed to know who he was. Finally, they arrived at the very outskirts of the town, where only the poorest of the poor live. The houses in that part of town were so flimsy that they were barely standing. But, at last, they were shown to the house of Chayim the Water Carrier.
The rebbe and his chasidim knocked on the door.
A woman answered the door and was surprised to see this distinguished party at her house.
Rav Levi Yitzchak explained that he wanted to meet Chayim the Water Carrier.
The woman responded, “I am sorry. He is still sleeping. He drank too much yesterday and now he is sleeping it all off.”
One of the rebbe’s chasidim interjected, “Please, we would really like to see him. We came all this way and it is urgent. Standing with us is Rav Levi Yitzchak, and he has something very important to ask Chayim.”
Upon hearing the sincerity of their request, she led them into the house.
They went in and gently prodded Chayim awake. It took a long time before Chayim realized that he was no longer sleeping and he was in the presence of the great rabbi, Rav Levi Yitzchak.
Rav Levi Yitzchak leaned in to Chayim and said to him, “My friend, what was your kavvanah when you gathered up all the chametz in your house?”
Chayim looked confused. “What do you mean?” He said, “I had no special intent. I just picked up all the chametz I could find.”
Rav Levi Yitzchak was surprised, but he continued: “And what about when you burned the chametz? What were you thinking then?”
Chaim looked at the rabbi and then a look of horror came over his face. “Oy! I forgot to burn it,” he shouted. “It’s right over there on the shelf.”
Rav Levi Yitzchak was shocked by this answer. He was thinking of leaving at once, but he decided to ask one more question: “Tell me Reb Chayim, how did you celebrate the Seder?”
Chaim said sheepishly, “Well, let me tell you what happened. I know that one is not allowed to drink beer on Pesach, so yesterday morning I drank enough for all 8 days. Then I fell asleep. My wife woke me up at night and told me to celebrate the Seder like all other Jews. So I sat down at our table and said, ‘I never went to school because I was too poor. I know very little about the Torah and Jewish law. But I do know that many years ago our grandfathers were enslaved in the land of Egypt and Hashem rescued us from there. Just like Hashem took us out from Egypt so too Hashem can rescue us from every difficult time and place. Our life is so hard now that it is like we are in captivity. Still, I know that Hashem can rescue us from these bad times. And then I looked up and saw a beautiful plate filled with matzah, eggs, wine, and other dishes. My wife and I ate some matzah and eggs, and drank some of the wine. I then became so happy that I lifted up my cup of wine to the sky and said, ‘See Hashem, I lift up this cup to you, but do you make us free?’ My wife and I sat and drank and sang songs. Then I went to sleep.”
Rav Levi Yitzchak embraced Reb Chaim. He cried in his arms and wished him a gut yontiff.
Shmuel Herzfeld
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You can now watch a Youtube recording of Rabbi Herzfeld’s D'var Torah:
https://youtu.be/Xe-JQ-1IbmA
