AJSP-4A & Talmud 2B : Hagada Project, 5774 Mah Nishtana The mitzvah of discussing the Jewish exodus from Egypt on the Seder night is to be fulfilled in a question and answer format. Consequently, Maggid, the part of the Seder in which we recount the story of the Exodus, is begun with the Mah Nishtanah – a series of four questions that the youngest present poses to initiate the discussion. The Mah Nishtanah emphasizes four particular aspects of the Seder: eating Matzah, eating Maror, dipping food, and reclining. What is the reason for these specific four being singled out? This question can be answered by making the distinction that the four questions of the Mah Nishtanah are not four separate enquiries, but rather a single unified question. The question asked by the child is, “What are we attempting to remember tonight –our slavery or our freedom? ”On one note, we eat Matzah and Maror, which remind us of the pain of our experience in Egypt. However, we also dip our food and recline during our meal, symbolizing that we can now eat leisurely and like freemen. On a deeper note, it becomes evident that some of the symbols themselves are ambiguous. Matzah is lechem oni, despite the fact it also reminds us of the might with which we were redeemed in Egypt. Like free men, we dip our food, but into saltwater, which symbolizes our tears during slavery, and charoset, which reminds of the mortar used to build and the blood that was spilled. Thus this is the question at the very start of the Maggid discussion: What is the purpose of tonight, the agony or the ecstacy? The answer is that remarkably the focus is on both. ‘Avadim hayyinu lephar’oh bemitzrayim vayotzi’einu Hashem Elokeinu misham. We were slaves in Egypt, but now G-d has freed us.’ Speaking about just one aspect or the other is not sufficient, as we are supposed to discuss the elation of freedom and the gratitude that we express towards Hashem for having redeemed us, but the fortune of our current situation cannot truly be appreciated without a deep understanding of what we, the Jewish people, were saved from. Ari Rosenzweig Ma’asei b’Rebbi Eliezar A question that one could ask on this paragraph is why do the students have to specifically say that it is time for the morning shema, couldn’t they have just said it is time to say shema? The answer this question can be found by looking into the laws of shema at that time. At that time the laws regarding shema were different . the third paragraph of vayomer was omitted at the evening shema but was said at shacharit. So the student were telling their rabbis that if they stop and say the shema it wont interrupt there discussion on the exodus from Egypt because they will be mentioning it in there shema. Another answer is, the shema at night can be said until morning so the students were telling their teachers that it is already morning and therefore time to say the morning shema. Another question that comes from this paragraph is why did they want to stay up all night anyway? The answer to this question is that the wanted to act like they themselves were leaving Egypt. Just like the jews brought a korban pesach and had a sedar until midnight so to these rabbis read the haggadah until midnight. And just like after midnight the jews prepared to leave so to after midnight the rabbis spoke about the Exodus. Sam Schneiderman Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah Here’s a little background on Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah. He was a very smart and wise rabbi and came from a very well-known and wealthy family in the time of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. One day, the head of the Yeshivah, Rabbi Gamliel, thought it was time to elect a new Rosh Yeshivah and leader of the Jewish people, and everything about Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah made him a perfect candidate for the job. However, he was only eighteen at that time and Rabbi Gamliel overlooked him. But then, overnight, Rabbi Elazar grew a beard and looked like a sage of seventy years old. He was then appointed as the leader. In this paragraph of the Haggadah, he was in Bnei Barak at a seder with many other prominent rabbis, and as quoted from the Mishnah, “Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: Behold, I am like a seventy-year-old man, yet I have never been privileged to show that the Exodus from Egypt must be said a night” (Masechet Brachot 1:5). This Mishnah is referring to the brief mention of the Exodus in the nightly recitation of the Shema, and not the mitzvah to talk about it on Pesach. But what then, is it doing in the Haggadah? The answer to this question can be found in Shemot which says: “It is a night of watchfulness for Hashem to bring them out of the land of Egypt; this night should be kept by the Jews unto Hashem for all generations” (12:42). So, the reason for saying this during the Pesach seder is to show us how important the commandment is. Also, the Haggadah previously stated that whoever enlarges upon the tale of the Exodus merits praise, so we can now understand that this mitzvah is central to the Jewish experience and talking about it on the night of the year connected to the Exodus is very important. Next, the Haggadah says “so that you will remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life” (Devarim 16:3). This verse is in the context of the mitzvah to sacrifice a Korban Pesach, but how does it have to do with mitzvah of Shma we were just talking about? The answer is the this verse is telling us to sacrifice the Korban Pesach as an element of the lifelong them of remembering the Exodus as expressed in Shma. Finally, there is significance in the language used in this paragraph. Ben Zoma uses the word “all” (kol) to include nights in the mitzvah of remembering. This shows that this mitzvah is everlasting and we should remember it day and night, even when Moshiach comes. Ben Weinger The Four Sons In the Pesach hagaddah, four types of children are said to exist: the smart one, the evil one, the simple one, and the one who doesn’t know how to ask questions. Why are only four varieties of children mentioned here? Could there not be more types than this? Are wise and wicked opposite terms? Does the simple one stand in distinction to the one who does not know how to ask? What’s the order here? Having just heard the shocking claim that we were slaves in Egypt and Hashem our G-d took us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, these categories of sons are here to show us only four kinds of reactions. These four attitudes can be divided evenly into two categories. There are two types of responses from those who have some knowledge base, and two possible responses by those who do not. The wise one is knowledgeable and his appetite for knowledge is stimulated by the Seder: He wishes to know more and more. That hunger must be fed. The wicked one is haunted by the fact that that he fails to live up to what he knows. His conscience doesn’t give him rest. The Pesach Seder heightens his level of existential angst, so he feels a need to reject it all. He is basically told that he can only push himself away. He could never derail G-d’s plan – G-d’s Seder – but only his role in that plan. That is his medicine. The simple one does not know what is flying but is willing to take some risks to discover what the real story is although the price of knowledge might be required action. He is embraced and admired for his courage to want to know. As for the son who does know how to ask, he’s paralyzed with fear to venture out of his comfort zone or maybe just to be found ignorant. He therefore emulates the ostrich, enjoying the temporary bliss of ignorance. He needs to be prompted and made to feel safe that it is okay not to know. The Maharal asks why the word one appears before the name of each category of child; he answers that they are really one person. We have all these parts within us though one may be more dominant at a given time. There are areas in which we are growing from strength to strength and others in which we are at risk of shrinking. Certain new and exciting topics are due to arise that may resonate with us for a long time. The question for each of us at the Pesach Seder is, how do we approach this child? Ben Kaplan In the beginning our fathers served idols Looking closely at this paragraph of the Hagadah reveals its oddities and personally made 5 main questions on it to mind: 1) Why are we even talking about this period during our Seder commemorating the exodus from Egypt? 2) Why are we dredging the lowest point of our history and defining our greatest role models by a sin committed before they even knew about Hashem? 3) Why are we saying Avoteinu, which we usually use to refer to Avaraham, Yischak, and Yaakov when only Avraham was an idol worshiper? 4) Why do we seem to mention Terach as Avoteinu? 5) At the very end why is Eisav given a mountain, but we just get to be slaves? According to Rav Boruch Leff of the Torah Institute of Baltimore, Terach is mentioned because he actually was partially the source of Avaraham's revelation of monotheism.