עֲבָדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם, וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מִשָּׁם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה. וְאִלּוּ לֹא הוֹצִיא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אֲבוֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם, הֲרֵי אָנוּ וּבָנֵינוּ וּבְנֵי בָנֵינוּ מְשֻׁעְבָּדִים הָיִינוּ לְפַרְעֹה בְּמִצְרָיִם. וַאֲפִילוּ כֻּלָּנוּ חֲכָמִים כֻּלָּנוּ נְבוֹנִים כֻּלָּנוּ זְקֵנִים כֻּלָּנוּ יוֹדְעִים אֶת הַתּוֹרָה מִצְוָה עָלֵינוּ לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה לְסַפֵּר בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם הֲרֵי זֶה מְשֻׁבָּח.
We were slaves to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt. And the Lord, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched forearm. And if the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our ancestors from Egypt, behold we and our children and our children's children would [all] be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. And even if we were all sages, all discerning, all elders, all knowledgeable about the Torah, it would be a commandment upon us to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. And anyone who adds [and spends extra time] in telling the story of the exodus from Egypt, behold he is praiseworthy.
Maarechet Heidenheim
Passover is not about new ideas: Even though it is human nature to want to rush and hear something new, it is not necessary to hear new ideas regarding the Exodus on this night. Even though we have heard this story many times and it is well known to us, the essence of the commandment is for the story to be beloved and to arouse the heart completely in order to inspire thanksgiving and praise for all the miracles which transpired on this day. One should perform this commandment each year as if it is completely new. This is certainly praiseworthy.
Passover is not about new ideas: Even though it is human nature to want to rush and hear something new, it is not necessary to hear new ideas regarding the Exodus on this night. Even though we have heard this story many times and it is well known to us, the essence of the commandment is for the story to be beloved and to arouse the heart completely in order to inspire thanksgiving and praise for all the miracles which transpired on this day. One should perform this commandment each year as if it is completely new. This is certainly praiseworthy.
Mishkan HaSeder, p. 36
The Mishnah establishes the underlying principle for Maggid, the central part of the Haggadah: "Begins with degradation and rises to dignity" (P'sachim 10:4). Viewing history through this lens bespeaks faith in the meaning and progress of history. The Talmud (BT P'sachim 116a) famously preserves a disagreement between two great rabbis, Rav and Shmuel, concerning the nature of the original degradation that gave rise to the Jewish people: Rav argued that "degradation" refers to the idolatry out of which Jews and Judaism arose in the days of Abraham. For Shmuel, "degradation" refers to the physical bondage of slavery in Egypt. For Rav, the ultimate degradation is spiritual, while for Shmuel it is political.
The Mishnah establishes the underlying principle for Maggid, the central part of the Haggadah: "Begins with degradation and rises to dignity" (P'sachim 10:4). Viewing history through this lens bespeaks faith in the meaning and progress of history. The Talmud (BT P'sachim 116a) famously preserves a disagreement between two great rabbis, Rav and Shmuel, concerning the nature of the original degradation that gave rise to the Jewish people: Rav argued that "degradation" refers to the idolatry out of which Jews and Judaism arose in the days of Abraham. For Shmuel, "degradation" refers to the physical bondage of slavery in Egypt. For Rav, the ultimate degradation is spiritual, while for Shmuel it is political.
My People's Passover Haggadah, p. 162, 164
The plethora of explanations the Sages offered to explain Israel's ordeal in Egypt suggests that they found none of them fully satisfying. Perhaps they were enslaved because Jacob favored Joseph over his brothers (Shab. 10b)-such is the damage done when a parent treats one child with favoritism. Alternatively, slavery was God's punishment for the Israelites' desire to become like the Egyptians," abandoning the covenantal rite of circumcision (Exod. Rab. 1:8). In another source (Midrash on Psalms 10:3), “[God] said to Jacob's sons: You sold Joseph into slavery ... so year after year you will be reciting, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt." Pesikta Chadta traces the enslavement back to the fact that the children of Jacob's wives, Rachel and Leah, degraded the children of Jacob's maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. "Said the Holy One, How can I make them accept the maidservants' children?' I will send them down to Egypt, where they will all be slaves. When I redeem them I will give them the commandments of Passover to observe.... When they all say avadim hayyinu (We were slaves to Pharaoh'), they will see they are all equal."!
---David Arnow
The plethora of explanations the Sages offered to explain Israel's ordeal in Egypt suggests that they found none of them fully satisfying. Perhaps they were enslaved because Jacob favored Joseph over his brothers (Shab. 10b)-such is the damage done when a parent treats one child with favoritism. Alternatively, slavery was God's punishment for the Israelites' desire to become like the Egyptians," abandoning the covenantal rite of circumcision (Exod. Rab. 1:8). In another source (Midrash on Psalms 10:3), “[God] said to Jacob's sons: You sold Joseph into slavery ... so year after year you will be reciting, We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt." Pesikta Chadta traces the enslavement back to the fact that the children of Jacob's wives, Rachel and Leah, degraded the children of Jacob's maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. "Said the Holy One, How can I make them accept the maidservants' children?' I will send them down to Egypt, where they will all be slaves. When I redeem them I will give them the commandments of Passover to observe.... When they all say avadim hayyinu (We were slaves to Pharaoh'), they will see they are all equal."!
---David Arnow
A Different Night, p. 45
Children ask the Best Questions:
A kindergarten child once asked the teacher: "What does it mean to be a slave? Is it like being the cleaning lady who doesn't speak English?" Try to answer the child's question.
Children ask the Best Questions:
A kindergarten child once asked the teacher: "What does it mean to be a slave? Is it like being the cleaning lady who doesn't speak English?" Try to answer the child's question.
A Night to Remember, p. 30
The degradation, the wrongs, the vices that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe. They are greater than you would willingly believe. My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things. My soul revolted against the mean tyranny. But where could I turn for protection? There is no shadow of law to protect the slave girl from insult, from violence, or even from death. All these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men....
God gave me a soul that burned for freedom and a heart nerved with determination to suffer even unto death in pursuit of liberty. The slave owners seem to satisfy their consciences with the doctrine that God created the Africans to be slaves. What a libel upon the heavenly Father, who "made of one blood all nations of men!" Slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks. It makes the white fathers cruel and sensual; the sons violent and licentious; it contaminates the daughters, and makes the wives wretched. And as for the colored race, it needs an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation...
---Harriet Jacobs, Life of a Slaver Girl, An Autobiography, 1861. Born a slave in 1813 in North Carolina
The degradation, the wrongs, the vices that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe. They are greater than you would willingly believe. My master met me at every turn, reminding me that I belonged to him. He told me I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things. My soul revolted against the mean tyranny. But where could I turn for protection? There is no shadow of law to protect the slave girl from insult, from violence, or even from death. All these are inflicted by fiends who bear the shape of men....
God gave me a soul that burned for freedom and a heart nerved with determination to suffer even unto death in pursuit of liberty. The slave owners seem to satisfy their consciences with the doctrine that God created the Africans to be slaves. What a libel upon the heavenly Father, who "made of one blood all nations of men!" Slavery is a curse to the whites as well as to the blacks. It makes the white fathers cruel and sensual; the sons violent and licentious; it contaminates the daughters, and makes the wives wretched. And as for the colored race, it needs an abler pen than mine to describe the extremity of their sufferings, the depth of their degradation...
---Harriet Jacobs, Life of a Slaver Girl, An Autobiography, 1861. Born a slave in 1813 in North Carolina
The Schocken Passover Haggadah, p. xxxi
The liturgy of the Seder meal is a way of responding to the question "Why?" The answers to all of the questions asked at the Passover Seder begin with the words avadim hayinu, because we were slaves. Through song, word, and symbol we not only remember that we were slaves but also reexperience ourselves as slaves. And we learn that our freedom, if it does not translate into making others free, is a sham.
---Lawrence S. Kushner
The liturgy of the Seder meal is a way of responding to the question "Why?" The answers to all of the questions asked at the Passover Seder begin with the words avadim hayinu, because we were slaves. Through song, word, and symbol we not only remember that we were slaves but also reexperience ourselves as slaves. And we learn that our freedom, if it does not translate into making others free, is a sham.
---Lawrence S. Kushner