Illustration Credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
The words in Shemot 13:8 teach us a lot of information about how to tell the story of leaving Egypt.
וְהִגַּדְתָּ לְבִנְךָ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר
בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָׂה ה' לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם׃
You shall tell your child on that day,
“It is because of this that God did for me when I went free from Egypt.”
Ve-higgadta (וְהִגַּדְתָּ, you shall tell) means that you have to tell the story out loud. (Sefer Ha-Hinukh, 21)
- What’s the difference between thinking a story in your head and saying it out loud?
Zeh (זֶה, this) means you can’t just talk about the story, you also have to experience it. One way we do that is by pointing at matzah and maror. (Mekhilta Shemot 13:8)
- When have props or hands-on activities helped you better understand something you were learning?
Li (לִי, for me) means that we should imagine ourselves in the story, and think of ourselves as having been redeemed from Mitzrayim. (Mishnah Pesahim 10:5)
- Imagine that you were among the people who left Mitzrayim. Think about each stage of the story (slavery in Egypt, Moshe comes and talks to Pharaoh, etc.). What do you think this experience was like for you?
The Mishnah (Pesahim 10:4-5) teaches four more rules about how to tell the story of יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם (yetziat Mitzrayim, leaving Egypt):
1. Ask questions!
הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל אָבִיו.
וְאִם אֵין דַּעַת בַּבֵּן, אָבִיו מְלַמְּדוֹ:
The children ask questions to their parents.
If the children don’t know, then the parents teach them.
- Why is asking questions such an important part of learning? What happens when you ask questions?
- What questions can you find in the haggadah? What are your own questions that you can bring to your Seder?
2. Start with the bad parts and end with the good parts
מַתְחִיל בִּגְנוּת וּמְסַיֵּם בְּשֶׁבַח.
Begin with genut (disgrace) and end with shevah (praise).
The haggadah has a few examples of stories that go from genut to shevah. One is the story of us being slaves and then becoming free. Another is the story of how we used to worship idols but then we started to worship God.
- Can you find these examples of genut and shevah when you read the haggadah?
3. Use specific pesukim from Devarim to tell the story
וְדוֹרֵשׁ מֵאֲרַמִּי אוֹבֵד אָבִי עַד שֶׁיִּגְמֹר כֹּל הַפָּרָשָׁה כֻלָּהּ.
You explain the section of the Torah beginning with “arami oved avi” (from Devarim 26:5), all the way to the end of that section.
This is the main part of the Haggadah. We read the story of leaving Egypt, using the words that farmers would say when they would bring their בִּכּוּרִים (bikkurim, first fruits) to Yerushalayim to give thanks to God.
- Why is the story of leaving Egypt a good story to talk about when you bring bikkurim and give thanks to God?
- Why is the Pesah haggadah centered around a thanksgiving text?
4. After the story, sing Hallel
לְפִיכָךְ אֲנַחְנוּ חַיָּבִין לְהוֹדוֹת, לְהַלֵּל, לְשַׁבֵּחַ, לְפָאֵר, לְרוֹמֵם, לְהַדֵּר, לְבָרֵךְ, לְעַלֵּה, וּלְקַלֵּס, לְמִי שֶׁעָשָׂה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ אֶת כָּל הַנִּסִּים הָאֵלּוּ…. וְנֹאמַר לְפָנָיו, הַלְלוּיָהּ:
We have to to thank, praise, glorify, extol, lift up, honor, bless, raise high, and celebrate the One who made these miracles for our ancestors and for us…. And we will say: Halleluyah!
- Can you stay awake for Hallel? What songs do you know?
- Hallel is our chance to express our own shevah. What are you praising and thanking God for?
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