Kol ha'Seridim: April 2023

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Avadim Hayinu: Would We Still Be Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt?

Ordinarily I don't write up such speculative answers, but this question has been bothering me for so long that I decided to share the best two answer I have in hopes that it'll generate discussion.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

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Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt, "painting of an Egyptian standing in the middle of Manhattan"

Avadim Hayinu: Would We Still Be Slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt?

The Avadim Hayinu section of the Haggadah is the beginning of our answer to the Mah Nishtanah questions:

We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Hashem, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, blessed is He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, and our children, and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.

Really?! Would the Egyptian slavery to Pharaoh have lasted forever and ever? Would Israel have remained subjugated to Egypt for all time? Have any ancient kingdoms survived? Wouldn’t the forces of history have brought things to an end, one way or another? Are we supposed to accept this statement at face value?

The simplest answer is: yes, as incredible as it may sound, Egyptian slavery may very well have continued to this day! Obviously, there is no way to prove this, but it is plausible. Consider the incalculable global impact of the Exodus and Giving of the Torah. What might world history have looked like without Judaism, and without the offshoot Abrahamic monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam which shaped the trajectory of mankind? Consider the various peoples situated in stable climates whose cultures, beliefs, and societal structures remained unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years. Think how many more societies like this there might be without the Revelation at Sinai, which introduced such radically disruptive ideas as human equality based on the tzelem Elokim, absolute freedom of choice, and universal natural law, which prompted revolutionary new ways of thinking. Lastly, consider the fact that Egypt actually did last for thousands of years before the Exodus and might have lasted thousands more without the intervention of Hashem’s hand in history.

Alternatively, perhaps the answer is based on a halacha we read later on in the Haggadah:

In each and every generation one is obligated to see himself as though he had gone out of Egypt, as it is stated: “And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: ‘It is because of this that Hashem did so for me when I went out of Egypt’” (Shemos 13:8). Not only did the Holy One, Blessed is He, redeem our fathers but He redeemed us, too, with them, as it is stated: “He took us out of there to bring us to and give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers” (Devarim 6:23).

Throughout the course of the seder, we oscillate between speaking from the perspective of the present day and from the perspective of freed slaves who left Egypt. Rambam’s Ha Lachma Anya begins with: “We left Egypt in a state of alarm” but continues: “This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt.” Avadim Hayinu continues: “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Hashem, our God, took us out from there” before switching to: “If the Holy One, blessed is He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt” then switches back again: “then we, and our children, and our children’s children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.”

Perhaps this last line doesn’t mean that the Israelites would have been enslaved to the Egyptians for all time. Rather, it can be read as: “then we (the generation of freemen whose parents were liberated), our children (the second generation), and even our children’s children (the third generation) would be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt” and the Haggadah’s statement ends there. And if we asked what would happen after the third generation, what would the answer be? In all likelihood, complete assimilation. The Israelites in Egypt were on such a low level that Hashem was ready to destroy them, as the navi states: “They rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me; no man cast away the detestable [idols] of their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I thought to pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger on them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.” (Yechezkel 20:8). If things continued to deteriorate, it is possible that Israel would vanish after three generations.

These two are the only answers I could come up with, but I’m open to others. What do you think?

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Monday, April 3, 2023

Arbaah Banim: The Alternate Version of the Wise and Simple Sons

If you're looking for a discussion catalyst at your seder on the Arbaah Banim, consider bringing up the OTHER answers we give to the wise and simple sons. I guarantee you that discussion will ensue.

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Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt, "oil painting of a wise son sitting next to a simple son"

Arbaah Banim: The Alternate Version of the Wise and Simple Sons

There are two equally authoritative versions of the Arbaah Banim (Four Sons). The version which made it into our Haggadah is from the Mechilta, and an alternative version can be found in the Talmud Yerushalmi. There are a number of differences between the two, but the most striking difference is that the answers to the Wise and Simple/Foolish sons are swapped. Here are the two versions side by side:

Our Version (from the Mechilta)
The Wise Son – what does he say? “What are the testimonies, the decrees, and the judgments which Hashem, our God, has commanded you?” (Devarim 6:20). And you, too, should tell him a law like the laws of the Pesach sacrifice: we do not conclude the meal with anything other than the Pesach sacrifice.
The Simple Son – what does he say? “‘What is this?’ And you shall say to him: ‘With a strong hand Hashem took us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves’” (Shemos 13:14).
Alternative Version (from the Talmud Yerushalmi)
The Wise Son – what does he say? “What are the testimonies, the decrees, and the judgments which Hashem, our God, has commanded us?” And you, too, should tell him: “With a strong hand Hashem took us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves.”
The Foolish Son – what does he say? “‘What is this?” You, too, should teach him the laws of Pesach: that we do not conclude the meal with anything other than the Pesach sacrifice; that one should not get up from one group and enter another group.

The Mechilta is easy to understand: the Wise Son’s question exhibits a greater level of intelligence than the Simple Son’s. Instead of merely expressing his lack of knowledge with a generic, “What is this?” the Wise Son asks categorically about each type of mitzvah: eidos, which testify to God’s intervention in history; chukim, whose reasons are difficult to discern; and mishpatim, whose reasons are evident (Ritva: Haggadah shel Pesach). But what are we to make of the Yerushalmi? Does the Foolish Son’s interest in halacha indicate intellectual inferiority?

Perhaps the Yerushalmi version can be understood in light of the Rambam’s Allegory of the Palace, as stated in his conclusion to the Guide for the Perplexed (3:51). The allegory depicts a king’s subjects at varying levels of proximity to the inner sanctum of his palace. About those who are within range of the palace Rambam writes: “Of those that desire to go to the palace, some reach it, and go round about in search of the entrance gate; others have passed through the gate and walk about in the antechamber.” Rambam decodes these elements as follows:

Those who arrive at the palace but go round about it are those who devote themselves exclusively to the study of the halacha; they believe in true principles of belief based on tradition, and learn the practical worship of God, but are not trained in philosophical treatment of the principles of the Torah, and do not endeavor to establish the truth of their faith by proof.
But those who undertake to investigate the principles of religion have come into the antechamber, and there is no doubt that these can also be divided into different grades. And those who have succeeded in finding a proof for everything that can be proved, who have a true knowledge of God, so far as a true knowledge can be attained, and are near the truth, wherever an approach to the truth is possible, they have reached the goal, and are in the palace in which the king lives.

According to the Yerushalmi, the Foolish Son isn’t “foolish” because his intellect is inferior. To the contrary, he is involved in studying the intricacies of the halacha! Rather, he is foolish because he loses the forest for the trees. He is so preoccupied with the “What?” that he doesn’t even bother to ask “Why?” The Wise Son, on the other hand, has (presumably) acquired halachic knowledge of the eidos, chukim, and mishpatim, but recognizes that these are a means to an end, namely, knowledge of Hashem. Therefore, he asks questions about the purpose of the halachos he has learned: What is the significance are the miracles commemorated by the eidos? What are the hidden reasons of the chukim? What perfection can we gain from the mishpatim? A son who asks such questions is truly wise – not only in terms of his analytical ability, but in terms of his orientation to the Torah system.

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If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer: Abravanel’s Framing of Insomnia on Pesach Night

Ever wonder why we talk about the Sages in Bnei Brak staying up all night? Better question: Have you ever gotten a bad sleep after the seder? If the answer to both question is "yes," check this out.

The Torah content from now until Pesach has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder, author of Gematria Refigured: A New Look At How The Torah Conveys Ideas Through Numbers. Stay up-to-date by joining the Gematria Refigured+ WhatsApp group, and subscribe to the Gematria Refigured+ Podcast.

Click here for a printer-friendly 1-page version of this article, and click here for the podcast version.

Artwork: DALL-E's response to the prompt "impressionist painting of men in turbans sitting at a passover seder with the light of dawn visible in the sky"

Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer: Abravanel’s Framing of Insomnia on Pesach Night

How many of us have ever gotten a bad sleep on the first (and second) nights of Pesach? Indeed, the better the seder is and the longer it lasts, the worse sleep one will tend to get. This is especially true for those who fulfill the Yom Tov halacha of chatzi la’Shem chatzi lachem (i.e. waking up to daven at sunrise, learning for the rest of the morning, and only breaking for lunch after halachic midday). By now I’ve resigned myself to getting a bad sleep on both nights of Pesach and chalking it up to, “Well, this is the cost of having good sedarim!” … until this year.

Abravanel kicks off his Zevach Pesach Haggadah commentary with a list of 100 questions (or “gates,” as he calls them). In classic Abravanel fashion, some of these questions are powerful, and others are … interesting? Personally, I was surprised by the fact that the only question he raised on the section entitled Maaseh b’Rebbi Eliezer, about the Sages who stayed up all night discussing the Exodus, was the following:

Why did the Sages of Israel engage in telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt all night? Why did they see fit to do this, and what befell them (cf. Esther 9:26) such that they deprived their eyes of sleep and their eyelids of slumber? Didn't the Torah command, “You shall rejoice on your festival” (Devarim 16:14)? But [sleep deprivation] is torture to the soul! Without a doubt, they must have done this for some reason! (Shaar 13)

Until this year, I had assumed – based on a shiur I heard from my Rosh ha’Yeshiva (HL-16, I believe) – that these Sages stayed up all night in accordance with the halacha codified by the Shulchan Aruch: “A person is obligated to be involved in the laws of Pesach, in [talking about] the Exodus from Egypt, and in telling of the miracles and wonders that Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu did for our fathers, until he is overcome by sleep” (Orach Chayim 481:2). In other words, my assumption was that these Sages began discussing these topics after they finished their seder and got so involved that they went all night until dawn. In other words, they stayed up all night inadvertently.

Abravanel disagrees. Instead, he provides a more creative answer in his Haggadah commentary:

For what reason did these perfected individuals see fit to engage in telling the story [of the Exodus] all night and to deprive themselves of sleep? [The answer is] because this is "a night that is guarded by Hashem" (Shemos 12:42), and Israel didn't sleep at all on the night they left Egypt. For the first part of the night, they were involved in doing the mitzvos of Pesach, with matzah and mrorim, as Hashem commanded, and during the last half of the night they were involved in the Exodus [itself]; therefore, they didn't allow themselves to sleep all night. And because "a person is obligated to act as though the left Egypt," therefore, these holy people did what they did: immediately at the beginning of the night they involved themselves in the mitzvos of matzah, maror, and the remembrance of the Pesach, just as their forefathers did in Egypt, and afterwards, for the rest of the night, they discussed the Exodus. Through this, they acted as though they, themselves, left [Egypt].

According to Abravanel, these Sages intentionally deprived themselves of sleep, staying up all night in order to emulate our forefathers, who didn’t sleep on the night of the actual Exodus, in order to fulfill the halacha of: “in each and every generation, a person is obligated to act (le’haros) as though they, themselves, left Egypt.”

I don’t know whether my take-away from this Abravanel is “legit” or not, but I’ll state it anyway. Next time I wake up on the morning of Pesach (or on the morning of the second day of Pesach) – filled with food, groggy from lack of sleep, and feeling the effects of the four cups – instead of bemoaning my state, I’ll think to myself: “Our forefathers who left Egypt didn’t sleep at all on the night of the 15^th of Nisan. And by staying up last night, I reenacted their ordeal.” This way of framing my poor sleep will strengthen my identification with my forefathers. Moreover, I will feel grateful that I, unlike my forefathers, was not under any threat of oppression, and that I was able to partake in a leisurely discussion of Torah in the manner of one who is truly free.

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