SEDER INSIGHTS

Torah Gems - April 18th


Compiled by Rabbi William Hamilton


SEDER INSIGHTS

Dayeinu is, on the surface, a simple song. It is a recitation of events of God's kindness over the course of Jewish history from the Egyptian exodus until the arrival in Israel, with the refrain Dayeinu - "It would have been enough for us."

Would it really have "been enough for us" had God not, for instance, split the Red Sea, trapping our ancestors between the water and the Egyptian army? "Had God not sustained us in the desert" - would that really have been enough for us? "Had God not given us the Torah." What are we saying when we say "it would have been enough?

I like to imagine that Dayeinu is 'an exercise in radical appreciation.' So often we see as given, that which is really a gift.

Yet another way of understanding Dayeinu, might touch on a pedagogic technique of hiding a message, leaving hints for its discovery. Could Dayeinu be hiding something significant in plain sight?

Dayeinu may be precisely such a puzzle. And its solution might lie in the realization that one of the song's lines is, in fact, not followed by the refrain at all. Few people can immediately locate it, but one of the events listed is pointedly not followed by the word dayeinu.

Take a look. Can you find the only phrase on the page that is not following by dayeinu? You found it, of course: the very first phrase in the poem. Dayeinu begins: "Had He taken us out of Egypt..." That phrase - and it alone - is never qualified with a dayeinu.

The subtle message of Dayeinu may be just that, the sheer indispensability of the Exodus - its contrast with the rest of Jewish history, its importance beyond even the magnitude of all the miracles that came to follow.


Chad gadya "One little kid, that father bought for two zuzim."

"And then came the cat and ate the kid, that father had bought for two zuzim. And then came the dog and bit the cat that had eaten the kid that father had bought for two zuzim....

"And then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and slaughtered the Angel of Death, who had slaughtered the slaughterer who had slaughtered the ox that had drunk the water that had quenched the fire that had burned the stick that had beaten the dog that had bit the cat that had eaten the kid that father had bought for two zuzim - one little kid, one little kid."

This is a fun song with which to part from our friends and family at the Seder. Though it does not appear to originate in Ashkenazi communities until fairly recently (mid- to late 16th century), Chad Gadya is more than a lively children's song, an amusing musical game to keep the children awake.

Indeed, the CHIDA (Rabbi Chayim Yosef David Azulai of Jerusalem, Hevron and Italy, 1724-1806) records in his book of Halakhic responsa the following question: "Somebody made fun of Chad Gadya... and thereby befouled his mouth. One of the company thereupon arose and excommunicated him. Is this excommunication valid?" The CHIDA's answer is unequivocal: "Making fun like this is a very severe act and the excommunication is indeed valid." Clearly, Chad Gadya is far more than a simple children's nursery rhyme.

We are so familiar with the words that most of us probably never even notice that Chad Gadya is Aramaic, not Hebrew (chad gadya, rather than g'di echad; ve-ata shunra, rather than u-va he-chatul, and so on). So, the first question is: Why was this song composed in Aramaic? After all, almost the entire Haggadah is in Hebrew.

Yet towards the end, Chad Gadya suddenly reverts to Hebrew: the slaughterer is ha-shochet in Hebrew, rather than necheisa in Aramaic; the Angel of Death is Malach ha-Mavet in Hebrew, not Malach Mota in Aramaic; and the Holy One, blessed be He is ha-Kadosh baruch Hu in Hebrew, not Kud'sha brich Hu in Aramaic. So, the next question is: Why the reversion to Hebrew?

And finally, what is the significance of father buying this kid for two zuzim?

Indeed, almost the entire Haggadah is in Hebrew. But there is another Aramaic section near the beginning: Ha lachma anya di achalu avhatana be-ar'a de-Mitzrayyim.... "This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry - come and eat; all who need - let them come and join in the Pesach. This year here; next year in the Land of Israel. This year slaves; next year, free people."

This section is also predominantly Aramaic, with a few well-selected words in Hebrew. And this deceptively simple paragraph has some important lessons.

The Ha lachma section had to have been written in a context when the Pesach sacrifice was not offered (either after the destruction of the Holy Temple when the Temple Mount was under foreign occupation, or in exile) as the invitation makes clear: Kol ditzrich yeitei ve-yifsach, "all who need, let them come and join in the Pesach." This invitation has to date from after the Pesach sacrifice had ceased, so that it refers to the Seder ceremony, not to the Paschal lamb itself. And so, since it applies to a time of galut (exile), it is written in Aramaic - the language of exile. But the corollary is that when looking forward to the time of redemption, back in our Land as free people, the phrase is le-shana ha-ba'ah ("next year") in Hebrew, the language of redemption, of the Land of Israel.

Now we begin to see the parallel with Chad Gadya: the kid represents Israel, the nation that was "eaten" by the cat, devoured, defeated, conquered, dragged away into exile. It is appropriate that this parable be related in Aramaic, the language of exile. Then the dog bit the cat, the stick beat the dog, the fire burnt the stick, the water quenched the fire, the ox drank the water. One by one, every nation that ever dared raise a hand against us was defeated: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, mediaeval Spain, the Turkish Empire, Germany, the British Empire, the Soviet Union - every one of them, when they turned against us, collapsed.

"And then came the slaughterer and slaughtered the ox." The ox symbolizes Rome - the exile that is currently drawing to its painful end, and will begin to lead us out of exile and back to independence in our Land. So, ha-shochet - "the slaughterer" in Hebrew, not Aramaic - represents the beginning of the redemption from exile. The Angel of Death might (not definitely) take the slaughterer; and then, the final stage of redemption will be the Revival of the Dead, when God Himself will "slaughter the Angel of Death," because death itself will be cancelled.

Finally, what is the significance of father buying this kid for two zuzim? Having established that the kid represents Israel, it follows that abba here refers to God (our Father in Heaven). How, then, did He acquire us "for two zuzim"?

Although g'di can be a generic term for the young of any kosher animal (see the Talmud, Chullin 113 a-b), it usually refers specifically to a kid (a goat up to the age of one year) or a lamb (a sheep up the age of one year). And these are precisely the animals which are sacrificed for the Tamid (daily) offerings and the Mussaf (Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and Festival additional) offerings.

A month and a half ago, we began the countdown to Pesach with the first of the special Shabbatot - Shabbat Shekalim (Exodus 30:11-16). Then, we read how every Jew was obligated to pay the half-shekel due, the annual tax that was used for purchasing the goats and lambs for the Tamid offerings. The shekel (equivalent to the Talmudic sela) was a unit of currency equal to four zuzim (equivalent to silver dinars in the Talmud). Thus, the two zuzim, with which father bought the g'di and with which we conclude the Seder service, are worth half a shekel.


The mitzvah of eating matzah (plural: matzot) on the night of the fifteenth of the month of Nissan is stated explicitly in the Torah: "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, you shall eat matzot." (Exodus 12, 18) The Torah also says "You shall eat matzot for seven days." (Exodus 12, 15)

Yet the rabbis used the Torah's exegetic principles to show that this verse does not mean to command us to eat matzot all seven days, but rather that matzah is the principal food one is to eat during Pesach instead of bread. A person who does not want to eat matzot is not duty-bound to do so, but is allowed to eat just fruits and vegetables, and meat and dairy products, as he wishes.

The simple meaning of this would seem to be that one who eats matzot all seven days of Pesach does not thereby fulfill a mitzvah, and that this is what the rabbis meant when they said that eating matzah during the seven days is "voluntary" (Pesachim 120a) - that is, not obligatory. Nevertheless, many major halachic authorities have written that, while it is true that eating matzah is obligatory only on the night of the Seder, and that is why our sages instituted recital of the special blessing "al achilat matzah" only for the eating of matzah on Seder night. Yet one who eats matzah on the other days of Pesach is still fulfilling a mitzvah, even if it is not obligatory.

Accordingly, what our sages meant when they said that eating matzah on the seven days of Pesach is "voluntary" is that, by way of contrast with the obligation to eat matzah on the night of the fifteenth, on the rest of Pesach a person is free to decide whether or not he wants to fulfill an additional mitzvah by eating matzah.

May matzah consumption throughout the Festival this year, remind you of the dignity of voluntary commitment. May the dayeinu you sing, remind you of the one verse we don't sing and the centrality of our People's founding story (the Exodus). And may your Aramaic recitations blend neatly into their portions that hint of Hebrew, so that full redemption will seem a bit closer in the year to come. A sweet Pesah and Shabbat to you all.




Shabbat Shalom

Chag Kasher v'Sameach