Pesach 2/2 – Emuna – Every member of Klal Yisroel has a purpose

12 Pesach 2/2 – Emuna – Every member of Klal Yisroel has a purpose

Introduction

The main emphasis of the Haggadah is not that the Borei Olam can change nature. That of course is true – but it is not the focus of the Haggadah . The underlying message throughout the Haggadah is that no matter the situation we are in, the Borei Olam will enter the picture for Klal Yisroel. It might be in the depths of despair – מ”ט שערי טומאה, and still the Borei Olam is there. 

פותחים בגנות 

To really understand this point, we must look at the two different explanations of    “פותחים בגנות” [1] which are found in the Haggadah. Both demonstrate very clearly that the world is against the existence of Klal Yisroel – historically, and physically. 

We have the פותחים בגנות when the Haggadah talks of “מתחילה עובדי ע”ז היו אבותינו” and then we have פותחים בגנות when the Haggadah talks of עבדים היינו. The Haggadah talks of these aspects separately – even though they really are part of one story – which begins with Avrohom Avinu and continues through to the slavery in Egypt. The reason is because the Haggadah wants to emphasize how two different aspects of this world seem to actually contradict the existence of Klal Yisroel – history and reality itself. 

עבדים היינו and the fact that if the Borei Olam had not taken us out of Egypt we would have remained enslaved for all time, comes to emphasize that there is no history without Klal Yisroel – אלו לא הוציא הקב”ה וכו’ היינו אנו ובני בנינו עבדים. The world wants history to be written without Klal Yisroel, but Klal Yisroel is the main purpose of history. Change and progress all revolve around Klal Yisroel, and thus if the Borei Olam had not brought Klal Yisroel out of Egypt and made them a separate nation there would not have been any change in the world. Egypt would have remained the dominant power in the world and we would have remained enslaved. 

But there is a second aspect – reality itself, which appears to contradict the existence of Klal Yisroel. Klal Yisroel began with Avrohom Avinu, yet to all intents and purposes there was no seed of Klal Yisroel which was planted, we came from nothing. It was the Borei Olam who essentially forged Klal Yisroel יש מאין. That is what it means when it says in the Haggadah –

 מתחלה עובדי ע”ז היו אבותינו – ועכשיו קירבה המקום לעבודתו. It was only because the Borei Olam entered the picture. And then ואקח…ואולך…ואתן”” [2]– the Borei Olam is there all the time actively making sure that there will be a Klal Yisroel.   

Why is the birth of Klal Yisroel not emphasized? 

What one cannot fail to notice however in the Haggadah, is that even though we mention that the initial birth of Klal Yisroel is against all the odds, the Haggadah does not elaborate on the subject. It mentions it, מתחילה עובדי ע”ז היו אבותינו – but very briefly and moves quickly on to the topic of the situation of Klal Yisroel in Egypt. The answer might be found by giving a moshol. When a child is born we talk of its birth as being the day it came into the world, not the day it was actually created. To speak otherwise would be considered nivul peh. Similarly, the hidden aspects of the creation of Klal Yisroel, that they emerged from Avrohom Avinu against all the odds are kept hidden – מתחת לשונך and only the revealed aspects of the birth of Klal Yisroel in Egypt are spoken of clearly.  

Klal Yisroel has a purpose

Once we have declared עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים , we speak of the fact that the Borei Olam gave us the Torah – ברוך המקום ברוך הוא ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל. That is to say that we have a purpose in this world – we have Torah and mitzvos. Then we emphasize that every person has something to do. That is what we say when we mention כנגד ארבע בנים דברה תורה. 

It may be difficult to accept but take a look at the story in Sefer Malochim which is the haftoro of Parshas Metzora [3]. There we see how four metzoraim save Klal Yisroel. Had they not been metzoraim – there would have been a real tragedy. It was because they were metzoraim that they were able to be outside of the walls of Yerushalayim, and in effect save Klal Yisroel. That means that it was even though they were in a lowly state they still had a job to do. That, in effect, is the message of the Baal HaHaggadah when he writes כנגד ארבע בנים דיברה תורה – everyone has a job to do – each person has a tafkid. Obviously one’s goal should not be to be a rosho – but even on that level there is still something to do. 

I have seen in my own life that because of where I am I can have an influence where people who have an important shteler might not have been able to have such an impact. 

I once was asked to give a vaad to older bochrim who were still struggling in shidduchim. I had to touch on very sensitive issues, none of which a choshuv Rov could have spoken about in public. Those vaadim really helped some of them, and they established wonderful homes. But it is because I have no incredibly choshuv shteler that I was able to speak of things which could help, things that others would never have spoken of. 

Understanding we always have a job to do

We have to understand that the Borei Olam enters the reality we are in – no matter what level we are on. We are not all on the level of Gedolei Yisroel, and we certainly should not look at ourselves as being an extension of their reality, otherwise the Borei Olam will not want to have anything to do with us. In the same way that the Borei Olam wanted to enter the reality of Klal Yisroel when they were at the lowest spiritual ebb – מ”ט שערי טומאה, and if He would not have done so we would have remained in Egypt, as the Baal Hahagoddoh writes ואלו לא הוציא אותנו הקב”ה את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משעבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים, so too the Borei Olam wants to involve Himself in our lives.

Being Ovdei Hashem

Very often we forget that we have to be actively creative as Ovdei Hashem, because we only see ourselves as part of a community or as an extension of an Odom Godol, without seeing that we also have something to do personally. The problem is we don’t really believe that we have something to do. We say to ourselves that that was true perhaps for Klal Yisroel in Egypt, but maybe that was only true for Klal Yisroel as a whole, or when they all came together and there was a tremendous outcry to the Borei Olam. But we don’t believe that where we are as an individual, there too the Borei Olam is interested. But Avrohom Avinu who was “עובד עמהם” [4] – the Borei Olam was still interested in him. That is part of our bitochon, that we have something to do, and the Borei Olam is interested in what it is we are doing. That is what we say in the Haggadah והיא שעמדה לאבותינו ולנו – He is interested in each and every one of us. He has made a promise – שומר הבטחתו, and he will keep it. He is looking out and for all of us, and wants to see us reach our own personal goal. He looks to the future. 

The Borei Olam always looks to fulfill His promise

The posuk saysמעבר הנהר  ויעבדו אלהים אחרים ואקח, the posuk is in the past tense because of the vov hahipuch, and yet it could similarly be read in the future tense. That would have been impossible had the posuk said ולקחתי. This hints to the fact that the Borei Olam is looking at Klal Yisroels future – He is שומר הבטחתו. 

So we see that Klal Yisroel in coming out of Egypt was being created with a purpose. Moshe Rabbeinu actually asked why they were being taken out [5] – and the Borei Olam answered him that He is bringing them out of Egypt because He wants to give them the torah. That is the point of view of the Borei Olam, that there is a purpose in bringing out Klal Yisroel. 

The message of the Haggadah

Essentially we have seen the basic framework of the Haggadah. The message is clear, that Klal Yisroel came into the world against all the odds, all through the intervention of the Borei Olam. That is the basic message, and it runs throughout the Haggadah. That is why the Baal HaHaggadah does not elaborate on the makos as we might have expected him to. Because the makos are in a certain way only a side point – דבר אחר [6]. The real message is that there was no possible way that Klal Yisroel could be created, and then the Borei Olam came into the picture – ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה ובמורא גדול.  

These three aspects of how the Borei Olam reveals himself – ביד חזקה, ובזרוע נטויה and finally ובמורא גדול refer to the Borei Olam’s right hand, His left hand and finally the Shchina itself. All three are way beyond the world in which we live, so it is the matte which comes to really reveal those aspects in this world. In the words of the Baal HaHaggadah  “ובאותות – זה המטה” [7]. The matte is conceptually the idea of an אות which is something that hints at something beyond the reality in which we live. A מופת is the next stage after an אות – and comes as an actual revelation of that which is usually so removed from our world.   

The revelations of the Borei Olam, the Haggadah explains, manifest themselves in three different ways – דם ואש ותמרות. The water is changed into blood. Water usually associated with chessed and the right hand alludes to the יד חזקה which is revealed. אש – is associated with the attribute of the Borei Olam of strict justice, also associated with the left side –alluded to by the words זרוע נטויה. And finally תמרות עשן – which is the smoke which goes straight up, hinting at the Shchina. These three aspects which are usually beyond our world are brought into this world with the use of the matte. The plagues are mentioned in short – but the emphasis is on the fact that the Borei Olam enters the picture. Nothing can stand in His way. 

Conclusion

We have to be creative when we give over the Haggadah, but the message has to be clear. That we have a purpose in this world and each of us has an individual goal. However, very often we don’t really believe that is true. The Mashgiach once commented to me that he finds it difficult to remember individual Avreichim because they all talk the same, look the same and think the same. We have lost that mamar chazal of כשם שפרצופיהם שונים כך דעותיהם שונות [8]. We have to pass that message on to our children that Yetzias Mitzroyim came to let us know that the Borei Olam is interested in our lives, and that He has a purpose for each and every one of us. He wants to hear our tfilos and is involved in that wonderful nation which He so desired – Klal Yisroel.  

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[1] ע’ פסחים דף קט”ז. “מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבת…מאי גנות רב אמר מתחילה עובדי עבודת גלולים היו אבותינו, ושמואל אמר עבדים היינו”. 

[2] “ויאמר יהושע אל כל העם כה אמר ה’ אלקי ישראל בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם תרח אבי אברהם ואבי נחור ויעבדו אלהים אחרים, ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר ואולך אותו בכל ארץ כנען וארבה את זרעו ואתן לו את יצחק ואתן ליצחק את יעקב ואת עשו ואתן לעשו את הר שעיר לרשת אותו ויעקב ובניו ירדו מצרים” [יהושע כד ב-ד]

[3] מלאכים ב פרק ז

[4] ע’ רמב”ם הלכות ע”ז פרק א הלכה ג לגבי אברהם אבינו “…ואביו ואמו וכל העם עובדי כוכבים והוא עובד עמהם”. 

[5] ע’ רש”י שמות פרק ג פסוקים י”א וי”ב. 

[6] לשון ההגדה: “דבר אחר, ביד חזקה שתים, ובזרע נטויה שתים ובמורא גדול שתים ובאותות שתים ובמופתים שתים אלו עשר מכות שהביא הקב”ה על המצרים במצרים ואלו הן”. 

[7] ובאותות זה המטה כמה שנאמר ואת המטה הזה תקח בידיך אשר תעשה בו את האותות. 

[8] ברכות דף נ”ח. 

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Written by Rabbi Mordechai Mays