With Pesach (Passover) around the corner, we posed our own Four Questions to OU-JLIC Tel Aviv Rabbi Joe Wolfson about Avadim Hayinu (We Were Slaves) – the verses in the Seder that begin Maggid, the recounting of the story of Yeziat Mizrayim (The Exodus from Egypt). Avadim Hayinu also marks the start of the responses to Ma Nishtana (The Four Questions).
Why is there a mitzvah to recount the story of Yeziat Mizrayim once a year, if we already remember the Exodus in our daily recitation of Shema and Az Yashir?
Rabbi Wolfson: Zechira (Remembrance), Zecher L’Yeziat Mizrayim (Remembering the Exodus from Egypt) is a daily mitzvah (commandment), whereas there is also a mitzvah of Sippur Yeziat Mizrayim (Recounting the story of the Exodus from Egypt) at the Seder(s). This is a common pattern where a mitzvah that exists throughout the year also has a special “moment” during the calendar where it is emphasized.
For example, the mitzvah of Tzedakah (charity) applies throughout the year. But on Purim, there is a mitzvah called Matanot L’Evyonim (gifts to those in need); there’s an emphasis on caring for others. Another example would be Teshuvah (Repentance). Of course, we associate Teshuvah with Elul and the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe). Yet the Rambam (Maimonides) places Hilchot Teshuva (The laws of repentance) not in Sefer Zmanim (The Book of Times), but in Sefer Mada (The Book of Knowledge). And in fact, Avodat Yom Hakipurim (The Yom Kippur Service in the Temple) appears in Vayikra (Leviticus), Chapter 16, without any connection to the other Moadim (holidays) that appear in Vayikra Chapter 23.
Teshuva stands alone and is distinct from Yom Kippur, because it is a value and a mitzvah which is always required, yet it has particular relevance at one time. Similarly, Yeziat Mizrayim is so significant that we remember it every day. But there is one point in the year where it reaches its central focus.
My second answer is that Zecher Yeziat Mizrayim and Sippur Yeziat Mizrayim are significantly different from one another. As implied, Zecher is about remembering our Exodus from Egypt, because it is important. Sippur Yeziat Mizrayim is about re-living it and experiencing it ourselves. “Chayav Adam Lir’ot Et Azmo Ke’ilu Hu Yaza Mi’Mizrayim, A person is obligated to see themselves as if they came out of Egypt.” The Rambam maintains that each person should view him or herself now, as if they came out of Egypt. The experience is not simply something that we remember on Seder night(s); it’s something we re-live that becomes a part of us.
If one simply recounts the story of Yetziat Mizrayim over the course of a few minutes and sentences, does one fulfill the mitzvah without going through the entire Seder?
Rabbi Wolfson: Am Yisrael has a binding minhag (tradition) to tell the story of Yeziat Mizrayim through the Pesach Haggadah. In that sense, the Haggadah is sacred and should be recited in order to fulfill the mitzvah. Nevertheless, it is important not to lose sight of the wood for the trees. On Seder night(s), one should make sure to genuinely recount the story, perhaps separately from the Haggadah. A recently released Israeli Haggadah by Rabbi Dr. Yohai Makbili includes a separate section for children, which recounts the story of Yeziat Mizrayim, in order to help parents fulfill the mitzvah of V’higadeta l’Vincha (Telling the story of the Exodus to one’s child), in the event that the Maggid section alone might not be sufficient.
I know a Holocaust Survivor who, during the Seder, cannot help but draw a connection to her experience as a slave in a concentration camp. Today, lehavdil (no comparison intended), we may be “slaves” to many things — technology, social media, our jobs, our desires to keep up with the Joneses — and for some it may be easier to relate to these forms of “imprisonment”. People who have cleaned and cooked for Pesach may also feel physically exhausted and can relate to that idea better — is it trivializing the Pesach Seder if we add our own associations to slavery?
Rabbi Wolfson: The question is about applying our own experiences and seeing them as a form of Yeziat Mizrayim. I would argue that the very beginning of the Haggadah tells us exactly that. It says “Hashata Avdei, Right now we are slaves.” We are not slaves in Egypt, we are slaves to other things. We are supposed to do that. Mizrayim, of course, is similar linguistically, to “meizar”, to narrow places. We say, “Min Hameizar Karati Kah, I call you, God, from the narrow places. Annani Bamerhcav Kah, Answer me by expanding, by giving me new, open places.” I think it is totally appropriate for a Shoah Survivor to use their experience to help understand themselves and to help others to understand the meaning of Yeziat Mizrayim.
With that being said, I think we need to be a bit careful about how broadly we apply that. We all have challenges in our own lives, but perhaps we shouldn’t have the chutzpah to equate some of them to slavery or to the Shoah. Perhaps there might be very difficult relationships in our lives which we are struggling with. I would think that is something important and good to think about. But as for things which are just petty and part of the challenges of life, including Pesach cleaning, I think it cheapens the experience of our ancestors if we lift those to the level of suffering.
Nevertheless, the Sefat Emet (Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter) has a beautiful comment. He quotes a verse from the Prophet Micha who speaks of “Yemei Yeziat Mizrayim, The days of the Exodus from Egypt).” The Sefat Emet asks, what does “Yemei, the days” mean? Surely, we left on Egypt on a specific day!” He answers, there is Yeziat Mizrayim in every single generation, and to the degree that we use the light of the original story to emerge from our own Shiabud, from our own enslavements, that constitutes a cumulative effect of the redemption from Mizrayim, which will lead to the ultimate geula (coming of the Messiah).
How can we reconcile our diametric feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving to Hashem for taking us out of Mizrayim, with the idea that as we sit at the Seder(s), our brothers and sisters remain enslaved in Gaza, and are suffering — the exact opposite of the concept of the Festival of Freedom?
Rabbi Wolfson: I would argue that there is no contradiction, because Yeziat Mizrayim and the story of Pesach serve to remind us of how important the liberty of our people is for us. It entrenches for us, the Rambam’s establishment, “V’ein Mitzvah Yoter Gedola MiPidyon Shevuyim, There is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives.” It is critical that as Jews, we have not just deep compassion and empathy for those among our people who are suffering, but that we feel their pain. This is what constitutes Am Israel as a people. Rav Soloveitchik, in Kol Dodi Dofek (Listen – My Beloved Knocks), says the defining characteristic of the Jewish people is their shared sense of collective pain and empathy. Pesach, the Seder(s), give us the most appropriate model and language for processing this pain, this empathy, and this creation of peoplehood. At our Seder tables, we must tell the stories of those who were taken, and of those who have returned. We must recount their remarkable efforts, most notably those of the tazpaniyot, the female field observers from Tzahal, who marked the chagim (holidays) in captivity, including Agam Berger, who even created a Haggadah while captive. We should tell these stories to inspire ourselves, and to inspire our children, with the prayer that next Pesach, this will just be a memory.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.
Rabbi Joe Wolfson and his wife Corinne run the vibrant community of OU-JLIC TLV, a community of young professionals known for their contributions to the war effort. They were previously the OU JLIC couple at New York University in Manhattan.
