IT CAME

TO PASS AT THE END OF FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS, AND IT CAME TO PASS IN

THAT VERY DAY, THAT ALL THE LEGIONS OF THE LORD WENT OUT OF THE LAND

OF EGYPT.

IT IS A

NIGHT OF ANTICIPATION FOR THE LORD, TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE LAND

OF EGYPT; THIS

NIGHT IS THE LORD'S, GUARDING ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THROUGHOUT THEIR GENERATIONS.

(Shemot

12:41-42)

It is a night of

anticipation – On it

they were redeemed and on it they shall be redeemed in the future – so says

Rabbi Yehoshua, for it is said this night is the Lord's.

R. Eliezer says: On it they

were redeemed but in the future they shall be redeemed in [the month of]

Tishrei, for it is said, blow the shofar on the [new] month, etc. Why? For

etc. (Psalms

91:4).

And what do we learn from the

words this night is the Lord's? It is the night that the Holy One

blessed be He said to our father Abraham, "On this night I shall redeem

your children,"  and when the time came

the Holy One blessed be He did not hold them back for even the blink of an eye.

Guarding all the children of

their generations – this

says that all of Israel

should guard themselves in it.

(Mekhilta

DeRabbi Yishmael Bo – Massekhta DePesah 14)

And God came to Balaam at night..etc.

This relates to the verse It

is a night of anticipation for the Lord – All of the miracles that were

performed for Israel in order to pay back the wicked occurred at night, and

God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night (Bereishit 31) and it is written, and God came to Avimelekh

in a dream of the night (Bereishit 20), and it

is written [they] deployed against them at night (Bereishit 14), and it is written and it was at

midnight (Shemot

12).

(Tanhuma

Balak 8)

"In Every Generation One Must View Oneself…"

Pinhas Leiser

As

every year, one of the central passages which we will recite on Seder night,

taken from Mishnah Pesahim (10:5), reads: " In every generation one must regard himself as though

he had gone out of Egypt."

 RaMBaM (Mishneh

Torah, Laws of Hametz and Matzah 7:8), formulates it as follows:

In every generation, one must show himself as though he

as is written "And He took us out of there…" (Devarim 6:23). Regarding this, the Torah

commanded: Remember that you were a slave (Devarim 5:14; ibid., 15:15; ibid., 16:12; ibid., 24:18; ibid., 24:22), meaning,

as if you yourself were a slave, and went out to freedom and were redeemed.

From

the Mishnah and the subsequent ruling of the RaMBaM, we learn that the commandment

of relating the story of the Exodus from Egypt

has a goal: it is to sense anew every year the experience of the liberation, of

the passage from slavery to freedom.

The Talmud

(Pesahim 116a) recounts an interesting

conversation between Rav Nahman and his servant, Darro:

Rav Nahman said to his servant Darro: "A slave who is

freed by his master, who gives him gold and silver, what must

he say to him?" He replied: "He must thank and praise his

master." He said to him: "If so, you have released us from the

obligation of reciting the Ma Nishatana questions." He began to

recite Avadim Hayinu.

Imbuing

this story with actual and relevant significance presents a serious challenge. True,

we are commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt at frequent intervals (in

the Shabbat Kiddush, in the passages contained in tefillin, in the Shema,

in the prohibition against cheating the stranger, etc.), but the commandment "to

relate"  applies

only on the evening of the 15^th of Nissan – "when matza and the

bitter herbs lie before you" – and it differs in essence from the commandment

to constantly remember.

What, then, is the

relevant significance of the Exodus narrative?

A reading

of the entire above-mentioned mishnah reveals two

controversies:

v            

Regarding the recitation of the

Hallel on Seder eve, before the eating of the matzah, the bitter herb, and the

meal, Bet Shammai says: Until what point does he recite? Until the mother of

the sons rejoices (i.e., until the end of the first chapter). Bet Hillel

disagrees: Until water from the rock (i.e., the end of the second

chapter). There are different explanations of this controversy, but the Jerusalem

Talmud explains that Bet Shammai is stringent regarding remembrance of the Exodus

from Egypt (appearing in the second chapter – As the Children of Israel left

Egypt) after midnight, time of the beginning of the redemption; Bet Hillel opines

that there is no need to wait for midnight, because in any case the Exodus from

Egypt began only in the morning.

v            

Rabbi Tarfon is of the opinion

that the recitation of the Hallel ends with " who

redeemed us and redeemed our fathers"  – sans any concluding benediction. He

disagrees with Rabbi Akiva , who adds the passage

relating to the future "So, may our God and God of our fathers bring us to

other festivals and appointed times which approach us, in peace, rejoicing in

the building of your city, and delighting in your service, and that we shall

eat of the offerings and of the paschal sacrifice…" concluding with the benediction:

"Blessed are you, God, who redeemed Israel."

The Tosafists explain Rabbi Tarfon's position, saying that

it was his custom to be sparing with requests. Here, too, he makes do

with thanks for that which already happened, the redemption which

already occurred. Rabbi Akiva was wont to request at length, and therefore he

concludes the Hallel with a request relating to the future redemption.

Rabbi Tarfon was careful, in certain instances, to rule in

conformity with Bet Shammai (Mishnah Berakhot 1:3),

because he had studied in Shammai's academy. Therefore one can find a common

denominator between the two controversies:

In Bet Shammai's view, reliving the past experience demands

that we wait until that hour when the event occurred. Perhaps we can compare

Bet Shammai's position in this case to his stand on the lighting of the

Hanukkah candles (lighting fewer each night). His religious consciousness is

based upon that which has already occurred and which is occurring now (past and

present). But according to Rabbi Akiva, it is permissible to praise and laud

for a past redemption, even if the exact hour in which it occurred has not

arrived.

Rabbi

Tarfon's religious consciousness, too, relates to that which has already

happened and to the current significance of that event, but his religious

consciousness does not include the future. Rabbi Akiva, however, the "optimistic"

believer, relates to prophecy due to materialize as though it had already

materialized (See the story of the fox which emerges from the Holy of Holies,

at the conclusion of Tractate Makkot).

RaMBaM

rules that we must tell the story of the Exodus and experience in our lives,

here and now, the experience of liberation, but together with this – in his

version of Hagaddah – he rules like Rabbi Akiva (and Bet Hillel), integrating

the request expressing our anticipation for the future redemption into

the benediction which concludes the first portion of the Hallel.

Religious

awareness based on memory of the past and upon internalization of the moral messages

which flow from this memory, can create an attitude of empathy towards all who

are enslaved, just as we were in Egypt.

But when this awareness does not include an aspect of hope for, and belief in, a

better world, it may result in despair and depression.

MaHaRaL,

in his commentary on the Haggadah, observes that religious consciousness based

on faith in the future, can infuse hope into situations in which we undergo

again the experience of slavery. This was also the greatness of Rabbi Akiva,

who, in a period of destruction, merited hearing his despairing friends say " Akiva, you have comforted us."  

Occasionally,

however – and this happened to Rabbi Akiva – there exists the danger that an overabundance

of anticipation of the redemption, will result in "

forcing the end,"  in

messianic interpretation of historic events. Along with this danger, there

exists another danger, no less serious than the first: the belief that our

redemption can be attained at the expense of others.

Only

proper balance between the two consciousnesses can advance us, some day, to the

complete redemption. In the words of

the RaMBaM (Laws

of Kings 12:7-8):

7. The prophets and the Sages yearned

for the days of the Messiah not that they may rule over all the world, and not

that the have dominion over the nations, and not that the nations exalt us, and

not in order to eat and drink and be merry: but in order that we be free for

the Torah and its wisdom, and they will have neither oppressor nor one to keep

from study of Torah, but so that they merit life of the world to come, as we

explained in the Laws of Repentance.

8. At that time, there

will be neither hunger nor war nor jealousy and competition – there will be an

abundance of goodness, and all delicacies will be as commonplace as dust. The

world will be engaged only in the knowledge of God. Therefore will there be great

wise men, and those who know the deep and hidden knowledge; they will achieve

knowledge of their creator according to human ability, as is written For the

seas (Isaiah 11:9)

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a

psychologist

A MiShebeirakh Prayer for Passover

By Rachel Morforgo

Yael Levin

In

the year 5610 (1850 C.E.) the scholarly Jewish poetess from Italy, Rachel

Morforgo (1790-1871), composed a mishebeirakh prayer that was included

in a letter she sent to her uncle, the ShaDaL (1800-1865), and which was later appeared

in the collection of her works titled Ugat Rahel (pg. 107) that was

published on the hundredth anniversary of her birth. The prayer expresses hope

that the Temple be rebuilt and that

we be granted to go up to it and sacrifice the paschal

offering. Halakhic debates over the possibility of renewing the paschal

sacrifice – even in the absence of a rebuilt Temple

– took place in the nineteenth century, and the prayer must be understood against

the context of that debate. The Matriarchs are mentioned in the beginning of

the prayer.

Here

is the text of Morforgo's prayer:

May

soon and in our days [!] Amen.

It

seems that this prayer was not widely published in its day, and there is no

evidence that it was actually recited by any individual or group. In the

passage introducing the prayer we find, among other things: "When this

book reaches you… gather the people, the men and women and children and call

out in a loud voice, 'Thus spoke the young one of the flock.'"  Rachel asked that her letter be read before

the members of ShaDaL's family. Her words may have even been brought to the

attention of her own family and friends.

The

formula of this prayer, written more than 150 years ago, is the only example of

a misheberakh prayer written by a woman up until that time. It is also

the only prayer relating to the Passover holiday known to us to have been

established by a woman up until our own times.

Editor's

comment: We thank Dr. Yael Levin for sending us this prayer, which was written

by a woman in Italy

in the 19^th century, along with her explanatory comments. The prayer

expresses religious fervor and longing for an early form of worship on Passover

Eve and on the festival itself. The prayers and formulations of our Haggadah

also express longing for sacrificial worship in general and for the paschal

sacrifice in particular. Does this mean that our vision of redemption, as

religious Zionists living in the 21^st century, must necessarily involve

" re-establishing the crown,"  including

the revival of the sacrifices? Or are there perhaps other options? We invite

our readers to join the discussion of this question.

Lo,

fathers-lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.

(Malachi

3:23-24, from the haftorah for Shabbat HaGadol)

Rabbi Yehoshua said:

Through Raban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who heard from his teacher and his teacher

from his teacher, I received a ruling given to Moses at Sinai, to the effect

that Elijah will not come to make impure and to cleanse, to distance and to

bring close, but rather to distance those [disqualified families who gained

acceptance by force, and to bring close [those families] which were unjustly

disqualified by force. In Transjordan the [legitimate]

family of Beit Tzarifah was forcefully disqualified by Ben Zion; another family

cases which Elijah will come to make pure and to cleanse, to distance and to

bring close.

Rabbi Yehudah

said: To bring close, but not to distance.

Rabbi Shimon said:

To settle disputes.

The Sages said: Neither to distance nor to bring close,

but to make peace in the world, as is written: I will send you Elijah the

and the heart of the children back through their fathers.

(Mishnah

Eduyot 8:7)

Love Truth and Peace

The author of Midrash Shmuel

writes in reference to the mishnah (Avot 5:7): " Every

controversy that is for the sake of Heaven"  in the name of the RaMBaM that the explanation

is that we know that 'If they all find him [someone on trial for a capital

offense] guilty – he is considered innocent' (Sanhedrin 17a). This is

because when there is no group opposing [the majority view] through difficult

questions and arguments, it is impossible for the matter to be clarified, and

it might happen that they are all mistaken – see the source text. Understand

that when everyone states his position in strong terms, precision is increased

and the truth becomes purified.

(Yismah

Moshe part II 7b)

Some people mistakenly believe that world peace can only be achieved by

scholars investigating wisdom and Torah ideas, and as a result of these

investigations the number of viewpoints and methods multiplies, they think that

they [the scholars] cause controversy and the opposite of peace. But in truth

it is not so, for the true peace can only come to the world by way of the value

of the multiplicity of peace. The multiplicity of peace occurs when all

viewpoints and methods become visible, and it becomes clear how each has its

own place, each according to its worth, its place, and its concerns.

(HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen

Kook, ztz"l Olat RaAYaH, pg.330)

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