The heart of the Haggadah is
the telling, מגיד, of the story the
exodus from Egypt with special emphasis given to the ten plagues. The story of
the exodus is about 520 words and the discussion of the ten plagues is about
230 words. There is also a preface and an epilogue.
The preface opens with an
invitation to all who are in need to join the Passover Seder. It continues that
we are still slaves in exile but hopefully next year we will be free and in
Jerusalem. The Jewish people are exhorted to retell the story and a light anecdote
of how four Talmudic sages stayed up all night talking about the exodus is
recounted. People who consider it an obligation to conduct a seder are
characterized as wise and those that do not are characterized as evil. Talmudic
exegesis is employed to explain the date and time of the Seder.
Bridging to the story itself,
the exodus is placed within a religious and historical context. It explains that
the fathers of Abraham, our patriarch, were idolaters but now the Almighty has inducted
us into his service. Also, that Jacob, his grandson, brought what had become an
extended family into Egypt. It adds that it was not only in the story of Pesach
that somebody wanted to kill the house of Israel, rather this happens in every
generation, but the holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hand.
The actual story of
Passover is told through an exploration of the text of the declaration made
when the first fruits were brought to the Temple.
An Aramean was destroying my father so he went
down to Egypt when he was few in number and there he became a big and powerful
nation. The Egyptians vilified us, afflicted us, and gave us hard work. We
cried out to the Havaya, the G-d of our fathers, and He heard our voice and saw
our suffering, distress, and persecution. Then Hashem took us out of Egypt with
a strong hand, outstretched arm, terrifically, with signs and miracles.
(Deuteronomy 26:5-8)
The Haggadah basically
expands on the concepts in these verses as well as bringing other Biblical
sources. The mention of miracles becomes a springboard for embellishing the ten
plagues. At times the plagues are referred to as one finger of Hashem and the drowning
of the Egyptians is called the hand of Hashem, therefore the number of plagues
is multiplied by five. In describing the plagues Psalm 78:49 uses five
expressions: burning anger, wrath, condemnation, woe, and a horde of bearers of
evil. This results in a 25 fold increase in the reckoning ten plagues causing
them to be really like 250.
The epilogue contains
the poem, Dayanu, literally “It would have been enough” (דַּיֵּנוּ).
It lists the kindnesses, typically sung, that G-d has bestowed upon the Jewish
people starting with the exodus from Egypt and ending with the building of the
Temple. Continuing, a paragraph is devoted to each of the three symbols of
Passover, matzo, a bitter vegetable, and a shank bone representing the festive
meal eaten in Jerusalem. The very last section states that in all generations a
man is obligated to see himself as if he was personally left Egypt, because it
was not only our ancestors that the holy One, blessed be He, redeemed from
Egypt, rather us as well.
One can ask why the
Haggadah tells the story of the Exodus through the prism of bringing the first
fruits to the Temple as it would be simpler to relate the story as it occurred.
The reason seems to be that through all of our meanderings and adventures, we
have not truly arrived until we are fully established in the land of Israel and
express our thanksgiving at the Temple in Jerusalem.
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