Pesach – 20 Questions on the Hagaddah

/ 2 weeks ago April 22, 2024

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In order to facilitate discussion, the first two pages are just questions. The pages after that are with possible answers, but the goal of the Seder is צא ולמד.

  1. Why does the recitation of the Haggadah begin Aramaic with הא לחמא עניא and end in Aramaic with חד גדיא?
  2. Why at the beginning of the Seder do we recite the Simanim?
    1. קַדֵּשׁ. וּרְחַץ. כַּרְפַּס. יַחַץ. מַגִיד. רָחְצָה. מוֹצִיא. מַצָּה. מָרוֹר. כּוֹרֵךְ. שֻׁלְחָן עוֹרֵךְ. צָפוּן. בָּרֵךְ. הַלֵּל. נִרְצָה:
  3. Why are we inviting people now in הא לחמא עניא after the seder begins? Shouldn’t we say this in shul, or the day before Pesach?
    1. הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִּכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכוֹל. כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח. הָשַׁתָּא הָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְֹרָאֵל. הָשַׁתָּא עַבְדֵּי, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין:
  4. You can only eat from the Korban Pesach if you were part of the group that bought it. How can we be inviting people to the Seder now?
  5. Why do you teach the חכם  specifically about the אפיקומן?
    1. חָכָם מָה הוּא אוֹמֵר. מָה הָעֵדוֹת וְהַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְדֹוָד אֱלֹהֵינוּ אֶתְכֶם. וְאַף אַתָּה אֱמוֹר לוֹ כְּהִלְכוֹת הַפֶּסַח אֵין מַפְטִירִין אַחַר הַפֶּסַח אֲפִיקוֹמָן:
  6. Why is the proper response to the רשע to knock out his teeth? And what is the עיקר that he rejected?
    1. רָשָׁע מָה הוּא אוֹמֵר. מָה הָעֲבוֹדָה הַזֹּאת לָכֶם. לָכֶם וְלֹא לוֹ. וּלְפִי שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל כָּפַר בְּעִקָּר. וְאַף אַתָּה הַקְהֵה אֶת שִׁנָּיו וֶאֱמוֹר לוֹ. בַּעֲבוּר זֶה עָשָֹה יְדֹוָד לִי בְּצֵאתִי מִמִּצְרָיִם. לִי וְלֹא לוֹ. אִלּוּ הָיָה שָׁם לֹא הָיָה נִגְאָל:
  7. Why do we mention תרח?
    1. כָּל הָעָם כֹּה אָמַר יְדֹוָד אֱלֹהֵי יִשְֹרָאֵל, בְּעֵבֶר הַנָּהָר יָשְׁבוּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם מֵעוֹלָם תֶּרַח אֲבִי אַבְרָהָם וַאֲבִי נָחוֹר וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים:
  8. Why do we need to mention עשו?
    1. וָאֶתֵּן לְיִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת עֵשָֹו, וָאֶתֵּן לְעֵשָֹו אֶת הַר שֵֹעִיר לָרֶשֶׁת אוֹתוֹ, וְיַעֲקֹב וּבָנָיו יָרְדוּ מִצְרָיִם:
  9. What does צא ולמד  mean?
    1. צֵא וּלְמַד מַה בִּקֵּשׁ לָבָן הָאֲרַמִּי לַעֲשֹוֹת לְיַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ. שֶׁפַּרְעֹה לֹא גָזַר אֶלָּא עַל הַזְּכָרִים וְלָבָן               בִּקֵּשׁ לַעֲקוֹר אֶת הַכֹּל. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר:
  10. Why is לבן in the Seder? He is not part of יצאת מצרים.
  11. If there was פרישות דרך ארץ where did the children come from?
    1. וַיַּרְא אֶת עָנְיֵנוּ, זוֹ פְּרִישׁוּת דֶּרֶךְ אֶרֶץ. כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְֹרָאֵל וַיֵּדַע אֱלֹהִים:  וְאֶת עֲמָלֵנוּ, אֵלּוּ הַבָּנִים. כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, כָּל הַבֵּן הַיִּלוֹד הַיְאֹרָה תַּשְׁלִיכוּהוּ וְכָל הַבַּת תְּחַיּוּן:
  12. We emphasize that HKB”H himself took us out of Mitzrayim, and we go through all the kinds of מלאכים could not. Why?
    1. וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְדֹוָד מִמִּצְרַיִם, לֹא עַל יְדֵי מַלְאָךְ וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי שָֹרָף וְלֹא עַל יְדֵי שָׁלִיחַ. אֶלָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, וְעָבַרְתִּי בְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה וְהִכֵּיתִי כָל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מֵאָדָם וְעַד בְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶֹה שְׁפָטִים אֲנִי יְדֹוָד:
  13. Why mention דבר of all the Makos?
    1. בְּיָד חֲזָקָה, זוֹ הַדֶּבֶר. כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, הִנֵּה יַד יְדֹוָד הוֹיָה בְּמִקְנְךָ אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּדֶה בַּסּוּסִים בַּחֲמוֹרִים בַּגְּמַלִּים בַּבָּקָר וּבַצֹּאן דֶּבֶר כָּבֵד מְאֹד:
  14. Why do we mention the Mateh and not Moshe or Aharon who held it?
    1. וּבְאֹתוֹת, זֶה הַמַּטֶּה. כְּמָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, וְאֶת הַמַּטֶּה הַזֶּה תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶֹה בּוֹ אֶת הָאֹתֹת:
  15. What are דם ואש ותמרות עשן? The last two are not even in the Makos?
    1. דָּם, וָאֵשׁ, וְתִמְרוֹת עָשָׁן:
  16. Why do we need a Siman? דצ”ך עד”ש באח”ב
  17. In דיינו we go through all kinds of possibilities. But some are hard to understand. Why come to Har Sinai and not get the Torah?
    1. אִלּוּ קֵרְבָנוּ לִפְנֵי הַר סִינַי, וְלֹא נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַתּוֹרָה דַּיֵּנוּ:  אִלּוּ נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, וְלֹא הִכְנִיסָנוּ לְאֶרֶץ יִשְֹרָאֵל דַּיֵּנוּ:
  18. Why do we split Hallel?
  19. Why do we not say a bracha on Hallel?
  20. What is your question!!
  •  
  • Why does the recitation of the Haggadah begin Aramaic with הא לחמא עניא and end in Aramaic with חד גדיא?
    • Malachim do not understand Aramaic, only Hashem. The night of the Seder HKB”H Himself is with us from the beginning till the end.
  • Why at the beginning of the Seder do we recite the Simanim?
    • The Maharshal says, in Yishaya the Pasuk says that the original Seder was done with song. One can imagine the happiness of the nation as they got ready to bring the Korban Pesach and leave Mitzrayim. Song is a natural expression of Simcha. Singing all the parts of the seder is part of our Simcha[1]. We are showing how much we also look forward to each part of the Seder just as they did that night.
  • Why are we only inviting people now in הא לחמא עניא after the seder begins? Shouldn’t we say this in shul, or the day before Pesach?
    • Pesach is not just an individual Chag. It is when we became a nation. Therefore, our obligation is not just to ourselves but to create a nation. A nation takes responsibility for each other. The responsibility to give קמחא דפסחא stems from this deeper responsibility. Since we already gave קמחא דפסחא this is to announce that we did this (אזור אליהו), and are ready for the Seder as a part of the nation.
    • The Talmidim of the Vilna Gaon say that the poverty is not monetary, but that we are unable to bring a Korban Pesach. This is to teach us that even when we are missing the Korban Pesach it is still a Seder.
  • You can only eat from the Korban Pesach if you were part of the group that bought it. How can we be inviting people to the Seder now?
    • R Chaim Kanienvski ZTL said that when we say that next year in Yerushalyim, it is to say: this year we can invite people to the Seder as it begins because we do not havea Korban Pesach, but BE”H next year in Eretz Yisrael we will not be able to invite after bringing the Korban Pesach, after the arrival of Moshiach BE”H.
  • Why do you teach the חכם  specifically about the אפיקומן?
    • We are teaching the Chochom that the goal of the Seder is to reach the final Geulah. The end of the Geula is the Seudas Livyasan. That final meal is never ending and the flavor that remains is the complete and ultimate reward. The Afikoman reminds us of this, and that is the secret that the wise son is taught. (רי”א חבר פ”ח)
  • Why is the proper response to the רשע to knock out his teeth? And what is the עיקר that he rejected?
    • ריטב”א – The Rasha has to understand that by his distancing himself from the nation he has no part in the Seder. We take away his ability to eat the seder.
    • R Shimshon Pinkus ZT”L – (תפארת שמשון פ”ה) What is one’s reaction when meeting a Rasha who rejects Hashem completely? If you do not want to at least feel that you want to knock out the teeth of a רשע who is כפר בעיקר, there is something missing in your love of Hashem.
    • What is the ? כפר בעיקר – The עיקר  that he rejects is that the תכלית of the Galus is to reach to Geulah (הגדה שפת אמת ס”ה)
  • Why do we mention תרח? Of all the Pesukim about יציאת מצרים why these?
    • The Pasuk emphasizes that even when we were ע”ז we served them. Avrahom came from people who had ambitions. Even his fathers who served Avoda Zara, were עובד. They were not lackadaisical about it. Never forget that we are here to work. (R Chatzkel Abramski)
    • Avrohom is beyond nature. It is to emphasize that even though Avrohom was the biological son of Terach, he was reborn spiritually after the furnace with Nimrod. Everything about Klal Yisrael is above nature, including Eretz Yisrael, a land that is different than all others. (רי”א חבר) The GRA explains that מעבר הנהר is the difference between all other Neshamos and that of Avrohom. (גר”א רמ”א)
    • Klal Yisrael’s goal is to reveal Hashem’s malchus over the entire world. If we never had any connection with the rest of the nations, we could not affect them. Avrohom needed to come from Terach, so we could be separated from the nations, go through Galus and ultimately Geulah, and then redeem the world whom we were once a part of. (הגדה שפת אמת ס”ט)
  • Why do we need to mention עשו?
    • This is to teach us that there are three separations between the Avos and the world around us, Avrohom from Terach, Yitzchok from Yishmael, and Yakov from Eisav. That makes a חזקה and from now on all of Yakov’s children are part of Klal Yisrael. (מהר”ל)
  • What does צא ולמד  mean?
    • To really grow you have to leave your comfort zone. You need to be exiled to a different place. One needs to be exiled to a place of Torah, either physically or conceptually. (הגדה חד גדיא)
  • Why is לבן in the Seder? He is not part of יציאת מצרים.
    • There is an extra aspect here that is a Remez for Moshiach. Yakov did not even know what Lavan wanted to do to him, and Hashem saved him. In all the Galuyos, that is how Hashem saves us. (רי”א חבר)
    • There are two types of Yetzer Hara, hot and cold. A hot Yetzer Hara causes a person to run to do Aveiros. A cold Yetzer Hara causes apathy and sloth towards Avodas Hashem. Lavan represents the cold Yetzer Hara and could destroy everything. We were saved from him, and our Galus was to go to the Yetzer Hara of the heat of Mitzrayim, which was lesser. (הגדה שפת אמת פ”ג)
    • The ARIZ”L says that Lavan is מעשה אבות סימן לבנים for Yetzias Mitzrayim. We mention this to remind ourselves of the depth of how history plays out. This reminds us that יצ”מ  is the same type of סימן for Mashiach – and that is our Emunah that the Geulah will arrive like it did in Mitzrayim.
  • If there was פרישות דרך ארץ where did the children come from?
    • That was the miracle that HKB”H enabled ways that the Jews were able to be together. The עמל was that even after that, the sons were thrown in the river. It seemed to be effort for no purpose which is the most draining. But even that Hashem brought to good when He miraculously saved those children.
  • We emphasize that HKB”H himself took us out of Mitzrayim, and we go through all the kinds of מלאכים did not. Why?
    • R Pinkus says to teach us that our ‘National Hero’ is only Hashem.
    • A Malach is limited to a particular Shlichus of Geuluah. But the Geulah of Mitzrayim is eternal since it was through Hashem (הגדה שפת אמת ק”ג).
  • Why mention דבר of all the Makos?
    • אמרי שפר – It is not the דבר of the ten Makos. This is the death of the people of Klal Yisrael during חושך who did not want to leave.
  • Why do we mention the Mateh and not Moshe or Aharon who held it?
    • אור החמה – The word Mateh means to redirect. The Mateh of Moshe was the opposite of the Nachash of Pharoah’s magicians and redirected the world to be under Hashem’s direction.
  • What are דם ואש ותמרות עשן? The last two are not even in the Makos?
    • The Lutzker Rav in his Hagadah HaShir VaHaShevach explains in the following way[i]. The blood here is not referring to the plague of blood, but all three signs are part of the Korban Pesach. The actual bringing of the Korban Pesach was a plague to the Egyptians since their god was being sacrificed. The blood is the blood that was placed on the doorposts, the fire was the burning of the sacrifice, and the pillar of smoke was the result of the roasting of the meat. All of these were a plague to the Egyptians, as they watched their god be consumed.
  • Why do we need a Siman? דצ”ך עד”ש באח”ב
    • Each group is another aspect of belief in Hashem. The first set is that there is a Hashem. The second is that He oversees the world. And the last is that He is all capable. (טללי אורות בשם מעשה ניסים)
    • Together with the כולל they add up to 502 –  וירא יעקב כי יש שבר במצרים. (טללי אורות). Yakov saw with Ruach Hakodesh there were going to be Makos.
  • In דיינו we go through all kinds of possibilities. But some are hard to understand. Why come to Har Sinai and not get the Torah?
    • We would have seen all the great spiritual heights of Har Sinai, but not been commanded in the Mitzvoth. Even though we might have kept Mitzvoth we would have been אינו מצווה ועושה.
    • It would have been enough to receive the Torah and not enter Eretz Yisrael, but not the opposite.
  • Why do we split Hallel?
    • The first two Perkaim of Hallel are praise for what Hashem does in this world, the second part after the meal is praise for what will be לעתיד לבא.
    • Just as a you break a glass under the Chupah to remember the Churban, so too since we are still in Galus we ‘break’ the Hallel. (Both תפארת שמשון שי”ט)
  • Why do we not say a bracha on Hallel?
    • The Bracha on Hallel is usually לקרוא. But on this night we are saying Hallel because we went out of Mitzrayim, it is not קריאה  but שירה  (גרי”ז). Therefore, a song cannot have a Bracha of command, but has to arise from within itself.

[1] שו”ת מהרש”ל תשובה פח: – ומדעת כיוונו לכך לעשות חרוזות ומליצות כעין שיר על דרך רוב חדוה ושמחה של אותה הלילה ולהשתעשע עד שיעבור השינה מעל פניו ולהיות עוסק ושומר רוב הלילה בליל שמורים ג”כ כיוונו על דרך הפסוק השיר הזה יהיה לכם כליל התקדש חג פסח דמשמע שהכל יהיה בשירות ובנעימות

[i]

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