Shvii shel Pesach: from splitting of the sea to Mara

Shvii shel Pesach

In the Torah reading for the 7th day of Pesach, we read the portion from Parshas B'Shalach in which the Jews left Egypt, Pharoah chased them, they got to the sea, God split the sea, they said the song of praise "Az Yashir". After Az Yashir, we continue to read one more piece - the arrival of the Jews in a place called Mara after they complained they had had no water for a few days.

The whole day is about the splitting of the sea, so why do we not just stop the reading at the conclusion of that portion? Why do we continue and read about the events at Mara?

The splitting of the sea was the height of inspiration. I can try to picture the water rising up into a wall. I can try to picture the water crashing down on the Egyptians behind the fleeing Jews. I can try to imagine the awesomeness of it. I think of Niagra Falls and find that amazing. Think of a sunset or any natural phenomenon that you find inspiring, and the splitting of the sea was that a million times multiplied. It even says a maid servant was more inspired at the splitting of the sea and had a higher level of prophecy that did the greatest of the later prophets, Yehezkal ben Buzi.

But inspiration is not enough. They were so greatly inspired, but right away they started kvetching again as soon as things got uncomfortable.

What happened to the great emunah they had attained and displayed by the splitting of the sea that the passuk even describes ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו? What happened to the great inspiration? They were without water and suddenly forgot the power Hashem has to provide? They forgot all they saw at the splitting of the sea and in the desert leading up to it and in Egypt?

They wasted the experience of the Kriyas Yam Suf. They were inspired, but they let it slip away. Inspiration is nice, but it must be actualized into some sort of concrete improvement. They let the inspiration slip away, so Hashem brought them to Mara. He showed them that they had immediately sunk back to their previous level and that He does have the power to provide, as He performed the miracle with the water and the tree. And he gave them a series of mitzvos. he made it concrete this time.

no more "inspiration". Now you get inspired and you take something with you. You find a way to actually improve yourself and act on it.

That, maybe, is why we read more than the splitting of the sea and add the parsha of Mara. because it completes the splitting.

from rag to riches

Shavuos - Omer

The Torah is going through various details of the various holidays. It discusses the Omer offerings and upon arriving at the end of the Omer count (i.e. Shavuos), one has to bring a sacrifice called "shtei ha'lechem" - the two loaves. In 23:17 the Torah tells us, "מִמּוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם תָּבִיאּוּ לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה, שְׁתַּיִם שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים--סֹלֶת תִּהְיֶינָה, חָמֵץ תֵּאָפֶינָה: בִּכּוּרִים, לַיהוָה" or in English, "Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto the LORD."

This korban had a very unusual detail that makes it practically unique. It was made from chametz - leaven. It is one of two korbanos that contain leaven (the second is the korban Toda). All other sacrifices, including all the various mincha offerings, including the lechem ha'panim, including all other dough that would be offered in avrious forms in the mikdash, were leaven free. Kosher for Passover. Matza, albeit it thick and soft usually.

What is the significance of this sacrifice, the "Two Loaves" being made from chametz, unlike almost every other korban?

This offering, the שתי הלחם, is brought at the conclusion of the omer. The Omer count began on Pesach and concludes on Shavuos. In a sense, the Omer is the bridge between Pesach and Shavuos.

Pesach is יציאת מצרים - the Exodus from Egypt. Shavuos is מתן תורה - the giving of the Torah. Omer, the bridge between them, is the process of leaving Egypt and working towards מתן תורה. It is the time to prepare for the receiving of the Torah.

On Pesach we ate לחם עוני - poor man's bread, a.k.a. the Bread of Affliction. We eat the matza to remember the days of slavery and oppression. By doing so we recall the process of leaving Egypt and leaving that oppression behind. Shavuos is when we finally hit the target and got the Torah. That is when we ultimately became free and a nation.

To symbolize this we offer the rare sacrifice with חמץ - the opposite of poor man's bread. This is the bread of the free and the wealthy. The un-oppressed. Rich man's bread, if you must. When we get to Shavuos we can finally say the עוני of מצרים is behind us.

We start with poor man's bread, we work towards our freedom and we end with rich man's bread.

what you say and how you say it

Pesah - Haggada

seder - maggid - 4 sons

Torah reading - Bo

The Rasha, the wicked son, asks what is this service to you? The answer we respond to him is by striking him on the teeth and telling him that had he been in Egypt he would not have gone out with the rest of the Jews.

In Parshat Bo, in 12:26-27, the passuk says, "when your children say to you what is this service for you? You will say it is the Pesah sacrifice for Hashem who skipped over the houses of the Jews...etc.

Why is it that in the haggada when the Rasha asks this questions he is punched in the face but in the Torah we give the child an answer. What is the difference? And why in the haggada do we say the Rasha will ask this question when in the Humash it does not differentiate and it seems that it is a valid question?

I think the difference is in the attitude and the setting. In the Humash, the question is being asked out of interest and curiosity. In the haggada the question is being asked out of rejection and scoffing.

When the children ask because they really don't know but want to, the answer is about the Pesah sacrifice. Whenthe children ask and it is clear they are asking in a scoffing and rejecting manner, the answer has to be sharper.

As "they" say, it is not just what you say, but how you say it.

difference between wise and wicked son

Pesah - Haggada

Maggid - 4 sons

What is the difference between our reponse to the wise son relative to the response to the wicked son? The wise son asked what are these rules for you and the wicked son asked what is the service for you. Why do we react so harshly to the wicked son when his question was not so different form that of the wise son?

The wise son, while maybe not being perfect, is still interested. He is searchign for answers. he is looking for the truth, in his own way.

The wicked son is a scoffer. He is a rejectionist. he is looking for ways to reject Judaism and show us that he is rejecting it. he is not lookign for answers. he is motivated and fueled by personal interests.

That is someone who you cannot give an answer to. It is wasting your breath to try. Nothing you say will be heard. So the wicked son requires a harsh response.

What happened to the tzaddik?

Pesah - Haggada

Maggid - 4 sons

We list 4 sons, each with his style of discussion about Pesah. The wise son, the wicked son, the simple son and the son who can't even ask a question.

Out of all these kids, one style seems to be missing. The righteous son. The tzaddik.

The wise son and the wicked son are not opposites. The wise son is an intellectual. Nothing to do with his level of piety.

We even see further that the wise son is not necessarily a tzaddik, as he asks, "What are these rules that Hashem commanded you" - similar to the wicked son, he asks about you rather than including himself. There is some sense of dissociation. It is more of an intellectual pursuit for him.

I have heard from rebbeim a number of times that a person can learn Torah all day long and not think once about Hashem. We do things by rote. We learn because we are supposed to, or even because we love to, but we do not necessrily relate to Hashem on a daily basis.

The opposite of the wicked son would be the tzaddik son, the righteous son. Why is such a child not listed among the other sons? Where is the "אחד צדיק"?

A Tzaddik is not bothered by the questions, even if he has any. He lives by his faith. We know the passuk tells us צדיק באמונתו יחיה - a tzaddik lives by his faith. He has emuna, faith, in Hashem and that he is doing the right thing. the rest does not matter.

That is why we answer the wise son with a very technical answer. he asked about the rules and we explain the rules to him. An answer based on emuna would not move him. He is technical and intellectual in nature and he is looking for that type of answer.

חנוך לנער על פי דרכו - educate each child in the way that is fitting for him.

The wise son asks detailed questions, give him detailed answers. The tzaddik son has no questions, or is not looking for answers. So he does not need to be mentioned.

Torah or Egypt?

Pesah - Haggada

Maggid - Baruch Ha'Makom

The father begins his answer to the children by talking about how we were slaves in Egypt. Then, after some discussion on slavery in Egypt, we suddenly announce "ברוך המקום ברוך הוא. ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל" - Blessed is the Ever-Present, blessed is He.Blessed is He who gave the Torah to His nation Israel...

This night is not about celebrating the giving of the Torah. That is what we do on Shavuot. Why do we suddenly break out in song praising the giving of the Torah? We are in the middle of relating about the exodus from Egypt! We should maybe at this point be blessing Hashem for taking us out of Egypt??

The prupose of the exodus from Egypt was to become a nation under Hashem with the Torah. Without the Torah, none of the exodus would have happened. So now we are discussing the exodus, it is appropriate to bless Hashem for the Torah, because the Torah was the whole point of the events.

why so many questions?

Pesah - Haggada

Maggid - Mah Nishtana

We have the children ask the series of 4 questions pondering why this night is different than all other nights.

Why do we have to ask this question? It is different because it is Pesah! Every holiday has its special laws.

How come we do not make the kids ask on Sukkos why we are sitting in a sukka and waving a palm branch? Why on Shavuot do we not make the kids ask why we stay up all night?

What is different about Pesah that we require such questions, when every holiday has its "different" customs?

The difference is in the point of the night. On Pesah, the whole mitzva is "והגדת לבנך" - and you should tell to your children. The mitzva of the night is education. The transmission of tradition and history.

That mitzva of education is best accomplished by having the participation of the child. Having him ask questions.

It is true that during the other holidays we also wish to transmit tradition and teach our children, but on those holidays that is not the ultimate goal.

On pesah the ultimate goal is education. Education requires questions and answers.

merciful matza

Pesah - Haggada

seder - maggid

Ha Lachma Anya... Kol Dichfin Yaisai V'yaichol.. hashata hacha l'shana habaa b'ar'aa d'yisrael.

We announce at the beginning of maggid that the matza is the poor man's bread and we invite anyone who wants to join us and partake in the meal and we wish for next year to be in rebuilt Jerusalem in Eretz Yisrael.

We are imaging ourselves as poor people by eating poor people's bread, but we are, at the same moment, inviting anybody who wants to come partake in our food! That is not the behavior of poor person. Poor people are carefull with their food and generally do not share it. They do not know when they will have food again so they are careful with the food they do have.

Maybe that is why we are inviting people at a time when they cannot hear and accept the invitation! We are poor so we are not really offering the invitation!

In all seriousness, how does this jibe with our attitude represented by the matza?

We are meant to remember the days of slavery by eating "poor man's bread". But we also want to show that we are not selfish but are generous and רחמנים - merciful and gracious. Even though we are "poor" we still offer to share our little food with other people.

We are all famiiar with the stories from the time of the Holocaust. You know - those stories where someone just had a crust of bread and he shared it with someone else who was weaker than himself. Why are thos stories retold in awe? Because that is not the natural action of someone who himself is needy. It is exceptional and is a sign of great rachmanus and care that one person has for another, despite the hardships he himself is enduring.

We try to show Hashem that we are now in the situation of slavery and destitution and only have "poor man's bread" to eat, but we would be so willing to share it with anybody else who might need a morsel of food. We wish to arouse the mercy of hashem by doing so and hope that He would show us the same compassion.

That is why we conclude the paragraph by a wish for next year in rebuilt eretz Yisrael. That has nothing to do with the beginning of the paragraph, so why is it said here? Because after we show the extreme mercy we would show others by offering them part of our little food, we wish Hashem would also show such mercy to us and allow our return to rebuilt Jerusalem.

why is our matza different from the original matza?

Pesach - Haggada

Matza

The matza presents an interesting question. We eat the matza because when the Jews left Egypt they quickly threw dough into the oven and took it out without leaving it enough time to rise properly and ended up with matza. It was the resut of haste and no planning. It was done at the last possible moment.

We eat our matza to commemorate that. But how do we prepare our matza? Do we just take some dough and under-prepare it?

No we do not. We worry for months to grow and guard the wheat. We require special water for the kneading. We clean all the machinery between every run of matza. We are very specific in how it is baked.

You would think "poor man's bread" would be much simpler and cheaper to make that it actually is. There is a funny joke that matza is called "poor man's bread" because it is so expensive to buy that it makes you poor.. How could that be and why is it so?

I would like to suggest that the matza is extremely symbolic in nature. We eat the matza to commemorate what they ate when leaving Egypt. In essence the whole seder night is really commemorative in nature. We are told that we must see ourselves as having left Egypt.

When we left Egypt we were poor slaves. Now we are [relatively] wealthy free people. It is not easy for someone who grew up in [relative] wealth to really honestly imagine himself as being poor. He cannot even picture it in his head. And don't fool yourself, our society is a wealthy one. Even our poor are better off than the poor of previous times.

Via the matza we are able to come to some sort of understanding. We have to work very hard to jolt our imagination. It is not enough to just throw the dough in and pull it out like a poor person. We have to work hard to achieve the same results.

If we just sit at our table and say that we are leaving Egypt and are poor and eating poor man's bread, we are fooling nobody but ourselves. We do not really understand what they went through. What they felt. What they experienced.

By toiling hard to make the matza properly (and other aspects of the seder) we can then achieve some sort of understanding. That is why making our matza is much more difficult than the original matza.

broken matza

Pesah - Haggada

Seder - Yahatz

We finally get to the matza we have spent so much energy baking properly or so much money buying.

It is striking that at the time of the exodus they ate matza because they did not have time to wait for the dough to rise. it was haphazard and a result of haste and possibly even lack of planning (after all they knew they would be leaving soon and they could have baked their bread earlier in advance of the actual departure). Yet we put so much energyinto it that it is really more time and energy consuming than if we would make regular bread.

We plant the wheat and have someone watch it (for matza shmurah at least) to make sure it grows under careful guidance and protection from unwanted water. We draw special water to knead it with. We guard the storehouses of wheat to ensure no unauthorized contact with water. We grind and bake and do the whole process under special precautions so as to ensure that no hametz is involved. And the original matza was really the result of haste, with no real planning.

And after all that energy, and after avoiding matza for two weeks prior to pesah (as is the common custom), at the first encounter we have with the matza you would think we would make a powerful bracha and eat it with great gusto, commemorating l'mehadrin the memory of the exodus.

But no. That is not what we do. At the first encounter we have with the matza, we break it in half. That matza we worked so hard to get whole. We worked so hard to find the perfect uncracked circle in the box among all the cracked ones, and the first thing we do is crack it in half and save some for later.

Matza, in general, is a conundrum of sorts. the matza is called "לחם עוני" - poor man's bread - yet it is also called the bread of freedom - לחם חירות. They ate it at the exodus from Egypt and we recline when eating it to symbolize our freedom, yet it is considered poor man's bread.

I think the matza is the symbol of Pesah. Matza is the reminder of the exodus, in a (non-kitniyot) nutshell.

We were poor and had to eat poor man's bread. We were slaves after all with nothing of our own. The matza was the transition point of change from slavery to freedom, from being a poor man to a free, rich man. The matza is representative of both sides of the exodus, pre and post. Eating the matza, as the central part of Pesah, reminds us of what we were and where we went. Who we were and who we became. And it should make us think of where we are going and who we will become.

That is why we break the matza the first time we see it. yes, we are free now and we should attack the matza like a good steak. But we have to remember our roots. We have to remember where we came from first, so we can better appreciate where we went and where we are going.

So we break it in half like a poor person, saving some for later, as he does not know where his next meal will come from. We put it away for later and then begin reading and retelling the story of the exodus, and via the reminder of the matza, we imagine ourselves as being in and leaving Egypt. The matza helps us make that transition ourselves, and directs us to the future.

The Pesah chain gang

Pesah - Haggada

Seder

On Pesah night at the Pesah Seder we read the Haggada. The word, "Haggada" comes from the word "Maggid" which is the section of the Haggad in which we relate the story of the exodus. Maggid is the bulk of the Haggada. "Maggid" comes from the mitzva of "V'Higgad'ta L'bincha" - you must tell over [the story of the exodus] to your children.

The purpose of the whole seder night is והגדת לבנך. We have to transmit our history and tradition to our children. The next generation.
Most of the time we are busy. We are caught up with work, hobbies, even with our regular schedule of learning Torah. We are often so busy with our daily lives that we lose sight of our role as teachers of the next generation (a side note ala Rav Hirsch: the Hebrew word for parents is "horim" which also means "teachers").

We forget that we are links in the chain of Jewish tradition and history, and that it is our job to build the next link in the chain and ensure that it is strong enough to continue the chain unbroken.

The seder is that opportunity for us to take the needed time out from our regular schedule and focus on that chain. We have a special mitzva just to relate the focal point of our history - that which made us into a nation.

Sometimes, even then at the seder itself, we get so caught up with our own pre-conceptions, that we still forget the goals and objectives of the night. We get caught up with trying to make sure the seder goes just so, and we measure the matzas to make sure everything is exact and the maror and whatnot, and whatever other narishkeit we might get caught up in we still get caught up and lose sight of the objective.

So the authors of the Haggada have built into it safeguards to ensure that we stay focused on the real mitzva of the night. We do things that are unusual and sometimes even unnecessary. Things like "u'rhatz, karpas, etc". The reason for many of the customs performed at the seder is "so the kids will ask". Even if we get distracted and lose focus, the kids will stop us and bring us back down to earth and ask why we are doing what we are doing. They will give us the opportunity again to refocus our seder to achieve the desired objectives.

a compass for the journey

Pesah - Haggada

Seder

The night we read the haggada and have the mitzva of והגדת לבנך - relating the story of the exodus to your children - is called the Seder. The Seder Night. We ask, "Where are you going to be for the Seder?" or "what did you make for the Seder meal?"

Seder means "order". The night and process should be called the haggada - the telling over. Why "seder - order"?

In addition to the night and meal being called the "seder", we also break the haggada into sections and at the beginning of the haggada we announce and chant the names of all the sections, as well as during the seder itself we announce whenever we have arrived at the next section.

One does not just embark on a journey. One has to first plan the details. You select the proper route, the equipment you need to pack, the various items you might need to bring with. If you just got up one day and left on a journey with no planning, you would be unlikely to finish it successfully.

The same is true with Judaism and the Torah. If you just hit the road one day with no plan of where you are going and how you will get there, you would be unlikely to navigate the paths successfully. You have to have a detailed plan to follow.

The "Seder" is the itinerary for the journey through the retelling of the exodus, and subsequently for the transmission of our history and tradition to the next generation. Before we embark on the journey we have to read through the itinerary so we know where we are going, and then along the way we stop at the various rest stops and recheck the itinerary at each step. We have to constantly recheck so as to be sure we are still going along the right path. Any deviance would make the whole journey unsuccessful, so we constantly have to make sure we are headed the right way.