EXILICOVERTONES IN THE HAGADDAH
What follows is my attempt to describehow the Seder Service was modified, after the destruction of the Second Temple,in order to adjust to the tragic realities of exile.
The destruction of the HolyTemple in 70 C.E., and the ensuing exile of the Jewish People from theirhomeland, posed serious threats to the preservation of Judaism. Due tothe new historical as well as halachic realities, maintaining the holiday ofPesach presented Rabbinic leadership with significant challenges:
1. Historically: TheJewish People were again in exile, subject to abuse and tyrannywhich often was as bad or even worse than that which they had undergone inEgypt.
2. Halachically: Thecentral service (the עבודה) of the Festival -the Pascal Lamb - was no longer observable.
The Haggadah's editors respondedto these new realities, I believe, in four ways:
1. Acknowledgement of thenew situation
2. Petitions forrestoration
3. Substitutions foraspects of service not presently available
4. Assertions that those mitzvotstill available to us possess ongoing relevance.
III. Examples of these responses
1. Ha Lachma Anya refersexplicitly to our present exilic subjugation and stresses the reason forcelebrating Pesach nevertheless. [השתא הכא...השתא עבדי]
2. In the “Four Question”section of the Haggadah, we delete the Mishna's question about eating roastmeat exclusively on Pesach night, (which of course is relevant only when theTemple sacrifices were offered) and substitute for it the question aboutreclining. Although we are deprived of the genuine Paschal-lamb service,we still possess the freedom to serve Hashem in other ways; and that freedomwarrants "choreographic expression" - through the act of reclining,in imitation of the Roman (and Persian) aristocracies. .
3. The passage by R.Elazar b. Azariah does not address the mitzvah of Sippur Yetzias Mitzraim,i.e., of re-telling and of re-experiencing the Exodus one night a year at theseder table. Rather, it addresses the twice-daily mitzvah of recalling theExodus through reciting the final paragraph of the Shema and its ensuingberacha. Nevertheless, is included inthe Haggadah because it stresses the importance of remembering the redemptionfrom Egypt even during the present unredeemed realm of the "night". Also, it has been noted that these illustrious Rabbis were"reclining" in Bnai Brak rather than in Jerusalem, probably becausethe latter city was under Roman dominion at that time and Jews were not allowedto live there. Indeed, this may have been the first night, since the establishmentof the second Beit Hamikdash (by Ezra and Nechemya), that the residents ofEretz Yisrael were not permitted to remain in Yerushalaim for the Festival. Nevertheless, they saw fit to engage in Sippur Yetzias Mitzraim "allthat night..."
4. The paragraph beginning והיא שעמדה לאבותינוולנו: שלא אחד בלבד עמד עלינו לכלותינו, אלא שבכל דור ודר עומדים עלינו לכלותינו,והקב"ה מצילנו מידם: In this paragraph, we assertthat the Exodus is a prototype for numerous subsequent redemptions throughoutour history. This paragraph, therefore, not only helps us appreciate Jewishhistory subsequent to the Exodus, but also instills in us hope for the future.
5. Omission of Deut. 26:9 -i.e., the final verse of Mikra Bikkurim - from the Haggadah's elaboration of ארמי אובד אבי (despite the explicit directive in the Mishnah: ודורש מארמי אובד אביעדשיגמור כל הפרשה כולה). The omittedverse reads: ויביאנו אל המקום הזה ויתן לנו את הארץ הזאת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש [= He brought us to this placeand He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey]. The editors deleted it because that verse, celebratingas it does G-d's bringing us into a land flowing with milk and honey, was nolonger relevant to the new, exilic reality.
6. Acknowledging thepresent situation: The petition in the beracha following Maggid: Notethe precise language of the beracha which characterizes the evening of thePesach Seder as one in which we merit לאכול בו מצה ומרור. Theblessing's explicit mentioning of these two mitzvos – Matzah and Maror – evokesan implicit, poignant contrast with the absent [hidden = צפון] mitzvah of קורבן פסח, - the Pascal Lamb - which is the central gastronomic mitzvah -but which, tragically, is presently inaccessible.
7. The Rabbinic obligationto eat maror alone: The Torah requires (especially according to Hillel’sopinion) that we consume maror only as a contrasting condiment to the paschallamb [עלמצות ומררים יאכלוהו]. The original effect of themitzvah, therefore, was that the "bitter" memory of our servitudewould help us to "savor" - by means of contrast - our present statusas redeemed freedmen, just as horseradish serves to bring out the full flavorof roast meat. After the exile, however, the Rabbis decreed that we eat themaror alone, thereby endowing it with independent status. The bitternesswhich this food evokes no longer serves exclusively to remind us of theEgyptian exile in the ancient past. In its new role, it may reflect thebitter realities of time-present as well. [Consider, for example, theexperience of eating maror during a seder in the Warsaw Ghetto, or during theFirst Crusade.]
8. זכר למקדש כהלל and the shank bone:symbolic reminders of the Temple service;
9. The egg on the Sederplate: The egg symbolizes either the Chagigah sacrifice, whichconstituted the meal's main course during the Temple period, or the reality ofmourning for the destroyed Temple and the authentic sacred service which ispresently not available.
10. Opening the doorfor Elijah; the Fifth Cup - symbolizing והבאתי - our completereturn to the land in the Messianic redemption: During the unredeemedtime-present, we assert an "approach-avoidance" relationship withthis cup: we place it on the seder table but we don't drink it. Throughthe text of שפוך חמתך, we articulate rage towards ourruthless persecutors, and pray for their downfall.
11. The theme of hope forthe Messianic redemption which permeates almost all the popular songs at theend of the Haggadah;
12. Terminology
A] The term Shulchan Orach [literally,"setting the table"]- as opposed to Seudah - implies that we possess the formof the meal without its essential course. More precisely:All we are able to do in time present is to "set [arrange] the table.” Themost significant aspect of the meal, however, remains צפון, i.e.,"hidden" from our purview. Yet, the term also evokes hope: onedoes not set a table unless he expects that - sooner or later - the meal willbe made available. Also: the term Shulchan Orach itself alludes to the trustingoptimism of the Twenty-third Psalm: You [Hashem]prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Shulchan Orach is thus a most appropriate term to evoke faithin the ultimate redemption.
B] The characterization of the afikoman- which symbolizes the Paschal lamb - as "צפון", meaning"hidden". By the use of this term, we imply that we do not knowwhen the Messianic Redemption, with its ensuing Temple service, will "comeout of hiding." This term also possesses a nuanced optimism: ifsomething is hidden, it truly exists, and has the potential to be found. The tradition of hiding the afikoman may thus reflect more than a mereploy to keep the children engaged.
C] The term נרצה clearly alludes to G-d's acceptance of the sacrificial service. [Consider the beracha רצה in the Amidah; thisberacha constitutes our petition for the restoration of the Temple Service –i.e., the עבודה. That verb evokes the repeatedphrases at the beginning of Leviticus: ונרצה לו לכפר עליו.]
In other words: "This year wesuccessfully celebrated SiddurPesach to the greatestextent possible in a halachically appropriate manner. This service,however, constituted only the siddur, meaning, the order of thePesach service, but not the authentic Pesach service itself, becausepresently we are bereft of the Pascal lamb, which may be offered and eaten onlyin Jerusalem when the Holy Temple exists. We conclude the Seder, therefore, byasserting, that next year we shall merit not merely l'sader oso, butalso la'asoso, i.e., to perform the Passover service in all itscompleteness." [I heard this reading of Chasal Siddur Pesach decades agofrom Rabbi Professor Yitzchak Twersky, the Talner Rebbe, OBM, in Brookline,MA.)