Transcript

מצות הגדה לבנים אפילו שלא שאלו שנאמר והגדת לבנך כפי דעתו של בן אביו מלמדו כיצד אם היה קטן וטיפש אומר לו בני כולנו היינו עבדים כמו שפחה זו או כמו עבד זה במצרים ובלילה הזה פדה אותנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ויוציאנו לחירות ואם היה הבן גדול וחכם מודיעו מה שאירע לנו במצרים וניסים שנעשו לנו על ידי משה רבנו הכל לפי דעתו של בן.

But if in Hilchos Talmud Torah, Halacha Aleph,

אחד קטן אביו חייב ללמדו תורה שנאמר ולמדתם אותם את בניכם לדבר בם הלכה ב כשם שאדם חייב ללמד את בנו כך הוא חייב ללמד את בן בנו שנאמר והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך.

So in context of Mitzvas Talmud Torah, the Torah says not only beno but ben beno. There's an additional pasuk that tells us that the chiyuv is not only for beno, but the chiyuv is also for ben beno. The pshutam shel devarim is that by Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim where you only have one pasuk, it's only beno. There is no chiyuv, there's no special din of ben beno by Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. And that's what seems to be mistimas hapesukim, mistimas divrei HaRambam. And again, and by Hilchos Talmud Torah, it's because you have that additional pasuk which has no analogue here by Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim and that's why again lichora in keeping with that, there is no intimation kehu zeh in the Rambam that it means the next generation as well. It is true that in the beginning of Parshas Bo,

בא אל פרעה כי אני הכבדתי את לבו ואת לב עבדיו למען שתי אתתי אלה בקרבו ולמען תספר באזני בנך ובן בנך את אשר התעללתי במצרים ואת אתתי אשר שמתי בם וידעתם כי אני ה',

but that pasuk notwithstanding, again, that doesn't dislodge, doesn't deflect what we're saying until now. So I don't know, maybe the Ramban says on that pasuk in the beginning of Parshas Bo, באזני בנך ובן בנך, it means davka by makkas arbeh and he quotes a pasuk from Yoel which also talks about the sippur makkas arbeh to banim uvenei banim. So that's a separate din and accordingly Chazal didn't see that as shedding light on the mitzvah of vehigadta levincha. Okay, so that's why, that's maybe let's try to understand. I'm not sure whether we're on the level of halacha agadah, could be, could be the level of halacha, but what the pshat is that by sippur, the Torah does not expand it beyond the beno to the second generation, ma she'ein kein by Talmud Torah. In Halacha Aleph, the Rambam has as follows:

מצות עשה של תורה לספר בנסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים בליל חמשה עשר בניסן שנאמר זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים כמו שנאמר זכור את יום השבת.

So what's the focus of the sippur? נסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו. Halacha Beis, when the Rambam has the keitzad of the lehodia levanim:

אם היה קטן וטיפש אומר לו בני כולנו היינו עבדים כמו שפחה זו או כמו עבד זה במצרים ובלילה הזה פדה אותנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ויוציאנו לחירות.

And for the ben chacham...

ואם היה בן גדול וחכם מודיעו מה שאירע לנו במצרים ובנסים שנעשו לנו.

So here already the Rambam doesn't talk about avoseinu, he talks about lanu.

כולנו היינו עבדים במצרים זה לבין קטן וטיפש ובלילה הזה פדה אותנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ויוציאנו לחירות.

Right, it's not avoseinu, it's osanu. And that's for the Ben Chacham as well. nasu lanu. There the contrast is even sharper because it's the nissim. Rambam is talking about the very same nissim of Halacha Aleph and here the nissim are not depicted as nasu la'avoseinu, but they're depicted as nasu lanu. Halacha Vav, which is the mishna in Pesachim. בכל דור ודור חייב אדם... Zayin Vav.

בכל דור ודור חייב אדם להראות את עצמו כאילו הוא בעצמו יצא עתה משעבוד מצרים שנאמר ואותנו הוציא משם.

Yeah. So agav, the translation of leharos here doesn't mean to show himself, it means to exhibit himself, to act outwardly in such a way as in let's say by re'iyas panim ba'azarah, liros ulehera'os, it's the way a person is seen. So leharos es atzmo means to exhibit himself, by re'iyas panim ba'azarah means to be seen in the azarah. So too, that's what leharos es atzmo means here. That the person is supposed to outwardly, again exhibit, not in the sense of exhibitionism, right? But he should represent himself. He should exhibit himself כאילו הוא יצא עתה משעבוד מצרים. And that's what the Rambam then translates, that the way that leharos manifests is through haseiba and dalet kosos. שנאמר ואותנו הוציא משם. So what does that mean?

ועל דבר זה צוה הקדוש ברוך הוא בתורה וזכרת כי עבד היית כלומר כאילו אתה בעצמך היית עבד ויצאת לחירות ונפדית.

So sippur yetzias Mitzrayim historically, factually, what happened? Historically, factually, the nissim and the nifla'os were nasu la'avoseinu bemitzrayim. Without wandering into the mystical realm. So it was avoseinu who were in Mitzrayim and we who are on Amsterdam Avenue. Right? So without wandering into mystical realms. Not notwithstanding, the reality is, and therefore the halacha is, that every Jew is supposed to understand and therefore see himself as a direct beneficiary of that. So again, historically, if we're articulating... What happened? It's נסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים. But Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim requires that a person understand that we are direct beneficiaries of that. That what happened in Yetzias Mitzrayim was transformative for us, the the millennia, the intervening millennia notwithstanding, what happened in Yetzias Mitzrayim was and remains transformative for us. That's the din of be-chol dor va-dor. That's the pasuk of ve-osanu hotzi mi-sham. It's a metzius and and a din, it's both. It's a din that that reflects a metzius. Ordinarily, that's not how we relate to historical events. I don't know, you study about the Revolutionary War in in America. So I don't I don't know that a person says, and if not for that, I don't know, so maybe we'd live in New Zealand and it wouldn't be better than the cold, I don't know what would have happened. You know, I don't know that, you know, you know, when you study history, it doesn't, it correctly, understandably, there's certainly no directness. There's no

ואילו לא הוציא הקדוש ברוך הוא את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משועבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים.

That's not true. But that's an indispensable context and and thrust of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim that that again, what happened, it happened la-avoseinu, it was nasu la-avoseinu, but we are direct and direct beneficiaries of what happened. Hashta de-asinu le-hachi, ve-chora, the I don't know if this exhausts the din, it doesn't. But the thrust of the din of ve-higadeta le-vincha is that the father's chiyuv is to create that connection, to instill that awareness that Nissei Mitzrayim impacted and impact us directly. That's why the Rambam says, so when a person is telling the sippur, the definition of the sippur is what is the sippur focused on? נסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים. That's that's the historically accurate formulation. And the Rambam tells us, okay, but but that's not with any sense of detachment. That's what he tells us in Halacha Vav, he tells us it already in Halacha Daled. But the father's chiyuv vis-a-vis the ben is to create that bridge. That the ben should not view Nissei Mitzrayim as as something significant and impactful in the past, but as something equally significant and impactful for us in the present. And that's why the Rambam shifts that when when you're talking to the banim, it's nasu lanu, that hayinu, we were avadim, because it's that understanding that that that is central to the father's chiyuv. And that's why you have the shift in in the Rambam's leshonnos. Hashta de-asinu le-hachi, so yitachen, and even that's certainly the case vis-a-vis the ben katan u-tipesh who would certainly otherwise feel removed, but even vis-a-vis the ben gadol ve-chacham, the Rambam also emphasizes the mah she-ira lanu and ve-nissim she-nasu lanu, because even vis-a-vis the ben gadol ve-chacham, as long as the father has a deeper understanding of how transformative and how impactful Nissei Mitzrayim are for us. So again that's a chiyuv. The chiyuv is not just to tell elements of the sippur that, that the banim don't know, but it's to forge this connection that Nissay Mitzrayim is again impactful and transformative and benefiting us. So yitachen the din that sippur is for the av and not also for avi aviv also reflects this emphasis that the din of v'higadeta l'vincha is that everyone should be connected to Mitzrayim. By Talmud Torah, obviously all of Talmud Torah connects to the Ma'amad Har Sinai, but the point is to teach the content. I mean obviously Torah MiSinai. But the content is to teach, I guess, avot u'vanim, v'shinantam l'vanecha. So the Torah says in terms of transmitting the masorah of Torah, so one's chiyuv is to transmit not only to the next generation but to reach two generations into the future through the teaching. The din of v'higadeta l'vincha and sippur Yitziat Mitzrayim is, you know, if you have an appliance, you don't need two, it doesn't plug twice into the wall, you plug it into the wall. You need one plug to go into the wall. V'higadeta l'vincha means that the father is supposed to forge that connection, he's supposed to plug the child into Yitziat Mitzrayim again that Otanu hotzi misham. So for us, so every child has that one, that one, that one plug, that one connector, and that's what defines the din of v'higadeta l'vincha. It's interesting when you look at the pesukim. I mean, you could explain this differently, but lema'aseh it's, the diyuk is remarkable.

והיה כי תבואו אל הארץ כנגד ארבעה בנים דברה תורה. והיה כי תבאו אל הארץ אשר יתן ה' לכם כאשר דבר ושמרתם את העבודה הזאת והיה כי יאמרו אליכם בניכם מה העבודה הזאת לכם.

Shemot yud-bet chaf-vav. Okay, this is the first of the arba banim again, first at least in terms of the sequence of the pesukim in Chumash. והיה כי יאמרו אליכם בניכם מה העבודה הזאת לכם. The second of the pesukim of the כנגד ארבעה בנים דברה תורה. yud-gimel chet

והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים.

The third yud-gimel yud-dalet

והיה כי ישאלך בנך מחר לאמר מה זאת ואמרת אליו בחזק יד הוציאנו ה' ממצרים מבית עבדים.

And the fourth, Devarim zayin chaf

כי ישאלך בנך מחר לאמר מה העדות והחקים והמשפטים אשר צוה ה' א-להינו אתכם.

So leaving the ben rasha aside and as we discussed previously in zayin bet, so the Rambam notes that the ben rasha is not a din in sippur Yitziat Mitzrayim which is why he doesn't quote it here in perek zayin. So by the ben rasha... By the other three, twice it's machar and twice it's ba'yom ha'hu. Both machar and ba'yom ha'hu have a connotation of le'achar zman. יש מחר לאחר זמן. Ba'yom ha'hu, יש שהוא לאחר חודש מחר. So, you know, as history moves on, that ba'yom ha'hu was obviously closer and closer, but ba'yom ha'hu means, it means le'asid lavo. Oh. So right now, in these coming years, the son doesn't feel, isn't disconnected from yetzias mitzrayim. No, but machar, there's going to be a point in time where enough time has passed between yetzias mitzrayim and the time in which people are living, when yetzias mitzrayim has receded rachmana litzlan, at least for the young children, it's receded into history. It's not something which is impactful and transformative in the present, why? Because it's already machar. It's already ba'yom ha'hu. Oh, so that's where your din is to tell the son. Your din to the son is again to close that gap, to bridge and connect him to yetzias mitzrayim even though again on the, you know, chronologically, on the calendar of world history, it's already been millennia. Wait, wouldn't it bolster, if the grandfather was involved in the sippur, wouldn't that further bolster the link in the chain and you can really start tracing back to avoseinu? It's not so much the chain, by talmud torah it's a chain and d'is inami true. Here it's not the chain. Here it's, no, you should know that in terms of the nissim, you were in mitzrayim. You need someone to tell him that. It's not feeling connected via mesorah. This is more than feeling connected via mesorah.

ואילו לא הוציא הקדוש ברוך הוא את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משועבדים היינו למצרים ואותנו הוציא משם

means more than mesorah. Mesorah means that I'm connected to har sinai because there's an unbreakable chain from where we are today back to har sinai. And that's obviously a million percent true. But this is even more than that. This is saying no, that the nisei mitzrayim are impactful for you. For purposes of nisei mitzrayim, you were there. For purposes of nisei, again historically, we're not talking mysticism, historically we weren't there, but for purposes of what the revolution, the repercussion, the transformation which nisei mitzrayim brought about, so that's what we're explaining to the child and that's what we're supposed to know and feel for ourselves and that's what we're supposed to tell the child: you were there. So that's why no, you just need one... he needs to be told that. Mah she'ein kein, ein hachi nami in terms of when it's connected with a mesorah. So that's what the Rebbe used to say, I think the girsa that we have printed in Masechet Kiddushin, the gemara says

כל המלמד את בן בנו תורה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיבלה מהר סיני שנאמר והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך וסמוך ליה יום אשר עמדת.

So the Rebbe used to say, why does the... I think maybe the Oz Vehadur or whatever, but in terms of the way we have it printed, so the Rebbe would say why does the gemara say it by ben beno, why not by beno? Why not by beno? So he used to say because as an act of mesorah, so teaching one's grandson, obviously there is a din kadima for one's son, אביו קודם לכל אדם ללמד את בנו לבן בנו. But in terms of an act of mesorah, so teaching ben beno has a dimension which teaching beno doesn't in that a person is transmitting the mesorah two generations into the future. So that's mesorah. Again, mesorah means I'm here, har sinai is there and I'm being connected to a chain which connects me to har sinai. But sippur yetzias mitzrayim is saying no chain. You're the direct beneficiary of what happened le'leil chamisha asar, of ve'osanu hotzi misham, that הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משועבדים היינו למצרים. Why according to the Rebbe then in sippur yetzias mitzrayim is not going to be limited to... You're right, that this... this mahalach has implications for that question as well. The question is, and again it's on an hanucha, that there's no indication that ben beno bi-chlal. But if the father is 90 and the son is 70, so is that v'higadeta l'vincha? So I think, again, you can come to this conclusion not without our mahalach as well. So it's not... I wouldn't say it's a nafka mina in that sense, of the mahalach. You can definitely come to this conclusion independently. But l'chora lidvareinu it potentially does go into gadlus, in that sense, like mitzvas talmud torah, even though the mitzvah of talmud torah is clearly not until age 13, it clearly goes on beyond the age of 13. But it goes into gadlus only kol zman that, as it were, the father has more of a connection to Mitzrayim than the son does. Let's say the Rambam's ניסים שנעשו לנו לידי משה רבינו and the way we explained why Moshe Rabbeinu can only be approached with a bas kol. Okay, so the father has that and the fifteen year old son doesn't, so it's yitachen that the mitzvah is still there. But ein hachi nami, this would say that presumably the 90-year-old doesn't have too much to tell the 70-year-old in that sense. The question then that there isn't an age cutoff? I don't think so, because the pashat is by hilchos talmud torah also it's going to be a function of when the son has reached a certain level of learning as opposed to a certain chronological age. Even though the Rambam in halacha aleph in hilchos talmud torah he connects the pasuk to chronological age. Davka even. The lashon that I have here is אבל קטן חייב ללמדו שנאמר ולמדתם אותם. Now the fact that in halacha daled the Rambam, excuse me, also doesn't speak about avoseinu in terms of the avdus. He does speak about avoseinu obviously in terms of avoda zara, but it's clear that one's not supposed to transpose that onto oneself. So he speaks as he does in halacha beis, right? That avadim hayinu and ניסים ונפלאות שנעשו לנו. So l'chora that's so for two reasons. Number one, halacha daled is also a continuation of halacha beis in the sense that מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח is also the format and the structure of the v'higadeta l'vincha. So that's A. A l'chora is enough. But I think B is independently true. That we also discussed previously how B is the din of מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח in terms of Rabbeinu Manoach's question of what the makor for this is in the torah. is a din of being זוכה ימי הרעה עם ימי הטובה. So the whole din of מעשה נסים שיאמר בשבח is on the level that it's personalized, on the level that it's nogeiah to me. So that's why even without the fact that halacha daled is extending halacha bais, that here too you would understand the shift from the la'avoseinu of halacha aleph to the lanu of halacha daled. Okay, we'll stop here. Chag Kasher ve-Sameach.