At the very end of the maggid section of the Haggadah, after we’ve gone through and discussed the story of our ancestors’ bondage in Egypt and the great miracle of Yetziat Mitzrayim, just before we drink the second cup of wine, we make a special berachah. This berachah begins: ברוך אתה ה'...אשר גאלנו וגאל את אבותינו... – “Blessed are You, Hashem…who has redeemed us and redeemed our forefathers…”
The sequence of this berachah seems BACKWARDS.
Quite obviously, Hashem redeemed our ancestors before He redeemed us. They lived many centuries ago; we live now. Why do we mention OUR redemption before the redemption of our ancestors?
To answer this question, let us briefly examine a well-known halachah mentioned in the Gemara.
The Gemara teaches that when a person enjoys good fortune, he recites a special berachah to thank Hashem for the great blessing he just received, the berachah of הטוב והמטיב, praising G-d “who is good and performs goodness.” But if, Heaven forbid, one suffers a loss, then he recites the berachah of דיין האמת, humbly acknowledging that Hashem is “the true Judge.”
The Gemara then adds that in the future, after the redemption, over all events we will recite the joyous berachah of הטוב והמטיב. At that time, we will recognize how EVERYTHING is good, even that which appears as misfortune. We will have perfect faith and perfect clarity, to the point where we will recognize everything as good, and so we will praise for Hashem for everything.
We might ask, though, if we believe already now that everything Hashem does is good, then why don’t we recite הטוב והמטיב even now over events which seem unfortunate?
The answer is that Hashem wants us to be honest. And in our imperfect world, with our imperfect emunah, we cannot honestly say that we experience everything as good. We just can’t. This is not possible. We live with faith, but still, we cannot truly believe with all our heart that everything that happens is good. And so now, in our world, we recite דיין האמת, instead of הטוב והמטיב.
There are, however, certain times in a person’s life when he is able to experience a higher level of faith and clarity. We’ve all had occasions when a situation seemed hopeless, but then it turned around. We’ve all had times when we saw and felt Hashem’s hand guiding us and helping us. We’ve all had moments of inspiration when it became clear to us that Hashem is taking care of us.
The night of Pesach is to be such an experience. The purpose of the seder is to make an impact, to give us inspiration. Each day, we are required to remember the event of Yetziat Mitzrayim, but on the night of Pesach, we are supposed to spend time discussing and reflecting on its significance, to build our faith in Hashem, our awareness of the fact that He controls the world and can bring us out of any predicament and any difficult situation.
And so by the time we reach the end of maggid, we can truly say אשר גאלנו וגאל את אבותינו. We can thank Hashem for the times He helped us just as we thank Him for the times He helped our ancestors. We have been moved and inspired, and so we truly feel אשר גאלנו, that WE – and not just our ancestors – have been redeemed, that Hashem is always with us and always helping us.
This year, the experience of Pesach night assumes extra special importance. We all desperately need this inspiration, this jolt of emunah. Facing an unprecedented crisis, not knowing when or how it will end, we will sit down at the seder and be inspired. We will think and talk about emunah, about Hashem’s unlimited kindness, about our belief that everything Hashem does is good even if we cannot see how.
May we all gain the inspiration we need this Pesach, and may we all soon experience miraculous redemption from the current crisis just as our ancestors were miraculously redeemed from Egypt, amen.