Yesterday, we mentioned that on the night of the Seder, it is our responsibility to feel as if we ourselves left Mitzrayim.
As it says, -בעבור זה עשה ה׳ לי
G-d did it to me
As the Baal Haggadah explains, He didn’t just take out our forefathers.
But it is not enough just to feel like we got out.
Is the end goal of the Seder just to walk away with the Emunah that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim, that He is all powerful, that He controls the world, and that He supervises and gets involved in our lives, and rewards and punishes us accordingly... Is that the end goal?
The answer is no. After we say בכל דור ודור, חיה אדם...
In every generation each person must feel as if he himself left Egypt, we say לפיכך
Therefore-
I asked a few people., “What does therefore mean?” They said that it’s the beginning of the paragraph. We cover the matzah, pick up the cup and start with לפיכך
People don’t always realize the connection from one part to the next. For example when we pick up the cup and say V’Hisheamda-And “that” stood for us- what is “that”?
In every generation, they wanted to destroy us and Hashem saved us- what is the “that” based on?
The simple answer is that it it’s the Brit ben HaBetarim
The covenant, when Avraham was promised by G-d that we would be taken out of Mitzrayim, and that promise wasn’t just to him, it was to every generation.
So here again, we have an example. The paragraph starts with, “Therefore” which indicates that something happened previously, that prompts the current activity.
What is this “therefore” referring to?
The answer is that we are supposed to feel that we got out of Egypt. And if we got out of Egypt, then we have a responsibility to thank Hashem, and praise Him. There are seven different terms of praise that we then use as the introduction, and we say the first half of Hallel.
It’s interesting to note that in the Simanim of the seder (Kadesh, Orhatz etc), we get up to Maggid, then Rochsah, and then later on Hallel and Nirtzah.
But Hallel is actually broken into two parts. Why isn’t it Maggid, Hallel, and then again Hallel later?
The first Hallel is part of Maggid, which the rabbis explain is because the first half of Hallel doesn’t stand on its own. Part of the responsibility of Maggid, and the feeling that “I got out,” is a Hallel not on the past, but a feeling of Hallel due to what is happening to me right now. That feeling of gratitude and Hakarat HaTov is one of the end goals of the Seder- to appreciate what Hashem does for us. And it goes a step further. After we appreciate what Hashem does, we are supposed to reciprocate, by Serving G-d.
That’s why we say Hallelujah- Hallelu Avdei Hashem. We are now servants of G-d. The process of the Seder is to bring us from realizing the Oneness of Hashem and appreciating Him, to coming to serve Him.
And for those of you wondering, this has a lot to do with bitachon.
The Chovot Halevavot, who literally wrote the book on bitachon, set up his work by first recognizing G-d as One. Then comes Shaar Bechinah, which is about recognizing G-d in creation. And once we recognize and appreciate G-d and all that He has done for me, then comes Avodat Elokim, which means we serve Him.
Then, once I realize that I am a servant of Hashem, in order to serve Him properly, comes Shaar Bitachon, and we rely on Him.
When the Hovot HaLevavot talks about bitachon, he tells us that one of the reasons we are supposed to rely on Hashem is that we are
“like a servant has to rely on his master”
A servant has a job to do. He isn’t asked to look for his own food, or his own shelter. The benevolent master takes care of the servant.
That’s where bitachon fits in.
“I recognize Hashem, I have Emunah, I appreciate what He gave me, I have Hakarat HaTov, I subjugate myself to Him, I am a servant of Hashem,” and then I realize that, as it says in the words of Hallel, “Who is like Hashem? That comes down and looks at the heavens and earth. He picks up the poor man from the dirt, from the garbage dumps, He lifts up the impoverished.”
That’s how every person is supposed to feel, like Hashem is dealing with me on a personal basis.
That’s the development on the night of the Seder.
We are working on Emunah-recognizing G-d; we are working on Hakarat HaTov-gratitude to G-d;
we are working on Avodat Elokim-serving G-d.
Then we realize that we will rely on Him, in order to take care of our needs and continue to serve Him properly.
That is the overview, to the point that the term Maggid, which means “to tell the story“ is defined by the Targum Yerushalmi as “to praise.”
Our goal is Emunah, praise, and ultimately, servitude.