We have to realize that the source of our Emunah and Bitachon for the entire year comes from the Seder night. When we read the Haggadah, right after Avadim Hayinu, we read מעשה ברבי אליעזר, ברבי יהושע …
The Haggadah is telling is about the five rabbis that held a seder together in Bnei Barak.
We know that historically, these rabbis all lived in different towns.
The rabbis all came to Rabbi Akiva for a seder. Why? They weren’t family. What were they doing together? The answer is one of my favorites.
We have to look at another mention of this same group of Rabbis. One day they were walking through the streets together and saw the Romans loudly celebrating after they had destroyed our temple. All the rabbis cried at the sight, except for Rabbi Akiva, who was laughing. The other rabbis asked Rabbi Akiva why he was laughing. He answered that if this was way Hashem rewarded the few good deeds of the wicked, then imagine what would be waiting for the righteous.
At another point these rabbis were walking together around the ruins of the Bet Hamikdash. Suddenly they noticed a fox run out the ruins. Again, the rabbis all cried, except Rabbi Akiva , who laughed. Again, they asked him why he laughed. . He replied that if things had come to this low point then surely they would turn around and they’d eventually reach a high point. They answered, “ Akiva Nechmatanu, Akiva Nechmatanu” Akiva you have comforted us.
The word Nechama is interpreted as comfort but the literal root of the word Nachama means change of mind.
Nechama is called comfort because it gives a person comfort to look things differently. It actually means, in our modern terminology, to reframe! These rabbis were so impressed with Rabbi Akiva’s reframe of the difficulties that they wanted to have a seder with him.
Further evidence of Rabbi Akiva’s ability to reframe is the well known story of when he traveled to a town and had nowhere to lodge, so he slept in the wilderness.
Overnight, his rooster was eaten by a wild animal and his lantern was blown out by wind, but he said Gam Zu Letovah- This too is for the best.
In the morning he discovered that bandits had come through the town and wiped it out. He saw that Hashem protected him. Had his rooster crowed or his light been lit he would have been discovered. It really was all for the best.
Rabbi Akiva was a master reframer.
Even when his 24,000 students passed away, he didn’t give up. He rebuilt with six students - He never gave up hope.
The other rabbis asked Rabbi Akiva where he got this powerful Emunah and Bitachon. How could he be so strong?
He answered that he got it from the Seder! So they decided to join him at his Seder and experience it with him. They wanted to be there and gain from his Emunah.
We can learn this form his last words: At the end of his life, as one of the ten martyrs, the Romans tortured Rabbi Akiva. As they were peeling his skin with steel combs, he called out Shema Yisrael ……Hashem Echad. His students couldn’t believe the extent of his Emunah. He told them he’d waited his whole life for the chance to declare Hashem Echad no matter what was going on in life.
This Echad is the whole point of the Seder.
It’s no coincidence that we end the Seder with “Who Knows One? One is Hashem.”
That is the goal of our Seder. BeH we will continue to expound on this point in our next lesson.