As we discussed yesterday, Rebbi Eliezer, Rebbi Yehoshua, Reb Elazar Ben Azariah, Rebbi Akiva and Rebbi Tarfon were all together, telling the story of Pesach all night, until their students came and told the Rabbis that the time for Keriyat Shema had come.
The commentaries wonder- imagine such Gedolei HaDor all sitting around the same table - why didn’t their students spend the night with their rabbis? It would have been a great opportunity to hear all of these great Tannaim expound on the Seder.
The answer is that the Seder night is a night of Emunah, and there is no better place to get Emunah than from your parents- your father and grandfather. It is a direct line. As the Ramban says, parents don’t lie to their children. Each parent says that he received it from his father.
I remember my father saying that, when I was a child, at our seders. And he said that his father told him that. He talked about how his father had a special room that they made their Seder in.
Aside from this simple approach, that a tradition passed down from parent to child is more impactful, there is a certain power that every parent has on the night of the Seder. It is a Mitzvah to tell your son. We bless Hashem,
ברוך המקום ברוך הוא
ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל ברוך הוא כנגד ארבעה בנים דבר תורה
The Torah discussed four children. And the question is, One is a rasha, one is simple, one can’t ask a question... so why are we so excited?The answer is that we have the Torah, and the Torah can help fix any child. The night to spark the Emuna of our children is the night of the Seder- but there is a condition.
The pasuk says it’s a Mitzvah is to tell your son,
בעבור זה עשה ה׳ לי
Because of this, Hashem did for me.
When you tell your son the story, it can’t be a diluted story. It has to be that it happened, “to me.”
The Chafetz Chaim gives a mashal.
When it comes to making tea on Shabbat, if you put the water in a Keli Rishon (the pot that’s on the fire, or the urn), it cooks. If you put it in a Keli Sheni, ( the cup that received the water from the urn), it can still cook certain things. Therefore, you should not put the teabag into the 2nd cup, (or the first cup coming from the urn). If you pour it into a third cup (Keli Shelishi) it won’t cook. Even though it looks hot, since it didn’t have its own heat, and it received the liquid from something else that was not directly on the heat, it’s not going to cook anything. The Chafetz Chaim says that if you want to inspire your children, you yourself have to be on fire. If you don’t have it, you can’t inspire your children. As Rabbi Nissim Yagen once said, “You cannot inculcate into others what you yourself do not possess.”
Therefore, it is the parent’s job, before Pesach, to spend some time getting psyched, to the point that they can say it over as a first person event.
There is a cute story told about a simple man who was reading the HaGadah. When he got to
ברוך המקום ברוך הוא, Blessed is Hashem, where it says Echad Hacham/one is a Chacham, Echad Rasha/ one is a rasha, etc, he read with an interesting incantation- Echaaaad Hacham.. Echaaad Rasha... etc. A rabbi walking by overheard and asked why he was reading that way. The man explained that when you say “Echad Hacham” ( one is a Hacham), you are supposed to stress and elongate the Echad, like when we say Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echaaaad.
Of course, the man was wrong. This isn’t Keriyat Shema. But on second thought, the rabbi realized that the man wasn’t that off- At the Seder, we are working on instill Hashem Echad into our children. Therefore, just like when we say Shema, we elongate the Echad, the same is true here.
Regarding the special power of a father’s Maggid (telling of the story of Pesach), and his excitement, the rabbis bring proof from a story in Shoftim, Perek vav.
An angel appears to Gidon, the son of Yoash. This occurred when the Pelishtim were oppressing the Jews. The Jews had to hide in a wine press in order to thresh their wheat.
The angel appeared to Gidon and said,
וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו מַלְאַךְ ה' וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו ה' עִמְּךָ גִּבּוֹר החיל
G-d is with you, oh strong man.
Gidon responded, וְיֵשׁ ה' עִמָּנוּ
Is that true?
וְאַיֵּה כָל נִפְלְאֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר סִפְּרוּ לָנוּ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ
Where are all His wonders, That our fathers told us about,
מִמִּצְרַיִם הֶעֱלָנוּ
That G-d took us out of Egypt...
When he said Sippur Lanu- our fathers told us, this was referring to Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim- the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim. Rashi says that this took place on Hol HaMoed Pesach, Gidon was saying,
אמש הקרני אבא את ההלל, ושמעתיו שהיה אומר
Last night my father read Hallel, and I heard him say, בצאת ישראל ממצרים
So what is going on? If our forefathers in Egypt were righteous, then save us on their merit. And if they were wicked, well, You did miracles for them for free, so do miracles for us for free as well.
Gidon was inspired by the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim that his father said, with the feeling that he just got out.
If you pay attention, it says in the Haggadah that every generation has to feel like they got out
לפיכך- therefore, You have to say Hallel.
Gidon’s father said Hallel, and that inspired him. Yoash was not a great, righteous man. He was a simple man. But even a simple man’s Haggadah shel Pesach inspires his children.
That’s why, as we said in the beginning of this lesson, the students were not by their rabbis table, they were at their fathers’ tables.
A father has the power to impart the Emunah of Hashem on the night of the Seder, provided that he puts in some effort beforehand, in order to get to the point that he feels like he got out of Mitzrayim.
Have a wonderful day.