How far should one go back in telling the Exodus story at the Passover Seder Night?
Our Pesach Haggadah goes back to Terach the idolatrous father of Abraham, and to the deceitful Lavan the father-in-law of Jacob, – both long before Jews arrived in Egypt.
The reason for this is that the Talmud teaches (regarding the Passover Haggadah): “Maschil b’Gnus u’Msayem B’Shvach” – start off with the negative, and end off with the positive. Don’t leave the negative parts of the story out, but don’t end off with them either. Tell the whole story – warts and all, but keep moving towards the positive, the praise.
This was illustrated for me in numerous episodes of the HFL (Homesick for Lubavitch) Podcast where very often the host Bentzi Avtzon (film-maker and storyteller with his production company YUVLA Media) encourages his guests: “Let’s start from the beginning…”
Often that prompt goes back to one’s childhood or even a generation or two, sometimes more, in the person’s personal backstory, which becomes the background context for the story or journey of the person being interviewed.
It’s not only the Exodus itself, but how did we get here, where did we come from, the whole before and after is all part of the story.
It works for HFL (I personally love the backstories), it’s prescribed in the Haggadah, and it helps us see the broader picture in life – whether in ourselves or others, in families, communities and individuals.
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In the days leading up to Passover I heard another Podcast, this one from Rabbi Mordechai “Mordy” Dinerman, a scholarly review of various old historic manuscript Haggadahs and where some differed from one another.
He made an interesting point on the above Talmudic statement: “Maschil b’Gnus u’Mesayim B’Shvach” – start with the negative and end with the positive:
I always thought this to be a general template, an overview of the Haggadah, where the story gradually evolves from the negative to the positive over the course of paragraphs and pages.
But Rabbi Dinerman points out that the two passages that Rav and Shmuel of the Talmud point to, both incorporated in our Haggadah text, have this transition in the same passage, in the same sentence, within the same breath!
Shmuel’s: “Avadim Hayinu L’Pharoah b’Mitzrayim, vaYotzeyanu Hashem Elokaynu b’Yad Chazakah uvZrorah Netuyah” – We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but G-d, our G-d, took us out with a strong outstretched arm!
Rav’s: “Mitchila Ovdei Avodah Zara hayu Avosaynu, vAchshav Karvanu Hamakom LaAvodaso” – In the beginning our forefathers worshipped idols but now G-d brought us close to His service.
In both these instances/examples, the earlier negative and subsequent positive are not spread apart, rather are two parts of the same sentence, they are said in one flow, in the same breath.