Pesach תרל”א
תרל”א
ב”ה מימים ראשונים של פסח לא נכתב כסדר מליל א’
בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כו’ ואח”כ אמר ואותנו הוציא.
“In every generation one needs to see himself as if he was redeemed from Mitzrayim…as it says ‘He took us out from there etc’” (Hagada). (This is seemingly a contradiction, is it to be understood literally or not?)
ונראה כי ע”י אמונה שיש יציאת מצרים לכל דור ודור נתגלה זה. ,
It would seem (to answer the apparent contradiction), that it is through emuna that we have that there is actually a redemption from Mitzrayim in every generation, that this redemption is really revealed.
(Through going over the story of the redemption, one gains more and more emuna and realisation of the redemption, one awakens the miracles, and merits to experience miracles once again – see Pesach תרל”ז 1).
ומהר”ל כתב כי בכלל הי’ כל אחד ביציאת מצרים רק חייב לראות כאלו יצא בפרט ע”ש.
The Maharal (Gevuras HaShem 61) writes that as a nation we were redeemed, however one needs to see oneself individually as if he left Mitzrayim. (Not just as a distant experience that his forefathers went through, rather it needs to be felt on a personal level).
וי”ל ג”כ כנ”ל שע”י אמונה נכנס לתוך הכלל ובוודאי בכלל הי’ יצ”מ לנקודה הישראלית שמשם נמשך חיים לכל איש ישראל רק ע”י אמונה באין לזה.
We can explain this (Maharal) as above; It is through emuna that one enters the general populace (Klal), and clearly in the klal there is redemption from Mitzrayim – the point of the Yisraelit (the Jewish nation), that from this point life is drawn to every Jew – however it is only through emuna that one is able to get to this.
[The emuna is actually greater than the actual experience of the redemption].
ואחר שרואה עצמו כאלו יצא. ויודע ומאמין כי גם ההארה שיש לו לא הי’ לולי יצ”מ. עי”ז נתגלה לו שרואה איך יוצא באמת.
Now once a person sees himself as if he has come out of Mitzrayim, and knows and believes, that the revelation that he has would not have come about without redemption from Mitzrayim, then through that one it is more revealed to him, for he sees how he really did indeed come out.
וכן הפי’ בסיפור יציאת מצרים אפילו כולנו חכמים כו’.
With this idea we can also explain the words of the haggadah, “Even though we may all be wise etc. we still have a commandment to tell the story of the exodus from Mitzrayim.”
כי אף שהוא חכם דבוק בה’ חיים יש לו לידע כי כל זה ע”י יצ”מ שהאמת כן רק שצריך לברר זה ע”י אמונה
This means that even someone who is a חכם and connected to the living HaShem, he still needs to know that all this (connection and high spiritual level that he is on), is only due to the exodus. And one needs to clarify this knowledge through emuna. (חכמה = כח מה)
והוא הסיפור לשון בירור וגילוי מפורשת כי בכל דור יש יציאת מצרים לפי ענין הדור וכ”ז הי’ בשעת יציאת מצרים.
This is the story that we relate of the exodus. For it is the clarification and explicit revelation that in every generation there is an exodus from Mitzrayim that is necessary in accordance to that generation. All this was revealed at the time of the original exodus from Mitzrayim.
וכפי אמונת האדם כאילו יצא נתגלה בחי’ זו ומרגיש מיצ”מ של עתה ויוכל לצאת כל אחד ממיצר שלו:
And in as much as one is able to exercise one’s emuna and feel as if he has been redeemed, proportionately this element is indeed revealed, and one can truly now feel the exodus from Mitzrayim, and be emancipated from one’s own prison.
בשאלת החכם מה העדות והחוקים. ולכאורה איך שואל טעם על חוקה.
When the wise son asks his question “What are these testimonies and statutes חוקים”. It would seem that h is not asking what the reason for the statues -חוקים are (for we know that statutes do not have a logical reasoning).
אך כי באמת כתיב מגיד דבריו כו’ חוקיו כו’ לישראל שבנ”י יודעין טעם גם בחוקה והוא ע”י שמאמין ועושה החוק באמת אף בלי הרגשת הטעם עי”ז זוכה לידע הטעם ג”כ.
However in truth the pasuk (Tehillim 147:19) says “He tells his words to Yaakov, his statutes and judgements to Yisrael”. This means that Bnei Yisrael actually do know that reasonings of חוקים. The way to understand the reasoning is by having euna and doing the laws of the חוק even without originally understanding why, and through this (emuna combined with action), one merits to understand the reasoning.
והוא עצמו ג”כ אכילת מצה אף שהיא בלי טעמים רק כמו שהיא.
This is actually the idea of eating matzah, which is plain and lacking any external tastes. (The word טעם means “reason” and also means “taste”, they both imply a deep connection to what one is involved with).
רק מה שמונע מאכלים אחרים כדי להיות נדבק בטעם המצה. עי”ז מרגיש דביקות במצה אף שאינו משיג הטעם.
However it is through preventing other external tastes interfering with the taste of matzah, that one is able to connect to the matzah even though one is unable to connect to the taste of the matzah.
וז”ש אין מפטירין כו’:
This is the meaning of the words of the haggadah in response to the wise son’s question: We do not eat anything after eating the korban Pesach (or nowadays when we do not have the korban Pesach, we do not eat anything after eating the afikoman). (For we want the taste of the matzah to remain without any external interference. This will enable us to connect to the mitzvah of matzah [and all mitzvos] properly).
ברוך שומר הבטחתו כו’ שהקב”ה חשב הקץ לעשות כו’.
Blessed is He that kept His promise…for HaShem calculated חשב the end to do. (The words חשב thought, and לעשות are both used. The Sfas Emes will now explain this combination).
פי’ להיות בכל דבר מעשה גשמיי ג”כ בחי’ הגאולה
This means that in every physical action there must also be the element of redemption. (Since physicality can entrap one in its properties, one needs to elevate the physical realm to bring it into an element of redemption- to the level of thought מחשבה)
שלא להיות נטבע בגשמיות הדבר.
That one should not be ‘drowned’ in the physical nature of the thing he is involved with (נטבע connected to the word טבע – nature)
וזה המשכת המחשבה בהמעשה להיות קץ לבחי’ עשי’ כנ”ל.
This is the idea of drawing the thought into one’s actions (and by elevating the actions) one puts an end (redemption) to the action. as above.
(The idea explained is to uplift the physicality to the world of thought, as opposed to dragging the thought into the action. By uplifting the action one can indeed put an end to it.)
וזה שהבטיח לאאע”ה בברית בין הבתרים כו’ ומה הבטחה הוא זה להיות בניו בשעבוד ת’ שנים. ואז הי’ עיקר האהבה לאברהם מהשי”ת שכרת עמו הברית.
This is the promise that HaShem promised Avraham Avinu at the Covenant of Parts. For what sort of promise was HaShem giving Avraham by telling him that his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years. And (we see that there was much more to this promise for this was) the main expression of love between Avraham and HaShem by making this covenant. (So what was the greatness of the promise?)
אך כי הוא הבטחה גדולה שע”י הגלות יהי’ לבנ”י כח זה למצוא בחי’ הפנימיות בכל הסתר
However it was indeed a great promise. That through the exile Bnei Yisrael will be able to always connect to this energy of finding the pnimius in every hidden place they will go through in every exile.
[This is the meaning of the word galus exile (connected to the word התגלות revelation). For the purpose of the exile is to reveal the pnimius the internal G-dliness that is hidden in the exile. This is also why the double expression of ידוע תדע – you will surely know (that your descendants will be enslaved for 400 years), for this (covenant to reveal what is hidden) requires one to draw on all one’s energy and power. This understanding is called דעת, which is the idea of connection.]
וז”ש והיא שעמדה כו’ כי הבטחה הנ”ל הי’ תועלת לכל דור ודור שכל ההסתר מוסיף עוד חיזוק בעת הגאולה
This is why (immediately following this statement in the haggadah we say) והיא שעמדה (declaring that it is this covenant that protects us throughout the generations of all evil trying to destroy the Jewish Nation). For the above mentioned covenant (of the long exile), is actually what stood in our stead in every generation. For it is through every layer of hiddenness that actually gives us more strength at the time of redemption. (through revealing more and more pnimius in every difficulty, one merits to an even greater redemption)
וז”ש הקב”ה מצילנו מידם כמ”ש רבות רעות צדיק כו’ יצילנו ה’ ופי’ [עי’ זוה”ק בפ’ וישלח] כי הוא מלשון ויצל מקנה אביכם כו’ שמן המיצר נפרש עוד כח הניצוץ הקדוש
This is therefore the meaning of the continuation “…and HaShem saves us מצילנו from them”. As we find in the pasuk (Tehillim 34:20) “The misfortunes of the tzadik are many, HaShem will save him from them all”. [See Zohar on Parshat Vayishlach]. (The word מצילנו is the word used by Yaakov Avinu when he got all the flock from Lavan) it says ויצל (which means to seperate), this means that from the difficulty that one goes through, the holy sparks of energy are seperated (from the side of impurity and elevated to a status of holiness).
כמ”ש יצאו ברכוש גדול כו’:
So too (HaShem promised Avraham that Bnei Yisrael) will leave Mitzrayim with much wealth. (The pasuk in Shemos 12:36, describing Bnei Yisrael leaving says וינצלו את מצרים “they despoiled Mitzrayim” which does not mean to save but rather to remove and seperate).
צא ולמד מה ביקש לבן כו’ פרעה לא גזר כו’.
Go out and learn, Lavan wanted to get rid of the entire Jewish Nation, and Paroh only decreed to kill the males
בא לפרש כי גלות מצרים הי’ רק לטובה.
The Haggadah is explaining to us that the actual exile in Mitzrayim was only for our benefit. (Not only was the redemption for our benefit, but the actual exile was also.
כי לבן ביקש לעקור הכל. והי’ העצה ע”י ירידתנו למצרים.
For Lavan wanted to completely uproot everything (the entire Jewish Nation), and the solution was to go down into the exile of Mitzrayim.
כי בפרעה הי’ הגלות מה שבנ”י היו תחת ידו. וז”ש שגזר רק על הזכרים כי פי’ זכר המשפיע אשר לו הכח. וע”ז גזר פרעה שיהיו בנ”י בחי’ נקיבה שאין להם השליטה והכח. אבל לא לעקור הכל. כי בנ”י היו רק בגלות תחת ידו.
For with Paroh the exile was that Bnei Yisrael were under his control. As the Haggadah says that Paroh decreed to destroy the males. The concept of male is the one that creates the energy, for he has the power. And Paroh’s decree on the males was that Bnei Yisrael should all be like females meaning that they don’t have control and power, yet Paroh did not want to uproot them completely he just wanted them to be under his control.
אבל לבן ביקש לעקור הכל.
As opposed to Lavan who completely wanted to uproot us.
וע”י שירדו אבותינו למצרים וזכו לצאת משם עי”ז נדחית מחשבת לבן. וז”ש ארמי אובד כו’ וירד מצרימה שעל ידי לבן נצרך לירידת מצרים כנ”ל:
Now through the exile of our forefathers into Mitzrayim, and their redemption from there, the evil thoughts of Lavan were pushed away. This is the meaning of the words “The Arami (Lavan) wanted to kill my father and we went to Mitzrayim”, that because of Lavan we needed to go down to Mitzrayim. As above.
(The Sfas Emes does not explain the difference between these two levels. Perhaps we can explain it as follows: Both Paroh and Lavan are expressions of the negative force in the world. These forces can present themselves as either complete heresy and absolute denial of HaShem – represented in Lavan, or as misuse of the truth (Paroh). The difference between the two is that on the level of complete heresy, it is extremely difficult to recover from. However the second level may pose severe restrictions yet when we are able to recover from it, we are able to use all that energy of the negative forces for the good. [The power of the female is to take whatever it receives])
מצה זו כו’ שלא הספיק בצקת אבותינו להחמיץ עד שנגלה ממ”ה הקב”ה כו’.
This Matza that we are eating, for the sake of what [is it]? to commemorate that our ancestors’ dough was not yet able to rise, before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to them and redeemed them
הרב ז”ל בסידור פי’ כי מצה כמו שהיא בלי התנשאות. שהוא חמץ. הגסות. שמנשא עצמו ועולה בנפיחה.
The Rav (Ba’al Hatanya) in his sidur explained that matza is exactly as it is (flour and water) without any elevation (rising, representing haughtiness), for that (rising) is chametz – leaven, the coarseness of elevating oneself and getting higher and bigger through haughtiness.
וע”י שהי’ להם גילוי שכינה הי’ נשאר מצה ע”ש.
And it was through the revelation of HaShem’s presence, it remained matza.
(this is because the revelation of HaShem caused Bnei Yisrael not to become haughty, for by seeing His revelation they nullified themselves to His will).
וכן בזוה”ק פינחס כי ההפרש בין חמץ למצה הוא נקודה אחת שבין ה’ לח’ ע”ש כי ה’ היא הנקודה בתוך הד’ שיודע שאין לו כלום רק נקודה פנימיות שנתן השי”ת. וע”י שממשיך הנקודה לעצמו ונעשה ח’ הוא חמץ ע”ש:
So too the Zohar explains that the difference between chametz and matzah is the one dot that is the difference between ה and ח (The difference between חמץ and מצה is the only in the letters ה and ח and the difference between them is a small jot). For the letter ה represents the letter ד with a dot in it. (The letter ד represents דלות – lowliness, and together with the realisation that everything is from HaShem – the dot- that makes the letter ה). For one realises that he has nothing on his own, and all of one’s greatness is only from the inner point that HaShem has planted in him. However when one draws that point for one’s own benefit, that causes the ה to become ח and changes matza into chametz.
