Mitchilat

בהתחלה Mitchilat - In The Beginning

We raise the first cup of wine to say that we remember the promise God made to us that we will be free and our enemies in every generation will be destroyed.

Long, long ago our forefathers were worshippers of idols. Now the Eternal is our God and we worship Him. Even as the Bible tells us: "And Joshua said to all the people: Thus said the Eternal God of Israel: In days of old your forefathers lived beyond the river; that is Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshipped other gods. Then I took Abraham, your father, from beyond the river. I led him through the whole land of Canaan. Then I increased his family by giving him a son, Isaac. And I gave to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave Mount Seir as a possession, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt." Blessed is God Who keeps His promises to Israel. Blessed is He. For God foretold the end of the bondage to Abraham at the Covenant of Sacrifices when He said to Abraham: "Know you that your children will be strangers in a land not their own. They will be enslaved there and will be oppressed four hundred years. The nation who will oppress them shall however be judged. Afterward they will come forth with great wealth. Raise the cup of wine and say: This promise made to our forefathers holds true also for us. For more than once have they risen against us to destroy us; in every generation they rise against us and seek our destruction. But the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hands​

לפני זמן רב, רב מאוד אבותינו היו מתפלל אלילים. עכשיו הנצחי הוא אלהינו ואנחנו לסגוד לו. אפילו כמו התנ"ך אומר לנו: "יהושע אמר לכל העם: כה אמר ה 'נצח ישראל: בימים של אבותיך הישן חי מעבר לנהר, כלומר תרח אבי אברהם ונחור הם סגדו לאלילים אחרים.. אחר כך לקחתי אברהם, אביך, מעבר לנהר. הובלתי אותו דרך כל ארץ כנען. אז הגדלתי משפחתו על ידי מתן לו בן, יצחק. ואתן ליצחק שני בנים, יעקב ועשיו. לעשו נתתי את הר שעיר כמו חזקה, אבל יעקב ובניו ירדו מצרימה. " אשרי אלוהים שמקיים את ההבטחות שלו לישראל. ברוך הוא. לקבלת אלוהים ניבא סוף השעבוד לאברהם האמנה של קורבנות כאשר הוא אמר לאברהם: "דע לך כי הילדים שלך יהיו זרים בארץ לא שלהם הם יהיו משועבדים שם ויהיה המדוכאים ארבע מאות שנה.. העם אשר ידכא אליהם תהא זאת להישפט אחר כך תצא עם עושר רב מרימי כוסית היין ולומר:.. הבטחה זו עשתה לאבותינו נכון גם עבורנו במשך יותר ברגע שיש

להם עלו נגדנו. להשמידנו; בכל דור ודור קמים נגדנו ומבקשים להשמידנו אבל שהקדוש ברוך הוא מצילנו מידם..

We used to worship idols but then Abraham came around and refused to worship idols, making him the first Jew. Abraham is shown the land of present-day Israel and his family will be great and that the land of Israel will belong to them. Abraham has a son named Isaac and Isaac has two sons, the family is increasing. At this point, God tells Abraham that his people will be slaves in Egypt for 400 years but eventually they will be free in Israel and the land will belong to them. God is predicting the future to Abraham and says that the Jews will leave Egypt with great wealth. One cup of wine represents the promise of our freedom and that our enemies will be destroyed.

Modern Idea: We rely on our phones to give us any information we need and any application to cater to our needs. Therefore, it is like we listen to our phones as Abraham did to God. We think that our phones are the end-all, be-all and that they give us the absolute facts. With every software update and every new iPhone created, the promise for greatness is fulfilled because we become momentarily happier with the performance of our phone and its ability to greater serve our needs.

Why did Abraham refuse to worship idols when that was such a common practice back then?

  • Abraham could have had a strong sense of G-d within him. He could have intrinsically knew that worshiping idols was wrong and that they should not have participated in such doings. He had been guided by G-d since he was a little kid and he knew better. Therefore, even though it was against the norm of the days to worship idols, he knew inside that he was doing the right thing through refusing to worship an object. He understood the ancient Jewish principle that God is everywhere and is not confined in an object or in another person.

haggadah Section: Maggid - Beginning
Source: Brooke Posnock and Alex Hansen