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Rabbi Eliezer By: Avigail Nassir
Contributed by Yeshiva Har Torah

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023

As we are beginning to get into the seder, the story of Rabbi Eliezer comes up. In the haggadah it says:”מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־עֲזַרְיָה וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וְרַבִּי טַרְפוֹן שֶׁהָיוּ מְסֻבִּין בִּבְנֵי־בְרַק וְהָיוּ מְסַפְּרִים בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם כָּל־אוֹתוֹ הַלַּיְלָה, עַד שֶׁבָּאוּ תַלְמִידֵיהֶם וְאָמְרוּ לָהֶם רַבּוֹתֵינוּ הִגִּיעַ זְמַן קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע שֶׁל שַׁחֲרִית.” The translation of this is: ”It happened once [on Pesach] that Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon were reclining in Bnei Brak and were telling the story of the exodus from Egypt that whole night, until their students came and said to them, "The time of [reciting] the morning Shema has arrived."  This part of the haggadah brings up many questions,but I'm going to focus on one of the most asked questions: Was it really necessary for these Gedolim to spend all night talking about the exodus of Mitzrayim?  If so, why was it so important to include this part in the haggadah? What makes it so important to us?

As said before in the section of מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר, we see five great gedolim deeply discussing the exodus from Egypt all through the night.  Their students come rushing in and tell them that it is time for the morning shema.  Only until we mention מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר during the Seder, we are reminded and in a way to have a certain spirit on this night because this night is different from the rest as we are remembering the most important event in Jewish history.  The purpose of it is to show us that even the wisest, brightest, and greatest of Jews took part in sharing the exodus all night.  Therefore, we must try to learn from them and take part in sharing the event that is the reason why we are all here today.

All in all, we learn from our rabbis who were involved in this story to engage and immerse ourselves into the seder with passion.  We should learn the story all night with no limit.  We should learn it well enough to know the depth and meaning so that we feel a part of it. There is no doubt that this night is different from the rest.  Pesach is what keeps the Jewish world together.  Jews from all backgrounds gather around to enjoy and commemorate the most important event in our history. It is important to always remember the exodus, pass down the story of Pesach, and keep it alive for many years to come as all the generations before us have done for us.  That is the true meaning of Pesach: keeping the eternal connection and neverending communication of the exodus that continues to be passed from generation to generation. 

 

             ~Dvar Torah inspired by thoughts from Sefaria; 

                     final ideas written by me.
haggadah Section: -- Four Questions

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