Welcome to Haggadot.com (the "Site"). Haggadot.com, customandcraft.org, [email protected] and all future,
as-yet-to-be-created brands are projects of Custom & Craft Jewish Rituals, Inc., which is the legal name of this
California nonprofit organization (hereinafter referred to as “Haggadot.com”). All projects of Custom & Craft Jewish
Rituals are subject to the Terms of Service described below. This Terms of Service ("TOS") contain the terms and
conditions that govern your use of the Site, and the Haggadot.com Service (as defined below). This TOS describes your
rights and responsibilities and what you can expect from the Haggadot.com Service. Use of the Site constitutes your
acceptance of and agreement to this TOS.
Haggadot.com reserves the right to add, delete, and/or modify any of the terms and conditions contained in this TOS, at
any time and in its sole discretion, by posting a change notice or a new agreement on the Haggadot.com Site. In the
event of substantive changes to this TOS, you may be notified by email. If any modification is unacceptable to you, your
only recourse is to not use the Site and the Haggadot.com Service. Your continued use of the Haggadot.com Site following
posting of a change notice or new TOS on the Haggadot.com Site will constitute binding acceptance of the changes.
The Haggadot.com Service.
Haggadot.com provides a number of Internet-based services through the Site as well as any other Haggadot.com affiliate
websites, digital content, mobile applications, online service or anywhere the TOS are shown (all such services,
collectively, the "Haggadot.com Service"). One such service enables users to create customized products, including
without limitation, merchandise and books (collectively, "Products"). Haggadot.com users may create and purchase
individual Products for their own personal use. Haggadot.com may offer a number of other services on its Site, including
without limitation, message boards, contests, and newsletters, which may change from time to time.
Use of the Web Site and Haggadot.com Service.
Eligibility. Haggadot.com will only knowingly provide the Haggadot.com Service to parties that can lawfully enter into
and form contracts under applicable law. If you are under the age of 18, but at least 13 years of age, you may use the
Haggadot.com Service only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by this TOS. The
Haggadot.com Service is not intended for children under the age of 13.
Compliance with TOS and Applicable Law. You must comply with all of the terms and conditions of this TOS, the applicable
agreements and policies referred to below, and all applicable laws, regulations and rules when you use the Haggadot.com
Service and the Site.
Your License to Use the Web Site and the Haggadot.com Service.
Haggadot.com solely and exclusively owns all intellectual property and other rights, title and interest in and to the
Haggadot.com Service and Site, except as expressly provided for in these TOS. For example and without limitation,
Haggadot.com owns the copyrights in and to the Site, and certain technology used in providing the Haggadot.com Service.
You will not acquire any right, title or interest therein under this TOS or otherwise to any intellectual property owned
by Haggadot.com.
Haggadot.com grants you a limited revocable license to access and use the Site and the Haggadot.com Service for your own
personal purposes, subject to your compliance with this TOS. This license does not include the right to collect or use
information contained on the Site for purposes prohibited by Haggadot.com; to compete with Haggadot.com; to create
derivative works based on the content of the Site; or download or copy the Site (other than page caching). If you use
the Site in a manner that exceeds the scope of this license or you breach this TOS, Haggadot.com may revoke the license
granted to you.
This Section 2.3 does not pertain to your intellectual property rights. For information regarding your intellectual
property rights, please see Section 4.
Third-Party Content: Wherever Haggadot.com websites, online services, and digital content make reference to third party
organizations or include information, content, or graphics from third parties, Haggadot.com assumes third-party content
is for general informational purposes only and displaying third-party content does not constitute a recommendation or
endorsement of the opinion, product or service. Haggadot.com makes no claim as to the accuracy or relevance of
third-party content. If you decide to access any other websites linked to or from this website, you do so entirely at
your own risk.
Third-Party Services. Haggadot.com may use third parties to provide certain services accessible through the Site.
Haggadot.com does not control those third parties or their services, and you agree that Haggadot.com will not be liable
to you in any way for your use of such services. These third parties may have their own terms of use and other policies.
You must comply with such terms and policies as well as this TOS when you use those services. If any such terms or
policies conflict with Haggadot.com's TOS, agreements, or policies, you must comply with Haggadot.com's TOS, agreements,
or policies, as applicable.
General Rules.
Prohibited Use. You may only use the Haggadot.com Service as expressly permitted by Haggadot.com. You may not cause harm
to the Site or the Haggadot.com Service. Specifically, but not by way of limitation, you may not: (i) interfere with the
Haggadot.com Service by using viruses or any other programs or technology designed to disrupt or damage any software or
hardware; (ii) modify, create derivative works from, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any technology used to
provide the Haggadot.com Service; (iii) use a robot, spider or other device or process to monitor the activity on or
copy pages from the Site, except in the operation or use of an internet "search engine," hit counters or similar
technology; (iv) collect electronic mail addresses or other information from third parties by using the Haggadot.com
Service; (v) impersonate another person or entity; (vi) use any meta tags, search terms, key terms, or the like that
contain Haggadot.com's name or trademarks; (vii) engage in spamming or any activity that interferes with another user's
ability to use or enjoy the Haggadot.com Service; (viii) assist or encourage any third party in engaging in any activity
prohibited by this TOS; (ix) upload to, transmit through, or display any material that is unlawful, fraudulent,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or otherwise objectionable or that infringes any third party’s
intellectual property rights or any confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information of any third party; (x)
upload, transmit, or display any advertisements, solicitations, chain letters, pyramid schemes, investment
opportunities, or other unsolicited commercial communications (unless expressly permitted); (xi) display adult nudity or
inappropriate child nudity; (xii) use the Site for sale of goods or services; or (xiii) upload photographs or other
content depicting images or people who have not given permission to have their photographs or images uploaded to a share
site.
Privacy Policy. By entering into this TOS, you agree to Haggadot.com's collection, use and disclosure of your personal
information in accordance with the Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.
Password Security. You are solely responsible for protecting the security and confidentiality of the password and
identification assigned to you. You shall immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or
identification or any other breach or threatened breach of this website’s security.
Ordering Policies. If you purchase Products, you agree to do so in accordance with Haggadot.com's ordering policies and
instructions on the Site. Your order constitutes an obligation to pay, subject to acceptance by Haggadot.com at our sole
discretion. Your order is accepted by us when we ship the goods to you. An order confirmation does not signify our
acceptance of your order, but merely confirms receipt of your order. We will send you a shipment confirmation once your
order is accepted. Haggadot.com reserves the right to cancel any order prior to delivery at our sole and absolute
discretion, whether or not you have already been charged. If your order is canceled pursuant to this section, and you
have already been charged, Haggadot.com will automatically issue a refund to you. As the products are individually
produced, an approximate availability and delivery time are shown alongside the product description prior to order
completion. The products will be delivered as soon as they are available. The times are estimates only and cannot be
guaranteed. At the latest, delivery will occur within thirty (30) days from acceptance of your order by Haggadot.com.
Please note that Haggadot.com is not able to deliver to all regions worldwide. All prices are subject to the delivery
charges, as well as any applicable taxes, duties, fees, or levies. Haggadot.com reserves the right to change the prices
published on the Services at any time. However, orders already submitted to us will not be affected by such changes.
Title to the Products you purchase passes to you when the Products are delivered to the common carrier.
Create and Buy General Rules and License.
Description. As part of the Haggadot.com Service, Haggadot.com offers a service (the "Create & Buy Service") that allows
you to upload images, video, audio, data, and other content as well as text, files, and works of authorship
(collectively, "Content") to the Site to create, produce, and purchase Products featuring the uploaded Content for your
own use. “Content” also includes without limitation, any Content that you contribute or share with other members through
the Site.
Delivery of Content. You will upload or deliver to Haggadot.com all Content that you want to use with the Create & Buy
Service in accordance with the applicable instructions on the Site. Haggadot.com may, in its sole and exclusive
discretion, determine whether any Content complies with such instructions and is satisfactory for use with the Create &
Buy Service.
Ownership of your Content. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise possess all necessary rights with respect
to the Content and that the Content does not and will not infringe, misappropriate, use, or disclose without
authorization or otherwise violate any copyright, trademark, trade secret right, or other intellectual property or other
property right of any third party.
Use of Likeness. You consent to the use of your likeness, and you have obtained the written consent, release, and/or
permission of every identifiable individual who appears in the Content to use such individual’s likeness, for purposes
of using and otherwise exploiting the Content in the manner contemplated by these TOS. If any such identifiable
individual is under the age of eighteen (18), you have obtained such written consent, release, and/or permission from
such individual’s parent or guardian. You agree to provide a copy of any such consents, releases, and/or permissions
upon our request.
Licensing Your Content to Haggadot.com. You will retain ownership of the Content that you upload to the Site. You hereby
grant to Haggadot.com a perpetual, irrevocable, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide, transferable, nonexclusive,
sublicensable (through multiple tiers) right and license to: (i) use such Content, in all media existing now or created
in the future, as Haggadot.com deems necessary to enable you to use the Create & Buy Service to create, produce, and
purchase Products; (ii) with respect to any Content that you expressly designate as being “public,” to link to, use,
reproduce, create derivative works from, license, sublicense, distribute, print, publicly display, and otherwise utilize
your Content including, without limitation, making your Content available to the Haggadot.com community. Please note
that, while you retain ownership of your Content, any template or layout in which you arrange or organize your Content
through tools and features made available through the Site or the Haggadot.com Service are not proprietary to you, and
the rights to such template or layout are reserved to Haggadot.com.
Licensing Your Content to other Haggadot.com Members. Except for any of your Content that you specify as “private”
during the submission process, you also hereby grant all other members of the Haggadot.com community a non-exclusive,
worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable license to use, copy, publicly display, create derivative works from, and otherwise
communicate and distribute your Content for any purpose on or through the Site or the Haggadot.com Service and/or in the
Haggadot.com member’s own products. You acknowledge and agree that any such Haggadot.com member can exercise the
foregoing rights without further notice, payment, or attribution to you. For avoidance of doubt, any of your Content
that you designate as “public” will not be limited to any restricted purpose and is provided on a non-proprietary and
non-confidential basis and will be generally accessible by other users of the Site and Haggadot.com Service.
Reservation of Rights.
Monitoring. Haggadot.com reserves the right, but does not assume the obligation, to monitor transactions and
communications that occur through the Site. If Haggadot.com determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that you or
another Haggadot.com user will breach a term or condition of this TOS or that such transaction or communication is
inappropriate, Haggadot.com may cancel such transaction or take any other action to restrict access to or the
availability of any material that may be considered objectionable, without any liability to you or any third party.
Modification of the Service. Haggadot.com reserves the right to modify the organization, structure or "look and feel" of
the Haggadot.com Service or the Site, and may change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Haggadot.com Service at
any time without any liability to you or any third party. Haggadot.com shall have complete discretion over the features,
functions, prices and other terms and conditions on which the Haggadot.com Service is offered to Haggadot.com users.
Submissions.
When you submit questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, message board postings, material submitted via web forms,
contest entries, communications or any other information ("Submissions"), you grant Haggadot.com permission to use such
Submissions for marketing and other promotional purposes, including the right to sublicense. You agree that Haggadot.com
will have no obligation to keep any Submissions confidential. You will not bring a claim against Haggadot.com based on
"moral rights" or the like arising from Haggadot.com's use of a Submission. This Section does not apply to your Content
that you use in connection with the Create & Buy Service. Any personal information you submit is covered by our Privacy
Policy.
You shall not upload, distribute, or otherwise publish through this website any content, information, or other material
that (a) violates or infringes the copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights of any
person; (b) is libelous, threatening, defamatory, obscene, indecent, pornographic, or could give rise to any civil or
criminal liability under U.S. or international law; or (c) includes any bugs, viruses, worms, trap doors, Trojan horses
or other harmful code or properties.
Haggadot.com reserves the right to immediately remove any content it deems offensive, or in violation of these Terms and
Conditions. Haggadot.com also reserves the right to remove a user account, without notice, if the user has been found to
pose a threat to other users or has violated any rule laid out in the Terms and Conditions.
Copyright and Trademark Issues
While we are not obligated to review Content for copyright or trademark infringement, we are committed to protecting
copyrights and trademarks and expect users of our Site and Haggadot.com Services to do the same. The Digital Millennium
Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the
internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe in good faith that any material used or
displayed on or through our Site or the Haggadot.com Services infringes your copyright, you (or your agent) may send us
a notice requesting that the material be removed, or access to it blocked. The notice must include the following
information:
a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is
allegedly infringed;
identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by
a single notification, a representative list of such works);
identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information
reasonably sufficient to allow us to locate the material on our Site and/or the Haggadot.com Services;
the name, address, telephone number and email address (if available) of the complaining party;
a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is
not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining
party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
If you believe in good faith that a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, the DMCA
permits you to send us a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices must meet the then-current statutory requirements
imposed by the DMCA; see http://www.copyright.gov for details. DMCA notices and counter-notices regarding our Site and
the Haggadot.com Services, or notices concerning trademark use in personalized products we make or in our Site and the
Haggadot.com Services, should be sent to:
Haggadot.com
PO Box 385
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
[email protected]
Upon receipt of a compliant DMCA Takedown Notice, Haggadot.com will investigate the claim, take appropriate action and
serve the notice on our member. If a member submits a DMCA Counter-Notice, Haggadot.com will forward such notice to the
party that submitted the relevant DMCA Takedown Notice and allow the member to repost the disputed content after 10
days, as provided by law. Haggadot.com reserves the right to terminate the account of any member who repeatedly
infringes the copyright rights of others, as determined in Haggadot.com’s sole discretion.
Representations and Warranties.
Mutual Representations and Warranties. You represent and warrant to Haggadot.com and Haggadot.com represents and
warrants to you: (i) that you or it has the full power and authority to enter into and perform under this TOS, (ii) the
execution and performance of your or its obligations under this TOS does not constitute a breach of or conflict with any
other agreement or arrangement by which you or it is bound, and (iii) this TOS is a legal, valid and binding obligation
of the party entering into this TOS, enforceable in accordance with its terms and conditions.
By You. In addition to any other representations and warranties contained in this Agreement, You represent and warrant
to Haggadot.com that, in your use of the Haggadot.com Service, you: (i) will not infringe the copyright, trademark,
patent, trade secret, right of privacy, right of publicity or other legal right of any third party, and (ii) will comply
with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations. You further represent and warrant to Haggadot.com that: (i) there are
no claims, demands or any form of litigation pending, or to the best of your knowledge, threatened with respect to any
of your Content; (ii) Haggadot.com will not be required to make any payments to any third party in connection with its
use of your Content, except for the expenses that Haggadot.com incurs in providing the Haggadot.com Service; (iii) the
use of any instructions, formulae, recommendations, or the like contained in your Content will not cause injury to any
third party; and (iv) your Content does not contain viruses or any other programs or technology designed to disrupt or
damage any software or hardware.
Disclaimers and Exclusions.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. Haggadot.com PROVIDES THE SITE AND Haggadot.com SERVICE ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE"
BASIS. Haggadot.com DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SITE, Haggadot.com SERVICE OR ITS USE: (i) WILL BE
UNINTERRUPTED, (ii) WILL BE FREE OF INACCURACIES OR ERRORS, (iii) WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR (iv) WILL OPERATE IN
THE CONFIGURATION OR WITH THE HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE YOU USE. Haggadot.com MAKES NO WARRANTIES OTHER THAN THOSE MADE
EXPRESSLY IN THESE TOS, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF TITLE, ACCURACY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND ANY WARRANTIES
THAT MAY ARISE FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, OR USAGE OF TRADE.
Limitation of Liability.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER Haggadot.com, NOR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS,
SHAREHOLDERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, OR AFFILIATES (COLLECTIVELY, “THE HAGGADOT PARTIES”)
SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION
DAMAGES RELATING TO LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, USE, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL) ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO OR
CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF THE Haggadot.com SERVICE OR THIS TOS, BASED ON ANY CAUSE OF ACTION, OR FROM UNAUTHORIZED
ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR CONTENT OR DATA, EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED ITS ESSENTIAL
PURPOSE AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. FURTHERMORE, THE HAGGADOT PARTIES WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY
TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY CONTENT UPLOADED. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE
OR THE Haggadot.com SERVICE IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE
MAXIMUM LIABILITY OF THE HAGGADOT PARTIES SHALL BE THE ACTUAL PRICE PAID THEREFORE BY YOU. NOTE: CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS
MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR CERTAIN OTHER TYPES OF DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE
ABOVE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Indemnification.
You must indemnify and hold Haggadot.com and its employees, representatives, agents, affiliates, directors, officers,
managers and shareholders (the "Indemnified Parties") harmless from and against any and all claims, causes of action,
liabilities, damages, losses, expenses, and/or. costs (including without limitation, attorneys' fees) that arise
directly or indirectly out of or from: (i) your violation of these TOS or any other agreement or terms of use with us;
(ii) your violation of any representation or warranty contained herein or any applicable law; (iii) your Content; (iv)
your activities in connection with obtaining any products or services from us; or (v) any activity related to access to
or use of your account by you or any other person. The Indemnified Parties shall (a) promptly give you written notice of
the claim; (b) give you sole control of the defense and settlement of the claim against the Indemnified Parties (except
that you may not settle any claim against the Indemnified Parties without the express written consent of the Indemnified
Parties); and (c) give you reasonable assistance, at your expense.
Term and Termination.
Term. This TOS shall remain in full force and effect while you use the Site and Services.
Termination. In its sole discretion, with or without notice to you, Haggadot.com may: (i) suspend, limit your access to
or terminate your use of the Site and/or the Haggadot.com Service; (ii) suspend, limit your access to or terminate your
account; (iii) remove any of your Content from Haggadot.com's servers and directories; and (iv) prohibit you from using
the Haggadot.com Service and/or the Site. Upon termination for any reason, your right to access and/or use the Site
and/or the Haggadot.com Service will immediately cease.
Survival. Notwithstanding Section 12.2 above, this TOS will survive indefinitely unless and until Haggadot.com chooses
to terminate this TOS.
Effect of Termination. If you or Haggadot.com terminates your use of the Site or the Haggadot.com Service, Haggadot.com
may delete any Content or other materials relating to your use of the Haggadot.com Service on Haggadot.com's servers or
otherwise in its possession. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you understand that any Content you expressly designated as
being “Public” and that Haggadot.com or other users of the Site made available in other areas of the Site other than
your user profile (including, without limitation, in another user’s library) may not be deleted. Haggadot.com will have
no liability to you or any third party for any termination of your use of the Site or Service or for any deletion of
your Content or for any Content that was not deleted that remains on the Site.
Notice.
All notices required or permitted to be given under these TOS (other than in connection with Section 7) will be in
writing and delivered to the other party by any of the following methods: (i) U.S. mail, (ii) overnight courier, or
(iii) electronic mail. If you give notice to Haggadot.com, you must use the following addresses: 19 Worth St., Saratoga
Springs, NY 12866 [email protected] & [email protected]. If Haggadot.com provides notice to you, Haggadot.com will use
the contact information provided by you to Haggadot.com. All notices will be deemed received as follows: (i) if by
delivery by U.S. mail, seven (7) business days after dispatch, (ii) if by overnight courier, on the date receipt is
confirmed by such courier service, or (iii) if by electronic mail, 24 hours after the message was sent, if no "system
error" or other notice of non-delivery is generated. If applicable law requires that a given communication be "in
writing," you agree that email communication will satisfy this requirement.
Dispute Resolution.
All disputes arising out of, relating to or connected with these TOS or your use of any part of the Haggadot.com Service
will be exclusively resolved under confidential binding arbitration held in California, before and in accordance with
the Rules of the American Arbitration Association, by a sole arbitrator applying California law (without regard for
conflicts of law principles). The arbitrator's award will be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of
competent jurisdiction. Any action to enforce an arbitrator's award will be brought in a federal or state court located
in California. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the personal jurisdiction of the Federal and California State
courts. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section Can 14, Haggadot.com may seek equitable relief,
including, without limitation, injunctive relief and specific performance, without the requirement of posting a bond or
other security or proving money damages are insufficient, from a court of competent jurisdiction.
Miscellaneous.
These TOS will be binding upon each party hereto and its successors and permitted assigns, and governed by and construed
in accordance with the laws of the State of California without reference to conflict of law principles. This TOS is not
assignable or transferable by you without the prior written consent of Haggadot.com. This TOS (including all of the
policies and other Agreements described in this TOS, which are incorporated herein by this reference) contain the entire
understanding of the parties regarding its subject matter, and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements and
understandings between the parties regarding its subject matter. No failure or delay by a party in exercising any right,
power or privilege under this TOS will operate as a waiver thereof, nor will any single or partial exercise of any
right, power or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other such right, power,
or privilege. You and Haggadot.com are independent contractors, and no agency, partnership, joint venture, or
employee-employer relationship is intended or created by this TOS.
If you were to write the story of the Jewish people, what would it be? What major plot elements would you include? How would you frame the arc of the story?
In many ways, this is the goal of the Haggadah – to tell the story of the Jewish people. In this essay, we will examine a few ways in which the Haggadah tries to do that, and uncover some debates about how to frame this core story.
We start with the major instruction for the story, from the Mishnah, below:
1) According to the knowledge/ability of the child should his father instruct him. One begins with shame/disgrace, and one finishes with praise; and expounds from “My father was a wandering Aramean/An Aramean tried to destroy my father (Deut 26:5)” until he finishes the entire section. - Mishnah Pesahim 10:4 | משנה מסכת פסחים פרק י:ד ולפי דעתו של בן אביו מלמדו מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח ודורש מארמי אובד אבי עד שיגמור כל הפרשה כולה: |
As you can see from the translation, there are many ambiguities in this text. But the one I want to focus on is this: Is there a connection between: “One begins with shame/disgrace and one finishes with praise” and what follows: “and expounds from “My father was a wandering Aramean/An Aramean tried to destroy my father (Deut 26:5)”? In other words: Is the expounding of this selection from Deuteronomy the fulfillment of the requirement to begin with shame and end with praise? Let’s look at that passage in full, and see if it indeed has such an arc:
1a) You shall then recite as follows before YHVH your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean/ (or: An Aramean tried to destroy my father). He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to YHVH, the God of our fathers, and YHVH heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery and our oppression. YHVH freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now I bring the first fruits of the soil which You, O YHVH, have given me.”… - Deuteronomy 26:5-10 | דברים פרק כו (ה) וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט וַיְהִי שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב: (ו) וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים וַיְעַנּוּנוּ וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה: (ז) וַנִּצְעַק אֶל יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ וַיִּשְׁמַע יְקֹוָק אֶת קֹלֵנוּ וַיַּרְא אֶת עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת לַחֲצֵנוּ: (ח) וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְקֹוָק מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל וּבְאֹתוֹת וּבְמֹפְתִים: (ט) וַיְבִאֵנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיִּתֶּן לָנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ: (י) וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה הֵבֵאתִי אֶת רֵאשִׁית פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לִּי יְקֹוָק וְהִנַּחְתּוֹ לִפְנֵי יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לִפְנֵי יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ: (יא) וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל הַטּוֹב אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּלְבֵיתֶךָ אַתָּה וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבֶּךָ: ס |
First, let’s note the context. This text is central to the Haggadah, as we will see below. But the Haggadah cuts off the selection after verse 8 (corresponding to the break in the translation, above). This full text is recited when the pilgrim brings his first fruits to Jerusalem, which actually happens on Shavuot, not Pesah (this also perhaps explains why the phrase “until he finishes the entire section” is in our Mishnah above – it was probably taken from Mishnah Bikkurim, which describes the bringing of the first fruits, and not meant to be taken literally here, because it would end with the description of the first fruits, which doesn’t happen on Pesah!).
But let’s see if we can identify the arc from shame to praise in this selection. It seems there are at least a few:
1) Land: from “wandering” to “a land of milk and honey”
2) Theology/nationality: from “Aramean” to a people who “cries out to YHVH”
3) Population growth: from “meager numbers” to “populous nation”
4) Redemption: From “heavy labor” to “freed us from Egypt”
This text would then seem to be a logical application of the mitzvah of telling from shame to praise. Indeed, some scholars believe that was the original intention of the Mishnah. But already by the time of the first generation after the Mishnah, there was a different approach. Other biblical texts were cited instead, in search of the story of moving from shame to praise. Let’s first look at the Babylonian Talmud’s understanding:
2) “One begins with shame/disgrace, and one finishes with praise.” What is “shame/disgrace”? Rav said: In the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshippers. Shmuel [Rava] said: “We were slaves…” (Deuteronomy 6:21) - Babylonian Talmud Pesahim 116a | תלמוד בבלי מסכת פסחים דף קטז עמוד א - ב מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח מאי בגנות? רב אמר: מתחלה עובדי עבודת גלולים היו אבותינו. [ושמואל] אמר: עבדים היינו. |
Now the text from Deuteronomy 26 is no longer part of the discussion. Instead, we have a debate about how to describe the move from shame to praise. Focusing on the element of shame, Rav, not quoting any biblical text directly, identifies shame with idolatry. Shmuel (or Rava, as we will see in a minute) counters with a different identification of shame: slavery. To illustrate this position, he quotes Deuteronomy 6:21.
Now we have 2 opinions about what shame is: idolatry or slavery. But why one vs. the other? What are the implications of framing the story as moving from a starting point of idolatry vs. framing it from a starting point of slavery? This might be worth discussing at the seder! A few possibilities:
1) The level of responsibility is different in each. In slavery, the Egyptians are the active outside force that leads to shame. In idolatry, this responsibility (perhaps) rests more internally.
2) God is more actively present in the move from slavery (outstretched arm, signs and wonders) than in the move from idolatry, which was fundamentally a personal relationship with Avraham.
3) The move out of slavery was a 1-time event. We never went back to being slaves. The move from idolatry is more complicated. After all, the sin of the golden calf occurred after the Exodus. So is the move meant to be linear or more iterative?
Let’s investigate Rav’s position a bit further. In the text from the Babylonian Talmud, Rav doesn’t quote a biblical text. But in the parallel text in the Palestinian Talmud, he does. We look at that below:
3) Rav said: As in the beginning. “Our ancestors dwelt beyond the river (Euphrates)”… “But I took your father, Avraham, from beyond the river (Euphrates)” [Joshua 24:2-3] - Jerusalem Talmud Pesahim 10:5; 37d | תלמוד ירושלמי מסכת פסחים פרק י דף לז טור ד /ה"ג רב אמר (מ)[כ]תחילה (צריך להתחיל) בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם וגו' ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר |
Two things to notice about the difference in this text vs. the Babylonian Talmud version. First, here there is no debate. Shmuel is not present. But also: Rav’s position is less clear. In the Babylonian Talmud, he definitely associated shame with idolatry. But here Rav quotes a verse (our third biblical selection so far). Let’s look at that in context:
3a) 1 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt. [this is where Haggadah ends the quote] - Joshua 24:1-4 | יהושע פרק כד (א) וַיֶּאֱסֹף יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת כָּל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁכֶמָה וַיִּקְרָא לְזִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּלְרָאשָׁיו וּלְשֹׁפְטָיו וּלְשֹׁטְרָיו וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים: (ב) וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶל כָּל הָעָם כֹּה אָמַר יְקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵבֶר הַנָּהָר יָשְׁבוּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם מֵעוֹלָם תֶּרַח אֲבִי אַבְרָהָם וַאֲבִי נָחוֹר וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים: (ג) וָאֶקַּח אֶת אֲבִיכֶם אֶת אַבְרָהָם מֵעֵבֶר הַנָּהָר וָאוֹלֵךְ אוֹתוֹ בְּכָל אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וארב וָאַרְבֶּה אֶת זַרְעוֹ וָאֶתֶּן לוֹ אֶת יִצְחָק: (ד) וָאֶתֵּן לְיִצְחָק אֶת יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת עֵשָׂו וָאֶתֵּן לְעֵשָׂו אֶת הַר שֵׂעִיר לָרֶשֶׁת אוֹתוֹ וְיַעֲקֹב וּבָנָיו יָרְדוּ מִצְרָיִם: |
These verses have a number of additional candidates for the move from shame to praise. It could be idolatry (“your ancestors…worshiped other gods”) Or it could be other transitions: Land: From Euphrates to Canaan. Or numbers: “many descendants.” In fact, if we read just a few more verses, it could even be from slavery to freedom (although if that were the focus, then Rav would have likely started later in the chapter). The point is: If Rav’s position were associated only with these verses, it becomes much more ambiguous or multivocal.
Now, let’s return to the Babylonian Talmud for a minute, and take a closer look at Shmuel’s position. The first thing to note, as Josh Kulp has pointed out in the Schechter Haggadah, is that in almost all the manuscripts of the Talmud, this position is not associated with Shmuel at all. It is associated with a later rabbi: most often Rava. This may help us understand the debate better. Rav and Shmuel are contemporaries. There is nothing surprising in a debate between them, and hundreds of their debates are recorded in the Talmud. But Rava lives 3 generations after Rav. He is not in debate with Rav; he draws from Rav’s teachings. I understand why a copyist might have changed Rava to Shmuel: It makes much more sense for Shmuel to be debating Rav. But since most manuscripts point to Rava as stating the position, let’s figure out why he might have disagreed with Rav, so many generations later.
Well, if Rav’s position was represented by the Palestinian Talmud, then perhaps it was in fact about a move from outside the land of Israel (shame) to inside the land of Israel (praise). Rav, who grew up in the land of Israel before moving to Babylonia, could have reasonably told that story. But Rava, who spent his whole life in the diaspora of Babylonia might have had a harder time telling a story about shame being associated with living outside of Israel. So perhaps that was his motivation in coming up with a different arc: from slavery to freedom. Ultimately, Rav’s opinion as expressed in the Babylonian Talmud is also not about moving from outside Israel to inside Israel. And that might also have been a focus of the Babylonian academies which preferred to see a debate between two positions (idolatry vs. slavery) that they could see themselves identifying with.
This is all more or less speculation in trying to answer the question of why Rav and Shmuel (=Rava) debated the identification of shame. Now let’s see how our Haggadah dealt with this debate, and prepare to compare that to a different Haggadah tradition, discovered in the Cairo Genizah.
In most debates in Jewish tradition, the job of the decisor is to choose which side carries the day. But an unusual thing happened in the debate about shame. BOTH positions were preserved. Here is one example of that:
4) Rav said: In the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshippers. Shmuel said: “We were slaves…” But now we do both of them. - R Yitzhak Alfasi (10th c.), Pesahim 25b | רי"ף מסכת פסחים דף כה עמוד ב מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח: מאי גנות אמר רב מתחלה עובדי ע"ז ושמואל אמר עבדים והאידנא עבדינא כתרוייהו: |
The Rif (R Yitzhak Alfasi) took the surprising move of siding with both Rav and (in his version) Shmuel. And indeed, this is the way our Haggadah is organized: BOTH Rav’s opinion (from idolatry to service) and Shmuel’s opinion (from slavery to freedom) are mentioned. Below is the order of the Maggid (telling) section from a traditional Haggadah:
You can see that in section C, the story from shame to praise expresses Shmuel/Rava’s position of slavery to freedom, and in section F, the story from shame to praise expresses Rav’s position of idolatry to service. Section H is the text we first looked at from Deut 26, which might be a third approach to identifying shame and praise.
We will return to some of the other sections, specifically Section A and Section D, to see if they also have a connection with shame and praise. Section G, which we will not touch on in depth, is worth noting includes the final group of biblical verses: the section from Genesis 15 in which God tells Abraham that his descendents will be slaves but they will come out of Egypt:
5) Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. - Genesis 15:13-14 | בראשית פרק טו (יג) וַיֹּאמֶר לְאַבְרָם יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי גֵר יִהְיֶה זַרְעֲךָ בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא לָהֶם וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה: (יד) וְגַם אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר יַעֲבֹדוּ דָּן אָנֹכִי וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יֵצְאוּ בִּרְכֻשׁ גָּדוֹל: |
We will look more into sections A and D further on. But I will argue that sections A, C, D, F, G, and H are ALL versions of moving from shame to praise. That leaves sections B and E as identifying the questions that lead to this telling (although even section E – the 4 questions – includes some answers that also move from shame to praise). The Maggid section of the Haggadah can be seen as many different attempts to tell the story of shame to praise.
Now the Haggadah that we are familiar with is not the only Haggadah in Jewish tradition. Like most liturgical works, there is another tradition, represented by the Palestinian Jewish community, and preserved in the Cairo Genizah. The Palestinian Haggadah is much shorter than the Babylonian one (which is the one we use), and represents the approach of the Palestinian Talmud. (Daniel Goldschmidt published a version of this Haggadah in his critical edition from 1960, and that is the text we will look at below.) Let’s look at a comparison:
6) Palestinian Haggadah Maggid Section:
| Babylonian Haggadah Maggid Section:
|
The Palestinian text is much shorter. And it also does not include the opinion of Shmuel/Rava. In this Haggadah, Rav’s position is the only one expressed. And the formulation of this position is in the words of the Palestinian Talmud, not the Babylonian expression of Rav:
5) How different is this night from all other nights!... According to the knowledge/ability of the child should his father instruct him. One begins with shame/disgrace, and one finishes with praise And one says: Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River… - Palestinian Haggadah (ed. Goldschmidt, p. 78) | מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות... לפי דעתו שלבן אביו מלמדו מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח ואומר בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם... |
Here the Haggadah quotes the Mishnah (the first text we saw above) and moves right to the quote from Joshua, without identifying the shame or praise, as in the formulation in our Haggadah. It is a much simpler attempt at answering the question: what is the story of the Jewish people. It may not even be more narrow in its identification of shame and praise, because, as we saw, the verses themselves are more ambiguous about that story.
In any case, this Haggadah with only Rav’s opinion was not accepted in the Babylonian Jewish community. In fact, we have a fascinating responsum that directly attacks this Haggadah:
12) Thus said Rav Natronai Gaon (mid 9th c.), head of the yeshiva: Whoever says in Kiddush on Pesah “who has sanctified Israel”, and when they finish “Mah Nishtana” they don’t say “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt,” and doesn’t say “From the beginning” – Rather they just say: “Joshua spoke to the whole nation” until “And Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt” (Josh 24:2-4); and they say from “Baruch Shomer” until “God out and learn” and they read “My father was a wandering Aramean” until the end of the section, with the verses as they are and does not say any Midrash at all, and says “Rabban Gamliel says” and “Who has redeemed us” and Hallel – there is a big surprise in this. Whoever behaves in this way, it is not even necessary to say that he has not fulfilled his obligation. But also – whoever does this is a heretic, and of divided heart, and rejects the words of the sages, and scorns the words of the Mishnah and Talmud. The communities must excommunicate this person and separate him from the congregation of Israel… Didn’t the “We were slaves” that the sages said come from the Torah? “You should say to your child: We were slaves to Pharaoh” (Deut 6:21). And “Joshua said to the whole people (Josh 24:2) – isn’t this the same as: In the beginning (our ancestors) were idol worshippers? For we learn “Begin with degradation and end in praise” And we said – What is degradation? Rav said [from the beginning and Shmuel said] “we were slaves”. And unless they had ill will in their heart and didn’t want to say words of Mishnah and Talmud, why would they care if they say “From the beginning?” Rather they are heretics who mock and scorn the words of Hazal, and are students of Anan, his name be cursed…who said to all of those who mistakenly follow him: Leave the words of Mishnah and Talmud, and I will make my own Talmud for you…and we must excommunicate them to not pray with Israel in synagogue, and separate from them until they return to the right way, and accept upon them the custom of the 2 yeshivot… - Seder Rav Amram Gaon, p. 111-12; Teshuvot of R Natronai Gaon, ed. Brody, p. 257-8. | סדר רב עמרם גאון סדר פסח וכך אמר רב נטרונאי גאון ריש מתיבתא, מי שאומר בקידוש של פסח אשר קדש את ישראל, וכשגומרין מה נשתנה אין אומר עבדים היינו לפרעה, ואינו אומר מתחלה, אלא אומר ויאמר יהושע אל כל העם עד ויעקב ובניו ירדו מצרים, ואומר מברוך שומר עד צא ולמד, וקורא ארמי אובד אבי עד שגומר את הפרשה כלה, פסוקין כמות שהן ואינו אומר מדרש כלל, ואומר רבן גמליאל אומר, ואשר גאלנו והלל, תימה גדול בדבר זה. מי שנוהג מנהג זה אין צריך לומר שלא יצא, אלא כל מי שעושה כן, מין הוא, וחלוק לב הוא, וכופר בדברי חכמים ז"ל, ובוזה דברי משנה ותלמוד. וחייבין כל הקהלות לנדותו ולהבדילו מקהל ישראל, ככתוב והוא יבדל מקהל הגולה +עזרא י', ח'+. וכי עבדים היינו שאמרו חכמים ז"ל לא מן התורה הוא, ואמרת לבנך עבדים היינו לפרעה +דברים ו', כ"א+. ויאמר יהושע אל כל העם +יהושע כ"ד, ב'+ לא מתחלה עובדי ע"ז הוא. שכך שנינו מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח, ואמרנו מאי גנות רב אמר עבדים היינו. ואילולי טינא שיש בלבבם וחלוק לבם ואין רוצין לומר דברי משנה ותלמוד, מאי איכפת להם לומר מתחלה. אלא הללו מינין ומלעיגין ובוזין דברי חז"ל, ותלמידי ענן ירקב שמו, אבי אביו של דניאל, חוט המשולש ברשע ובמינות, שאמר לכל התועים והזונים אחריו, עזבו דברי משנה ותלמוד ואני אעשה לכם תלמוד משלי. ועדיין הם בטעותם ונעשו אומה לעצמן, ותקן תלמוד של רשע ושל עול לעצמו, וראה מרנא ורבנא אלעזר אלוף ז"ל דמן אספמיא ספר תועבות שלו שקורין אותו "ספר מצות", כמה תחבולות יש בו. ועכשיו צריכין לנדותם שלא להתפלל עם ישראל בבית הכנסת ולהבדילם עד שחוזרין למוטב, ומקבלין עליהן שנוהגין כמנהג של שתי ישיבות, שכל מי שאינו נוהג מנהג שלנו לא יצא ידי חובתו. |
As you can see, Rav Natronai Gaon, the rabbinic leader of the Babylonian Jewish community, knew of this shorter Haggadah, and was very opposed to it, going so far as to recommend excommunication for anyone who used it! Why the strong language? Well it seems Rav Natronai Gaon saw this as a Karaite Haggadah. Karaites, who were in war with the rabbinic Jews in the middle ages to become the true heir to the mantle of Judaism, rejected many of the rabbinic commentaries and innovations. They were more comfortable only quoting the Bible in their liturgy, including the Haggadah. In fact, the Haggadah that R. Natronai was referring to was NOT a Karaite Haggadah, but a Palestinian Haggadah. It is not clear if R. Natronai knew that and was using the label Karaite to really push against the Palestinian tradition, or if he honestly thought it was indeed Karaite. In any case, we can see why the Palestinian Haggadah did not survive this broadside and is not used in modern Jewish communities today.
Before closing, I want to look at three other brief passages in the Haggadah that also seem to expound on the question of: What is the story of the Jewish people?
Our Haggadah opens with a selection known as Ha Lachma Anya (Section A), which is not found in Palestinian Haggadot and not mentioned in the Talmud.
13) This is the bread of poverty/affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who are needy come and celebrate Pesah. Now we are here; next year in the land of Israel. Now we are slaves, next year – free. - Haggadah of Pesah | הגדה של פסח הא לחמא עניא דאכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים. כל דכפין ייתי ויכל כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח. השתא הכא, לשנה הבאה בארעא דישראל. השתא עבדי, לשנה הבאה בני חורין. |
After the invitation for all to come and eat, we then see another expression of the arc of shame to praise (although not explicitly identified as such). It is expressed first as Land: here (diaspora) to Israel. Then it is expressed as slavery to freedom. This seems very much like the debate between Rav (representing the arc of land, at least in the Palestinian Talmud) and Shmuel/Rava. But the difference is this: While the debate between Rav and Shmuel/Rava was expressed as how to tell the story of the past, this is a multivocal presentation of the story in which we are still living out. This isn’t recalling a journey, it is living a journey in the present, and looking to a time of “praise” which is only to be found next year – in the future.
There is another selection that plays out the theme of praise in a different way. The opinion of Shmuel/Rava is expressed in our Haggadah in fuller language than it is in the Babylonian Talmud:
14) We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. But YHVH our God took us out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, Blessed be He, had not taken our ancestors out of Egypt, then we, our children, and our grandchildren would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. And even if we were all wise, we were all perceptive, we were all elders, and we were all learned in Torah, it would still be our duty to tell about the Exodus from Egypt. And the more one talks about the Exodus from Egypt, behold, this is praiseworthy. - Haggadah of Pesah | הגדה של פסח עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים. ויוציאנו ה' אלהינו משם ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה. ואלו לא הוציא הקדוש ברוך הוא את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משועבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים. ואפילו כולנו חכמים כולנו נבונים כולנו זקנים כולנו יודעים את התורה. מצוה עלינו לספר ביציאת מצרים. וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח. |
Here, the arc from shame to praise seems straightforward in the first line: We were slaves (shame) and God took us out (praise). But the paragraph goes on to identify another form of praise: telling the story. The more one talks about the Exodus, the more praiseworthy ( meshubah ) one is. This linguistic connection between the shevah of the Mishnah and the meshubah of this act of telling brings the story into a different focus: The arrival at the end of the journey is not one of leaving Egypt or even entering the land or committing to God (Rav’s opinion). It is the act of telling. As David Silber points out, this is the only night during the year that a Jew has to fulfill a command of telling (whereas the mitzvah of remembering is fulfilled every day). This also brings us to the present. If Rav and Shmuel/Rava were debating the arc of a story from the past, and Ha Lahma Anya focuses on the future to locate the moment of praise, this section identifies the praise with the present. We reach praise when we tell the story.
Finally, we will look at one last text in the Haggadah (Section D). This is the debate between the rabbis and Ben Zoma about when one must mention the Exodus from Egypt:
15) We mention (mazkirin) the exodus from Egypt at night. R’ Elazar b. Azariah said: Here I am as a 70 year-old and I have not yet merited to hear the exodus from Egypt spoken at night. Until Ben Zoma derived [from this verse] as it says “So that you remember (tizkor) the day that you left from the land of Egypt all of the days of your life (Deut 16:3)” [Why does the verse say] all of the days of your life? [Had the verse been written] the days of your life [it would mean just] the days, [since the verse is written] all of the days [this includes] the nights. The Rabbis say: The days of your life [means] the days, all of the days of your life comes to include the days of the Messiah. - Tosefta Berakhot 1:10 (brought in the Haggadah) | תוספתא מסכת ברכות (ליברמן) פרק אהלכה ימזכירין יציאת מצרים בלילות אמ' ר' לעזר בן עזריה הרי אני כבן שבעים שנה ולא זכיתי שאשמע שתאמר יציאת מצרים בלילות עד שדרשה בן זומא שנ' למען תזכור את יום צאתך מארץ מצרים כל ימי חייך ימי חייך הימים כל ימי חייך הלילות וחכמים או' ימי חייך העולם הזה כל ימי חייך להביא לימות המשיח |
This debate is about the extra word in the verse Deut 16:3. The Torah could have cut the word “all” from the verse: “…that you left from the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” So what is the significance of the word “all”? Ben Zoma says it is to mention it at night, and the majority opinion of the sages is that night is included in the phrase “days of your life,” so the word “all” must come to include something else: the world to come.
What is not always clear when we read this in the Haggadah is that in fact Ben Zoma does not believe that the story of the Exodus will be mentioned in the redeemed world at the end of time. The debate, which the Haggadah cuts off, continues below:
16) Ben Zoma said to them: Must we mention the exodus from Egypt during the days of the Messiah? But doesn’t it already say (Jeremiah 16:14-15) “Therefore, behold, the days come, says God, that it shall no more be said, As God lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As God lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the North.” They said to him: This is not to say that the exodus from Egypt would be excised from its place, but that the exodus from Egypt will be added to the [oppression of the foreign] Kingdoms. The Kingdoms will be central, and the exodus from Egypt will be peripheral. - Tosefta Berakhot 1:10 | תוספתא מסכת ברכות (ליברמן) פרק א הלכה יאמ' להם בן זומא וכי מזכירין יציאת מצרים לימות המשיח והלא כבר נאמ' לכן הנה ימים [באים] נאם ה' ולא יאמר עוד חי ה' אשר העלה את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים כי אם חי ה' אשר העלה ואשר הביא את זרע בית ישראל מארץ צפון אמרו לו לא שתעקר יציאת מצרים ממקומה אלא שתהא יציאת מצרים מוסף על מלכיות מלכיות עיקר ויציאת מצרים טפילה |
Ben Zoma makes it clear: In the days to come, God will no longer be referred to as the God who took the children of Israel out of Egypt. In the redeemed world, the story of the Exodus from Egypt is no longer relevant. It was a temporary narrative. The seder won’t exist in the future. But the majority opinion counters Ben Zoma’s vision, saying, effectively, the story of the Exodus from Egypt can never go away. It might be decreased in importance, but it is always there. It is a core part of the Jewish story, and even in the redeemed world, it will be told. This, I think, is the ultimate question about the story of moving from shame to praise. Is the recounting of that journey temporary or eternal? How much of the trauma of shame and the exhilaration of praise lasts forever? According to the majority, those narratives always stay with you, even in the perfect future of the Messiah.
Ultimately, the Maggid section of the Haggadah is a collection attempts to tell, and retell, the story of the Jewish people moving from shame to praise. When viewed in this lens, seder night becomes an opportunity to debate these framings and enter into the age-old conversation around what is the story of the Jewish people.
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