Enemies and Enemies, Lavan and Esav

Good moed,

In the Haggadah we read at the Passover Seder, we talked about the desire of Lavan to destroy the Jewish people, as he pursued Yaakov. It is odd that we singled out Lavan, and never even mentioned Yaakov's brother, Esav, who also tried to kill him!

The Maharal of Prague explained that we mention Lavan on Pesach night because his brand of hatred represents the unique enmity faced by Jews through the generations. Esav tried to kill Yaakov because Yaakov received the blessings, but Lavan hated without cause - Yaakov had only helped him grow in wealth, and now Lavan wanted to kill him. Thus we mention Lavan's hatred at the Seder, reminding ourselves of the hatred we have faced, and the fact that Gd has saved us time and time again, even from such irrationally implacable enemies.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Haggadah, Yaakov and Aliyah

Hi,

The Haggadah points out that Yaakov descended to Egypt to 'sojourn there' rather than to live there permanently.

The Maharal of Prague observed that the Haggadah is trying to say that had Yaakov and his family actually intended to abandon life in Israel and settle permanently in Egypt, they would not have been redeemed from slavery. They merited to be brought out of Egypt specifically because they, all along, had understood they would return to Israel and had intended to return to Israel.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Meaning of Matzah

Hi,

Matzah plays an odd role at our Seder.

On the one hand, it represents affliction, poverty and slavery, and so it has no sweetening ingredients - it's just flour and water.

On the other hand, we carried the matzah on our shoulders as we left Egypt, and it didn't rise because our redemption was so quick. In this sense, matzah is about redemption.

In fact, Ramban wrote that matzah is meant to play both roles, symbolic of both slavery and redemption. On the other hand, Maharal wrote that matzah is primarily an instrument of redemption. True, matzah incorporates the symbols of poverty, but only in order to highlight and accentuate the strength of HaShem's redemption.

Therefore, Ramban translates the Torah's term for Matzah, לחם עוני, as "bread of affliction," but Maharal renders it as "bread of poverty," because a pauper is free and unencumbered by property - just like the Jews, on their way out of Egypt.

(Ramban to Parshat Reeh, Maharal's Haggadah shel Pesach)

Have a great day,
Mordechai