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In the Hagaddah it says “Tzay Ulmad”. Go out and learn. The gematria of “Tzay” is 91. Route 91 takes you to Lakewood. The Haggadah is telling us to go out to Lakewood and learn!
reenmasheen, lol, that’s cute!
jaymatt19: I didnt really get it.
reenmasheen: Who figured that out? Besides it also takes you where ever it goes in the other direction from lakewood.
Aussie, If you didn’t get it, maybe someone else can explain it more clearly than I did.
reenmasheen: Purim was a month ago
aussie: which part of the DT didn’t you get? we could help you understand it better!
???? ??? ???, ???? ??????
Why do we say this Pesach Night? What does Lavan have to do with us being slaves to the Egyptians?
In the sefer “Chukas HaPesach” it states that the process of going down to Egypt began due to the jealousy the brothers had towards Yosef. And who caused this jealousy? ???? ??? ???, Yaakov worked the first 7 years for Rachel, and Lavan switched the bride to Leah. Had Yaakov married Rachel first, then Yosef would have been the bechor, and then the brothers wouldn’t have been jealous of the treatment Yosef received, afterall he was the bechor!
Therefore we start by saying ???? ??? ???, ???? ??????, since Lavan was the catalyst for the entire events.
Jaymatt19: Never mind i reread it and I understand it now. Before I didnt read the question so I couldn’t figure out what it was talking about, but i get it now. Very nice dvar torah.
JayMatt19: I like that one
JayMatt, how far does it go? maybe it should say about eisav because he’s the reason yaakov went to charan in the first place?
Moish, Rivka told Yaakov to go to Lavan for protection from Eisav. Yitzchak, however, told Yaakov to do to Lavan to get a wife. So you could easily say he would have gone anyways
i guess. you’re right – he wouldn’t have married a girl from canaan anyway, so yeah i guess he would’ve gone for his cousins either way.
I started reading Touched by the Haggada (i think that’s the name) by Yechiel Spero. (It takes the haggadah and inserts divrei tora, drashim & stories accordingly.) There’s an intro by R’ Nosson Sherman. A small part of the intro is the following:
When the yidden crossed the yam suf they sang uz yashir- praising Hashem that He is the greatest… however, throughout the midbar we hear of the yidden complaining, even saying it would’ve been better to stay in mitzrayim. What’s pshat of this ungratefulness? In mitzrayim Hashem kept up the slavery and torture so that the yidden shouldn’t forget they’re in galus. Unfortunately, most of klal yisroel became comfortable with being a slave; it bacame a way of life (“oh well, that’s life”) and they lost hope of a yeshuah ever arriving. They stopped hoping and BELIEVING. All those that gave up were killed in makas choshech. The small percentage that were saved were the ones where the feelings of hope and belief lay dormant and Hashem was able to arouse that feeling and bring them out of mitzrayim.
(This is just a small point that came into the big picture/intro. I hope I’m not ruining it and that I chapped correctly.)
I felt this was very applicable to things we’ve been discussing in many threads. being thankful for our every day things, realizing Hashem is behind everything, realizing it’s for our good, always keeping positive and hoping for moshiach. Like the yidden in mitzrayim, we all shrug our shoulders and say “oh well, this is the way life is, can’t help it” and move on. We don’t try to change; we don’t even WANT to change anymore! But all Hashem needs is for us not to give up wanting, hoping, believing- and with that He will at least be able to take something that lies dormant and arouse it and bring the yeshua- B’KAROV B’YAMEINU AMEN
I have an original or so I think) vort.
Here it is:
Why are we not allowed to eat chomeitz and allowed to eat matzoh (other than the pshat reason, which is mentioned in the Torah)?
The answer is that this is leZeicher Yetzias Mitzroyim, since Bnei Yisroel were like chomeitz, puffed up, in good positions, Yoseif was high-ranking, and they were multiplying very quickly. Then Hash-m made us like matzoh, ‘baking’ us in our tzoros, making us avodim to the Mitzrim and making us do avoidas perech, and we were ready to snap, being on the 49th level of tumaah, being fed hard-to-digest matzoh in order not to be fed by the Mitzrim often, as the Shelah says on Maseches Pesochim, and then Hash-m Yisboroch took us out at just the right time, with ultimate precision, right before we were to descend to the ultimate impure level of contamination. This is a commemoration to the state we were in before leaving Mitzroyim, how thin we were, how close to destruction and complete contamination and impurity we had been, before Hash-m with divine precision and timing, took us out from the beis avodim.
niiiiice!
from Rabbi Asher Dicker’s haggadah
“??????? ????? ????? ??????”
We would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt
How do we know that if not for ????? ????? we would still be Pharaoh’s slaves today? Over thousands of years of history, isn’t it possible we would have been freed some other, less miraculous way?
R’ Aharon Kotler ??”? taught that while we may not have still been physically enslaved to Pharaoh until today, we would still have been ???????, subservient spiritually to the culture of the Egyptians & the 49 levels of ????? we had lowered ourselves to, if we not been redeemed, given the ????, and experienced the ????? ????? at ?? ????.
Thank you for the compliment areivim. 🙂
Thankis, David
Mussar HaTorah
10 Nisan, 5769 Vol. 10, No. 24 Shabbos HaGadol
[Spring]
The experience of the Jewish people in Egyptian slavery was not merely one of hard labor without compensation. Tortured by the taskmasters and their newborn babies murdered en masse, the Jews suffered in Egypt to an unimaginable
degree. When Hashem freed them from bondage, with an unparalleled revelation of His awesome mastery of the forces of nature, the Jews must have felt an overwhelming sense of ecstasy. Imagine concentration camp inmates being liberated by Allied forces, or prisoners being released after years of suffering and torture in Soviet prisons. Would it make an iota of a difference to them if the weather was less than favorable? Would they mind having to walk through a snowfall to their freedom? To our Father in heaven, it did make a difference.
This amazing ability, and the resultant responsibility to show gratitude, is shared by every person, in every generation. If we simply spend a few moments contemplating the unending flow of goodness bestowed upon us by Hashem, we will realize that all our prayers and mitzvos cannot even begin to thank Hashem for all His kindness.
JayMatt: as always A+ R’ JayMatt!
areivim: i really like that! i had no idea Yechiel Spero had a book on the haggada of a touched by a story! i’m ganna go buy it, i love his books!
David S.: well done! welcome to this great thread!
an open book: real nice piece there!
chofetzchaim: great vort!
wow today was a great day for this thread! keep em coming everyone!
Wow, I was able to do everyday this week. Thank you all for your kind words and wishes:
On to the d’var todah ( well before licht today 😉 )
The following is said in the name of R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurbach zt”l:
Why is the door closed during Ha Lachma Ania yet opened during Sfuch Chamoshcha?
R’ Shlomo Zalman explains that one of the dinim of the Korban Pesach was that it needs to be eaten in one place, and it was forbidden to take the meat outside. However, the Hallel (which was said after the eating of the Korban Pesach) was able to be said in a place other than where the Korban Pesach was consumed.
Therefore, up until the point of the consumption of the Afikoman (which is a zecher for the Korban Pesach) the door remains closed (in order to prevent ‘traffic’), however, once the Afikoman has already been eaten and we begin to say Hallel, we open the door as the din preventing ‘traffic’ no longer applies.
mod72: even with pesach i’ll be doing one on tuesday iy”h! i have a yartzait on erev pesach! good shobbos!
time to clear the board again!
Two divrei torah on the Makkos:
1. (Malbim) By Klal Yisroel, the refuah precedes the makka, however, the reverse is true in regards to the other nations. Klal Yisroel only gets a makka as a means for a reawakening to do teshuva or to better their avodas Hashem, therefore the refuah precedes the makka. However, by the other nations, the makka is brought for the sake of the makka (i.e. they deserve to be punished), therefore there is no refuah prior to the makka.
This is in the passuk ??-????? ???-???? ??????, ??-???? ????, ?? ??? ???-?, ????. Meaning, I will not give over punishment to you in the same manner that I punished the Egyptians (i.e. they received punishment for the sake of punishment, you will only be punished in order to get you back on the correct path ?? ??? ???-?, ????).
#2: (Sfas Emes) There are numerous opinions as to how many makkos the Egyptians suffered. R’ Yossi HaGallili says 60, 240 is the opinion of R’ Eliezer, and Rebbi Akiva says it was 300. When you add up all those numbers you get 600. Add the 10 makkos and 3 for ??”? ??”? ???”? and you get a sum total of 613.
The lesson from this is as follows. There are 613 ways of keeping the Torah as explained in multiple places in the Zohar. Therefore, it would be inferred that there must be 613 opposite evil powers, therefore to overpower these 613 negative forces, there needed to be 613 makkos.
The same way that we can get 613 makkos out of the original 10, we also find that all 613 mitzvos are incorporated within the 10 Dibros. And the same way that the passuk tells us by the 10 makkos “???? ??????” (and only after does it say ??? ?????), it also says by the dibros “????? ????? ??????”.
Hope you’ve enjoyed and bli neder, I hope to continue to give daily pieces about the Hagadda until Yom Tov.
mod72: Amen & thank you!
JayMatt19: SUPERB!
jaymatt19: nice!
???? ???? ???
The reason for this theory is because the passuk states ????? ??-????? ????, ???? ???. Since the entire month is referred to as the Month of the Geula, Therefore one could easily come to the conclusion that the mitzva begins at the beginning of the month, therefore it says ????? ??, meaning only at the time when one has the matzah and marror in front of them.
R’ Moshe Sternbuch in his sefer Ta’am Vo’aas (on the Hagadda) says that there is a fundamental lesson to be learned from this. There is insufficient time to state all of the accolades and miracles of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Nevertheless, one must serve Hashem in the way we are instructed to. The Philosophers get it wrong. They will praise Hashem and learn about his wondrous ways, but they lack the main focus, which is the fulfillment of the mitzvos. Therefore it becomes a mitzva seder night to tell the story of Yitzias Mitzraim, to teach us that the Ikar is keeping mitzvos, for that is what connects us to Hashem.
(R’ Sternbuch concludes by stating that the Gra went as far as to not say Avadim Hayinu on Shabbos HaGadol, since he saw from the drasha above that it was not its proper time).
JayMatt: well done again! i want to know when the R’ JayMatt Haggadah will be available? i want a signed copy of the sefer!
B’chol dor v’dor omdim aleinu l’chaloseinu
R’ Chaim Berlin asks why the double lashon? It could easily have just said “B’chol dor” (in every genreation).
The reason why it says “dor” twice, is due to the fact that no two generations are the same in terms of their methods and decrees, yet it nevertheless boils down to the same thing.
There are generations in which the Jews are persecuted and tortured with antisemetic laws in an attempt to break our will and our connection to Hashem. The Founding father of this method was Paroh.
There is also an alternative method which uses love and friendship in an attempt to separate us from our service to Hashem (e.g. assimilation). The founding father of this tumah was Bilam.
There is a common denominator “Omdim Aleinu L’chalosaynu” the only difference is the method used to reach this desired goal.
For this we say, i.e. on both of these methods, HaKadosh Baruch Hu Matzilanu M’yadam. Hashem saves us from both types of attacks.
It would be neat if someone would give a DT on Birchat Ha Chamma. Anyone able to?
david s. has one
can i give a dvar torah one of these days
Feel free to post a D’Var Torah. YW Moderator-72
Can i please request that whenever a phrase or word is in another language (as it often is in this thread) that who ever is posting it please translate it into english? Thank you.
yashrus, nice to have you around again.
~a~
yashrus20: glad your back to post a devar torah here!
D’Var Torah – On Pesach
?????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???
The Torah points out that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim in the springtime, when the weather was beautiful, so that we could fully enjoy this great event. Surely we would have been happy to leave the horrible Mitzrayim in any weather, but, Hashem added this special touch for our benefit. We learn from here that it is a mitzvah to take the emotional and psychological needs of the recipient into account, not just the physical needs, when we do a chesed.
There were two Jewish soldiers in the Czar’s army in Russia, who were stuck with no place to go for Pesach. They finally located a Jewish merchant who lived in a town not too far from their base. They managed to contact the merchant who told them that he was able to=2 0offer Pesach hospitality for the two of them. He added that he routinely had guests for Pesach and due to the expenses involved he charged a fee, as any Inn would.
The fee was a hefty sum, but the poor soldiers had no choice. When they got there, they found that the accommodations were lavish. The food was scrumptious, gourmet quality,and plentiful. Their room, the beds, the baths, the linens were exquisite. The two soldiers made sure to get their money’s worth and they did – it was beyond what they ever could have imagined or hoped for.
The day after Pesach ended, as the two soldiers were taking their leave of the mansion, the host handed each of them an envelope and wished them well. Each opened his envelope and found the money that he had given the host for their Pesach stay-completely untouched. Now they were baffled. Why was he giving back the money? What was going on?
The host explained, “I never had any intention of keeping the money or charging you anything. Hachnosas orchim is a mitzvah which I20am proud to do. I was simply afraid that if you thought all of this was free, you would be hesitant and refrain from imposing on my hospitality. By making you think you were paying for it, I was assured that you would take full advantage with joy, of all that was being offered, without holding back. Now that Pesach is over and that goal was accomplished, there is no longer a need to hold your money so I handed it back.”
Have a Good Yom Tov!
Jax, very nice! thank you for sharing! may the neshama have an aliyah!
Jax, well done, may the nishama have an aliya.
The following is from R’ Moshe Sternbuch’s sefer: Ta’am Vodaas (on the Hagadda)
Of all ways to deal with the son who is a rahsa, why specifically do we go after his teeth?
Teeth are used for chewing. Food that is otherwise not able to be consumed, gets chewed over and over again until the point in which it is now ready to be swallowed. This is what the ba’al hahagada is telling us. The rasha has no patience to “chew”, rather than getting his Torah slowly, properly and in ways it can be “digested” he wants a quick answer. Therefore we show him that if he treats his “food for the body” the same way he treats his “food for the nishama” then he has no use for his teeth.
Alternatively, JayMatt, by Gematria:
Rasha = 570
His Teeth (shinav) = 366
Tzaddik = 204
Rasha – His Teeth = Tzaddik
Jaymatt, squeak, very nice!
that’s a great twist on it- thanks to both of you
ALIYOS REFOEL ZEV – Divrei Torah and Mussar on the Yomim Tovim ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?’ ???? ??? “?? ?? ?’ ???? ??? ? “?
Pesach 5769 Issue 20
A PRINCELY NATION
The very holy night of the Seder is approaching, and together with our families we will be sitting around the royal table, fulfilling the Mitzvos of the Yom Tov, with joy and emotion. At that time, we will try to feel, to the best of our ability as if we ourselves were redeemed from the bondage of Egypt. In thinking about this great principle, we must learn a new understanding of this dictum, and the thoughts that we must also have on this special night.
Rav Altusky pointed out that the Chinuch explains this idea, in the Mitzvah of Korbon Pesach. The Torah teaches us, that when the Korbon Pesach is eaten, one must be careful not to break any bones while eating it. The Chinuch in his inimitable fashion probes into the depth and root of this Mitzvah and explains to us a reason to help us understand this Mitzvah. He says that it is the way of poor people to break the bones of the meat while eating it (the poor person unfortunately is very hungry and wishes to take out the juices that are found within the bones). It is not the way of princes to eat meat in this fashion. On this night, everyone must feel like a prince, and therefore must take extra care to act in a way befitting of one who is in such a stature.
He then explains to us a fascinating principle, while teaching us this idea: The way one acts on the outside affects the way he will feel on the inside. If one acts in a way that is unbefitting for a prince, it will have a negative affect on his whole attitude, and on the way he is supposed to feel on this special evening. He is not only supposed to know that he is a prince, he must feel like a prince on this holy night. The reason for this is, because it is on this night that we became a Nation of princes, a Nation of Bnei Melachim.
In thinking about this beautiful idea, I thought that perhaps we have another understanding of our Avodah on this night (that we began with above): It is true that we must try to feel that we have been redeemed on this night. Yet, this concept is not only in relation to the freedom from bondage and the miracles that Hashem performed for us at that time; it also includes the transformation that took place to all of Klal Yisroel on this night. We did not just change from being slave to becoming free men; we were transformed to a Nation of royalty and greatness. What’s truly amazing is, that within the Mitzvos themselves that we perform on this night, we have the opportunity to truly feel this transformation in the most real way. We behave the entire evening as Bnei Melachim, in order to allow ourselves to feel the impact that this great night had on our lives, forever.
This perspective should shed a new light on our Avodah on this glorious evening, and Bezras Hashem it should help us make it so much more meaningful and uplifting. We must just add one incredible illustration of how far this principle goes:
The Mishna at the end of the sixth Perek in Shabbos brings a Halacha in regards to carrying on Shabbos. The Mishna says that Princes may walk around on Shabbos with bells attached to their garments, and it is not considered carrying, for it is the normal way for them to go as such. R’ Shimon says, that not only princes, but everyone is allowed to go out in that way. (Including all the common folk as well.) The Gemara explains, because all of Klal Yisroel are considered Princes.
Let us be inspired by the great lesson, to recognize who we are, and thank Hashem on this special time, for raising us up above all the Nations of the world, to be His treasured nation of Bnei Melachim. May we be Zoche to Chag Kosher V’Samaech, celebrating with our Korbonos Pesach in the streets of Yershalayim.
K’Ben Shivim
By: R’ Netanel Chait
The lessons are obvious and many. Firstly we see how far a human being can exert himself. According to the Rambam it wasn’t a miracle that he appeared to be seventy at age eighteen, it resulted from his ameilus, toil in Torah! How awesome is our potential!
Secondly, we must realize that success in anything we do is solely determined by HaShem allowing us to have our efforts granted. Even putting in superhuman intensity does not guarantee success.
Lastly, although Reb Elazar expended incredible efforts to no avail, he was not deterred when Ben Zoma discovering the source first. He daherred that ones chelek in Torah is not determined proportionally to the next fellow. Learning Torah is not a race.
A good Erev Pesach to Everyone. 72, I’ll (bli neder) post a dvar torah after yom tov for me here, and you can post it as the Motzei Shabbos one (not sure yet about others during chol hamoed).
After we say Dayainu, we say “al achas cama v’cama” How much more we need to be grateful to Hashem for all that he has done. That paragraph ends with the words “l’chaper al avonosaynu” (to forgive us for our sins).
The Sabba M’Slabodka tells us that the ba’al hahagada is teaching us an important lesson here. Look at the power of teshuva. The sea was split, we got the manna, we were given the torah, we build a bais hamikdash etc. WHY?? So that we can do teshuva!!
We need to take this lesson to heart, that Hashem shows us the utmost rachamim and kindness through us doing a proper teshuva.
kapusta, Jaymatt & mod72: Amen & thank you!
Jaymatt: great piece! shkoyach(that was for shkoyach who made an appearance)
squeak: nice twist on Jymatt’s vort!
chofetz chaim: the neshama should have an aliyah!
This is being submitted erev shabbos here in Yerushalayim. I gather that it won’t get posted until after Shabbos.
Why was makkas Bechoros done by Hashem rather than through an agent?
R’ Bechaya: Were a malach have been the one to carry out the job, then Klal Yisroel as wll would have been killed. As the amount of rachamim needed to spare the Jews from an identical fate could only have been administered by HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Arizal: The tumah of mitzrayim was so strong, that were a malach to enter mitzrayim, it would become contaminated by the tumah. Therefore it was only HaKadash Baruch Hu who had the capability of performing such an act.
If this gets posted before Shabbos, Then Good Shabbos to all. If not, I’d just like to wish everyone a Gut Moed.
(72, please count this as my Motzei Shabbos D’var Torah, and please don’t sign me up for anything else this week).
It’s after Shabbos here in Yerushalayim, here is another d’var torah on the hagadda.
The following comes from the Tzlach:
A person needs to serve Hashem in such a way that he does all the mitzvos which Hashem has commanded, even if they do not understand the reason behind them.
So why so we ask during the seder: Why we eat the Matzah? Marror? Why does it matter? Hashem told us to do it, so we do?
The mitzvos of the Korban Pesach are different since the Torah itself gives the reasoning for it. “?????? ???-??? ??? ????-?, ??? ??? ??-??? ???-????? ??????” Matzah and Marror are connected to the Korban Pesach as it says: ????? ????, ???? ???? ????.
However, were we not to have these pessukim, we would not be obligated to explain the reasoning behind these Torah based commandments.
mod72: a’ gutten mo’ed! i’ll take monday of this week!
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