Lingering Tastes Of Passover
Most of us are familiar with the passage in the Haggadah that one is obligated to view himself as if he had gone out of Egypt. The view of the Rambam is that a person should demonstrate this in such a way that it would be apparent to others that he had left Egypt. This first view is attitudinal; the second is behavioral, but each view shares the notion that leaving Egypt is supposed to feel real and personal to each one of us and not just the dry reenactment of a historical incident. As I wrote in my last article, I utilize several tools at my Pesach Seder to engage others in the experience so it does feel more real. I encourage both children and adults to join in the group discussion at the Seder by voicing their perspectives on those nights.
This year, I asked my large group of family and guests to think about the Ten Plagues which happened while we were slaves in Egypt, how those were different than the “Ten Miracles” as mentioned in Pirkei Avos (5:5), and I asked each one to identify the one plague they wished they could have personally witnessed.
Some of the responses reflected the age and developmental stage of the guest or family member. The smaller children wished that they could have seen the frogs hopping out of the Nile River or the invasion of wild animals. Some of the more philosophical guests wished that they could have seen the darkness and how it affected the Egyptians and not the Jews. This year, no one expressed any interest in seeing lice or boils. One of my more spiritual relatives was intrigued by the prospect of seeing the hail with its mysterious blending of fire and ice.
We discussed what it was about each person’s “plague of interest” and what they might have thought or felt upon witnessing such a phenomenon. We then tied it back to the source, meaning we explored what might have been the message that Hashem was sending to the Egyptians with each particular plague, and what He wanted the Jews to glean from seeing such awful and “awe-full,” events.
Again, the age of each participant shaped their internal associations: younger ones said that seeing their chosen plague would have proven that Hashem controls everything on earth. Older children brought in the punishment and revenge themes, and how Hashem showed the Egyptians the punitive consequences of their cruelty, and how He avenges our suffering. More sophisticated guests expressed how their chosen plague displayed how Hashem can alter nature in ways that human beings cannot. Those with more philosophical leanings addressed how some plagues revealed that more than one plane of reality can exist at the same time, and how humans can perceive both darkness and light in the same geometric space depending on their perspective.
My son in law, Rabbi Avrohom Rosenberg, offered that the Sage’s statement in Pirkei Avos that there were ten plagues in Egypt and ten miracles in Egypt might mean that the inherent miracle in each plague was that they only affected the Egyptians and not the Israelites. That would have been a miraculous experience indeed to have seen all the Egyptian oppressors suffering from the plagues while we remained unscathed. I responded that indeed, this is how the Rambam understands the two lessons of that Mishnah.
There is an idea that “seeing is believing,” and some things need to be seen so you can believe them. At our Pesach Seder, we discover that “believing is seeing,” and that some things need to be believed so you can imagine what it would be like to see them. When all the wine has been cleared away, the matzos digested, and every Haggadah put away until next year, we can still retain a taste of our faith in Mi She’asa Nissim—faith in the One who makes miracles happen. That taste needs to linger long after the flavors of the afikoman have passed over.
Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox is a forensic and clinical psychologist, and director of Chai Lifeline Crisis Services. To contact Chai Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis helpline, call 855-3-CRISIS or email [email protected]. Learn more at ChaiLifeline.org/crisis.
