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Opinion & Comment
Leil HaSeder and its Haggodoh: Annual Milestones on the Path to Our Redemption

By Rabbi Shlomo Furst

The Promise of Geulah

The Beis HaLevi explains the geulah from Mitzrayim according to the opinion in Chazal that Hashem cut short the afflictions of our captivity and redeemed us before the complete end of golus Mitzrayim. Hashem had originally promised Avrohom Ovinu (Bereishis 15:13 and 14), "That your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. And also, I will judge the nation that will enslave them, and afterwards they shall come out with great wealth."

However, because of the awful plunge of Klal Yisroel into the tumah of Mitzrayim, the prescribed time of four hundred years was cut short.

As the Beis HaLevi puts it, "The Egyptians, through their enslavement of Klal Yisroel, caused them to sin against their will — until they also sank into the sins and defilement of Egypt. If they had spent any more time in Egypt they would have been so completely engulfed by tumah that no trace of the kedushoh that they inherited from their forefathers Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov would have remained in their hearts . . . Consequently, there would be no possibility of fulfilling the promise made to Avrohom Ovinu. `That your offspring will be sojourners . . .and afterwards they shall come out with great wealth.' For the primary intention of the promise was to redeem the offspring of Avrohom Ovinu . . . Therefore the geulah was speeded up while their hearts still retained a trace of the kedushoh that they had inherited from their forefathers . . . "

The Beis HaLevi, based on the Mechilta in Parshas Bo, explains that the effectiveness of the geulah depended on Klal Yisroel. Our redemption from Egypt could have been the sole ultimate geulah, for HaKodosh Boruch Hu said, "If they will do teshuvoh, I will redeem them for [all] generations. If not, I will redeem them for [a fixed amount of] years."

Had we done teshuvoh and cleansed ourselves from the tumah of golus Mitzrayim, Hashem would have redeemed us with a lasting and perfect geulah. Failing to repent caused severe consequences. "Since they did not do teshuvoh and the end of the four hundred year was not completed, this required that they be in another golus to complete the remaining time."

Temporarily we were free from the Egyptian bondage, but a continuation of golus still awaited us at the hands of Babylon, Media, Greece and Edom.

Therefore, in reference to Leil HaSeder, the Beis HaLevi concludes, "We should fortify our hearts with bitochon for our redemption. One should not lose hope because of the length and hardship of this final golus — since the main promise has yet to be fulfilled. All the promises [of Hashem to Avrohom Ovinu] were in reference to the coming of Moshiach and have not yet been completely fulfilled."

Thus, the night of Pesach is a yearly wellspring of hope: a renewal of faith in the ongoing process of redemption even amidst the turmoil of our present golus.

A Night of Hope

The Chofetz Chaim zt"l (Chofetz Chaim on the Torah, Parshas Behar) encourages us never to give up hope from expecting the geulah to come in our generation. We may despair, chas vesholom, by thinking that if Hashem did not bring the redemption in previous, more righteous generations, then who are we to expect that because of our efforts Hashem will bring the geulah for us?

We should never give up hope. In fact, the geulah could more easily come for us because, according to the Chofetz Chaim, the situation of Klal Yisroel in golus is similar to that of a Jew who was sold into slavery to a non- Jew. The Torah commands us to make special efforts to redeem such a Jew. Therefore, the Torah prescribes that he can buy his release from slavery before the conclusion of his servitude. The pesukim in Vayikra (25:48-52) call for a calculation to be made deducting from the sale price the number of years worked and only having to pay for remaining years of slavery. This will be the redemption price. In this way, the slave can have hope of gaining his freedom.

The Chofetz Chaim explains that since "golus is a result of our transgressions . . . and each golus has its extent determined from its start, that is, how much Klal Yisroel shall suffer, in order that through their afflictions their sins will be forgiven. The first golus . . . four hundred years, the golus of Bovel of seventy years . . . Likewise, then definitely in this last golus there is a fixed time to reckon the suffering because of the sins that were transgressed."

Therefore, in order to bring the geulah at the beginning of golus, a great amount of merit must offset the great amount of unpaid time originally allocated. Likewise, if the geulah were to come after half of the time had gone by, Klal Yisroel would have to bring at least half of the merits that would "pay" for half of the time of golus that was still decreed.

Our golus, just like the servitude of the slave, has an end. Therefore, it is possible for us, especially us, to gather enough merits to "pay" our way out of golus.

Hence, the Chofetz Chaim concludes, "One should not wonder how is it possible that the end [of golus] could happen in our days — something the many generations that came before us were not privileged to — even though they were much more righteous. Not so! For earlier, they needed to bring so many more merits in order to remove their debt of the remaining years of the golus and this certainly was not so much in their power to pay back. However, Klal Yisroel has suffered many great hardships over the great amount of time that it has been scattered to the four corners of the earth. Through this, we have definitely been cleansed of many of our transgressions and so, we are able to hope for the geulah — that it should come in the near future."

The Purpose of Golus

In the Haggodoh Leil Shimurim, the baal Oruch HaShulchan asks the following question: When Hashem promised Avrohom Ovinu that his offspring would be strangers in a land not theirs and also be oppressed for four hundred years, "Why did HaKodosh Boruch Hu distress our elder forefather with news like this; that his offspring would have many afflictions?"

The answer given is, "What was said was not distressing. It was good news. Since Avrohom Ovinu knew that people have many flaws, and so he was wondering how his offspring could reach perfection . . ." Therefore, Hashem revealed to Avrohom Ovinu that through golus and its hardships Klal Yisroel would be worthy of receiving the Torah and coming to Eretz Yisroel.

Clearly, the purpose of golus is to correct our flaws and cleanse us of our imperfections. The suffering we experience in golus has a double benefit: first, as a cleansing for our sins, and second, as a means of bringing the geulah closer.

There is however a condition: that we accept everything with joy. For, as Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi teaches us, "Anyone who accepts happily the suffering that Hashem brings upon him brings salvation to the world" (Taanis 8a).

How can we learn to be happy over suffering, and how can this bring salvation to the world?

The Midrash Tanchuma (Parshas Yisro 16) provides an answer when it says, "A person must be happy with suffering more than with that which is good. For even if a person will have goodness all his days, the sins that he has will not be erased." Thus, golus and its suffering, as difficult as they are to accept cheerfully, have a positive purpose.

On this point, the Chossid Yaavetz zt"l, who lived through the tortuous ordeals and upheavals of the Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion, makes a remarkable statement in his commentary on Ovos.

In the fifth perek, Chossid Yaavetz writes about the positive purpose of the afflictions that Klal Yisroel suffers in golus. "HaKodosh Boruch Hu wishes to show our [Klal Yisroel's] great merits to all [the nations] in order to be privileged and [thus] acquire life in Olom Habbo." However, there is one condition, as the Chossid Yaavetz surprisingly continues, "On the condition that golus is accepted with a cheerful countenance."

The Power of the Haggodoh

The Haggodoh guides us through the many mitzvos of the Seder. It directs our retelling of Hashem's miraculous intervention in history and nature for the sake of Klal Yisroel in order to keep His promise to Avrohom Ovinu. More than a historical account, the Haggodoh of Leil HaSeder is an essential part of the ongoing process of redemption that brings our ultimate geulah speedily closer.

We mention the numerous maalos tovos that Hashem did for us at the time of our geulah from Mitzrayim. The miraculous Ten Plagues, the Splitting of the Sea and how Hashem sustained us for forty years in the Wilderness. Hashem also gave us Shabbos, brought us to Har Sinai, and gave us His Torah HaKedoshoh and much more. Each time we say dayeinu — enough! — we proclaim that each one of these many maalos tovos would have been sufficient single-handedly for Klal Yisroel to be indebted to Hashem Yisborach forever.

The list we sing continues until we thank Hashem for giving us Eretz Yisroel and finally we thank Him for the Beis Habechiroh — the Beis Hamikdosh. Then, almost in the same breath, we repeat the list and start all over again, until we finish with mentioning Hashem's ultimate chesed, the building of the Beis Habechiroh! However, there is an additional comment referring to the reason why Hashem gave us the Beis Habechiroh: in order to atone for all our transgressions.

This is a moment to think about what we have lost and, even more importantly, what we will have again. The Vilna Gaon said about the loss of the Beis Hamikdosh: "Even though HaKodosh Boruch Hu accepts teshuvoh, the transgression is not erased . . . for the power of korbonos was such that no trace of sin would remain at all" (Shir HaShirim 1:16).

Leil HaSeder is peerless in its power to hasten the geulah. There is hope even for the wicked son who, with his jaded question, "Moh ho'avodoh hazos lochem?" remains aloof and separate. In spite of his indifference, is he truly rebellious and therefore lost forever?

The sefer Be'er Moshe (Shemos 12:26) explains that in spite of our harsh reply: "Had he been there [in Egypt] he would not have been redeemed" — that was only then. In our time, concerning the geulah we pray and hope for, he too can be redeemed! In Egypt, he would have sunk into the tumah beyond hope.

However after our first redemption, Klal Yisroel has since accepted the Torah, and the kedushoh of Torah is so powerful that even the ben horosho can be zoche to geulah.

The Haggodoh's many references to Chazal bring Torah Shebe'al Peh into almost every Jewish home. Jews who would never know where to find a Mishna, gemora or a Midrash, and never think to open their covers, never think to understand and explore Chazal are, on Leil HaSeder, immersed in the words of Chazal.

HaRav Elchonon Wasserman zt"l, at the very end of his essay Ikvesso DeMoshicho, cites the posuk in Yeshayohu (59:20), "A redeemer shall come to Tzion and to those of Yaakov who repent from rebellious sin." This means that Hashem expects us to do a minimal amount of teshuvoh in order to be zoche to our final redemption.

Rav Elchonon continues, "If only they will repent of their defiance against Hashem and not be rebellious, then they will be privileged to be redeemed . . . [Therefore even] a very lowly generation, as long as they will not be rebellious, will be privileged to see the solace of Tzion and Yerushalayim."

On Leil HaSeder, very few are truly rebellious. This is the power of the Haggodoh — the power of Torah Shebe'al Peh.

No other night has so many of Klal Yisroel doing so many mitzvos, learning so much Torah and singing so many praises to Hashem Yisborach; praises to our Creator for keeping His promise to Avrohom Ovinu. A promise, which the Beis HaLevi taught us "has yet to be fulfilled." On no other night do we have a right to expect that our long- awaited geulah can come for us and, as the Chofetz Chaim taught us, because of us.


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