Avadim Hayinu: There's No Shame in Being a Slave

Avadim Hayinu:  There's No Shame in Being a Slave

(And There's No Honor Either)

According to the Talmud we must recall the Exodus on Passover night by, "Beginning with praise and ending with praise." (Mishnah Pesahim 10:4) The Talmud offers two theories as to how we do this. According to Shmuel, one must begin the story with enslavement: "We were slaves in Egypt," and according to Rav one should begin by saying, "Long ago our ancestors worshipped idols." Samuel is more concerned with the political revolution while Rav was concerned with the journey to faith and Mount Sinai. Both beginnings appear in the Haggadah, but Rabbi Bondi wonders how we might understand slavery as disgrace

עבדים היינו מתחיל בגנות וקשה למ"ד שמתחיל מתחילה עובדי ע''ז שייך שפיר גנות חטא ע"ז אבל מה גנות היא שהיינו עבדים מה חטאו בכך וי"ל הגנות הוא משל לבן יחיד של מלך ב''וד שחטא בדבר שיש בו עונש מיתה או עונש חפיסת ברגל רק שהמלך מרחם עליו מפני שהוא בנו יחידו אך זכר לעונש צריך תמיד לתלות בבגדו דבר קטן מזהב שעשוי כשלשלת ברגל שיהיו תמיד לו לגנאי ישראל. דאיתא במדרש אתם מכרתם ליוסף לעבד חייכם בכל שנה תקראו עבדים כו' לעונש שתהא החטא תמיד בזכרונינו וזאת היא בננות שתחחילין עבדים היינו לפרעה. להגדיל גנות החטא מכירת יוסף.

ואלו לא הוציא וגו' רק א"ת אנו לא ראינו את השעבוד ולא נגאלנו והו' ראוי שלא יאמר כל זה אלא בשנת הגאולה לנגאלים ע"כ השיב לו, הגאולה ממצרים גם לנו הית' שאלו לא נגאלו, היינו אנחנו משעבדים לפרמה; זאת היא המשך ואלו וגו' עד במצרים.

וא"ת שאין זאת מצוה לספר אלא לתינוקות להודיעם מה שלא ידעו אבל מי שיודע זה אין צורך בהגדה זאת ע"כ אומרים אפילו כולנו חכמים ששמענו מאבותינו, אפילו כלנו נבונים להבין דבר מתוך דבר ולא צורך להאריך כל זאת כדי לפרש כל דבר ודבר, ואפילו כלנו זקנים וכבר שמענו זאת זה שנים רבות בכל פסח ופסח, ואפילו כולנו יודעים את התורה וכל יום אנו הוגים בתורה ומתוכ' אנו מספרים ביצ''מ וממילא ידענו כל זאת ושלא לצורך היא לשמוע עוד או לספר ההגדה על כל זה מצוה עלינו לספר ביצ"מ בלילה הזה על לחם עוני שעונין עליו דברים הרבה.

 ובוודאי, לשמוע דבר חידוש אין מצוה כ"כ שיש בטבע האדם להתעורר משינתן ולרוץ לשמוע דבר חדש משא"כ כשכבר שמע זאת כמה פעמים והיא ידוע לו ואפ"ה היא חביב עליו לשמוע ולספר מהן כאלו עדיין לא שמע כלל זאת היא עיקר המצוה כי זאת בוודאי לא יעשה רק עבור חבוב המצוה ולהתעורר בלב כדי להודות ולהלל ע''כ הנסים העוברים ולקיים המצוה בכל שנה ושנה כאלו היא חדשה. וזה הוא בוודאי משובח.

Translation:

We were slaves: We are supposed to begin telling the story of the Exodus by recalling Israel's disgrace. Yet this beginning, "We were slaves to pharaoh," is difficult according to those who say one should begin the telling with, "At first we were idolaters…" Idolatry is a more fitting example of disgrace. What disgrace is there saying that one was a slave?

The disgrace of slavery can be explained with the following parable: A king had only one son. The son committed serious transgression whose punishment should have been either death or expulsion. The king, however, took pity on him (and did not punish him) because he was his only child. Instead he  insisted that the son wear a gold chain as a reminder to him of his disgraceful behavior. The Midrash says: Because you sold Joseph to be a slave, by your lives, every year you will be called salves as a punishment for this sin forever. This is the disgrace with which we begin the Seder; we begin, "We were slaves to Pharaoh…" in order to magnify the sin of selling Joseph.

If God had not taken us out: A person might say, "We did not experience slavery nor were we redeemed; it is only proper for those who were redeemed at the time of the redemption." We answer by saying: "The redemption from Egypt was for us. For if they had not been redeemed we would still be subjugated to Pharaoh." This is the continuation of the passage: "If God had not taken our ancestors out then, we, our children and our children's children would still be subjugated to Pharaoh in Egypt,"

One might say that it is only a commandment to tell the story to children unfamiliar with it, but it should be unnecessary to retell the story to those familiar with it. Therefore we say, "Even if we were sages" (that is, we heard this from our ancestors); "even if we were all knowledgeable" (we have the ability to deduce one matter from another so there is no need to explain the story at length); "even if we were all elders" (we had already heard the story for many years, over many Passovers); "even if we all knew the Torah" (we were among those who study Torah and tell the story of the Exodus all the time) - and therefore one might think it is not necessary to listen to or tell the story on Passover - it is still a commandment for us to tell the story of the Exodus on this night, before the lechem oni, the bread over which we say (onim) many things.

Passover is not about new ideas:  Even though it is human nature to want to rush and hear something new, it is not necessary to hear new ideas regarding the Exodus on this night.  Even though we have heard this story many times and it is well known to us, the essence of the commandment is for the story to be beloved and to arouse the heart completely in order to inspire thanksgiving and praise for all the miracles which transpired on this day. One should perform this commandment each year as if it is completely new. This is certainly praiseworthy.

Explanation

Lechem Oni is usually translated as the bread of poverty. But the Talmud plays with this expression and suggests that the word oni (From the word oneh) also means to answer. Matzah is also the bread over which we offer many answers and words.

It is interesting that despite the importance the sages place on hiddushim, new interpretations of Torah, on Passover that is not the point of telling the story of the Exodus. We are not interested in coming up with new interpretations but telling the story with the same spirit that we would tell a story that one has never heard before. We hope to inspire praise and thanksgiving, and not to get caught up in the scholarly nuances of the text. That seems odd coming from a man who is writing a new commentary on the Haggadah.