What Does "Blunt his teeth" Mean?

Blunting His Teeth:

Denying the Wicked Child

There are almost as many translations of the expression hakei et shinav as there are translations of the Haggadah. We are told that when the wicked child asks, "What does this service mean to you," we should hakei et shinav. What does this mean: blunt his teeth, smack  him in the face, give him a caustic answer, make him feel uncomfortable? Rabbi Bondi offers another interpretation: deny him the delicious Passover offering! He bases this interpretation,  which he learned from his great grandfather, on a Midrash in Song of Songs Rabbah Rabbi Bondi quotes in the Midrash in its entirety in his commentary.

הלשון הקהה את שניו שמעתי מאדני א''ז מוהר''נ שייער ז''ל ששמע מאביו הגאון ר'

טעבלי שייער ז"ל פיריש על זה הלשון הקהה שקורין בל"א (שטומפף או אייליג) מפני שהרשע באמרו מה העבודה הזאת לכם הרי הוא בזדון לבו מבעט במצות ומבזה אותן הרי שקורא אכילת מצה ומרור עבודה והגם לו לעול ולמשא כאמרו מה העבודה הזאת לא כן על מצות אכילת פסח שנאכל מאכל שרים כי אינו נאכל אלא צלי וריחו נודף ולזה גם הוא מתאוה תאוה לאכול ממנו וידוע כשמונעים מאדם איזה מאכל טוב, בראותו שאוכלים המאכל ואינם נותנים לו אזי תקהינה שיניו מהצער.

ולזה מרמז בעהג"ד בזה הלשון כמו שהרשע הזה הוציא עצמו מן הכלל ומבזה המצות, ומ"מ הפסח מחמת שהוא טוב למאכל בוודאי, רוצה לטעום ג"כ ככל החבורה המקיימים מצות השי"ת לכן אף אתה הקהה את שיניו ואמור לו בעבור זה בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך ואנחנו מקיימים גם אכילת מרור בשביל זה עשה ד' לי בצאתי ממצרים לי ולא לו אלו היה שם לא היה נגאל והיה כלא היה בשלשת ימי אפילה כשאר חביריו שכלו שם: 

ויש לי להביא ראי' לדברי אא"ז מו''ה טעבלי שייער ז'ל ממדרש רבה שיר השירים. אמר ר' אבוה עד שמשה וישראל מסובין ואוכלים פסחיהם במצרים כבר הקדים הקב''ה שנאמר ויהי בחצי הלילה וד' הכה כל בכור בארץ מצרים הוא דעתי' דרב אבוה למימר סריי נתן ריחו מלמד שהיה ריחו של אותו הדם [ההרוגים של מצרים כמו שדרשו למכה מצרים בבכוריהם שמתחלה הבכורים הרגו בהם במצרים כדי שיניחו לישראל לצאת ולא ימיתו הבכורים ומזה הדם וגם ממיתת הבכורים עצמם הי'] קשה להם לישראל והופיע להם הקב''ה ריח טוב מבשמי גן עדן והיתה נפשם קוהא לאכול אמרו לו משה רבינו תן לנו מה נאכל אמר להם משה כך אמר לי הקב''ה כל בן נכר לא יאכל בו עמדו והפרישו הנכרים ביניהם והיתה נפשם קוהא לאכול אמרו 'לו משה רבינו תן לנו מה נאכל אמר להם כך אמר לי הקב''ה וכל עבד איש מקנת כסף ומלתה אותו אז יאכל בו עמדו ומלו את עבדיהם והיתה נפשם קוהא לאכול אמרו לו תן לנו מה נאכל אמר להם כך אמר לי הקב"ה סינטימום כל ערל לא יאכל בו מיד כל אחד ואחד נתן חרבו על ירכו ומל עצמו. מי מלן ר' ברכי' אמר משה ואהרן ויהושע אחד היה מוהל ואחד פורע ואחד משקה וע"י זאת נתערב דם פסח בדם מילה והקב''ה נוטל כל אחד ואחד ונשקו ומברכו כמו שנאמר ואעבור עליך ואראך מתבוססת בדמיך ואומר לך בדמיך חיי דם פםח ולם מילה. וסוף דבר נשמע אע"פ שנפשם קוהא לאכול ואפ"ה לא ניתן להם מפסח עד שקיימו שארי מצות ואף אתה צריך להתנהג מי שאינו רוצה לקיים שאר המצות גם מפסח לא תתן לו אלא הקהה את שיניו ודוק.

Translation

Regarding the expression, "Blunt his teeth" I heard the following explanation from my grandfather and teacher, Rabbi Avraham Naftali Sheier, of blessed memory, who heard it from his father, the master, Rabbi Tebele Sheier, of blessed memory: When the wicked child says, "What is this service to you" he shows his insolent rejection of and contempt for the commandments. For he calls the eating of matzah and maror avodah, "work," in the sense of  a burden when he says, "What is this avodah to you." But he doesn’t do the same regarding the Pesah offering, since it consumed in such a stately manor (grilled food was the preferred manner of cuisine for royalty), and its aroma is tempting. As a result he desires to partake of the Pesah offering. When one denies a person such good food and he sees others eating it while they refuse  to share it, one "blunts his teeth" as a way of aggravating him. 

The author of the Haggadah hints at this when he says that the wicked child, "removed himself from the community." The rasha did this by showing contempt for the commandments. However, he still desires to partake of the Passover offering for it certainly looks and smells is delicious. He wants to taste it like the rest of the gathering who are doing so in fulfillment of the commandments of the Holy One. Therefore, "blunt his teeth" (deny him the a portion). Instead, when the matzah and the maror are before you, say to him, "It because of this (the matzah and the maror) that God did this for me. I am fulfilling the commandment of eating bitter herbs for the sake of what God did for me when I went out of Egypt. If you had been in Egypt, you would not have been redeemed and would have disappeared during the three days of darkness like all of your fellows who were killed at that time. I found a textual proof for the interpretation of my grandfather and teacher, Rabbi Tebele Sheier in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, 1:12: 

Rabbi Abahu said, "While Moses  and the people of Israel were still eating the Passover offering in Egypt, the Holy One had already struck the Egyptians, as is written, "And it was about the middle of the night…" (Exodus 12). This is the meaning of the following verse according to Rabbi Abahu: "While the king was inclining on his couch, my nard (see below) gave forth its fragrance." (Song of Songs 1:12) The fragrance is a reference to aroma of the Passover offering that came to mask the smell of Egyptian blood.  The sages explain that, "the smiting of the Egyptians by their first born," (Psalms 136) refers to the killing of the elders by the first born of Egypt. When the elders refused to let the Israelites go free in order to save their first born children, the first born attacked them. So the smell of blood came from the death of the elders as well as the first born who died in any case during the tenth plague. The smell of death was so great en Egypt that God made the smell of the Passover offering as good as the aroma of the Garden of Eden. As  a result, the Israelites were dying to eat the Passover offering. They said to Moses, "Give us a bit of what you are eating!"  Moses answered: God has said to me, 'the foreigner may not eat it!' They then removed the  non-Israelites from their midst. They were still dying to try the Passover offering, so they said to Moses, "Give us a bit of what you are eating!"  Moses answered: God has said to me, Your slaves must be circumcised and then you may eat of the Passover offering. They immediately circumcised their servants. They were still ravenous for the Passover offering. They said to Moses, "Give us a bit of what you are eating!"  Moses answered: God has said to me quite succinctly, "The uncircumcised may not eat of it." Immediately the Israelites all took their knives and were ready to circumcise themselves.  Who actually performed the circumcision? Rabbi Berechiah said, Moses, Aaron and Joshua. One performed the circumcision, one drew out the drop of blood, and one poured the cup of wine. 

Thus, the blood of the Passover offering and the blood of circumcision mixed together. The Holy One took each of them and kissed each one as it is written. Now I passed by you and saw you wallowing in blood, and I said to you, 'you shall live by your blood,' yea, I said to you, You shall live by your blood. This is a reference to the blood o the Passover and the blood of circumcision. In the end even though they were all dying to eat the Passover offering, they could not have any until they fulfilled all the other commandments. The Passover was only given to those whose teeth were blunted by having to wait…

Explanation:

Before we get started you are probably wondering: what is a nard? Here is a definition: 1. spikenard another name for spikenard: 2. any of several plants, such as certain valerians, whose aromatic roots were formerly used in medicine. Doesn’t help? Simply put it is an aromatic plant or root.

The interpretation above contains a reference to one of those stranger Midrashim that they never taught you in religious school - for good reason. According to some of the sages, when the first born of Egypt realized that Moses threatened them for the final plague, they went to the elders and then to Pharaoh himself and begged them to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. Apparently they elders of Egypt and Pharaoh considered this a good trade off - the death of all their first born in return to keep their slaves. The first born saw things differently. They immediately attacked the elders of the land. According to the Midrash, even before the tenth plague six hundred thousand Egyptians died in an act of civil disobedience. And in the end, the first born of Egypt died anyway.  

The land of Egypt was flowing with blood before and during the tenth plague. The blood of the elders, the first born of Egypt and the blood of circumcision of the Israelites who were coerced into circumcising themselves by the delicious aroma of the Passover offering. Moses denied them the offering until they all were finally circumcised. He understands "blunting their teeth" as, denying them the most delicious course of the meal.