Redemption

Rabbi Ammos Chorny

The Passover Haggadah offers not one, but two answers to the perennial question, “Ma Nishtanah Halayla Hazeh (Why is this night different from all other nights?)”

Immediately following the four questions, we read, “Avadim hayinu l’pharoh b’mitzrayim (We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt),” focusing us on the physicality of the experience in Egypt. We slaved for Pharaoh bodily; we suffered physically, and God redeemed us. It is not by accident that the Haggadah, at this point, uses strong physical imagery in invoking God’s role in the Exodus: “…and the Eternal our God brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.”

Our experience was a physical experience; our suffering was bodily suffering; and God, forever empathizing with his People Israel, used physical means to redeem us.

The Haggadah goes on to tell us, “Had the Holy One Blessed Be He not brought our ancestors out of Egypt, we and our descendants would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” As explained by Maharal, God’s redemption of our ancestors from their suffering in Egypt holds in it the promise of redemption from all current and future suffering.

We suffered and, by redeeming us, God demonstrated that it is possible to end suffering. In doing so, He provided a model for us to emulate, acting to redeem all who suffer. Had God not redeemed us, we would not have known that it is possible to act to end suffering and “we and our children and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.”

Later in its narrative, the Haggadah offers a second answer to Ma Nishtana. After the parable of the Four Sons, we read, “Mitchilah Avdei Avodah Zara Hayu Avoteinu (From the beginning, our ancestors were idolaters, but now Hamakom [God] has brought us close to Him to serve Him).” Here, the Haggadah focuses us on the spiritual nature of the experience. We were idolaters, distant from God. But God brought us close and allowed us the experience of worshipping Him, thereby redeeming us as spiritual beings.

It is not by accident that the Haggadah, at this point, speaks of God using spiritual rather than physical imagery: Hamakom (“The Place”), a being that has no physical boundaries and, therefore, encompasses everywhere. A being that is wholly spiritual. Our distance from God was a spiritual distance, our suffering was spiritual suffering, and God, forever empathizing with his People Israel, acted spiritually to redeem us.

These two perspectives on God’s redemption of the Jewish people exist in the Haggadah side by side, but independent of one another. Each follows the Mishnah’s dictum to speak of our humble beginnings and of the glory to which God has brought us; but each does so according to a different understanding of redemption, physical or spiritual.

The parable of the Four Sons suggests that the two perspectives are included in the Haggadah because each speaks to a different set of “sons.” For some, physical suffering and the need for worldly redemption is paramount. The importance of the Exodus lies in the promise that it holds for ending all human suffering. The only meaningful answer to the night’s question is that of Avadim Hayinu, we were slaves.

For others, spiritual distance from God is the ultimate exile. The Exodus is important for the promise it holds that God reaches out to us and that we can reach back. For these, the only meaningful answer is that of Mitchilah Avdei Avodah Zara Hayu Avoteinu.

Offered together, the two perspectives provide a vision of redemption that allows Jews of all persuasions to sit together and proclaim, “Baruch Hamakom Baruch Hu (Blessed be the Place [God], Blessed be He).”

Blessings to all for a joyful and meaningful Passover.

Rabbi Ammos Chorny serves at Beth Tikvah.