Yaakov, the Yabok, and Pharaoh - The true meaning of the Festival of Freedom
RABBI AVI STEWART, PAGE 10
The Chacham’s Question: The Essence of True Wisdom
RAV YITZCHAK ETSHALOM, PAGE 15
Disgrace to Praise: The Opening Paragraphs of Maggid
RABBI NISSAN AHOOBIM, PAGE 18
Mah Nishtanah: The True Meaning of Freedom
RABBI AHARON BECKER, PAGE 24
Unlocking the Power of the Seder Night: A Journey of Geula and Spiritual Growth
RABBI WILLY KLUGER, PAGE 27
The Lasting Taste of Emunah: The Chacham’s Question and the Afikoman’s Message
DR. SHELLY BASERI, ED.D., PAGE 31
The Symbolism of the Four Sons
MRS. ROCHEL GANS, PAGE 35
“On the Wings of Eagles”: The Meaning of the Metaphor
RABBI MENACHEM HECHT, PHD, PAGE 39
“Not Passover”
Dear YULA Family,
At the heart of our Yeshiva are exceptional Rebbeim and Mechanchot who are each driven to inspire our students to achieve greatness and become outstanding B’nai and B’not Torah and leaders in the 21st century. Being part of a Yeshiva community that makes no excuses and goes lifnim mishurat hadin to ensure we maximize learning has been emotionally uplifting and inspiring.
The Gemorah in Pesachim 109a teaches the importance of asking and prompting children to ask questions at the Seder. It gives an example from Rabbi Akiva who would give the children parched grain and walnuts on Erev Pesach precisely so they should not fall asleep and be able to ask questions. It continues by mentioning the tradition of Rabbi Eliezer who would snatch the matzot on the night of Pesach so the children should not fall asleep. The famous 11th century commentator, Rabbi Shmuel Ben Meir (Rashbam), explains that food induces drowsiness, so Rabbi Eliezer snatched the matzah to prevent the children from getting tired. This gave them the energy to ask questions throughout the Seder. The Rambam codifies this concept into Halacha in the 7th chapter of Hilchot Pesach U’Matzoh by saying that a parent must mix things up a bit in order to prompt questions by the children so they can say “What is the difference between this night and every other night - Mah Nishtanah Halaylah HaZeh MiKol Haleilot ”
Similarly, asking questions is an important part of one’s ability to grow in one’s spiritual growth. At YULA, we promote the back and forth of questions and answers in our daily shiurim and classes! At YULA, no question is a bad one, rather it is viewed as an opportunity to inspire our students to continue on their journey of becoming outstanding B’nai and B’not Torah.
I am excited to share with you the Pesach Edition of Divrei Hitorerut – Words of Inspiration. This publication asks many questions and showcases the reasons that makes YULA an inspiring and spiritually uplifting environment.
Wishing the entire YULA family and community a safe and Chag Kasher V’sameach!
Rabbi Arye Sufrin, Head of School
The Chicken and the Egg: Geometry is Served
Numbers are an inescapable part of living a Torah life, especially on Pesach. How much do we need to drink at the Seder? Why do we ask 4 questions? By what time do we need to finish eating the ןמוקיפא? But beyond calculating shiurim and identifying numerical patterns and associations, we can also utilize mathematical principles, from Algebra to Calculus, to analyze the philosophical nature of Torah and mitzvos. Simply put, math teaches us םייחה תפקשה.
Let’s examine, for example, two components of the Seder plate through a geometric lens: the עורז (shankbone) and the הציב (egg). In his transcribed classes on Pesach, Rav Shimshon Pinkus z”l cites the Ariz”al who correlates the 6 elements on the Seder plate, plus the actual Seder plate itself with all of its components, with the 7 emotional sefiros: תוכלמ ,דוסי ,דוה ,חצנ ,תראפת ,הרובג ,דסח. As the first two items on the plate, it follows that the עורז symbolizes דסח and the הציב symbolizes הרובג. How so?
דסח is the realm of infinite giving. There is truly no limit to how much an individual could extend themselves to give to another. וניבא םהרבא, the man of דסח, had a literal open door policy; he spared no expense (one tongue per person!) in caring for his guests. The geometric tool that would represent דסח is the line: the set of all points in a straight row that extend infinitely in each direction. Now take your right arm and stretch it out. It’s your own ׳יוטנ עורז. With a bit of transitive property, we have דסח = Line = עורז. Furthermore, the עורז reminds us of the חספ ןברק, the ןברק that connected the entire Jewish people to Hashem, who in turn showered His infinite spiritual blessings (i.e. the Torah) upon them. While the spiritual gifts we receive are boundless, in contrast the physical gifts by definition are confined to limited 3-dimensional space.
Unlike the unrestrained line, a circle is limited by its circumference. Hence הרובג, as represented by the round shaped egg, is the domain of restraint, the polar opposite of giving. But this egg is so much more
Boys Division Art Department
Yaakov, the Yabok, and Pharaoh - The true meaning of the Festival of Freedom
Somewhere along the way, Pesach became the “Festival of Freedom.” Used as inspiration by enslaved Blacks on their journey to emancipation and celebrated at contemporary White House Sedarim, it is a fact of American culture that the Passover story is seen as a journey from authoritarian rule to personal autonomy.
For those of us who read the Chumash, however, there is no doubt that this narrative is incorrect. The Jews did not leave Mitzrayim to become a “free” people, equipped with agency and bereft of consequences for their actions. Indeed, the Yam Suf had barely calmed when Moshe told Bnei Yisrael at Marah:
“If you will listen diligently to the voice of Hashem, your G-d, and you will do what is just in His eyes, and you will give ear to His commandments and observe all His statutes, then any of the diseases that I placed upon Egypt, I will not place upon you.”
The Jews were no longer subject to Pharaoh’s whims; instead, they were now subordinate to a new set of divine principles. But in neither scenario did they possess the elements of contemporary freedom.
There is no doubt, however, that some version of freedom is a critical element of Yetzias Mitzrayim. The Chumash is replete with lashonos and simanim of Geulah, culminating with Am Yisrael themselves acknowledging their newfound freedom: “
What, then, is the definition of freedom that Am Yisrael was so determined to sing about if they had simply found a new master?
I once heard a beautiful explanation from Rav Ezra Neuberger, the Rosh Kollel of Ner Yisrael, regarding the struggle between Yaakov and the Malach of Esav, which, when properly contextualized, provides the correct Jewish definition of freedom. The pasuk states that prior to the battle, Yaakov crossed the Yabok “alone”—a seemingly obvious and insignificant fact. Rav Neuberger explained that Yaakov
was physically alone, yet undisturbed and unbothered by his dire circumstances. While most people are shaped by their surroundings— their personalities and character directly influenced by the events and atmosphere in which they find themselves—Yaakov remained the same person, true to his values and identity, irrespective of any change in time, place, or circumstance. Yaakov did not flinch, even when crossing the Yabok to participate in a climactic spiritual battle between good and evil.
Rav Neuberger’s illustration of the essential Yaakov brings with it a new definition of freedom. Yaakov’s consistent adherence to internal principles and his unflappable nature in the face of change meant that he was impervious to the need for external validation; he was “free” from looking outward for meaning or thrill. Yaakov was Yaakov whether his dinner was steak or kale. Yaakov was Yaakov whether he was studying for a test or relaxing after finals. Yaakov was free because he was secure in his identity, in tune with his spiritual self, and immune to the constant search for physical or emotional gratification.
In contrast, the theme of Egypt and our sojourn as its slaves was inconsistency and a lack of principle. The opening salvo of slavery is the appointment of a new king who makes a mockery of the policies of his predecessor—or, even more egregiously, the same king making a mockery of his own policies. Similarly, the Jews were forced to build Pitom and Ramses on marshland, ensuring that their hard work would sink into the ground and not last. Pharaoh decreed that all Jewish boys be murdered in the Nile, only to wind up raising Moshe himself. And when the time came to free the Jews, Pharaoh was beset with indecision—pleading for the Jews to leave, only to reverse himself when the plague was lifted and the immediate crisis had passed.
With Pharaoh as their leader, it becomes clear why Chazal characterize Egypt as a hedonistic society par excellence. The Egyptians had no guiding principles; they were subject to the whims of time and space, emotionally, physically, and spiritually vulnerable to whatever external stimulus promised relief—until its thrill faded.
Kevin Meyers ‘24
The Chacham’s Question: The Essence of True Wisdom
The various questions asked by the four sons are either direct quotes or paraphrases from pesukim in the Torah. The wicked son asks, “
? What is this labor you are doing?” The simple son simply asks, “תֹאזִּ֤ ה �מ - What are you doing? What is this service to you?” And, of course, the son who does not know how to ask is encouraged to pay attention to his environment and the happenings of the moment by us telling him, “
Because of this, Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim.”
The question of the chacham, the wise son, is the one that has always intrigued me the most. He asks, “
- What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the laws that Hashem, our God, commanded you?”
The formulation of this question has always puzzled me. When I think about famous “wise men” in history and the questions they asked, I find questions that encourage deep thinking, reflection, and a broader understanding of issues. Socrates asked questions along the lines of, “What is the best way to live? What is the meaning of life?” Gandhi asked, “How can one be the change they want to see in the world?” Einstein asked, “How can imagination complement logic?” Yet, the Baal Haggadah identified the chacham by his question: “What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?”
What is the nature of this question? And why is it a defining theme of wisdom, in which the chacham expresses his deepest questions about life?
We identify the child by the question he asks. The wise child asks a question that is at the core of all wisdom. He does not ask why or for what purpose; rather, he simply asks, “What does Hashem want from me? How can I best serve Hashem?” The author of the Haggadah borrows this question from Devarim (6:20):
According to the Baal Haggadah, we answer the wise child by telling him:
“You must tell him the laws of Pesach: ‘After eating the Pesach offering, one does not eat anything more.’”
This is a quote from the final Mishnah in Maseches Pesachim. The commentaries explain that we teach him all the laws of Pesach, starting with the first Mishnah regarding searching for chametz and concluding with the final Mishnah. In short, we teach him how to observe the mitzvot and laws of Pesach.
In truth, the Chumash itself answers the question of the chacham (Devarim 6:21-25):
Hannah Shafa ‘27
Disgrace to Praise: The Opening
Paragraphs of Maggid
Popularly recognized as the central cog of Leil haSeder, “Maggid ” contains the story-telling and praise that constitute the special nature of this feast. We begin Maggid in the expected fashion, given that our target audience at the beginning of the evening is the young children. The leader points to the main “conversation piece” at the table –the matzah, and declares, in the vernacular1 that this is what our ancestors ate as impoverished slaves in Egypt. This is then followed by one of the most popular sections – the “Mah Nishtanah” with its 4 (or 1, or 5) questions. The questioner is immediately given a brief response – “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Hashem our God took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.”
It is at this point that our standard Haggadot includes passages which seem to veer sharply, both from our (hopefully rapt) audience as well as from the intended content. We then describe the impact of that exodus on our lives – then the obligation for even the most scholarly to engage in talking about it that evening. This is followed by the famous story of the Sages in Bnei Brak and its associated conversation between R. Elazar b. Azariah and the Sages and their dispute as to whether there is an obligation to remember the Exodus every evening. These seeming tangents continue through the popular veHi she’Amdah, at which point, we finally begin telling the story of the Exodus through the Midrash of Arami Oved Avi, as we are directed to do by the Mishnah.
What is the rationale behind these numerous “off-subject” paragraphs, appearing at the beginning of Maggid, including the wellknown Midrash of the four sons? Significantly, much of this material was not part of Maggid in Eretz Yisrael in the early medieval period, nor does it appear in R. Saadiah Gaon’s (Bavel, 9th century) Haggadah text. Yet, today it is universally part of our text and we have many fond memories, songs and play-acting, along with voluminous
1 See, inter alia, the comments of Ritb”a and Abudraham ad loc.
Robbie Sternberg ’26
Gabby Fozailoff ‘28
commentaries associated with these sections – so we ought to find out why they are in our Haggadah.
I’d like to propose that a careful reading of the Mishnah in Pesachim may provide a clue to solving this conundrum. The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:4) provides direction for the Mitzvah of “Haggadah”. After presenting the text of Mah Nishtanah, the Mishnah makes three statements:
1) The father instructs based on the son’s capability
2) Begin with disgrace and end with praise (mat’hil big’nut umesayyem bish’vach)
3) Expound from the passage of Arami Oved Avi (Devarim 26:5 ff.)
We conventionally read the last item as an example – or the example of rule #2. How do we begin the story with disgrace and end with praise? By reading, expounding and discussing those four verses in
Throughout history, Jews have celebrated the seminal event of our history, the Exodus, even when everything around us spoke of servitude; we feasted as freemen even as we lived our lives under penurious servitude. And this was always borne with the hope and faith that all will end with praise – mesayem bish’vach.
RAV YITZCHAK ETSHALOM
Rav Yitzchak Etshalom is in his 28th year as a YULA Rebbe. He directs the Tanach Masters Program at YULA High School Boys Division as well as teaching in the Talmud department at YULA High School Girls Division, besides being a sought-after Scholar in Residence throughout the country and in Israel. His critically acclaimed series “Between the Lines of the Bible” is a methodological guide to the study of Tanakh; his most recently published book on Amos “The Genius of Prophetic Rhetoric” is part of the Koren Maggid Studies in Tanakh.
Boys Division Art Department
Mah Nishtanah: The True Meaning of Freedom
Each year at the Pesach Seder, when we get to Mah Nishtanah, we give our attention to the children as they sing the song that we have heard countless times.
We have heard it so many times that we have stopped reflecting on what we’re saying: Mah Nishtanah halailah hazeh – Why is this night different from all other nights?
We know the answer to the question – we dip twice, recline, eat matzah and Maror – but what is so important about the question itself? As Jews, we are used to doing everything differently! We shake four species of plant life while sleeping in booths, fast on several days of the year, blow a ram’s horn on our new year, and wrap ourselves in leather straps and boxes. What isn’t different about our lives? And yet, when we do all those other things, we never stop to ask: Mah Nishtanah?
So why, on Pesach, do we stop the Seder just to ask about what we are doing?
As we know, the main theme of Pesach is freedom. The matzah represents freedom, as do the four cups, the reclining, and the Haggadah. Even the parts of the Seder that mention our slavery exist to contrast our subsequent freedom.
And yet, despite our freedom, the night is filled with rules, obligations, and shiurim of revi’it and kezaytim. Is there any other holiday that has so many details about how much to eat, when, how fast, and even in what position? Is there any step of the Seder that is not replete with details? To the point where, if I forget to recline, I must drink again?
That I can’t dip my celery into salt water without running into a safek about whether I have to make an after-bracha (and hence why we eat less than a kezayit)?
The question of Mah Nishtanah begs to be understood. Rabbi
Hadassa Elishis ‘26
Freida Levy ‘27
Unlocking the Power of the Seder Night: A Journey
of Geula and Spiritual Growth
Every year, I start off my Seder with the same well-known Zohar. This piece vividly describes the holiness of the night and explains to us what transpires, both individually and as a nation, as we go through our Sedarim.
English Translation:
“On this night, when one rejoices in telling the story of how Hashem took us out of םירצמ, we merit to rejoice with Hashem in the future redemption! On the Seder night, Hashem brings His whole heavenly entourage and says to them: ‘Come! Listen to my praise that my children are telling over! They are rejoicing that I redeemed them!’ These heavenly beings then join together with the Jewish people, listen to them telling over the story of praise, and they come forth to Hashem to thank and praise Him for all the miracles and wonders that He performed. They also thank Him for the holy nation that Hashem has placed in this world… The Kabbalistic seforim write that all the light and divine influence that were revealed on the night of תאיצי
םירצמ are revealed and come down every year on this night, and that’s why one feels much more special and joyful on this night than on other Shabbosim and Yamim Tovim.”
What is the secret of this night, and how do we tap into the tremendous power of this special time?
There is a well-known יול תשודק who echoes the words of the Zohar.
The Yamim Tovim that we observe are not mere commemorations of events that happened many years ago, similar to celebrating Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July. Rather, we are reliving the Yamim Tovim every single year; as every year, the exact Divine Influence and experience that existed then manifests itself again.
With this idea, the יול תשודק explains the words of the blessing:
“Hashem performs miracles in those days, in these times.”
These exact miracles and Divine Light that shone down during the time of the original miracle are brought down again for us to experience in our times.3
3 With this we can understand the Gemara in Shabbos 21 that only the next year after the miracle of Chanukah did ל׳׳זח enact the holiday of Chanukah as they were testing to see if this is a recurring light that comes down every year and only then did they enact a yom tov of Chanukah.
Bailey Parker ‘27
Rabbi Gedalia Schorr explains in his Sefer והילדג רוא that the ultimate way to experience this light is specifically through the performance of the special תווצמ of the night. It is through these Mitzvos that we can actually experience the revelation of םירצמ תאיצי. At the time of the redemption, we merited a revelation and lofty spiritual levels that were well beyond our own abilities and worthiness to attain. So too, on our Seder night, we can be הכוז to this through the performance of the Mitzvos of the night.
For example, when we eat the חספ ןברק, Rashi explains that חספ is a language of גוליד—skipping, jumping levels beyond our current state. By eating the חספ [or nowadays the ןמוקיפא], we can tap into that exact revelation and elevate ourselves to a level far beyond our natural abilities.
The Sfas Emes, in the name of the ם״ירה ישודיח, explains that רורמ represents all the hardships and bitterness of םירצמ. We understand that, in the end, all those hardships were הבוטל—for the good. So too, through the pain of תולג, when it is difficult to perceive and comprehend that all hardships and suffering are entirely good, we know that at the time of redemption, there will be a tremendous revelation and clarity, and we will understand that everything we experienced was for the good. Every bit of suffering endured in םירצמ was ultimately understood as absolutely necessary. On this holy Seder night, through the mitzvah of רורמ, we can tap into this clarity and attain tremendous levels of הנומא, realizing that everything Hashem does is הבוטל.
Armed with this knowledge, every person should prepare themselves and have in mind, as they enter the holy Seder night, what is actually happening as we go through the Haggadah—that the power of this night is enormous and can create everlasting changes within us.
I have a friend, a baal teshuva, with a fascinating story. Around ten years ago, he arrived in Los Angeles from rural America, from as secular a background as one can imagine. By some miracle, he wound up at a local rabbi’s Pesach Seder. His rabbi told me that when he walked into the Seder, he looked as out of place as you can imagine—
but by the end of the Seder, he was dancing out of joy and excitement for Yiddishkeit!
This is the incredible power of the Seder night! A Jew can experience the same unbelievable revelation that existed at the time of the actual Exodus—to the extent that even the most distant המשנ can be elevated to great heights.
With this understanding, we can gain clarity into the עדוי ימ דחא song.
After an incredibly uplifting and holy night, why do we end it with what seems like a childish poem?
Rav Avrohom Shorr explains in his Sefer בובלהו חקלה that when something is extremely meaningful to a person, everything in life triggers and reminds him of his passion. The goal of the Seder night is to become so connected to Hashem—through praising and discussing Hashem’s taking us out of םירצמ—that all of our passions and desires become one with Him. This is reflected in everything we see and talk about!
So, the number 1 immediately triggers “1 is Hashem.” The number 2 reminds us of the Luchos, 3 of the Avos, etc.
This is the reason we end the night with this song—to signify the tremendous elevation we have reached! It shows that we desire everything in life to remind us of discussions about Hashem’s greatness and His holy Torah.
However, the truth is that these incredible levels are actually given to us free of charge! Because of this, on this night, we need tools to hold onto these lofty levels.
The םולש תוביתנ explains that there are two methods of battling the רצי
ערה:
Tefillah—A person begs and pleads to Hashem to save him from his רצי ערה, and through his prayers, he merits salvation. However, since this method is a gift from Shamayim, it does not fundamentally change a person’s essence.
Personal Effort—Through enormous personal effort, coupled with heavenly help, one can change his essence entirely and become a different person.
When לארשי ללכ left םירצמ, they were on the 49th level of impurity and had almost no personal capability to elevate themselves.4 Because of this, Hashem sent a tremendous Divine Power down to them, elevating them to unimaginable levels. However, since these levels were gifted from Above and not earned through their own hard efforts, they were still in extreme danger of being overpowered by the האמוט.
Thus, we immediately have the mitzvah of רמועה תריפס at the end of the Seder! These 49 days represent the 49 levels of האמוט that the Yidden overcame. Each day until תועובש, we count the Omer and work on ourselves to retain the lofty levels attained on the Seder night.
׳ה תרזעב, this year, may we all merit to tap into the power of the Seder night and create everlasting change within ourselves and all of ללכ לארשי!
RABBI AHARON BECKER
Rabbi Becker, a native of Chicago, studied in Eretz Yisroel for five and a half years, learning at Beis Yisroel and in the Mir Yeshiva under Rabbi Asher Arieli. He then continued his studies at Lakewood’s BMG. For the past 10 years, Rabbi Becker has lived in Los Angeles, where he teaches and learns at Link Kollel, gives a Daf Yomi shiur, and teaches in the YPLA program in the evenings. Rabbi Becker has also been a Beis Medrash rebbe at YULA for the past three years.
4 As Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz famously explains the comment in the Mechilta: “ םיה לע
- even a common maidservant saw at the sea revelations greater than לאקזחי’s revelation of הבכרמ השעמ! Yet she is still referred to as a ״החפש״ because the lofty levels she saw and attained were not internalized and she remained a common החפש rather than attain the levels of the great prophet לאקזחי
The Lasting Taste of Emunah: The Chacham’s Question and
the Afikoman’s
Message
The chacham asks, “
- “What are the testimonies, the decrees, and the ordinances that Hashem, our God, commanded you?” (Devarim 6:20).
At first glance, this question seems vague. If the pasuk is read literally, it appears as though the chacham is asking his father to explain all the mitzvos found in the Torah. This request would be difficult to satisfy in any amount of time, let alone in one night! What, then, is the chacham truly asking?
To understand the chacham’s question, let us look at the Haggadah’s answer: “
“And you shall even explain to him like the halachos of Pesach: we do not eat after the Pesach Afikoman.”
How does this answer the chacham’s question? Indeed, there is a halacha that one must not eat after the Afikoman, but this seems to be just a small detail—barely scratching the surface of “all the mitzvos” of the Torah. What is it about the Afikoman being the last item we eat that satisfies the curious chacham?
After the children bargain for an “Afikoman present,” those gathered at the Seder table partake of the Afikoman—a symbolic replacement for the Korban Pesach, which was also the final food consumed on Pesach night. Rav Moshe Yehuda Schlesinger explains the halacha of the Afikoman being last based on the following pasuk:
“Slaughter the Korban Pesach… Do not eat chametz over it; for seven days, eat matzah, lechem oni, in order that you should remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life” (Devarim 16:2-3).
Simply put, these pesukim state that through eating the Korban
Yosef Gabay ‘26 Shalom Borbely ‘26
Pesach and the matzah, we remember Yetzias Mitzrayim throughout the year.
Whenever we eat food, the taste of what we consumed most recently lingers in our mouths until our next meal. This is often why people partake in a small dessert—to cleanse the palate and leave a pleasant taste. The Torah requires us to eat the Korban Pesach specifically at the end of the meal so that the “flavor” of Yetzias Mitzrayim remains with us even after we move on. We seek to bring the taste of the matzah into the rest of the year.
Similarly, Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl uses this yesod of Afikoman to explain the conversation between the chacham and his father. When the chacham asks, “What are the testimonies, decrees, and ordinances?” he is essentially asking, “Why do we have so many mitzvos that serve as a zecher—a remembrance—of Yetzias Mitzrayim?”
For example, Tefillin, Shabbos, the kedushah of bechoros (firstborns), the Korban Pesach, matzah , the removal of all chametz, the Yom Tov of Pesach, and many others. Why do we need so many mitzvos related to Yetzias Mitzrayim? Wouldn’t one central remembrance suffice?
Leora Elishis ’26
חספ, matching her interest and desire to learn. This is also the student about whom we learn:
)א:ד תובא
Who is wise? One who learns from all people (Pirkei Avot 4:1). Regarding the learning of םירצמ תאיצי, this is the child who seeks knowledge in all its forms: storytelling, inquiry, and others’ experience.
עשר - The wicked one
The second child, by contrast, is defiant and rejects learning. She asks, םֶ
?- what is this service for you? Her view of learning is הדובע–work, an obligation, a burden; and she is distanced from it. Learning does not come easily to this student, and she makes it known through her behavior and defiance. How do we respond to this child? While the language of the Haggadah sounds quite harsh–
ויניש תא ההקה–literally, to blunt his/her teeth, we learn from this that we must respond with the intensity and passion that this student
Shoshana Helfand ‘26
Shauna Rahididoust ‘26
Eden Aranoff ’26
“On the Wings of Eagles”: The Meaning of the Metaphor
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it behooves us to listen carefully whenever the Torah speaks in imagery. In Shemot 19:3, Hashem uses the following image to describe the exodus from Egypt: “...I bore you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me” (Exodus 19:3). Yet what about Yetziat Mitzrayim was like flight on the wings of eagles?
To Rashbam, the eagle’s flight represents the splitting of the Yam Suf. Just as the eagle soars in the air across both land and sea, so too, when Hashem split the Yam Suf, our nation was able to effortlessly traverse its waters.
While Rashbam emphasizes the eagle’s powerful, horizontal flight, R. Yosef Bechor Shor focuses on the vertical—the staggering heights to which the eagle rises. Hashem rescued us from the depths of slavery and lifted us up to Him as His Chosen People, privileged with the responsibility of being a mamlechet kohanim ve-goy kadosh (Shemot 19:6). Our steep ascent from bondage to freedom, from Pharoah’s slaves to servants of the King of Kings, is captured by the image of the eagle which flies high above all other birds.
Furthermore, the Zohar describes Egypt as a mire of spiritual impurity; while trapped there, Bnei Yisrael sank to the 49th level of tumah. During the exodus, by contrast, Bnei Yisrael saw the hand of Hashem, experiencing His open revelation and direct salvation. Chazal compare the simplest maidservant’s apprehension of Hashem at kriat Yam Suf to the prophecy of the great Yechezkel Ha-Navi. Upon yetziat Mitzrayim, our nation climbed to extraordinary spiritual heights, comparable to the altitude at which the eagle soars.
The Mechilta notes the speed with which Bnei Yisrael rocketed to those heights. An eagle, perched momentarily on a branch, can in the next instant be gliding high in the sky. So too the exodus took place be-chipazon (Shemot 12:11), in a hurried manner. Our nation’s meteoric rise took place all at once, with the velocity of the eagle
Kovi Hellman ‘26, Amram Essebag ‘25, Jacob Robin ‘26
shooting toward the heavens.
So while the eagle soaring far, high, and fast is an apt representation of Bnei Yisrael leaving Egypt, in truth, the Torah does not compare us to eagles but rather to ones carried by eagles. Rashi and others highlight the implication of protection. Hashem took us out of Egypt, writes Rashi, “as an eagle which bears its fledglings upon its wings,” placing her own body between her young and any threatening arrows shot from below. Similarly, Hashem shielded us with His pillar of cloud from the Egyptians’ arrows when they drew near to attack us on the banks of the Yam Suf. Traveling on the wings of eagles implies the protection of a loving Father, prepared to do anything to ensure our security.
Dr. Aviva Zornberg suggests that the imagery of being carried “engenders in the people a sense of their own lightness…it deflates their grandiosity, and evokes a relation to God, in which their kavod, their weightiness, becomes insignificant…” (The Particulars of Rapture, pg. 258). The Pesach story is not one of individual heroism; Moshe Rabbeinu himself is not mentioned in the Haggadah. At the
Seder, our focus is on Hashem’s salvation, how He carried us from slavery to freedom and beyond. In Dr. Zornberg’s words, “history is driven entirely by God’s motion.”
Nechama Liebowitz taught that Biblical imagery is not like a code that, when cracked, yields a single decrypted message. Rather, the point of utilizing imagery is to convey a multiplicity of impressions that together comprise its meaning. Keeping in mind the many layers of the metaphor, may it be Hashem’s will that we merit once again to experience redemption “on the wings of eagles.”
MRS. ROCHEL GANS
Mrs. Gans moved to LA with her family to join the Nagel YU Community Kollel. Originally from Passaic, NJ, Mrs. Gans studied at Michlalah and Stern College, graduating with a B.A. in History and Judaic Studies. She completed her M.A. in Bible at Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies and is in the midst of doctoral coursework. Mrs. Gans is a beloved role model at the Girls Division where she teaches Tanach and Jewish History, while coaching the Torah Bowl team that she inaugurated with rigor and passion.
“Not Passover”
I learned my very favorite piece of Pesach Torah 20 years ago- when I sat in a shiur taught by Rav Yaakov Medan at the annual summer Tanach Conference at Machon Herzog in Eretz Yisrael.
Rav Medan asked: what exactly does the word “Pesach” mean? It’s an important question- not only because it’s the name of the chag, but because we are taught in the Haggadah (and in the Mishna) that we have to actually talk about “Pesach” in order to fulfill our obligation at the Seder.
The Haggadah shares with us Rabban Gamliel’s explanation for the word “ Pesach”. It is the name of the Korban. And the Korban is called that because Hakadosh Baruch Hu “ Pasach”ed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. That is helpful. But what exactly did Hashem do?
9th Grade Hamsas
What does the verb “ Pasach” mean?
There is an answer to this question that we all learned in elementary school. Hashem “passed over” the Jewish homes during Makkat Bechorot. Hence the name “Passover” for the holiday. This is in fact Rashi’s preferred reading. Rashi writes:
“And I say: “Psicha” is a language of skipping and jumping. Hashem leaped over the houses of Israel to the houses of Egyptians, Because they lived amongst each other.
Hashem skipped over the Jewish homes in Egyptian neighborhoods in order to reach the Egyptian homes to strike their firstborns.
Rav Medan points out that this reading isn’t entirely satisfactory. Why name both the korban and the chag after a moment of “passing over”? Why would it matter that much? And there is a bigger problem, which is the Torah’s language itself. It doesn’t quite seem that Hashem is passing over anything.
Ariella Edison ‘28
Hashem will pass through to plague the Egyptians, and He will see the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, and Hashem will “ Pasach” on the doorand not let the Destroyer enter and plague your home.
Read carefully, Rav Medan urged. There is a character here called the “תיחשמ” who is doing the killing. What is Hashem doing? Preventing the Mashchit from entering Jewish homes.
Rashi is sensitive to this problem, which is likely why “ Passover ” is only one of his explanations for the word Pesach. What else could the word mean?
Pesach is a fairly unusual verb, and Rashi himself cites two other occurrences in Tanach. One is the story of Eliyahu at Har Carmel in Perek 18 of Sefer Melachim. Eliyahu is fed up with the disloyalty of Am Yisrael. Choose a path- follow Hashem or follow idols, he demands. The metaphor he chooses is a bird that will not choose a branch to land on. Stop “Pesach-ing” over the 2 branches, choose one and stick with it.
The bird metaphor begins to clear things up. “Pesach-ing” is something a bird does before it settles down. Rashi’s second citation is even more direct. Yeshayahu in Perek 31 explicitly compares Hashem’s protection to a bird:
Like birds in flight, so will the Lord of Hosts shield Jerusalem, shielding and saving, “Pesach-ing ” and rescuing.
Hashem shields Jerusalem- like a bird in flight. Rav Medan suggests that Pesach means not to pass over but “to hover”.
The image is not of Hakadosh Baruch Hu skipping over Jewish homes while smiting Egyptian homes. Rather- the “Mashchit” (the Destroyer)
is entering homes, while Hashem is hovering in protection, like a bird, over each Jewish home.
Read this way, the storyline in the Pasuk holds together beautifully. And the meaning of the word “Pesach” lines up neatly across Tanach. And perhaps most importantly, we understand why both the Korban and the Chag are named after this moment. The moment of “ Pesach” is a moment of intimate connection between every Jewish home and Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hashem hovers in protection above each of usand we remember and relive this moment every chag.
RABBI MENACHEM HECHT, PHD
Rabbi Menachem Hecht, PhD, is Director of Israel Education and Jewish History Department Chair at YULA High School for both the Girls and Boys Division where he is beloved by all his students. He also creates Judaica and fine furniture through Hecht Studio.
Candle Lighting for Yom Tov TIMES LISTED ARE FOR LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Friday, April 11 .......................... Candle Lighting 7:03pm
Shabbat, April 12 ......................
Latest Time to Eat Chametz 10:21am
1st Seder Night Shabbat, April 12 ...................... Candle Lighting after 8:07pm
2nd Seder Night Tuesday, April 23 ...................... Candle Lighting after 8:08pm
Shvi’i Shel Pesach Friday, April 18 .......................... Candle Lighting 7:08pm
Motzei Shabbat, April 19 ........ Candle Lighting after 8:13pm Sunday, April 20 ........................ Havdalah 8:13pm
Cover Art: Zach Simon ‘25
The artwork in this edition was provided by the YULA High School Art classes at both divisions.
