long time no write, due to a combination of busyness and writers block.
But the pressure is on. I think I'm speaking again over pesach, so b''h I'm forced to come up with something.
Last year I wrote about R' Chaim's distinction between zechiras yetzias mitzraim and sippur yetzias miztraim. After further reflection, I think we need to go back to the drawing board. Allow me to begin by re-formulating a quick summary of R' Chaim's key ideas.
There are two principle questions R Chaim deals with:
1. If there is an obligation min hatorah to remember yetzias mitzraim every morning and every night, why is that obligation not listed as one of the taryag mitzvos?
2. The obligation to discuss yetzias mitzraim bi-leil haseder is one of the taryag mitzvos - but why do we need such an obligation if we already are obligated to discuss yetzias mitzraim every night of the year?
R Chaim explains that there is a fundamental distinction between the zechiras yetzias mitzraim of the rest of the year and the sippur yetzias mitzraim of leil haseder. Zechirah isn't about remembering yetzias mitzraim qua the event itself - notice that we do zechiras yetzias mitzraim in krias shema, as part of kabbalas ol malchus shamayim. There is a din that the tzurah of kabbalas ol malchus shamayim must be through remembering that hashem was koneh us as avadim when he freed us from Egypt, but the zechirah isn't a mitzvah in and of itself. Thus it isn't included in the taryag - its nichlal in mitzvas krias shema / kabbalas ol malchus shamayim.
This allows us to understand how zechira is fundamentally different from sippur. Sippur bilel haseder is to remember the event of the exodus qua the event itself - the mitzvah is to re-live and re-experience the entire saga of yetzias mitzraim. This distinction, claims R Chaim leads to several halacha limaaseh differences between sippur and zechira:
a. zechira is only mechayev a hazkarah kol dihu - a brief mention of yetzias mitzraim. sippur requires a more detailed explanation of the "nissim viniflaos shenaasu lavoseinu bimitzraim".
b. every night, the mitzvah is to talk to oneself. on leil haseder, we have a din of vihigadta libincha - to tell the story to others.
c. the mitzvah every other night is just to remember. tonight, the mitzvah to say hallel/shirah is part of the mitzvah of sippur yetzias mitzraim.
Again, all these differences arise, according to R Chaim, because tonight we don't just remember yetzias mitzraim as part of kabbalas ol malchus shamayim - we re-live the experience.
Last yr, I attacked this R' Chaim. I retract the attack as a hasaga. I think R' Chaim is the correct pshat in the Rambam. What was correct in my hasaga is that the Rambam is a daas yachid (kidarko bakodesh). Most Rishonim, however, disagree with the distinction he makes. (See last yrs article for the list of questions on R Chaim's mehalech).
One of the big questions that we grappled with last year was that when the Ramban lists all the mitzvos that we do as a zecher leyetzias mitzraim, he leaves out the one we would have put first: sippur yetzias mitzraim.
I think we can understand this better by looking at the Rambam's formulation and derivation of the mitzvah of sippur yetzias mitzraim:
מצות עשה של תורה לספר בנסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים בליל חמשה עשר בניסן שנאמר זכור את היום הזה אשר יצאתם ממצרים כמו שנאמר זכור את יום השבת. ומנין שבליל חמשה עשר תלמוד לומר והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך. ואף על פי שאין לו בן. אפילו חכמים גדולים חייבים לספר ביציאת מצרים וכל המאריך בדברים שאירעו ושהיו הרי זה משובח:
The Rambam connects the mitzvos of sippur yetzias mitzraim and kiddush on shabbos - in both places the torah uses the word zachor, and in both places, the word zachor means to verbalize and discuss something - by shabbos, it is the kedushas hayom of shabbos, and by pesach, it is the story of our slavery and subsequent redemption.
Moreover, just like by the case of shabbos, the zachor commandment is fulfilled on shabbos itself, so too by the zachor of pesach, the commandment is fulfilled on pesach itself.
Whats very interesting, then, is that the Ramban disagrees with the Rambam with regards to the zachor of shabbos. Of course, part of what it means is the kiddush we make on shabbos itself. But the Ramban (al hatorah in the aseres hadibros) claims that the zachor of shabbos applies as much during the week as it does on shabbos itself:
שהיא מצוה שנזכור תמיד בכל יום את השבת שלא נשכחהו ולא יתחלף לנו בשאר הימים, כי בזכרנו אותו תמיד יזכור מעשה בראשית בכל עת, ונודה בכל עת שיש לעולם בורא, והוא צוה אותנו באות הזה כמו שאמר (להלן לא יג) כי אות היא ביני וביניכם. וזה עיקר גדול באמונת האל:
So I don't think its a big stretch at all to make a lishitasam here: The same way the Ramban extends the zachor of shabbos past shabbos itself, he would similarly extend the zachor of pesach: while of course it has a special role on leil haseder, it really is a mitzvah that applies all year round - sippur yetzias mitzraim and zechiras yetzias mitzraim are really all part of one mitzvah (against R' Chaim). That would explain Rashi's comment on the pasuk of zachor: זכור את היום הזה - למד שמזכירין יציאת מצרים בכל יום. (And thats why sippur didn't make it to the Ramban's list; its already there in the guise of zechiras yetzias mitzraim.)
Someone showed me a Ramban this morning that I thought contradicted the above, but it really doesn't. The Ramban claims that the Rambam is incorrect in leaving out the mitzvah of birchas hatorah from the minyan hamitzvos. Says the Ramban: Just like mikra bikkurim and bikkurim itself are counted as two mitzvos, and just like sippur yetzias mitzraim and korban pesach are counted as two mitzvos, so too birchas hatorah and limmud hatorah should be counted as two separate mitzvos.
As a parenthetical note, I believe this Ramban offers a new approach to understanding why no bracha is recited on the haggada - everyone loves making up answers to this question but this seems to actually be a good one. But does this contradict what we said by implying that sippur yetzias mitzraim is limited to a type of "mikra korban pesach"?
No. Just like by zachor es yom hashabbos, the mitzvah is multi-faceted. A major facet of the mitzvah is obviously its role in the seder - no one is trying to deny that. But whats important is that the mitzvos of the seder don't stop at the seder. They extend all year long, every day, 24/7. We conclude then, with the following:
בכל דור ודור חייב אדם להראות את עצמו כאילו הוא בעצמו יצא עתה משעבוד מצרים שנאמר +דברים ו'+ ואותנו הוציא משם וגו', ועל דבר זה צוה הקב"ה בתורה +דברים ה'+ וזכרת כי עבד היית כלומר כאילו אתה בעצמך היית עבד ויצאת לחירות ונפדית.
Look at the 2 proof pesukim the rambam quoted to demonstrate this halacha that bileil haseder, one should feel as if he himself went out of mitzraim. the first one, which is from the gemara, makes sense. its one of the pesukim in the answer to the question of the ben hachacham - the pasuk is in the context of the mitvzah of sippur yetzias mitzraim, and in that context, the father talks about him himself going out of mitzraim, even if this father is from later generations.
but in quoting that second pasuk (which the gemara does not mention to my limited knowledge), the rambam is saying a tremendous chiddush. the phrase vizacharta ki eved hayisa comes up a few times in chumash, so its not clear exactly which one the rambam is referring to. but I dont think it comes up in the context of sippur yetzias mitzraim. in the aseres hadibros, it comes up when hashem commands us about shabbos. in parshas reeh, it comes up when hashem commands us about haanaka (you have to send an eved ivri off with presents), and also during the discussion of shavuos. in ki seitzei, it comes up by the prohibition to pervert justice against widows and orphans; a few pesukim later, the phrase is used in context of the command to leave peah. so if you're trying to prove to me that there is a chiyuv on leil haseder to feel like i left mitzraim, how did you prove it by quoting a pasuk that has nothing to do with leil haseder?
Obviously, the mitzvah to feel like we left mitzraim right now - even the mitzvah of leil haseder -- is not limited to leil haseder - rather, we're supposed to feel that way the entire year, when we're keeping shabbos, leaving peah, pursuing justice, etc.
Allow me to ask a klutz kashya: If leil haseder is the ultimate time of cheirus, then tisha b'av is its complete antithesis - zman galuseinu, one might say. This contrast is recognized in the kinnos - one of the most famous kinnos contrasts the glory and grandeur of "bitzeisi mi-mitzraim" to the degradation and lowliness of "bitzeisi mi-yerushalayim". So I ask you: I understand the phrase "bitzeisi mi-mitzraim" - there is a halacha that we all must feel as if we ourselves left Egypt. But "bitzeisi mi-yerushalayim" - my ancestors were exiled from Yerushalaim 2000 years ago - was I there?
It is clear to me that the halacha to feel as if one left Egypt is not limited solely to that event. Because the mitzvah isn't to make believe and pretend for a night that I was there when bnei yisrael left Egypt. That's just stupidity. It's not, as R Chaim would (might) have it, an experiential mitzvah, but rather, an identification mitzvah. There is no us vs them when it comes to our ancestors. Its all about the we - if we identify with klal yisrael, then we're all one -- past, present, and future Jews -- and mimeila, we feel that whatever happened to our ancestors (yetzias mitzraim), happened to us. We were there every step of the way through Jewish history -- through the highs of yetzias mitzraim and the lows of yetzias yerushalayim -- we carry the burden, the torch of Jewish history, and we can identify with it personally because it happened to our people - that is, to us.
The worst sin, the greatest crime, that a person can do on leil haseder is mefurash in the haggada - and its not the multiple possible chiyuvei kares that involve chametz or the korban pesach.
רשע מה הוא אומר: מה העבודה הזאת לכם, לכם ולא לו, ולפי שהוציא את עצמו מן הכלל כפר בעיקר
Leil Haseder revolves around identifying with klal yisrael - thats the only way to fulfill the mitzvah of feeling as if you yourself left Egypt. A person who comes and separates himself -- לכם ולא לו -- he has no place at leil haseder.
The mitzvos of leil haseder cant be limited to leil haseder - one's identity of self does not go through a magical metamorphosis for a day and then revert back to a normal - thats a big joke! We identify constantly with yetzias mitzraim - we remember that we were there from the beginning, at the formative experience in the creation of our nation, and mimeila, we were there throughout the rest. Please G-d we should all merit to identify with the mitzvos haseder and through them, with all of klal yisrael.
