Part of the series: Divrei Hashkafa by Rav Mayer Twersky
Shabbos associated with both brias ha’olam and yetzias Mitzrayim. Ramban explains they’re related – the later is me’id on the former. Rambam explains they are two separate things. Rambam says mitzva of leil Pesach is to talk about the miracles Hashem did for us, and mitzva of eating matza & marror to remember the slavery. Why remember the bad times? Because it imparts anava; the good times bring the danger of arrogance, which results in forgetting Hashem. There is an interplay between middos and emunos v’de’os – there’s a direct progression from corrupt middos to corrupt emunos v’de’os, so to teach proper emunos on Pesach (and on Shabbos), we must also teach proper middos. Bad middos are ultimately rooted in physicality, and that interferes with coming as close to HKB”H as possible.
Transcript
AI-generated transcript. May contain errors.
In Parshas Yisro the Torah associates Shabbos with Briyas Ha'olam.
כי ששת ימים עשה השם את השמים ואת הארץ את הים ואת כל אשר בם וינח ביום השביעי על כן ברך השם את יום השבת ויקדשהו.
The cycle of Sheishes Yimei Ha'ma'aseh culminating in Shabbos attests to Briyas Ha'olam, to Ma'aseh Bereishis. It affirms and instills within us emunah in Hakadosh Baruch Hu. In Parshas Va'eschanan the Torah associates Shabbos with Yetzias Mitzrayim.
וזכרת כי עבד היית בארץ מצרים ויוצאך השם אלוקיך משם ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה על כן ציווך השם אלוקיך לעשות את יום השבת.
Ramban puts forward a very beautiful and very elegant pshat where he says it’s not that the Torah has two disparate associations with Shabbos. Shabbos stands for emunah in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, emunah in Briyas Ha'olam. Lest a person wonder what basis we have for that belief, so the Torah in Parshas Va'eschanan says look to Yetzias Mitzrayim, look to the miracles of Mitzrayim which demonstrated so overwhelmingly Chiddush Ha'olam. Hakadosh Baruch Hu can override nature because nature is His handiwork. This stands in marked contrast to the Rambam who says no, Shabbos has two different associations, one with Ma'aseh Bereishis, one with וזכרת כי עבד היית. There aren't enough mitzvos in the Torah that some of them have to sort of do double duty here and we need to load up Shabbos with multiple associations. Ramban’s pshat is so beautiful, and Rambam says no, Shabbos stands for Ma'aseh Bereishis but it also stands for Yetzias Mitzrayim and an eved doesn't have a day off. Let's leave that kashya to the side for the moment. The Rambam defines מצוות סיפור יציאת מצרים as follows:
מצות עשה של תורה לספר בניסים ונפלאות שנעשו לאבותינו במצרים בליל חמשה עשר בניסן.
So the Rambam's definition is not entirely what we, I think, generally assume. The mitzvah is not to tell the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim; it’s to tell the story of the nissim v'niflaos of Yetzias Mitzrayim, specifically of Leil Chamishah Asar. So it's not the storyline per se, but it's the miracles. Where did the Rambam get that? Chazal talk about sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. Where did the Rambam get this targeted focus on the nissim v'niflaos of Yetzias Mitzrayim? He got it from a pasuk in Chumash.
כי ישאלך בנך מחר לאמר מה העדות והחוקים והמשפטים אשר צוה השם אלוקינו אתכם?
The question of the ben chacham.
ואמרת לבנך עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים ויוציאנו השם ממצרים ביד חזקה ויתן השם אותות ומופתים גדולים ורעים במצרים בפרעה ובכל ביתו לעינינו.
The answer to the ben chacham, which is sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim, focuses on the nissim v'niflaos. And in fact, the Rambam when he discusses the ta'amei mitzvos of Pesach also has this same parallel emphasis. He's talking about both Succos and Pesach in these couple of lines.
שני חגים אלו גם יחד כמו סוכות ופסח נותנים דעה ומידה.
They impart fundamental belief but they also cultivate proper middos. Hade'ah bePesach, the belief which is the goal of mitzvas Pesach היא זכר אותות מצרים והנצחתם לדורות, to remember the miracles of Mitzrayim and perpetuating their memory for all generations. Hamidah, skipping Succos, Hamidah, what's the mida which Pesach comes to inculcate?
המידה היא שיזכור האדם תמיד את ימי המצוקה בימי הרווחה.
A person in good times should remember times of distress. Sometimes our knee-jerk reaction is on the contrary, to try to forget, to try to bury bad times, difficult times, times of struggle, suffering, adversity, and the Torah says just the opposite. שיזכור האדם תמיד את ימי המצוקה בימי הרווחה. In times of expansiveness, when things are good, when a person is flourishing, he has to remember the difficult times, the struggles. And for two reasons: א, כדי שתגדל תודתו לא-ל. Number one, it will increase his sense of thanksgiving to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. But number two: ותושג לו ענווה והכנעה. But it also imparts humility, shiflus. ויאכל מצה ומרור בפסח כדי שיזכור mah avar aleinu. We sippur yetzias Mitzrayim focuses on the nissim and niflaos. It imparts the de'ah and the mitzvas achila of matzah and maror is to remember mah avar aleinu. The Rambam has this idea earlier as well when he talks about mikra bikkurim. There are many, many, many devarim nifla'im when one understands a little bit of what the Rambam is saying. There are so many devarim nifla'im. One is just how the Rambam learned Chumash. So what happens in mikra bikkurim? So you come and you bring reishis bikkurei admasecha of the shivas haminim of Eretz Yisrael, okay. And mikra bikkurim, so what should mikra bikkurim consist of? Okay, you address the Kohen, you tell the Kohen, Baruch Hashem, I had a successful harvest this year, here are my bikkurim. What does mikra bikkurim actually consist of?
וענית ואמרת לפני ה' אלוקיך ארמי אובד אבי וירד מצרימה.
Why does he begin reminiscing? Why does he begin reminiscing about what happened five years ago? Why does he begin reminiscing about his childhood? He goes back to the alte zeide. He goes back to Yaakov Avinu. He goes back to Yaakov Avinu. What's the connection with havas bikkurim? יש פה זה הודאה בחסד ובטוב שהאל מעניק. There's gratitude, we express gratitude, but kedai sheha'adam yeda, shechelek me'avodas Hashem, it's an integral part of avodas Hashem, sheyazkir, he should remember and mention es matzavei metzukaso, his times of distress besha'ah sheyivach lo. מטרה זו מודגשת הרבה בתורה. This is something which is a leitmotif in the Torah, emphasized time and time again. וזכרת כי עבד היית. Why is that? Why is it necessary to remember, whether it's one's own personal struggles or whether it's our collective historical struggles and suffering?
מפני שחושש מן התכונות המפורסמות אצל כל מי שחונך ברווחה.
When we enjoy prosperity, there's a danger. There's a danger for certain well-known character traits which sometimes emerge as the fallout from prosperity.
מפני שחושש מן התכונות המפורסמות אצל כל מי שחונך ברווחה,
k'mo hayuhara. Arrogance. A person is successful, a person prospers, it's very conducive to breeding arrogance. Where did I get this idea from, says the Rambam? Sefer Devarim, Parshas Eikev: Pen tochal vesavata. Vehemshech hapasuk hi: ובתים טובים תבנה וישבת. You'll live in nice beautiful houses. uvkarcha vetzoncha yirbeyun. To give a paraphrase instead of a translation, you'll have fancy cars parked in the driveway. uvkarcha vetzoncha yirbeyun, וכסף וזהב ירבה לך, וכל אשר לך ירבה. And what's liable, rachmana litzlan, to happen? ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלקיך. The progression is a progression of prosperity, which can, it doesn't have to, but it can, if one isn't on guard against it, which can then breed arrogance, which results in ושכחת את ה' אלקיך. The essence of remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu is a feeling of shiflus, a feeling of total dependency. Ultimately, all our chiyuv to make hishtadlus in so many realms and on so many levels, but obviously recognizing an ultimate sense of helplessness. Everything is only if Ribono Shel Olam allows it to happen. Veram levavecha is antithetical to remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu. ורם לבבך ושכחת את ה' אלקיך. You know, it's interesting that the Meshech Chochma asks a kasha, it's not a kasha on the Rambam, he doesn't ask it on the Rambam, it's a kasha on Chazal: בעבור זה בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך. So the Meshech Chochma asks, why don't we say בשעה שיש פסח מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך? Why is it בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך? So he gives a beautiful answer. But another answer suggests itself, according to this Rambam, is there's a complementarity here between Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. Yetzias Mitzrayim, Pesach is to to teach De'ah and instill Middah. The De'ah is taught through Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Middah is taught through אכילת מצה ומרור בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך. There is here an interplay the Rambam is telling us, an extraordinary interplay between middos and emunos vede’os. Corrupt middos, there's a direct progression, rachmana litzlan it can be. A direct progression from corrupt middos to corrupt emunos vede’os. Which is why when Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes on Pesach to teach proper emunah, it has to be accompanied by instilling proper middah. We asked on on the Rambam’s approach to Shabbos. What what what what are we to make of the fact that the Torah has sort of two different associations for Shabbos? So the answer is yes, there are two different associations, but the point is that those two always have to go hand in hand. When the Torah wants to teach emunah ki sheishes yamim, the Torah has to teach hachna’ah veshiflus וזכרת כי עבד היית בארץ מצרים. Proper emunah can’t be attained if attained can’t be sustained without that sense of shiflus. So it’s not two unrelated associations with Shabbos. No, there’s a crucial complementarity here. More broadly, the Rambam also tells us in Shemonah Perakim that Chazal depict different levels of nevuah as how many screens with the following metaphor. How many screens with a certain degree of opaqueness there are between the navi and and Hakadosh Baruch Hu as it were. The more screens so then the more one’s vision is blurred. And the fewer screens so then the more direct the vision is. So the Rambam says what’s the nimshal of of these masachim of these screens? He says it’s chesronos, imperfections in character. Not in in inyanim sichliim. No, but imperfections in character and and the level of nevuah is determined not not only by the ramah hasichlis of a navi. No, that has to be a given. But given that it’s then determined by by the middos. Obviously, the whatever chesronos the Neviim had were microscopic. But but the the more microscopic chesronos, the lower, the lesser relatively speaking the darga of nevuah. And the closer to being mushlam in middos, the higher what was the darga of nevuah. Ultimately, the peshat in that is ultimately middos. Middos meguna'os, chesronos, have all rooted in a person's physicality, in gashmius ha-adam. Anytime we have a mida ra'ah, it accentuates the gashmius. And that in turn interferes with the effort to come as close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as possible. Just to end just with the following he'arah. Again, it's something to reflect upon, this connection, this linkage between middos, and in particular מידת הענוה, הכנעה, שפלות and the capacity to have genuine and authentic and correct emunah. One of the questions in thinking about the Haggadah is why Chazal chose as the primary text the parsha of Arami oveid avi. So there are many important and true answers to this question. But le-chora, included within that list of answers is because the parsha of Arami oveid avi is the parsha which teaches this yesod of remembering ימי הרעה, ימי המצוקה, בימי הטובה, בימי הברכה. When a person is celebrating a successful crop, he's reminiscing about וירעו אתנו המצרים ויענונו ויתנו עלינו עבודה קשה. And that dictates the format of sippur yetzias Mitzrayim of מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח. The whole makor comes from the parsha of Arami oveid avi.