Pesach – Sipur Yetzias Mitzrayim

רבן גמליאל אומר כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו ואלו הן פסח מצה ומרור.

There is a little little Tosafot on the bottom in קט"ז עמוד א dibur hamaschil v'amartem zevach pesach. Right, so in the way we have it printed here, the pesukim are in brackets. The pasuk of v'amartem zevach pesach, vayoofu et habatzek, and vayemareru et chayeihem are in brackets. Little Tosafot here on the bottom of קט"ז עמוד א v'amartem zevach pesach peirush ba'amira

שצריך לומר פסח זה שאנו אוכלים והקיש מצה ומרור לפסח וצריך לומר מצה זו מרור זה.

So lichora the pshat in Tosafot is as follows. I don't know how much was indicated by Tosafot's girsa in the Mishna, but what emerges in terms of how they understand pshat in the Mishna is that v'amartem zevach pesach is not only, or maybe the Mishna's not even quoting it in this capacity at all, is not only the pasuk that you use to talk about korban pesach but it's the makor for Rabban Gamliel's din. V'amartem zevach pesach, so we say it in the Haggadah as the perspective, as the explanation of korban pesach. Tosafot is clearly saying that v'amartem zevach pesach is where Rabban Gamliel get this din from. Where did Rabban Gamliel get this din of

כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו שנאמר ואמרתם זבח פסח

that there has to be an amira which accompanies the zevach pesach, peirush ba'amira שצריך לומר פסח זה שאנו אוכלים. Oh, so if that's the case, how does Rabban Gamliel know matzah and maror as well? Maybe this din of kol shelo amar is only a din by Pesach, it's not a din by matzah and maror as well, so v'tzorech lomar that והקיש מצה ומרור לפסח. Since there's a hekesh between matzah and maror to the korban pesach, so mimaila the same way you have a din by pesach of v'amartem zevach pesach, so hu hadin by matzah and maror. The pashut is from Tosafot that given this understanding that v'amartem zevach pesach for Tosafot is the makor for Rabban Gamliel's din is that Tosafot understood that the Rav zichrono livracha used to point out that the machlokes between the Ramban and the Rambam in the din of Rabban Gamliel לא יצא ידי חובתו. What chova? That from the Rambam in perek zayin of Chametz u-Matzah it means the chova of sippur yetziat mitzrayim and according to the Ramban it means the chovat achila. That commenting on the shlosha devarim elu is a din according to the Ramban in mitzvas achilas pesach, achilas matzah, achilas maror, and according to the Rambam the kol shelo amar is a din in sippur yetziat mitzrayim. That the Ramban in Milchamos in Berachos is illustrating that sometimes you have a lashon לא יצא ידי חובתו in Chazal which doesn't mean literally you're not yatza yedei chovato, it means you're not yatza l'chat'chila, you're not yatza the way you should be yatza. And the Ramban says v'haraya

רבן גמליאל אומר כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו

and lo shamano that that means that you have to be chozer v'ochel. Lo shamano that that means that if you didn't say the shlosha devarim elu in pesach that you have to go eat the pesach matzah umaror again. Okay, and he has it in another place as well, and the Rambam says no, that in perek zayin it's clearly a din in sippur yetziat mitzrayim. But pashut in Tosafot is if v'amartem zevach pesach is the makor for the din, as v'amartem zevach pesach seems to be in the parsha of korban pesach, the pshat you have is that Tosafot also understood like the Ramban that the kol shelo amar is a din in the mitzvas achila, that the mitzvas achila is supposed to be introduced by the shlosha devarim elu, not so much that it's a din in sippur yetziat mitzrayim. Mimaila, according to the Ramban and Tosafot, you understand the lashon hamishna of כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים. So according to the Rambam it's a funny loshon. What exactly, what the loshon of כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח according to ba'pesach or bi'pesach according to the Rambam is, because pesach generally denotes the korban pesach. So according to the Rambam it's very meduyak. כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בקרבן פסח, if you didn't accompany your achilas pesach with saying shlosha devarim eilu לא יצא ידי חובתו, and that's the makor from v'amartem zevach pesach. According to the Rambam it's a tzaruch iyun what exactly the loshon be'pesach is. Takeh when the Rambam quotes this din he says b'leil chamisha asar. He doesn't say be'pesach. So tzaruch iyun exactly what that loshon be'pesach means. Al kol panim, however the Rambam read that word, in the Rambam it's clear that it's a מצות סיפור יציאת מצרים, that it's a prat in מצות סיפור יציאת מצרים. The Mishnah Berurah quotes the Chayei Adam that's mashma like this, if you just even let's assume now the Rambam's p'shat in the Mishnah, dehainu that the Mishnah means that these are necessary components of sippur yetzias mitzrayim, sippur yetzias mitzrayim. So like this I think sort of the impression you would get is that Rabban Gamliel is telling us you might think that it's enough to מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח and to darshen arami oveid avi and to sing dayeinu and you wouldn't have known that you have to say שלשה דברים אלו בפסח. So I'm coming and telling you a chidush then that

כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח לא יצא ידי חובתו.

I think that lichura would be the simple p'shat. Mishnah Berurah quotes a Chayei Adam says like this. In Shulchan Aruch the Rama says that you have to make sure that everyone present at the seder understands the Haggadah. If the nashim and ktanim present don't understand the loshon hakodesh, then you have to translate everything for them. Make sure everyone understands the Haggadah because nashim are also chayavos in the mitzvos halaylah. Fine. So says the Mishnah Berurah again, I think it says here in the Sha'ar HaTziyun that he's quoting the Chayei Adam, I think. No, right here he says it in the text he's quoting the Chayei Adam. ולכן החיוב גם על המשרתת שתשב אצל השולחן. Let's say you have a Jewish maid. So the Mishnah Berurah says so she has to sit, she has to sit at the seder, she can't be in the kitchen the whole time, she has to sit at the seder, she's also chayavos in the mitzvos halaylah.

שתשב אצל השולחן ותשמע כל ההגדה. ואם צריכה לצאת לחוץ לבשל?

Al kol panim mechuyavas lishmoa hakiddush

וכשיגיע לרבן גמליאל אומר כל שלא אמר שתכנס ותשמע עד לאחר שתיית כוס ב' שהרי מי שלא אמר ג' דברים הללו לא יצא.

So the Mishnah Berurah says, he's about to be a caveat, he's about to expand it a little bit, but he says me'ikar hadin he says that she can leave after kiddush and take care of, attend to whatever needs to be attended to in the kitchen, but just make sure she comes in for Rabban Gamliel because

רבן גמליאל היה אומר כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח.

He says נוהגין שגם קורא אותן שתשמע סדר עשר מכות that she should be there for d'tzach adash be'achav as well. But in the Mishnah Berurah's mashma again quoting the Chayei Adam that they learned p'shat Rabban Gamliel's din not the way we said, that they learned p'shat Rabban Gamliel's din is that this mitzvas sippur has to revolve around these three, around these three things. That once you explain in context of moror that vayemararu es chayeihem, right? And then once you explain in context of korban pesach שפסח המקום על בתי אבותינו במצרים בנגפו את מצרים, and once you explain עד שנגלה עליהם מלך מלכי המלכים וגאלם, so then those, those are the key components, but the sippur yetzias mitzrayim revolves around the pesach matzah maror, revolves around the pesach matzah maror. And to the exclusion of not even being there for the מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח, not being there for the מתחלה עובדי עבודה זרה, not being there for arami oveid avi. That's what it sounds like in Mishnah Berurah and Chayei Adam. It's a chidush. Lulei divreihem, so I think we would have thought that Rabban Gamliel again is coming to tell us what we otherwise wouldn't have been aware of in terms of what's necessary for mitzvas sippur. Emes is in the leshonos HaRambam. So the truth is that in being ma'atik the lashon hamishna of לא יצא ידי חובתו, so the Rambam says Rabban Gamliel's din more forcefully than he says all the other things.

כל מי שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בליל חמישה עשר לא יצא ידי חובתו.

So contrast that to צריך להתחיל בגנות ולסיים בשבח, mitzvah lehodia labanim. That's already closer, but emes is in the Rambam also you get a little bit of that Rabban Gamliel is takeh not just coming to tell us these are necessary components, but it's almost an exclusive list that he's takeh being exhaustive in terms of what's mamash mamash indispensable. Pashutus is again that Tosafos's peshat in terms of what Rabban Gamliel's mokor is, is only within the Ramban, that Rabban Gamliel's din that you have to talk about the shelosha devarim elu is necessary to be yotzei the mitzvas achila. According to the Rambam it's not clear what the din is. So it could be as follows. It could be according to the Rambam, again,

והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים. והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר

is the posuk of sippur yetzias Mitzrayim. Ba'avur zeh we darshen that the zeh refers to matzah, maybe pesach matzah maror. So that posuk seems to say that the והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, it distills sippur yetzias Mitzrayim into ba'avur zeh. That the sippur yetzias Mitzrayim takeh revolves around the pesach matzah maror. Yitachen, next is a little bit half-baked. As follows. There is a Tosefta that the Rosh and others quote. Chayav adam, the very end of the Tosefta in Pesachim.

חייב אדם לעשות בהלכות הפסח כל הלילה אפילו בינו לבין בנו אפילו בינו לבין עצמו.

So the Tosefta says pashutus that the talmud torah of maseches Pesachim of hilchos hapesach, korban pesach, is a kiyum in sippur yetzias Mitzrayim. That's the simple reading of the Tosefta, that חייב אדם לעשות בהלכות הפסח כל הלילה. The Rambam doesn't have it kayaduah. The Rambam just defines the mitzvah as lesaper benissim venifla'os. We don't really have any reflection of this. The Rosh, the Rosh does quote this Tosefta. The Rosh is talking about whether or not it's muttar to drink after the afikoman. Is it only assur to eat after the afikoman or is it also assur to drink after the afikoman? So he says, he quotes rayos from רבי יוסף טוב עלם that if you're thirsty Yosef Tuv Elem says that you'll follow the opinion that you should have chamisha kosos, and that will give you the pretext to drink an extra kos. So he says mashma midvarav that without a pretext he can't drink it. Ai, tema minalan,

הד דלקמן לא קאמר אלא דאין מפטירין אחר פסח אפיקומן, היינו שלא לאכול אבל למשתי שרי.

So that's what the Rosh doesn't understand where the issur to drink comes from. He says:

ופירוש הרמז"ל טעם למנהג לפי שחייב אדם לעסוק כל הלילה בהלכות פסח וביציאת מצרים לספר בניסים ונפלאות,

so he combines the Tosefta with the Rambam:

חייב אדם לעסוק בכל הלילה בהלכות הפסח וביציאת מצרים לספר בניסים ונפלאות שעשה לנו הקדוש ברוך הוא ולאבותינו עד שתחטפנו שינה.

Ve'im yishte yishtaker.

והכי איתא בתוספתא חייב אדם לעסוק בהלכות הפסח וביציאת מצרים כל הלילה.

Sounds like that was his girsa in the Tosefta. Okay, so al kol panim, so according to the Tosefta, again the Rosh quotes it, it's quoted le-halacha, so the his'askus be-hilchos ha-pesach is part of the מצות סיפור יציאת מצרים. So the question is well where does that come from? But where do you find any remez to that in the Torah, to that definition of mitzvas sippur? That the mitzvas sippur is not only again the way the Rambam presents it, lesaper benisim venifla'os, but also the his'askus be-hilchos ha-pesach? Where does that come from? So there's a gap in what I'm about to say. It doesn't, if you think it doesn't quite make sense, then you're right. Or if you think it doesn't make sense at all, you might be right about that also, but certainly the first. Again the same pasuk, the same derasha,

והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים.

So again the mitzvas sippur revolves around Pesach Matzah Maror. But not only Pesach Matzah Maror as symbols, as representations of what happened. Because Rashi quotes ba'avur she-akayem mitzvosav. I think it's either, I think the Malbim comments in Parshas Lech Lecha when Avraham Avinu says

אמרי נא אחותי את למען ייטב לי בעבורך וחיתה נפשי בגללך.

Right, so the kasha that everyone struggles with. So for me it will be good, says Avraham Avinu, and whatever, you'll have to fend for yourself, right? למען ייטב לי בעבורך. So I forget if it's the Malbim, the Netziv, maybe both, say that ba'avurech means not because of you, but for your sake, that it's future-oriented. And what Avraham Avinu says is אמרי נא אחותי את למען ייטב לי בעבורך is if they're going to kill me I'm not going to be of too much good to you, but אמרי נא אחותי את, this will keep me alive, למען ייטב לי בעבורך, and that will be for your sake. And that ba'avur is future-oriented. And that's clearly what Rashi is quoting on the pasuk of בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים, that ba'avur zeh again means she-akayem mitzvosav. And this is how the Torah sort of defines sippur yetzias mitzrayim, right?

והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים.

So once you say that the ba'avur again is future-oriented and we're not just talking about Pesach Matzah Maror as focal points of the story of what happened, but Pesach Matzah Maror as mitzvos lekayem, so then already we're very close to seeing where the Torah is saying that the mitzvas sippur is also how to be mekayem the mitzvos. There's a little bit missing there, but that's the direction perhaps. Al kol panim, that's the hagdarah of the mitzvas sippur is not only benisim venifla'os but the his'askus ba-halachos as well. Again, the Rambam doesn't have it. In the

כנגד ארבעה בנים דיברה תורה. תם מה הוא אומר מה זאת ואמרת אליו בחוזק יד הוציאנו ה' ממצרים מבית עבדים.

And

חכם מה הוא אומר אף אתה אמור לו כהלכות הפסח אין מפטירין אחר הפסח אפיקומן ועדין מפטירין אחר הפסח אפיקומן.

So kayaduah the Yerushalmi has the answers to the ben chacham and the ben tam interchanged. And and it's the tam that that you're teaching hilchos hapesach. Teaching him this is how much matzah we have to eat, this is how much maror we have to eat. And to the chacham you're saying בחוזק יד הוציאנו ה' ממצרים מבית עבדים. Okay. So that the halachos can can sort of go either way. So it depends: if you're just teaching the peshutei halacha it goes to the tam. If you're going into the Reb Chaims about tashbusis then I guess that's for the ben chacham. So that that we understand that can go either way. But how how do we understand the Yerushalmi that the answer to the chacham is בחוזק יד הוציאנו ה' ממצרים מבית עבדים? Seems a little simplistic, no? That takeh seems like an appropriate answer for a ben tam. So what's the pshat that according to the Yerushalmi that's the answer to the to the ben chacham? So it itachen as follows. It itachen as follows. The Torah has, I think it's at the end of parshas Nitzavim I think, that

ראה נתתי לפניך היום את החיים ואת הטוב ואת המות ואת הרע.

Right? And and a little bit more bekitzur in Re'eh, ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה. So you you read those pesukim so you get the impression that life is very simple. Right? There's chayim and there's tov and there's moves and ra and everything is is very simple. There's bracha, there's klala, there's chayim, there's tov, there's moves and there's ra. And yet our experience of life is it's not so pashut. It's not always so pashut. What am I supposed to do, where should I be going, what should I be doing? It's not not not not so pashut. Not everything's simple. Chayim, look, just look, look. There's chayim and there's tov, there's moves and there's ra and... So then the answer is that that the Torah's telling us that in terms of what's important in life, in terms of what counts in life, in terms of what's real in life, in terms of what endures in life, things are very simple. There's dvar Hashem which is chayim, which is tov. There's anything which contravenes dvar Hashem which is moves and ra. There's being involved with ruchniyus with avodas Hashem which is chayim because they're devarim nitzchiyim. And then there's other things which which are not devarim nitzchiyim. So life is... And despite all the times when maybe the classification in terms of applications can be confusing, but never to lose sight of the fact that the goal and the principles and the values are simple. That's a sign of a chochma, it's not a sign of of of of a simpleton. It's a pashut which is indicative of a chochma. Pashut indicative of a chochma that he knows what's important in life, what's enduring in life, what life's all about, what we're here for, what we're supposed to accomplish. Now again, does that mean that at times I'm not sure exactly how to go about it? Of course it doesn't preclude that and and and those complexities do exist in life and the Torah's not the Torah's not denying that. The Torah's not sweeping that under the rug. But the Torah's saying all that notwithstanding, sometimes if only we would just review and step back again, what is chayim... what isn't chayim, what life is about, what we're here for, what we're not here for, what are distractions and what are diversions. So then life can be a lot simpler than we sometimes make it out to be. And itachen that's reflected in the Yerushalmi as well. That's like a chacham. Chacham understands at the end of the day בכל אגדתא דניחם שמיה מבית עבדים. It's not a, to be able to keep that in focus is not a sign of tamus. It's a sign of chochmah. In the מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח, צריך להתחיל בגנות ולסיים בשבח. Keitzad?

מתחיל ומספר שבתחילה היו אבותינו בימי תרח ומלפניו כופרים בטועה אחר ההבל ורודפין אחר עבודה זרה ומסיים בדת האמת שקרבנו המקום לו והבדילנו מן התועים וקרבנו לייחודו.

And in fact the pasuk that we quote in the Haggadah for the

מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו ועכשיו קרבנו המקום לעבודתו שנאמר ויאמר יהושע אל כל העם כה אמר ה' אלהי ישראל בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם תרח אבי אברהם ואבי נחור ויעבדו אלהים אחרים ואקח את אביכם את אברהם מעבר הנהר ואולך אותו בכל ארץ כנען וארבה את זרעו ואתן לו את יצחק ואתן ליצחק את יעקב ואת עשו ואתן לעשו את הר שעיר לרשת אותו ויעקב ובניו ירדו מצרים.

So again like the Rambam says the מתחיל בגנות goes back to bimei Terach milifanav. What's pshat in that? Why should the מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח it should begin with the fact that we were ovdei avodah zarah in Mitzrayim, which is takeh true. The Rambam writes in Hilchos Avodah Zarah, he says that in Mitzrayim we regressed and almost, almost to the point that yichud Hashem was forgotten, almost to that point the Rambam says. So why is the haschala bignus of sippur yetzias Mitzrayim go back to bimei Terach? What does Terach have to do with the story of yetzias Mitzrayim? Meileh, avadim hayinu, we understand. עבדים היינו לפרעה במצרים and now bnei chorin. So we understand the beginning of what happened in Mitzrayim and the reversal of the msayem bishvach. But why do you go, why is the haschala bignus to bimei Terach milifanav? So lechora the pshat is as follows. Again the מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח means to highlight the shvach, to appreciate the shvach you have to know the opposite, you have to know the gnus. And I think I know from the Dubna Maggid they say in Parshas Yisro that

וישמע יתרו חתן משה את כל אשר עשה אלהים למשה ולישראל עמו כי הוציא ה' את ישראל ממצרים.

So Yisro heard everything. He, what's it called? Yeshiva World News? What's that site called? Like my zaideh, he went online and he read all about it. Read all about it. So then when Moshe Rabbeinu and Yisro, Moshe Rabbeinu sees Yisro, so

ויספר משה לחותנו את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך ויצילם ה'.

So Moshe Rabbeinu begins telling him the whole story. Yisro already knows the whole story. So the Dubna Maggid with kedarko bakodesh with a mashal says no the difference is ויספר משה לחותנו את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך. Yisro only heard about the yeshua. Yisro didn't know את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך. You can't appreciate the shvach unless you know the gnus. So you have to know the reversal in order what's being reversed and the degree of reversal in order in order to appreciate. Shoyn. So in order to appreciate the shvach you have to know the opposite of the shvach. Okay, but אף על פי כן, the kevanu hamakom la'avodaso and the yichudo, so you could have said מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו במצרים. The teretz is no. The teretz is in Arami oveid avi. We talk about that vayehi sham legoy, that in Mitzrayim we became a goy. And then, again, in Parshas Yisro, ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, which is כוונו המקום לו והבדילנו מן הטעות. Dehainu, that the shvach of Yetzias Mitzrayim is that Klal Yisrael emerges as a goy who seven weeks later becomes the Am HaNivchar. So the Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim is about the emergence of the Am HaNivchar, about the emergence of the Am HaNivchar. So say again, the din of Maschil Bignus is to appreciate the Siyum Bishvach. To understand, to appreciate the shvach, you have to go back to the Haschala Bignus. The Siyum Bishvach is that Klal Yisrael vayehi sham legoy, is that in Mitzrayim we coalesce, we develop into an am that seven weeks later becomes the Am HaNivchar. The Haschala Bignus there is you have to see what the beginnings of the Am HaNivchar are. The beginnings of the Am HaNivchar are not in Mitzrayim. The beginnings of the Am HaNivchar is with Avraham Avinu. So you have to know, you have to know that Avraham Avinu's father, again according to the Rambam's depiction in Hilchos Avodah Zarah, Avraham Avinu as well is

מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו. עובדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו.

If a person understands, a person has to know that in order to appreciate the shvach of vayehi sham legoy and

בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה. בכל דור ודור חייב אדם להראות את עצמו כאילו הוא בעצמו יצא עתה משעבוד מצרים.

So the Rambam writes leharos. So Rav Kapach has a comment that he says that the Rambam, lav davka that the Rambam had a different girsa than we have in the Mishnah, but he says that the Rambam simply vocalized the words differently. He had the same thing we have: ל ר א ו ת, but instead of reading it liros, the Rambam read it laros. That sometimes you can have the infinitive in hifil and the hay will drop out. לנפיל לצבות בטן ולנפיל ירך. You have a few examples like that in Chumash. In the Haggadah we say, the Rambam quotes also וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח. The Rambam paraphrases it

וכל המוסיף ומאריך בפרשה בדראש פרשה זו הרי זה משובח,

specifically with regard to the parsha of Arami Oved Avi, the Rambam emphasizes it. So the pashut pshat, and in other contexts lichora, he had vechol hamarich earlier, בדברים שאירעו ושהיו הרי זה משובח as well. So the pashut pshat and then that's all it means in the Rambam is harei zeh meshubach. Why is it harei zeh? Why isn't it harei hu meshubach? So the pashus is harei zeh means this, as this, this situation is a good one. It's not so much we're referring to the person. That seems to be the pashus. Like it's a good thing, it's a good thing that there's an arichus in bedrash parsha zu. It's a good thing that there's an arichus in the devarim she'iru. That's the pashut pshat. In terms of the, and then you have this in many different and differing contexts also, where lichora that's the pshat. In this particular context, so of וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח, so yitachen that there's an additional, additional remetz. The also, in different contexts, Sifrei Chassidus talk about the fact that based on pesukim such as zeh Keili ve'anveihu, such as

ואמר ביום ההוא הנה אלקינו זה קוינו לו ויושיענו זה השם קוינו לו,

that... So ייתכן על דרך דרוש, al derech derush, וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח means a person is marbe b'yitzias mitzrayim with nissim v'niflaos with the emuna that flows, so that translates into שבח דהקדוש ברוך הוא. Harei zeh meshubach, so what emerges from that is it translates into a pirsumei nisa, into harei zeh meshubach that Hakadosh Baruch Hu emerges meshubach from that mosef and hosofa and ha'aracha in sippur yitzias mitzrayim. And we'll finally just maybe conclude with a vort of the Gaon on Mah Nishtana. So the Gaon says that Mah Nishtana should be understood as מה נורא המקום הזה. Just like מה נורא המקום הזה isn't a question, Yaakov Avinu isn't asking a question. Yaakov Avinu is making... mah translates as how, how awesome this place is. So too, מה נשתנה הלילה הזה, how different this night is. And how is it different? So the Gaon says because whenever you have ribbuy mitzvos, you always have ribbuy mitzvos bayom not balaila. Mitzvas shofar is bayom, mitzvas lulav is bayom. Ribbuy mitzvos is bayom not balaila. Punkt, Pesach night, so the ribbuy mitzvos is at night. מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות. Where do you see ribbuy mitzvos? We have a mitzvas matzah tonight, we have a mitzvas... we have a mitzvas sippur tonight, the k'dei she'yishalu of the tibulim, we have a mitzvas marror tonight. B'zman habayis we mentioned we have a mitzvas pesach, we have a בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו, haseiba. There's ribbuy mitzvos at night. So Mah Nishtana, how different this night is that you have ribbuy mitzvos tonight. So what's takke the pshat in that? So the Gaon explains as follows. He says והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, right? Yachol mib'od yom,

תלמוד לומר בעבור זה, לא אמרתי אלא בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך.

So the Gaon says that generally the word yom in the Torah, in lashon hakodesh means one of two things. Either it refers to a 24-hour unit of day and night, or it refers to the daytime component. In this pasuk of והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, it's a peladig thing. So the word yom refers only to night. The word yom in והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר refers only to laila. So the Gaon says what it means is like this. So the Gemara says that עולם הזה נמשל ללילה ואחר הגאולה נמשל ליום. So the pshat is that the night of Tes-Vav, since it's a zman hageula, בניסן נגאלו וזמן הגאולה בניסן עתידין להיגאל, so it has... so metaphysically, it's yom. Practically, it's laila. You go outside, it's dark. But metaphysically, it's not laila, it's yom. And that's pshat in the מה נשתנה הלילה הזה, that Pesach night again is a time of geula, a time of geula le'avar, a kind of geula in the present, time of geula l'atid lavo.