Pesach 5771

Introduction to Maggid

Many people spend a lot of their time before Pesach preparing for the seder. Most people can tell you a great vort on the four sons or a deep insight into Avadim Hayinu. The problem is that sometimes people tend to miss the whole point of the seder. So let’s ask the most basic question: Why do we have a seder?

If we take a step back and look at the night as a whole, we will see a pattern. Throughout the entire night, our main goal is to show two fundamental ideas. The first idea is that Hashem took us out of Mitzraim and freed us. But what does it mean to be free? According to the Vilna Gaon, we perform sixty four mitzvot on the night of the seder. What kind of cheirut (freedom) is that?! It is the only true type of cheirut, being an eved Hashem. The greatest freedom is being a slave to Hashem and performing His mitzvot. So the obvious question here would be ‘what is the benefit of being slaves to Hashem?’ If we take a look at the Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva Perek 9, we learn that when one does mitzvot, they are beneficial for him in this world and the next. So, when we were slaves to Pharaoh, we had no enjoyment in this world and we had nothing to show for ourselves in the next world. But when one is a slave to Hashem, he gets benefits in both worlds.

The second idea on the night of Pesach is the importance of Hakarat Hatov (being thankful.) We show this many times over the night by reading the Haggadah. We start the night off by telling the story of our galut, not only our physical bondage, but also our spiritual bondage. As the night goes on we talk about how we are no longer in bondage and that Hashem saved us. At every possible point, we thank Him for freeing us. For example, the Malbim explains that the word Dayainu means that if Hashem had done only this much and nothing more, it would have been enough for us to be forced to have Hakarat Hatov forever. There are many examples throughout the night that show how much we go out of our way to be thankful for everything Hashem has done and continues to do. If we miss out on these two essential points, we have basically missed out on the entire purpose of the seder.

Source: Rav Shlomo Brevda, Leil Shimurim