[Excerpted from the Haggadah of the Jewish Idea, the Passover haggadah with commentary by the martyr Rabbi Binyamin Kahane, Hy'd.]
Bread of Affliction
Matzah symbolizes humility, just as chametz (leaven) symbolizes haughtiness and the evil impulse, dreams of materialistic increase. Just as leaven puffs up dough, so too selfish desires and the ego puff up a person's thoughts of haughtiness? The goal of sanctity, of being a slave to Hashem ? which was the purpose of the Exodus from Egypt ? can be reached only by smashing the ego. ?Leaven symbolizes the "I" (ani in Hebrew) and matzah symbolizes the "impoverished" (ani in Hebrew, spelled differently), so the Jew should know that his "I" is impoverished.
How is This Night Different?
In contradistinction to Chanuka and Purim, when we are commanded to publicize the miracle to all Jews without distinction, on Pesach, the "publicizing of the miracle" is directed first and foremost toward the children. The reason for this is that the purpose of the Seder is for the father to teach his young son, as soon as possible, the basis of faith in the God of Israel, and the Exodus from Egypt. This is how the tradition is kept alive, as the next link to the unbreakable chain is added?
Each year, on this night, we add one more link to the chain of tradition that transmits our faith down the generations. Only in such a way will the new generation feel that they themselves saw the events, even though thousands of years may have passed. And even if the young son did not actually see these events with his own eyes, passing the story down from father to son, from generation to generation, precisely and accurately, is exactly like seeing it happen. Just as there is no doubt as to historical events that occurred 200 years ago, because they are well-known and have been preserved in the collective memory of humanity, so too there is no doubt as to what happened 3,000 years ago?
In this way, the child becomes connected this evening not just to his father, but to his ancestors from a hundred years ago, and from a thousand years ago, all of whom become a pipeline for the message intended for him personally.
On This Night, We All Recline
This is one of our ways of showing that we are free men. ?We have to take this symbolism ? which is expressed by the fact that we recline ? out of the realm of mere symbolism. We must live up to this idea in practice. Certainly in this generation, when we are in the Land of Israel, we must finally shake off this slave mentality. We must stop educating our children as if they live in a ghetto, weighing our every tiniest step in the scales of what will the Gentiles say. And if we do not do this, then all the symbolism that we perform this evening has no meaning, and it becomes sterile, empty actions, like those of a trained monkey.
"And I Said to You, Through Your Blood Shall You Live; And I Said to You, Through Your Blood Shall You Live"
The Jews left Egypt in the merit of faith, which is expressed by these two mitzvot [the blood of the Pesach and the blood of circumcision]. For God's most basic demand of the Jew is genuine faith, tested and proven through willingness to undergo danger and self-sacrifice when need be...
Self-sacrifice has always been the central condition for hastening the redemption; and so it is in our days. The primary repentance that God demands for hastening the Redemption and preventing the terrible sufferings of the birth-pangs of the Mashiach is a return to genuine trust in God, tried and proven by our willingness to endanger ourselves for the sake of those mitzvot that appear "dangerous".
?If we take this path of trust in God, then even if the Jews, out of all kinds of weaknesses, do not keep all of the mitzvot, this will, nonetheless, suffice to prevent the worst sufferings of the birth-pangs of the Mashiach.
"But in Every Single Generation They Rise Up Against Us to Destroy Us
What a sweeping generalization! And the question must surely be asked: Was there not some generation when they did not rise up against us to destroy us?
But there are different methods of wiping us out. There are those who try to wipe us out physically, like Haman and Hitler; and there are those try to wipe us out physically through trickery, so that we won't prevent the attempt to do so; then there are those who try to destroy us spiritually by assimilation, like Greece. In any case, the rule that Esau hates Yaakov holds in every generation, as we see in this statement.
Chad Gadya
The Vilna Ga'on explains Chad Gadya as being a parable of Jewish history throughout the generations up until the final Redemption. The end of this song brings us to the End of Days: Then came the ox - these are the nations (principally Edom [Rome], symbolized by the ox); then came the slaughterer and slaughtered the ox - this is Mashiach ben Yosef, who will wreak vengeance upon those nations who did evil to the Jews; then came the Angel of Death and slaughtered the slaughterer - for Mashiach ben Yosef will be killed in his war; finally, then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and slaughtered the Angel of death - for the final stage of the redemption will be that God Himself will come with Mashiach ben David and redeem us - and death itself will be forever revoked.
Even though, as already mentioned, Mashiach ben Yosef is destined to be killed, this is not, nonetheless, inevitable. For if the redemption is "hastened", if the Jews repent of their sins and bring about the redemption by being worthy of it, and recognize Mashiach ben Yosef and his task, then all these processes will be far quicker and more miraculous, and Mashich ben Yosef will not have to be killed. However, a redemption that happens "in its time" comes about slowly, stage by stage, as the Jews refuse to carry out those actions crucial to bringing about the complete redemption immediately.
Mashiach ben Yosef thus faces tremendous difficulties, most of them internal Jewish problems, since the Jews will not recognize him. This is alluded to when the progenitor of Mashiach ben Yosef, the biblical Yosef (Joseph) himself, was approached by his brothers in Egypt: "and Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did recognize him." (Genesis 42:8) That is to say, Yosef's love of Israel commits him to his people, even when they "do not know him". Those who "do not know him" are led by the erev rav, the 'mixed multitude' of non-Jews who left Egypt with the Jews (Ex. 12:38). It is against them, according to the Vilna Ga'on, that Mashiach ben Yosef's main battle will be, since it is they who prevent the Holy Nation from believing in God and recognizing the conditions that will hasten the redemption; thus they both weaken the nation from within, and strengthen the nation's enemies from without.
Bread of Affliction
Matzah symbolizes humility, just as chametz (leaven) symbolizes haughtiness and the evil impulse, dreams of materialistic increase. Just as leaven puffs up dough, so too selfish desires and the ego puff up a person's thoughts of haughtiness? The goal of sanctity, of being a slave to Hashem ? which was the purpose of the Exodus from Egypt ? can be reached only by smashing the ego. ?Leaven symbolizes the "I" (ani in Hebrew) and matzah symbolizes the "impoverished" (ani in Hebrew, spelled differently), so the Jew should know that his "I" is impoverished.
How is This Night Different?
In contradistinction to Chanuka and Purim, when we are commanded to publicize the miracle to all Jews without distinction, on Pesach, the "publicizing of the miracle" is directed first and foremost toward the children. The reason for this is that the purpose of the Seder is for the father to teach his young son, as soon as possible, the basis of faith in the God of Israel, and the Exodus from Egypt. This is how the tradition is kept alive, as the next link to the unbreakable chain is added?
Each year, on this night, we add one more link to the chain of tradition that transmits our faith down the generations. Only in such a way will the new generation feel that they themselves saw the events, even though thousands of years may have passed. And even if the young son did not actually see these events with his own eyes, passing the story down from father to son, from generation to generation, precisely and accurately, is exactly like seeing it happen. Just as there is no doubt as to historical events that occurred 200 years ago, because they are well-known and have been preserved in the collective memory of humanity, so too there is no doubt as to what happened 3,000 years ago?
In this way, the child becomes connected this evening not just to his father, but to his ancestors from a hundred years ago, and from a thousand years ago, all of whom become a pipeline for the message intended for him personally.
On This Night, We All Recline
This is one of our ways of showing that we are free men. ?We have to take this symbolism ? which is expressed by the fact that we recline ? out of the realm of mere symbolism. We must live up to this idea in practice. Certainly in this generation, when we are in the Land of Israel, we must finally shake off this slave mentality. We must stop educating our children as if they live in a ghetto, weighing our every tiniest step in the scales of what will the Gentiles say. And if we do not do this, then all the symbolism that we perform this evening has no meaning, and it becomes sterile, empty actions, like those of a trained monkey.
"And I Said to You, Through Your Blood Shall You Live; And I Said to You, Through Your Blood Shall You Live"
The Jews left Egypt in the merit of faith, which is expressed by these two mitzvot [the blood of the Pesach and the blood of circumcision]. For God's most basic demand of the Jew is genuine faith, tested and proven through willingness to undergo danger and self-sacrifice when need be...
Self-sacrifice has always been the central condition for hastening the redemption; and so it is in our days. The primary repentance that God demands for hastening the Redemption and preventing the terrible sufferings of the birth-pangs of the Mashiach is a return to genuine trust in God, tried and proven by our willingness to endanger ourselves for the sake of those mitzvot that appear "dangerous".
?If we take this path of trust in God, then even if the Jews, out of all kinds of weaknesses, do not keep all of the mitzvot, this will, nonetheless, suffice to prevent the worst sufferings of the birth-pangs of the Mashiach.
"But in Every Single Generation They Rise Up Against Us to Destroy Us
What a sweeping generalization! And the question must surely be asked: Was there not some generation when they did not rise up against us to destroy us?
But there are different methods of wiping us out. There are those who try to wipe us out physically, like Haman and Hitler; and there are those try to wipe us out physically through trickery, so that we won't prevent the attempt to do so; then there are those who try to destroy us spiritually by assimilation, like Greece. In any case, the rule that Esau hates Yaakov holds in every generation, as we see in this statement.
Chad Gadya
The Vilna Ga'on explains Chad Gadya as being a parable of Jewish history throughout the generations up until the final Redemption. The end of this song brings us to the End of Days: Then came the ox - these are the nations (principally Edom [Rome], symbolized by the ox); then came the slaughterer and slaughtered the ox - this is Mashiach ben Yosef, who will wreak vengeance upon those nations who did evil to the Jews; then came the Angel of Death and slaughtered the slaughterer - for Mashiach ben Yosef will be killed in his war; finally, then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and slaughtered the Angel of death - for the final stage of the redemption will be that God Himself will come with Mashiach ben David and redeem us - and death itself will be forever revoked.
Even though, as already mentioned, Mashiach ben Yosef is destined to be killed, this is not, nonetheless, inevitable. For if the redemption is "hastened", if the Jews repent of their sins and bring about the redemption by being worthy of it, and recognize Mashiach ben Yosef and his task, then all these processes will be far quicker and more miraculous, and Mashich ben Yosef will not have to be killed. However, a redemption that happens "in its time" comes about slowly, stage by stage, as the Jews refuse to carry out those actions crucial to bringing about the complete redemption immediately.
Mashiach ben Yosef thus faces tremendous difficulties, most of them internal Jewish problems, since the Jews will not recognize him. This is alluded to when the progenitor of Mashiach ben Yosef, the biblical Yosef (Joseph) himself, was approached by his brothers in Egypt: "and Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did recognize him." (Genesis 42:8) That is to say, Yosef's love of Israel commits him to his people, even when they "do not know him". Those who "do not know him" are led by the erev rav, the 'mixed multitude' of non-Jews who left Egypt with the Jews (Ex. 12:38). It is against them, according to the Vilna Ga'on, that Mashiach ben Yosef's main battle will be, since it is they who prevent the Holy Nation from believing in God and recognizing the conditions that will hasten the redemption; thus they both weaken the nation from within, and strengthen the nation's enemies from without.