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Adapted from Sefer Netivot Shalom vol. 2, pp.
235-6
The essence of Passover is faith and confidence in the
personal providence of G-d. And the night of the Passover Seder is a time
of revelation of the Divine Presence. It is the New Year for faith.
Pharoah claimed, "I don't know who this G-d is!" We,
on the Seder night, in a bold act of counterbalancing, affirm our belief
and trust in G-d's providence and the process of moving from slavery to freedom.
The clarity of this process is such that even the Egyptians experienced it, i.e.
"And Egypt will know that I am G-d...." (Ex. 7:5) And since the purpose of the
exodus from Egypt was to arrive at Mt. Sinai and to receive the Torah, it is no
wonder that the first of the Ten Commandments is the commandment of faith: "I am
G-d your Lord who brought you out of Egypt from the house of slavery."
(Ex. 20:2)  | | " Let anyone who is needy, come and share our Passover..." | | |
The true measure of one who wholeheartedly serves G-d
is not his Torah learning nor his precision in performing commandments. It is
the purity and clarity of his faith. There is no limit to how much one may
clarify and increase one's faith. It is said, "It is praiseworthy to expound
upon and draw out the story of the from Egypt. Even if we were all wise and
learned, it would still be incumbent upon us to relate the story of the exodus
from Egypt." Implanting faith is something which has no bounds, you can
never acquire too much and the process is a lifetime pursuit. The more you tell
the story, the more faith you have. It is the special opportunity of the
Seder night.
The Torah makes a puzzling statement after the Jewish
Nation came out from the Red Sea: "...and they believed in G-d and in Moses his
servant." (Ex. 14:31) Why does the Torah tell us this now, after they witnessed
the miracle of the plagues in Egypt and went through the sea, where even an
unlearned maidservant had a prophetic vision of greater clarity than the prophet
Ezekiel? The explanation is that faith is beyond the attainment of spiritual
levels. When levels level out, faith keeps on growing.
With this in mind, we can decipher a seemingly cryptic
passage in the opening of the Haggadah: "This is the bread of poverty [referring
to matza]. This bread which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt, let anyone
who is hungry come and partake. Let anyone who is needy, come and share our
Passover. Now we are here, next year we will be in the Land of Israel. Now we
are slaves, next year we will be free citizens." | | " On the Seder night, faith is dished out in limitless quantity..." | | |
What are the meanings of the various sections of this
passage and what are their connection one to the other? Why were they selected
to be the introduction to the Haggadah? Why do we say that this is the matza
which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt? Is not matza the symbol
of the redemption? (They ate matza since they didn't have time to let the
dough rise in their haste to leave Egypt.) And why do we invite all who are
hungry to come and eat? Aren't we talking to those who are already seated at the
table? It would have been better to make this announcement earlier in the
synagogue in the presence of all who came to pray. And why are we already
looking forward to being in Israel next year when we are only at the beginning
of the Haggadah?
Based on what we already know, that the Seder
night is an auspicious time for connecting in pure, clear faith,
we can explain the passage of "This is the bread of poverty". It explains the
reason for telling the story of the exodus which we are about to begin, and it
is a radical departure from the more well known "historical recollection"
thread.
"This bread which our ancestors ate in the land of
Egypt" refers to matza, poor man's bread. It hints to us the idea of
clear, straightforward faith, which is like the matza in that it is just plain
and simple flour with water that has not risen, without feelings of personal
accomplishment.
"Which our ancestors ate in Egypt" teaches us that
only by connecting to this pure and clear faith can real redemption take place.
"Let anyone who is hungry, come and partake..." refers
to someone who is hungry not for bread - but for G-d's path and for a feeling of
closeness with the Creator. | | " Clear faith...is the springboard to every level..." | | |
"...our feast of faith" means let him partake of our
poor man's bread - pure, straightforward faith. On the Seder night, faith
is dished out in limitless quantity to all who wish to partake. At the Seder
we partake of only faith, and not of lofty spiritual acomplishments. But with
this faith, one can acquire the means to ascend in every realm of divine
service.
"Let anyone who is needy, come and share our Passover"
refers to anyone who desires to acquire some of the spiritual levels that the
rest of the holiday of Passover has to offer. May that person come first to
feast on pure, simple and clear faith, for it is the springboard to every
level.
"Now we are here...", meaning estranged and in exile,
yet our faith is our essence and life force.
"Next year we will be in the Land of Israel", and
likewise, our faith will continue to be our essence and life force.
"Now we are slaves" - and in a desperate condition.
"Next year we will be free citizens", and still, faith
will be the essence of our lives. We will always endeavor implant in
ourselves pure, clear faith. As the Baal Shem Tov stated near the end of his
life, "After all the spiritual achievements I have accomplished, in the end I
always return to simple pure faith.
This is the introduction to the Haggadah and the
Seder night, our feast of faith.
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