הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֶת־יְהוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר הוֹצִֽיאֲךָ֛ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים׃
היט דיך, זאָלסט ניט פֿאַרגעסן אָן ה׳, װאָס האָט דיך אַרױסגעצױגן פֿון לאַנד מִצרַיִם, פֿון דעם הױז פֿון קנעכטשאַפֿט.
Kos Eliyahu
Avadim Hayeenu, We were slaves: The two halves of the opening statement in this passage are taken from two different biblical verses; the first half of this statement is taken from Deuteronomy 6:21 – “And you shall say to your child, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt…’” This verse concludes“…And the Lord took us out from Egypt with a mighty hand.” However the Maggid did not use the second part of this statement. Instead the second half of the passage, Avadim Hayeenu is taken from a different verse Deuteronomy 5:15 – “And you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” The reason the Maggid uses a different verse for the second part of this passage is because this passage provides an answer to each of the four questions.
We begin with Deuteronomy 6:12 to fulfill the dictum that in telling the story of the Exodus, one begins with disgrace (and ends with exaltation.) Deuteronomy 5:15 contains not only a statement of exaltation but it also answers the four questions in the way it is worded.
Adonai took you out, (1) your God, from there (2), with a mighty hand (3), and an outstretched arm (4)
1. V’yotzee’acha adonai – “Adonai took you out.” This statement explains why we dip twice during the Seder. The two dippings represent the two blessings which God bestowed upon Israel in Egypt: first, they were redeemed from slavery to freedom, and second that it was God Himself who redeemed them. These two blessing are alluded to by these words: V’yotzee’aynu “He took us out” and adonai “Adonai.”
2. Elohaynu misham – “Our God from there.” This is an allusion to the matzah. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt they were not much better than the Egyptians; like them they worshipped false gods. When they were about to leave Egypt, they renewed their faith in one God and repented of their former ways. We find reference to this in the verse: “Draw out and take your lambs according to your families.” The sages interpret this to mean draw yourselves away from idolatry and bring obligatory lambs. It is known that chametz is a symbol for the evil of idolatry while matzah is a symbol of the aspect of holiness. Therefore when the Israelites ate matzah, they affirmed that their God, Elohaynu, never ceased to be their God and that they were rejecting idolatry, symbolized by chametz. That is why we eat only matzah on Passover – it is an affirmation of acceptance of God and rejection of idolatry.
3. B’yad chazakah – “With a mighty hand.” This expression is a reference to the tenth plague since it is the mightiest of all the plagues. Through it Israel escaped from Egypt. Regarding this plague the Torah says, “There was no house in which there weren’t dead,” As a result, there was bitterness and sorrow in every Egyptian household. We eat bitter herbs as a reminder of the bitterness we caused the Egyptians through the hand of God. Later in the Haggadah a different explanation is given for the bitter herbs, and both are correct.
4. U’v’zroah netuyah – “And an outstretched arm.” Because God took us out of Egypt with “an upraised hand,” without fear or anxiety, we lean at the Seder as a sign of our leisureliness and comfort.
We begin with Deuteronomy 6:12 to fulfill the dictum that in telling the story of the Exodus, one begins with disgrace (and ends with exaltation.) Deuteronomy 5:15 contains not only a statement of exaltation but it also answers the four questions in the way it is worded.
Adonai took you out, (1) your God, from there (2), with a mighty hand (3), and an outstretched arm (4)
1. V’yotzee’acha adonai – “Adonai took you out.” This statement explains why we dip twice during the Seder. The two dippings represent the two blessings which God bestowed upon Israel in Egypt: first, they were redeemed from slavery to freedom, and second that it was God Himself who redeemed them. These two blessing are alluded to by these words: V’yotzee’aynu “He took us out” and adonai “Adonai.”
2. Elohaynu misham – “Our God from there.” This is an allusion to the matzah. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt they were not much better than the Egyptians; like them they worshipped false gods. When they were about to leave Egypt, they renewed their faith in one God and repented of their former ways. We find reference to this in the verse: “Draw out and take your lambs according to your families.” The sages interpret this to mean draw yourselves away from idolatry and bring obligatory lambs. It is known that chametz is a symbol for the evil of idolatry while matzah is a symbol of the aspect of holiness. Therefore when the Israelites ate matzah, they affirmed that their God, Elohaynu, never ceased to be their God and that they were rejecting idolatry, symbolized by chametz. That is why we eat only matzah on Passover – it is an affirmation of acceptance of God and rejection of idolatry.
3. B’yad chazakah – “With a mighty hand.” This expression is a reference to the tenth plague since it is the mightiest of all the plagues. Through it Israel escaped from Egypt. Regarding this plague the Torah says, “There was no house in which there weren’t dead,” As a result, there was bitterness and sorrow in every Egyptian household. We eat bitter herbs as a reminder of the bitterness we caused the Egyptians through the hand of God. Later in the Haggadah a different explanation is given for the bitter herbs, and both are correct.
4. U’v’zroah netuyah – “And an outstretched arm.” Because God took us out of Egypt with “an upraised hand,” without fear or anxiety, we lean at the Seder as a sign of our leisureliness and comfort.
Redeeming Relevance; Deuteronomy
Along these lines, the phrase, “the Lord, your God,” which we find in the second verse of the Shema, is found clustered throughout the entire section. Most notably, it appears five times in five different verses early on and seven times in the course of seven other verses a bit later (Devarim 6:12–16, 7:19–25).72This phrase is rarely used in the other four books of the Torah, but frequently used in other parts of Devarim. Still, it appears with slightly greater frequency here than in the rest of the book. Immediately after the first occurrence of “The Lord, your God” comes bechol levavecha u’vechol nafshecha (with all of your heart and with all of your soul, Devarim 10:12. ). This too is pointedly repeated73The word levavecha by itself is sprinkled several times throughout this section as well. in the middle section, as is the very famous beginning of the section, Shema Yisrael (Listen, Israel, Devarim 8:1). Both these last two phrases reappear only once, but given their very uncommon word combinations, it is hard to see their repetition as mere coincidence.74The expression appears five times altogether, all of them in the book of Devarim.