Parashat Tzav–Shabbat Hagadol 5786, 2026: "Pesach, Matzah and Maror"

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The Haggadah is a trans-historical multi-layered document that is the product of numerous Jewish cultures both in Israel and the Diaspora. As such, it may be viewed as one of the preeminent post-Tanach works since it captures the pathos, ethos, hopes, and visions of the entirety of our people. This leads us to an essential question: “Excluding actual citations from Tanach, what is one of the most ancient sections of the Haggadah?” According to many meforshim, it is the section known as “Rabban Gamliel hiyah omer:”
Rabban Gamliel used to say: Whoever does not mention these three things on Pesach does not fulfill his halachic responsibility, and these are they:

• Pesach
• Matzah
• and Maror

[The] Passover-offering [is offered] because the Ever-present One passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Unleavened bread [is eaten] because our forebears were redeemed from Egypt. [The] bitter herb is [eaten] because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. (Mishnah, Talmud Bavli 116a-b)

Rabban Gamliel’s initial statement: “Whoever does not mention these three things on Pesach does not fulfill his halachic responsibility,” immediately grabs our attention. At face value, it seems this refers to Sippur Yetziat Mitzraim. What is Sippur Yetziat Mitzraim? In broad strokes, my rebbi and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, described the underlying narrative of the Exodus, and the consequent mitzvah for it to be retold “… as the story of Jewish destiny for all time—the eternal story of an eternal people. (Public lecture, March 1977, transcription my own) Thus, even though there are countless commentaries and halachic analyses concerning Rabban Gamliel’s statement, the direct explanation of his assertion seems to be “the eternal story of an eternal people” will not be adequately told if we do not explicitly mention Pesach, Matzah, and Maror.

The Rav was fond of the conceptual distinction between a nisa (object) and a nosa (subject). The former is something or someone acted upon, whereas the latter is an actor in the drama we call life. At first blush, we look at Pesach, Matzah, and Maror as mere objects that must be consumed during the Seder (inclusive of the Korban Pesach when the Holy Temple is extant). Yet, in a creative tour de force, Rav Soloveitchik perceived each of these items as a nosa, as an active participant in the mitzvah of Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim:

Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim is a blend of storytelling, Torah teaching, and eating symbolic food items. It is a fusion of the spoken word and the physiological functions of eating and drinking, the intermingling of physical pleasure with Torah debate, the combining of the word of God with an activity motivated by biological pressure and characteristic not only of man but of animals. Eating the paschal sacrifice, mazzah and maror constitutes a double mizvah. The mizvat akhilah, physically consuming these items, is per se, a religious performance, a maaseh kiyum mizvah. But eating the pesach, mazzah, and maror is also the instrument or medium of Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim, telling the story of the Exodus. We narrate the story not only through speech but through eating as well. [Therefore,] in order to fulfill the mizvah of sippur in the most perfect manner, one must interpret and explicate the symbolic meaning of pesach, mazzah, and maror. (Based on the March, 1977 public lecture, as recorded in Rabbi Menachem Genack’s, The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening, pages 92-93, bolding, underlining, and brackets my own)
 
In sum, and as I remember having heard when I attended this shiur, Pesach, Matzah, and Maror are far more than mere objects; instead, they are actual subjects and mesapprim (story tellers) of the Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim.

On another occasion, the Rav focused on the order of Pesach, Matzah and Maror when it seemingly should have been Maror, Pesach, and Matzah:

Historically, it would be more accurate that the order be Maror, Pesach, and Matzah, as the bitter torment preceded the Korban Pesach, and both preceded the baking of the Matzos, which took place on the day of the 15th. The sequence that the Haggadah provides is that of the importance of the Mitzvos. Pesach is the primary Halacha; [whereas] the Mitzvah of Matzah is dependent upon that of Korban Pesach… However, there is a second Mitzvah of Matzah, that of eating it with Maror… Maror has no Torah obligation today, for it is completely dependent upon the Korban Pesach; Maror is only a Rabbinic commandment when there is no Korban, and it thus is last in the sequence… This is the meaning of the sequence that we have in our Haggadah. (Transcribed from a public lecture by Rabbi Aton Holzer, Pesach to Go, Nissan 5768, page 22, underlining, brackets, and editing my own)

Herein, the Rav illuminates a classic exegetical problem inherent in Rabban Gamliel’s statement. True, were we to focus primarily upon the historical pain and suffering of our Egyptian forebears, the order should have been Maror, Pesach, and Matzah. Yet, as significant as the crucible of misery that the 210 years of slavery represents, the everlasting nature of the mitzvot must take precedence. Therefore, since “the Mitzvah of Matzah is dependent upon that of Korban Pesach,” Pesach, perforce, must be mentioned prior to Matzah, with Maror constituting the final part of the triumvirate.  

With Hashem’s help, may we be zocheh to experience the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu and the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash so that we may once again joyously offer the Korban Pesach. May this time come soon and in our days! V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom and chag kasher v’sameach!
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