28 Mar OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS AT THE SEDER – PART ONE

(We interrupt our series
on tefilah to speak about
Pesach.)
At the end of Magid,
the Hagaddah informs
us of one of the mission
statements of the Seder.
“B’chol dor v’dor chi’yev
adom liros es atsmo ki’ilu
hu yatza miMitzraiyim
– In every generation, a person is required
to view himself as if he exited Egypt.” The
emphasis on ‘every generation’ is meant to
convey that even if he is living in a generation
of persecution, such as in a basement during
the Inquisition, in the midst of the Polish
uprisings, or even in a barrack in Auschwitz.
This begs the question: How can he
experience a feeling of emancipation in the
midst of such turmoil and distress? The Ohr
HaChaim Hakodesh cites the verse, “Keil
motzi’um miMitzraiyim – The Almighty who
takes us out of Egypt.” He points out that the
verse does not speak in the past tense, but
rather that Hashem is constantly, every year,
taking us out of Mitzraiyim. He explains that
the word Mitzraiyim also means constraints,
restrictions and distresses, as in the verse,
“Min hameitzar karasi Ka-h – From distress
I called to Hashem.” The Ohr HaChaim
elaborates that every night at the Seder there

is a power for a Jew to be released from his
problems.
Rav Elimeilech Biderman, shlit”a, cites
from his predecessors that the word ‘MaZaL,’
which means fate, is also an acronym of
Zeicher Le’yetizas Mitzraiyim, remembering
the Exodus from Egypt for the night of the
Seder is mesugal, has a special strength to
change one’s fate for the better. The Haggadah
Boruch Yomeiru elaborates that in Hebrew a
year is called shanah, which also means ‘to
repeat,’ as in l’shanos. This is because every
year on their specific day, events of the past
repeat themselves. Thus, Adam haRishon
was judged on Rosh Hashanah and every year
since we are judged on Rosh Hashanah. On
Yom Kippur we were forgiven for the sin of
the golden calf, and from then onward Yom
Kippur became a day of forgiveness. So too,
on the night of the Seder, we were released
from the sufferings of Egypt and every year it
is repeated – on this night one can be released
from their sufferings.
He adds that the night of the Seder is called
Leil Shimurim. While one meaning of this is
that it is a ‘night of protection,’ and therefore
some people abstain from locking their doors
on Seder night (only in a good neighborhood),
there is another meaning to this verse. The
word shamar also means to look forward to,
as in the verse, “V’aviv shamar es hadavar –

And his father [Yaakov] looked forward to the
fulfillment [of Yosef’s dreams].”
We are taught, “B’Nisan niga’el ub’Nisan
asidin liga’el – In Nisan we were redeemed
and in Nisan we are destined to be redeemed.”
Throughout the ages, it was a night of hope to
be released from stress. It was on the night of
the Seder that Avraham was rescued from the
four mighty kings. It was on this night that
the Jewish people were saved from Sancherev
and his 400 battalions. It was also on this night
that Achashveirosh had difficulty in sleeping
and the seeds of Haman’s downfall were
sown. Once again, we see that the night of
the Seder is ripe for all kinds of redemptions.
We wear a kittel at the Seder. One of the
reasons we are dressed in white is that on
this night we have the power like the Kohein
Gadol who was dressed in white when he
entered the Kadosh Kadoshim on Yom
Kippur. How powerful might the powers of
the Kohein Gadol be at this moment? Rav
Yehuda haChosid, zt”l, zy”a, questions why
a Kohein Gadol is banned from marrying a
widow. He explains that it is a precaution lest
the Kohein Gadol have a desire for a married
woman and, when in the Holy of Holies, it
might pass through his mind that her husband
should die so he could marry her. In order to
forestall this, the Kohein Gadol is forbidden
to marry a widow in either case, to put her out

of his mind. We see that the Kohein Gadol
had enormous prayer powers when he entered
the Holy of Holies. So too, on the night of
the Seder, our prayer potentials are enormous.
In the merit of our Seder preparations, may
Hashem indeed listen to our prayers and bless
us with long life, good health, and everything
wonderful. (To be continued.)