02 Apr OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS AT THE SEDER – PART TWO

Last week, we
spoke about the great
opportunity to ask from
Hashem for our needs
on the night of the Seder.
Rav Elya Dushnitzer said
in a Shabbos HaGodol
drasha that Mordechai HaTzaddik had
an option to wait till the time of Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur to make the
three day fast since Haman’s decree of
annihilation wasn’t until the next Adar.
Yet, Mordechai chose the Seder night for
the three day fast. This is the awesome
power of the night of the Seder. The
gematria of the words Pesach, matza
and marror is 729. This is the exact
equivalent numerical value of Kra Satan,
to tear up the prosecutor. Such is the
segulah of this awesome evening.
When, specifically, should one ask
for their needs during the Seder? One
ideal location is when we say the verse
“Vanitzak el Hashem Elokei avoseinu,
vayishma Hashem es koleinu – And
we cried out to Hashem the G-d of
our forefathers, and Hashem heard our
voices.” There is a famous story from
the Apter Rav, the legendary Oheiv
Yisroel, zt”l, zy”a. One of his chassidim
rented an inn from the gentile poritz.
This inn served as both his home and
his livelihood. The particular winter of
our story was icy and frigid. The inn
had no patrons and our innkeeper fell
severely behind in his rent. The poritz
sent his agent who told the innkeeper
that if he doesn’t pay within a month, he
and his family would be thrown into the
dungeon to rot.
Without any other resource, the
innkeeper traveled to the Oheiv Yisroel
to ask what to do. He arrived right before
Shabbos HaGodol and learned that, to
his chagrin, the Rebbe was not seeing
people due to Pesach preparations.
Without any other recourse, the
innkeeper stayed for Shabbos HaGodol.
Like a good chossid, he went to the
drasha. He didn’t understand the pilpul
section. But then, the Rebbe started
explaining the Haggadah. When he got
to the stanza of Vanitzak el Hashem,
the Rebbe proclaimed that this is where
we can ask Hashem to solve all of our
problems. The Rebbe added that even
if the poritz wants to throw you into a
dungeon, cry out to Hashem for help.
Right after Shabbos, the chossid left for
home without even speaking privately
with the Rebbe. But he had already
received his answer. During his Seder,
he and his wife cried out and begged
Hashem by Vanitzak for assistance.
About half an hour later, there was a
banging on the door! A disheveled goy
said in a rushed tone that he had just
killed his wife and was fleeing from the
law. He deposited two chests by the
innkeeper; one to safeguard for him and
the other as payment to the innkeeper for
protecting his wealth. On Chol HaMoed,
the innkeeper was able to pay all of his
arrears to the poritz with the proceeds of
‘his’ box.
Rav Elimeilech Biderman, shlit”a
relates a much more recent Vanitzak
story. There was a childless couple who
had pined for a child for many years.
They knew about the segulah of Vanitzak,
but they always had company for the
Seder, and they didn’t feel comfortable
crying and wailing to Hashem in front
of others. Then came the frightening
Pesach of covid three years ago. He and
his wife were in protective quarantine
and therefore alone for the seder. When
it came to Vanitzak they cried out
their hearts for half an hour. Nine
months later they were blessed with
a child!
Another auspicious place to daven
is right before the mah nishtanah. In
most of our Haggadahs, there is an
instruction: kan haben sho’el. While
literally this means “Here, the son
asks (the mah nishtanah)”, there
is another meaning. The previous
Toliner Rebbe, zt”l, zy”a, quotes the
great Rav Aron Karlin, zt”l, zy”a,
who interprets these instructions to
mean, “At this point a son can ask
his Father in Heaven for whatever
he needs.” Yet other Chassidishe
Admorim interpret kan haben sho’el
slightly differently: Here is where
you can ask for a son. What better
place is there to ask Hashem for a
child than this, to be able answer
his mah nishtanah. The Rebbe adds
that this is not just a good place for
a childless couple. It is also a place
where an older single can ask for
assistance to get married for, after all,
that is the only way to have children.
The previous Gerrer Rebbe, the Leiv
Simcha, zt”l, zy”a, had three older
boys from one family in his yeshiva
who were not yet married. Before
they went home for Pesach, he told
them that on the night of the Seder,
they should ask their father why they
aren’t married yet. They understood that
he meant that they should ask their Father
in Heaven, but since the Rebbe couched
his words to ask their father instead of
saying to ask Hashem, they decided to
take the Rebbe’s words literally and
so, before they asked the requisite four
questions, they asked their father also,
“Tatty, are we doing something wrong
that we are all not yet married?” This
caused the father to burst out into tears
and to cry to Hashem since he too was
mystified as to why his wonderful sons
were not married yet. By the summer
of that year, all three of them had found
their basherte.
It is my custom to pour the second
cup of wine before the mah nishtanah.
Most people do this. It begs the question
though. Since the second cup is for
maggid, and maggid starts by ha lachma
anya, why don’t we pour it before this
paragraph (which is indeed the minhag
of the Shiboleh Leket and the Orchos
Chaim). There are many answers to this
question. But, in light of what we have
just established, that there is great power
in asking Hashem for help before mah
nishtanah, it is perfect why we pour the
second cup at this spot. For, the four
cups represent the four languages of
geulah, of redemption. Thus, the second
cup symbolizes v’hitzalti, and He saved
me – perfectly positioned at this location
for Hashem’s salvation.
In the merit of our seder preparations,
may Hashem answer all of our prayers
and bless us with a kosher and joyous
Pesach and grant us long life, good
health, and everything wonderful.