08 Apr PESACH: HAGADDAH INSIGHTS

We Are What We
Do
One of the
perennial topics
that come up at the
Seder is the nature of
the dialog between the Wise Son and his
father in the Hagaddah narrative. The
Wise Son asks his father “What are the
testimonies, decrees, and ordinances that
Hashem our G-d has commanded you?”
The answer given to him is “Therefore
explain to him the laws of the Pesach
offering: that one may not eat dessert
after the final taste of the Pesach
offering.”
Why is this terse answer an appropriate
response to his all-encompassing
question? The simple and perhaps the
correct answer is that this statement
“Ayn maftirin achar haPessach
Afikoman” is the last Mishna in Perek
Arvei Pessachim, which discusses the
laws of Seder night. In fact, we tell him
everything – from A to Z – from that
Talmudic chapter. The law that one
cannot eat anything after the Afikoman is

“Z” – the last item in that catalog of laws
found in the Talmudic Tractate dealing
with Passover.
However, if we wish to engage in
homiletics (which is very common on
Seder night) one could interpret as
follows: The Wise Son is asking a very
fundamental question. We all realize
how basic and fundamental Yitzias
Mitzraim is to our religion and to our
historical experience. Still, the Wise Son
is asking – why do we need this
abundance of mitzvos that have to do
with Yitzias Mitzraim? Would it not
suffice with just one or two symbolic
commandments to recall the event?
Moreover, aside from all the many
mitzvos associated with Pesach in
general and the Seder night in particular,
there are another several dozen mitzvos
that the Torah identifies as being “zecher
l’Yitzias Mitzraim” [commemorating the
Exodus from Egypt]. For example, the
mitzvah of Tefillin and the mitzvah of
redeeming the First Born are classified as
being “zecher l’Yitzias Mitzraim”. Why
so many mitzvos? Why all these

testimonies, decrees,
and ordinances?
The truth of the
matter is that the
question the Wise
Son asks is really the
question the Sefer
HaChinuch addresses
to his son. In Mitzvah
16 (regarding the
prohibition of
breaking a bone from
the Paschal offering),
the author explains
the reason for this
mitzvah: On Seder
night we need to feel like wealthy people,
kings and princes. Kings and princes do
not break bones when they eat their meat.
Such behavior typifies one who rarely
eats meat and wants to suck out the last
bit of juice from the broken bone. The
Chinuch writes that in order to feel and
demonstrate that we are free and wealthy
men (the experience of “Cheirus”), the
Torah commands us to emulate such
practices and not break the bones on
Seder night.
Then, in a fundamental teaching, the
author writes (to his son), “Do not think
the number of commandments relating
to the Exodus is excessive and that one
or two rituals would suffice for our
children and grandchildren to not forget
the historical events of Yitzias Mitzraim.
Such an idea (which is basically the
question of the Wise son) is mistaken.
My dear son, listen to this and it will
give you a basic understanding into the
reason for much of Torah and many of
the mitzvos: MAN IS INFLUENCED
BY HIS ACTIONS (Adam nif’al k’fi
peulosov).”
The world says, “You are what you eat”.
The Chinuch says, “You are what you
do” and “The way you act is the way
you become.”
The Chinuch gives a famous parable
about a person who was a righteous
individual – kind, compassionate, and
kind-hearted. For whatever reason, he
ended up in a profession where he
needed to be cruel. In contemporary
terms, we can picture someone who got
in trouble with the mafia. They drafted
him into their service and they told him
that he was going to be their enforcer.
“You are going to start breaking people’s
knees or we will break your knees!”
This person started out as a wonderful

compassionate individual. But, as fate
would have it, for years and years and
years he needed to make his living by
being an enforcer for the mafia, using all
kinds of violent techniques to collect
funds for his employers. The Chinuch
writes that such a person will inevitably
eventually develop a nature that is cruel
and hard-hearted. You become what you
practice. You are what you do.
On the other hand, he writes, a person
who is mean and cruel but is forced into
a profession in which he must be kind
and giving will eventually become a
compassionate person. This, he says, is
what mitzvos are all about. It is not
merely enough for us to do one or two
things. The more you do the more you
become. The fundamental idea of doing
mitzvos is to change us for the better!
The Torah wants there to be a lasting
impression on our souls. By the
performance of mitzvos we should
CHANGE. There should be an
impression. This lasting impression on
our souls comes about by doing Divinely
mandated actions over and over again.
Therefore, if we drink the wine, lean,
emulate free wealthy men, do not break
the bones and act the part, we will
become like wealthy people, kings and
princes. This is why we do not eat dessert
after the Afikoman. We want the taste (of
the Matza/Paschal offering) to remain in
our mouths. We want to create a lasting
impression to the mitzvos we do. This is
what we tell the Wise Son. The desire to
have a lasting impression is symbolic of
what mitzvos are about in general. The
goal of mitzvos is that we should become
different, better, people. We achieve that
goal by doing. The more we do, the
better we become. This is the reason for
the testimonies, decrees, and ordinances
which Hashem our G-d has commanded.