The Haggadah: Its Structure, Meaning and Message

The lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation

1:15 "הא לחמא עניא": our conversation centers around the meal; the 4 questions are all about food5:00 "עבדים היינו": the answer to the son's question; the son's question is that the events of the past are not current events, so why is the night of Pesach treated as a unique time10:00 The significance of the fact that it is the son who asks the question: the next generation doesn't understand why the past is relevant to it13:30 "ואילו לא הוציא הקב"ה את אבותינו ממצרים הרי אנו ובנינו ובני בנינו משעובדים היינו לפרעה": there are moments in life that have historic, cosmic import17:00 "ברוך המקום": the Torah talks about the sons in 4 places, corresponding to 4 kinds of children19:00 "אילו היה שם לא היה נגאל": the wicked son doesn't accept that there are significant, historic moments in life, and without realizing that, he wouldn't have seized the opportunity of redemption and would have stayed behind in Egypt21:30 והמבין יבין!22:40 "מתחילה עובדי עבודה זרה": a new narrative, according to which the servitude in Egypt is part of the solution, not part of the problem26:00 The recurring historic theme of Jewish suffering and redemption and its providential purpose; a second answer to the son's question about history30:00 והמבין יבין!33:10 The natural causes of Jewish suffering and persecution35:30 "צא ולמד": the recurring theme already happened with the forefathers; a segue into "ארמי אובד אבי"38:15 "רבן גמליאל היה אומר": a third answer to the son's question about history: it happened to us as well, in every generation40:15 The whole Haggadah revolves around the question about how the past bears on the present43:00 "חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים": meaning and how it's done44:30 "ואותנו הוציא משם": Aristotle on natural slaves; how freedom really depends on knowing Hashem; the most honest people would be slaves if they lacked knowledge of Hashem