How can we breathe new life into a story we’ve heard so many times?
The mitzvah of telling the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim is very simple but also one of the most difficult to fulfill properly. How many times can we tell the same story without losing interest? We think, well, it’s mainly for the kids. But the Haggadah says that even if we were all great talmidei chachamim, we would still need to tell the story. The reason is that Yetzias Mitzrayim is the foundation of our emunah.
Rav Yechezkel Levenstein ztz”l was known to be “obsessed” with Yetzias Mitzrayim. For him, the story of leaving Mitzrayim was a wellspring of emunah. And it can be for us as well — if we bring it to life. But still the question remains: How can we breathe new life into a story we’ve heard so many times?
The solution isn’t to import additional information. Studying the many commentaries on the Haggadah can definitely enrich our understanding. But the text of the Haggadah itself is the story. The author of the Haggadah did us the favor of sifting through the endless details and laying out the story that should nourish our emunah for the whole year. His guide was the words of the Mishnah, which reveal the story’s central theme: “Begin with disgrace and conclude with glory.”
Chazal don’t mandate a specific wording for the story, only that we tell ourselves and our children how Hashem lifted the Jewish nation from disgrace to glory. That’s the primary message of the story, the one that can give us emunah throughout the year. And it’s that message that can make the story come to life and move us.
Create a free account to keep reading.
