BS"D
GOAT'S GOADING:
PESACH II
Shira Smiles shiur 2022/5782
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The
formal reading of the Haggadah ends with drinking the fourth cup and declaring,
"Next Year in Yerushalayim." However, many have the custom to
continue the Seder with the singing of liturgical songs, concluding with Chad
Gadya/One Kid that father bought for two zuzim. While on the
surface, this seems to be a childish poem wherein each stanza does one up on
the preceding action, this is not a silly ditty. There is indeed much depth and
symbolism relevant to us as Jews embedded in these verses.
Lest
we think that this poem is a fairly recent addition to our Seder observance, a
copy of this poem together with a copy of Echad Me Yodea/Who knows
One was found in the Beth Medrash of the Rokeach who lived in the late
twelfth/early thirteenth centuries. The poem begins with the kid who is then
eaten by the cat. Each subsequent character inflicts increasing damage on its
predecessor: The dog, stick, fire, water, ox, slaughterer, Angel of Death, and
finally, Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Singing
this and the other songs may indeed be a means of continuing the discussion of
the exodus, especially if we include talk of the mystical interpretations,
writes Rabbi Glatstein in Maggid Harakiya. On a simple level, writes
Rabbi Glatstein citing Rabbi Yaakov Emden, the lyrics may serve to keep us
humble, that even though we have completed the entire Pesach preparation and
observed the entire Seder according to all its laws, it is really Hashem Who is
in control.
To
support the theme that Hashem is in control and creates seder/order in
the world, Rabbi Glatstein cites the Ben Ish Chai who sees each ensuing
"character" as righting or avenging the previous wrong. So the cat
was wrong in eating the kid, and therefore the dog was right in hurting the
cat. The stick was then wrong in hitting the dog, etc. If we take this
progression to the end, it would seem that Hakodosh Boruch Hu was wrong for
slaughtering the Angel of Death. However, who gave the dog the right to
interfere? He was neither preventing further harm nor righting a wrong. In
modern terminology, we would consider him to be a vigilante. When we start with
that premise, it is indeed Hashem Who is in charge and rights all the preceding
wrongs.
Now
Rabbi Glatstein connects these verses to our history. While Hashem had ordained
that Bnei Yisroel serve a nation that would oppress them, who appointed Pharaoh
and the Egyptians that it was their mission to fulfill that prophecy? Who gave
them permission to make the servitude so severe? Hashem will be the final Judge
and mete out justice against Pharaoh and the Egyptians, instituting the proper
order in world events. Ultimately, there is judgment and accountability, writes
Rabbi Schwab in Otzrot Hatorah, even when all we see is chaos.
All
that exists in the universe exists in three dimensions: in time, in space, and
in the human being, represented by the acronym OSHoN,
Olam/world/space/history, Shanah/year/time,
and Nefesh/soul. The classic example is the Kohein Gadol
[person] entering the kadosh kodashim/holy of holies [place] on Yom
Kippur [time]. Let us explore how Chad Gadya can be interpreted in
each of these dimensions.
Otzrot
Hatorah quotes the idea that the entire poem is about the Beit Hamikdosh, how
it was destroyed and how it will ultimately be rebuilt. The Beit Hamikdosh is a
theme that runs throughout the Haggadah. We begin and end with reference to the
korban Pesach/Pascal sacrifice in the Beit Hamikdosh. Further, the Magid
part of the Seder which recounts the exodus, is the passage that the farmer
would say when he brought his first fruits to the Beit Hamikdosh, "A
wandering Armanean was my father..." Shortly thereafter, we remind
ourselves that Hillel ate the Pesach sacrifice as a sandwich, with Matzoh and
bitter herbs. and we conclude with the prayer that the Beit Hamikdosh will be
rebuilt.
It
is believed that this poem was written when the Sages realized that this
diaspora would be much longer than the previous one. In the previous diaspora,
after seventy seventy years Bnei Yisroel returned to the land and rebuilt the
Beit Hamikdosh. The Sages wrote this poem to maintain hope of the future
redemption in Bnei Yisroel despite the continuing exile. In Shir Hashirim,
the gedi/goat represents the Beit Hamikdosh which King Dovid acquired by
taxing Bnei Yisroel two zuzim/shekel. From the verse in Shir Hashirim
the interpretation is that the Beit Hamikdosh was the orchard in Ein Gedi. [In
this context, I cannot help but see an additional interpretation of the verse
1:14: Eshkol kopher Dodi li bcarmei Ein Gedi. I have harvested hakopher/atonement
from my Beloved in the Beit Hamikdosh through the two goats of atonement of Yom
Kippur. CKS]
In
a historical perspective, Otzrot Hatorah continues to interpret the characters
as follows: The shinra/cat is soneh
ra Nebuchadnezzar the/evil enemy; the dog is Koresh who
"ate" Belshazzar ("son" of Nebuchadnezzar) and allowed the
Jews to return to Eretz Yisroel and rebuild the Temple; the stick is
Greece who conquered Persia and defiled the Beit Hamikdosh; the fire is the
Hashmoneans who rededicated the Temple; the water is Edom/Rome who destroyed
the Beit Hamikdosh; the Tora refers to the Yishmaelim as well as to Yosef who
the Yishmaelim sold until Yosef eventually descended to Egypt. Moshiach ben
Yosef [Both Yosef and Yishmael are referred to as an ox.] will defeat the
Yishmaelim, but he himself will be killed. This will be followed by Hashem
reigning supreme with the establishment of the kingdom of Moshiach ben Dovid
and a rebuilt Beit Hamikdosh.
We
do not know when when the final redemption will come, but one thing is clear,
writes the Novominsker Rav, empires rise and fall, have their golden ages and
disappear, but one day Hashem will eliminate evil from the world, and He will
reign supreme. Therefore, we always have hope, for we are His gedi, His
flock, writes Rabbi Bernstein.
`There
is tremendous power for blessings on this night. the night that Yitzchak Avinu
blessed Yaakov Avinu, writes Rabbi Schorr in Halekach Vehalebuv. We
continue to draw on the power of that blessing throughout the generations. It
is a night of blessing for all, for even if you have the outer appearance of
the evil Esau, your inner core is still the heart of a Jew, and the blessings
can descend on this night.
The
connection to this idea is alluded to in Yachatz,
when we break the matzoh in half, secrete one half to use for the afikomen
[representing the korban Pesach] and allow the children to "steal"
the afikomen as Yaakov "stole" the blessings from Esau. How does
Rabbi Glatstein make this connection? He sees Yachatz as an acronym for yadav
and chelkat tzavaro, Yaakov's hands and the flat
top of his shoulders where Rivkah put the goatskin on Yaakov. Nevertheless, we
continue to suffer from the tears that Esau shed that night. All the troubles
of our history are symbolized by the one kid.
Our
history really begins with the Covenant between the Halves, when Hashem tells
Avraham Avinu that his offspring will be slaves in a land not their own. Esau
chose not to be the bearer of this prophecy, and Hashem gave him the Land of
Seir. Yaakov chose to fulfill this prophecy, and thereby merit the fulfillment
of all subsequent blessing resulting from this servitude. But had Yaakov not
stolen the blessings that night, writes Rabbi Mandelbaum quoting the Gra, then
all the blessings would have gone to Esau. Yaakov brought Yitzchak two goats
that night, one for the future korban Pesach and one for the future korban
Chagigah. We became the chosen people that night, and it was validated on
Pesach.
Our
entire servitude was precipitated by conflict over the issue of the firstborn,
just like the conflict between Yaakov and Esau. The ten brothers of Yosef were
jealous of the special coat Yaakov had given Yosef, a coat whose material cost
about two coins but which signified the special firstborn status of this son.
That is why they sold Yosef, and that is how we ended up in Egypt. We had to go
through the enslavement to eradicate the jealousy that divided us so that we could
become the chosen people in our entirety. Other nations may claim that due to
our sins we have forfeited our chosen status, and they are now the chosen ones,
but that is not so. We remain God's chosen firstborn.
In
fact, the Vilna Gaon interprets each of the characters in Chad Gadya to
reflect this idea. The jealous cat represents the brothers whose jealousy
resulted in Yosef's descent to Egypt. The dog is Pharaoh himself who sought to
"sink his teeth" into Bnei Yisroel. The staff of Moshe brought retribution
on Pharaoh and was also the instrument of salvation. The fire was the sin of
the golden calf which almost eradicated the status of Bnei Yisroel. The water
represents the tears Moshe shed in praying that Hashem forgive His people. The
ox re-establishes the sin of the golden calf, as Yeravam, the first king of the
Northern Kingdom after the split, posts two golden calves for the people to
worship instead of going to Jerusalem. This was the beginning of the idol
worship that culminated in the destruction of the First Temple. Then the Men of
the Great Assembly presided over the building of the Second Temple and prayed
that the evil inclination toward idol worship be destroyed. But baseless hatred
was the Angel of Death for the Second Temple and was the catalyst for the
diaspora we continue to find ourselves in. Even so, we look to Hakodosh Boruch
Hu To redeem us and restore our former glory. We remain Hashem's chosen people,
and we should wear that distinction with pride.
Let
us return to the historical interpretation of Chad Gadya as Rabbi
Glatstein tweaks his interpretation. While we begin with one kid representing
Bnei Yisroel and end with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, Rabbi Glatstein, quotes R. Chayim
Kaniefsky based on the Medrash Sochar, who notes that there are eight
intervening steps. He notes that although we generally speak of four diasporas,
each actually includes two different, overlapping kingdoms. The Babylonian
exile includes the oppression by the Chaldeans; the Persian exile, as stated in
Megillat Esther, was an empire of both Persia and Media; Greece included
Macedonia; finally, Rome includes Ishmael. Each will be subsumed by its
"partner." The Slaughterer/Rome will be destroyed by Ishmael who
"will be a wild man" whose interest is only in plundering people, not
wealth., a characteristic we see them exhibiting to this day.
The
Haggadah comes full circle. It begins with the sale of Yosef to the Yishmaelim
and ends with Ishmael as the Angel of Death, only to have a final redemption
through Hakodosh Boruch Hu. The Torah alludes to this final step. The Torah
states that Ishmael will "fall" on the faces of his brothers, after
which the Torah begins, "These are the offspring of Yitzchak."
Before
we get to Maggid, the "official" retelling of the exodus story, we
have allusions to the source of our descent to Egypt. When we dip the Karpas in
the salt water, we are reminded of an earlier dipping, the dipping of another
karpas. In Megillat Esther, one of the luxurious fabrics festooning the palace
was karpas, a fine wool. So although we are dipping a vegetable, we are also
remembering the other meaning of karpas, the special fabric that Yosef's
brothers dipped in goat blood after they sold Yosef, and the process of the
Egyptian enslavement had begun. Our enslavement began with the Yishmaelim
bringing Yosef down to Egypt and the final diaspora will end with Hashem
destroying the Yishmaelim.
In
Halekach Vehalebuv, Rabbi Schorr approaches the parable from the
perspective of the individual soul. The narrow straits of Mitzrayim is the
physical body that surrounds our soul. There is constant tension and conflict
between the two. On Pesach, we eat the matzoh, the bread of emunah/faith
to feed the growth of our souls. The one Gadya is
equivalent to 18, the living soul. Hashem gave us ways to zaz/move, to
navigate the path and serve as signs between these two sources, and each has
two aspects. Two are those relevant only to men, circumcision and tefillin,
each having two components. But Shabbat is for all of us, with with the twofold
shamor/guard/keep, and zachor/remember as its two aspects.
We
have a dual mission in our lives, sur meira/abandon the bad, sinful, and
asei tov/do the good, positive, mitzvoth. The gedi is constantly
involved in this tension. Like a cat, the body often does not want to be loyal
to its master. It is a young and playful child, interested only in the
physical. But a goat also likes to leap high. Even when totally involved in its
own physical needs, the soul of the Jew also wants to rise higher.
The
dog represents the yetzer horo. Although it is present at birth, it is
basically powerless until it connects with and "bites" the physical
aspect of man, beginning at around bar mitzvah age. But mussar, the
teaching of morality can rein in the wildness of the dog. The fire is the
passion of a yetzer horo that gets ignited in young adulthood. Only the waters
of Torah can extinguish those wildfires. But the bullheadedness of arrogance
injures the protection Torah study has provided. But the humble man who
recognizes his place in the world will slay the arrogance within him.
Nevertheless, death comes to all, and when the resurrection comes, all evil of
the body will dissipate, and the body and soul will be united in perfect
coexistence. That time will come when Hakodosh Boruch Hu will destroy death
with the final redemption.
Metaphorically,
in Kos shel Eliyahu Rabbi Saffran also imagines the goat as the soul of
man sent down to zaz/move through this earthly existence an existence
filled with trials and tribulations. But he must remember that he is one of a
kind, he is unique, and meant to accomplish a mission on this earth. He must
not procrastinate in spite of challenges, for eventually the time is up and he
must answer to the higher Source.
On
Pesach there is an additional energy present that helps the gedi leap
up, to leap over/pesach some steps and reach levels of spiritual
growth unattainable going one step at a time at other times, writes Rabbi Tatz.
No
matter what time or place we find ourselves, in. Bnei Yisroel has the mission
to be God's emissaries on earth. The challenge is great, the obstacles many,
but in the end, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will redeem us and help us see the
completion of our mission.