פרשה: בא · עלייה: שביעי (מלכות)

והיה בי יביאך ה׳ אל ארע הכנעני, "It will be when G'd brings you to the land of the Canaanite, etc." The reason that this particular commandment is conditional on arrival in the Holy Land is either in accordance with what I have written on Exodus 12,25, or in order that the story of the Exodus should not be forgotten once the Israelites had lived in the Holy Land for many generations.

והגדת לבנך, "you shall tell your son, etc." The expression והגדת instead of ואמרת is unusual and our sages in Shabbat 87 state that the term implies "words which are as tough as tendons." Another peculiarity is the expression ביום ההוא, "on that day," whereas immediately afterwards the verse concludes with the expression בעבור זה, "on account of this." The Haggadah shel Pessach as well as the Mechilta understand the verse as referring to a time when Matzah and bitter herbs are in front of you, i.e. at night. Seeing that I know that the time for that recital is at night, why did the Torah have to mention "on that day" at all? Furthermore, why do we need the word לאמור seeing that the Torah already wrote והגדת, "you shall tell?"

We may have to understand all this in accordance with the statement in Pessachim 116 that when one recites the Passover story one begins with aspects which reflect discredit and concludes with aspects which reflect credit on the Jewish people. The discredit consists of the fact that our ancestors were pagans, something one can hardly boast about. The Torah therefore hints at this procedure by writing והגדת, "you will relate matters which are as tough as tendons;" you will conclude with אמירה, i.e. לאמור, words which recall that you were meritorious. The words ביום ההוא are a hint of the future redemption when the night will be called "day" (compare Psalms 139,13). It is also a reminder that the night preceding the morning of the Exodus was illuminated for the Jews (see our comment on 12,30). The Torah adds the words בעבור זה so that we will not err and conduct these ceremonies during the hours which belong to the day but at the time when we have to consume Matzah, i.e. in the evening. Possibly the words והגדת and ביום ההוא have been placed next to one another in order that we will also include the miraculous way in which that night turned into bright daylight for the Jews.

Another reason that the Torah had to write the word לאמור in addition to והגדת is that the former was addressed to "your son." A father of girls or a husband not blessed with children might have concluded that since he had no son he would be free from the obligation to conduct the annual סדר celebration; the Torah writes לאמור, to tell us that even if the person is all alone he must relate what happened during that night to himself. Seeing that this is so, you may well ask why the Torah had to speak about a father telling his son at all? Perhaps I would not have known that under certain conditions one must "tell oneself" the Haggadah shel Pessach unless the Torah had used extra verbiage. Perhaps the Torah hinted that if someone is particular about telling of the Exodus, G'd will eventually grant him a son to whom he can relate these events.

בעבור זה, "on account of this, etc." Perhaps the word זה (numerical value 12) alludes to 12 commandments connected with the Passover observance. The first three are the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the bitter herbs; then there is the Haggadah followed by the seven days of the festival and the benediction over wine on the night of the festival. The Torah has to phrase it as בעבור זה עשה because the seven days of the festival do not count as seven separate commandments in the list of 613 commandments.

והיה כי יביאך, "It will be when He will bring you, etc." The Torah underlines once more that it is G'd who will bring you to the Holy Land so that you should not forget about His commandments in the belief that you yourself have achieved all this, especially after your border will gradually extend further and further. Although this commandment is not applicable until after conquest of the land, it remains in force even if the land is lost as it is a commandment that involves the body and not the earth. Kidushin 36 teaches that all commandments which are performed by one's body apply throughout the ages and wherever a Jew resides.

והיה כי ישאלך בנך, "It will be when your son enquires of you, etc." The Torah means that when your son observes you perform the ceremony of redeeming a firstborn he will ask you the reason for that commandment. In that event you are obligated to explain the meaning of the commandment. If the son does not ask you, you are not obligated to answer him except on the night of the Passover. This is the reason the Torah added the word מחר, "tomorrow;" This means that even if your son will ask you already tomorrow you are immediately obligated to tell him the reason for this commandment. The Torah adds the word לאמור to indicate that what is meant is a situation when your son expects an answer to his question. If the son, however, simply asks מה זאת, i.e. "what is this all about?" a derisive way of questioning, then you are under no obligation to answer him at that time.

The question need not necessarily be exactly "what is this all about?" Any question whose upshot appears to be that the questioner wants to be told what our tradition is all about is to be answered forthwith. It is clear therefore that the Torah does not speak of the night of the Passover but of the commandment to sanctify the firstborn of the womb. When our sages (Mechilta) comment that the four occasions when the Torah cites the sons as asking refer to four different types of children this is all homiletics.

‎[This is a comment to the Torah’s‎‏ ‏statement, “It shall be a sign upon your Handידכה ‏‎.”] Our Rabbis ‎of blessed memory said (Menachot 37a), “’Yadchah (spelled with an extra hey implies the weaker ‎hand (yad kehah), which is the left hand. We need to understand why Hashem did not choose the ‎right hand to perform this mitzvah, since it is greater. Our Rabbis say that this is in order that (the ‎tefillin) be aligned next to the heart, which is towards the left side (of the body), and their words ‎are true. However it appears to me that there is an additional reason, for the Torah itself gives a ‎reason for the matter in saying, “Because with a strong hand.” You need to know that HaShem has ‎‎2 aspects within His attributes. The first is called “the great hand, yad hagedolah”, and the other is ‎called “the strong hand, yad hachazakah”. “The great hand” represents (G-d’s) aspect of kindness ‎and goodness; “the strong hand” represents His strength, which He repays the wicked according to ‎their wickedness. In removing Bnei Yisrael from Egypt, Hashem stretched out “the strong hand” ‎and struck His enemies with ten plagues. For this reason G-d said that tefillin, which contain the ‎written remembrance (of these events), should be placed on our weak hand (our left hand), which‏ ‏represents “the strong hand” that‏ ‏removed us from Egypt. This is why the‏ ‏pasuk here says, “for ‎with the strength of a hand.” This is correct. Granted that it says in many places (regarding ‎punishment), “the great‏ ‏hand,” in those instances G-d’s attribute‏ ‏of mercy concurred with the ‎attribute of justice, but the essence of justice is still‏ ‏performed through the “strong hand.”‎‏ ‏‎{Ed. ‎Note - Thus, despite the term‏ ‏‎“strong,” the “strong hand” which‎‏ ‏represents justice is, in fact, ‎weaker‏ ‏than the “great hand” which‏ ‏represents mercy. To symbolize the‏ ‏vengeance that G-d ‎exacted from‏ ‏Egypt through His “weaker hand,” we‏ ‏don our tefillin, which memorialize‏ ‏these ‎events, on our weaker hand.}‎