1. הֵא לַחְמָא עַנְיָאדִי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא– “This is the bread1 of poverty that our forefathers ate.”
When still a boy, the Mitteler Rebbe posed the following query to his father, the Alter Rebbe.
“Eating signifies ingestion: food accomplishes its task only when it is internalized. If it is appropriate and nutritious, it becomes thoroughly digested and transformed into flesh and blood, whereupon it fortifies the bond between body and soul. The same is true of the spiritual nourishment that is called comprehension. When one comprehends a Divine concept so thoroughly that it becomes integrated within him and is experienced at an inward level, it may then be called bread that sates, as in the verse, לְכוּ לַחֲמוּ בְלַחֲמִי – ‘Come, eat of My bread.’2 This refers to the intellectual grasp of Divine concepts that are tangibly demonstrable.
“A pauper is one whose intellectual capabilities3 are insufficiently tuned to apprehend such concepts; being thus limited, any intellectual perception is beyond his reach.
“If so, the [coupled] terms ‘bread of poverty’ are mutually contradictory: לַחְמָא connotes the conclusively intellectual grasp of a Divine concept, while עַנְיָא connotes the mental insensitivity that precludes this. If we say bread, it cannot be poor; if it is poor, it cannot be called bread.”
The Alter Rebbe replied:4 “Bread (לֶחֶם) signifies that which attains an elevated state of refinement through war (מִלְחָמָה). For there are two approaches to the refinement [and elevation of the sparks of holiness concealed in the universe]: the first is beirur by means of war,5 and the second is beirur by tranquil means.6 These two approaches further subdivide into four.7 Beirur may take place by means of either belligerency or tranquillity on the part of the individual undertaking this task of refinement, or by means of either belligerency or tranquillity on the part of the matter which is undergoing this process.
“In general terms, the characteristic avodah of the six weekdays is beirur by belligerent means, both in relation to the individual and to the subject of his endeavors. The avodah characteristic of Shabbos, by contrast, is beirur by tranquil means, both on the part of the individual and on the part of his subject.
“In more particular terms, beirur by belligerent means is the avodah of the heart – the avodah of the intellectual element that is within the emotive spiritual attributes (seichel shebamiddos), with the heart becoming excited in an expansive love and awe of G‑d. This manner of Divine service reflects daas tachton (lit., ‘lower understanding’), which is also termed ‘a poor man.’8 This frame of mind finds expression in the prayers of David HaMelech when he begs for compassion, for he had no years of life by virtue of himself, but only those given to him as a gift by Adam.9 In fact his entire avodah was centered around his supplication for mercy, as in the phrase, אֵלֶיךָ ה' נַפְשִׁי אֶשָּׂא – ‘To You, G‑d, do I lift up my soul.’ 10
“By contrast, beirur by tranquil means is the avodah of the brain – through comprehension and intellectual excitation. This manner of Divine service reflects daas elyon (lit., ‘higher understanding’), which is also termed ‘a rich man.’11 This frame of mind finds expression in the prayers of Moshe Rabbeinu, as in the phrase, ה' מָעוֹן אַתָּה הָיִיתָ לָנוּ – ‘G‑d, You have been our dwelling place.’12 The letters of מָעוֹן (‘dwelling place’) are the same13 as the letters of נוֹעַם (‘pleasantness’), implying that a person at this level of Divine service experiences the pleasantness of G‑d in his brain as well as in his heart.
“[Apropos these two levels of Divine service] it is written, כִּי אֵ-ל דֵּעוֹת ה' – ‘For the L‑rd is a G‑d of [lit.:] knowledges,’14 on which Tikkunei Zohar comments, ‘There are two levels of knowledge: Daas Tachton (“lower understanding”) and Daas Elyon (“higher understanding”).’ For these two levels are to be found in the Divine illumination itself: one level [of Divine light] flows into [a worshiper’s] ‘higher understanding,’ while another level flows into [a worshiper’s] lower understanding.’
[To revert now to the original query:] It is thus possible to understand [the coexistence of] the two words לַחְמָא עַנְיָא [‘the bread – i.e., the level of understanding – of poverty’], for [the preceding word] הֵא [evidently alluding to the letter ה]15 refers to Daas Tachton.”
2. One of those present asked: “The Exodus from Egypt took place in haste, as in the phrase, כִּי בְּחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם – ‘For you came out of the Land of Egypt in haste.’16 Concerning the future Redemption it is written, לֹא בְּחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכוּן – ‘For you shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight.’17 This would seem to imply that haste is a demerit, whereas in Chassidus it is explained that haste is a virtue, inasmuch as it refers to iskafya,18 the avodah of [the] suppression [of evil].”
The Rebbe replied: “The kind of haste that is a demerit includes a virtue too, namely: taking leave of habitude. This means that the extraction of the sparks [of holiness] from the state into which they fell at the time of the Shattering of the Vessels, and their elevation19 to their source, takes place in two modes: by means of ‘suppression’ (אִתְכַּפְיָא) or by means of ‘transformation’ (אִתְהַפְּכָא).20 The avodah of beinonim is one of ‘suppression,’ whereas the avodah of tzaddikim is one of ‘transformation,’ inasmuch as they ‘transform darkness into light.’
“The latter approach to Divine service is unblemished by any disadvantage. Its time is when all beirurim have been completed, and concerning this stage in Divine service it is written, ‘For you shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight.’ Fleeing is applicable only in a situation which still harbors evil, as in the phrase, כִּי בָרַח הָעָם – ‘[And the king of Egypt was told] that the people had fled,’21 which refers to their flight from the evil of the Forty-Nine Gates of Impurity. Flight and haste will be altogether out of place. however, when all beirurim have been completed, when ‘I shall remove the spirit of impurity from the earth’22 – and if the spirit of impurity will be banished, how much more so will impure materiality be banished.
“The process of beirur by means of ‘suppression’ has a disadvantage not only when compared with the avodah of ‘transformation,’ which converts the very darkness itself to light and the very bitterness itself to sweetness; but even when considered at its own level, its weakness lies in the fact that it does no more than suppress. Its achievements therefore necessitate vigilance so that the evil should not reawaken, since it was subdued only by virtue of the predominance of the individual who imposes his will on it. This avodah of ‘suppression’ nevertheless has the virtue of haste. But in the final analysis this is a virtue within the realm of ‘poverty’, which is a far cry from the ‘rich man.’23
“The virtue of haste may be, appreciated by an analogy. When fire breaks out one does not pack, but seizes hold of whatever may be saved, a trivial object as readily as a more important one. Likewise, beirurim carried out hastily rescue sparks from lowly levels too. The maamarim entitled Vechol Ha’am Ro’im, 5655 (1895), explain how beirur in the manner of ‘reflected light’ sifts and elevates sparks from the humblest of spiritual levels.”24
3. כָּל דִּצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח – “Whoever is needy, let him come and celebrate Pesach.”
I heard the following interpretation from my father.25
Whoever feels that he is [spiritually] needy, let him come and leap over26– and he will be pulled across.
Being pulled across is no great virtue. In fact, here lies the distinction between Polish chassidim and Chabad. Polish chassidim rely chiefly on their Rebbeim. A man staggers into the mire unaided, and then relies on his Rebbe to set him up in a proper state. The approach of Chabad, by contrast, demands that a man strive himself, and himself clamber out of the mire. One does, however, need help from one’s Rebbe, both in a general and a particular way. The general kind of help consists of guidelines heard in the past, which now direct one’s endeavors; the individualized help comes later, in the course of his avodah.
4. הַשַּׁתָּאהָכָא, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל; הַשַּׁתָּא עַבְדִּין, לְשָׁנָה הַבָּאָה בְּנֵי חוֹרִין – “This year, here, next year in the Land of Israel; this year slaves, next year free men.”
This implies that it is possible to be in the Land of Israel – i.e., to be a person who perceives the sanctity of the Land of Israel – and yet to be a slave.
A man may be called free when the light of the Torah illuminates him from within; when his mindset is this-worldly, he is a slave.
5. כַּאן הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל: מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה – “The child now asks: ‘Why is [this night] different...?’”
Old Siddurim carried various versions of this instruction, such as (a) כַּאן הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל מַה and (b) כַּאן הַבֵּן שׁוֹאֵל מַה נִּשְׁתַּנָּה. R. Avraham David Lavut printed the latter wording.27
My father once said that on the first night of Pesach one’s מַ"ה is different from that of all other nights. He then gave a lengthy explanation of the union of מַ"ה and בַּ"ן,28 and added: “Whether R. Lavut had that in mind or not, I don’t know – but it’s true anyway.”
6. וּלְפִי שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת עַצְמוֹ מִן הַכְּלָל, כָּפַרבְּעִקָּר – “Since he has excluded himself from the community, he has denied that which is fundamental.”
If one isolates a particular mitzvah – whether positive or negative – from the community of mitzvos and observes it alone, one thereby denies (G‑d forbid) the fundamentals of the faith.
Suppose someone is described as a Shabbos-observer. But what about the other commandments? Do tefillin, for example, have a less distinguished lineage?!
The obligation to observe the commandments of the Torah is a comprehensive totality. If a person excludes himself from that community, and observes only certain particular items within it, this indicates that he has denied the fundamentals of the faith. There’s at least a little heretic out there.
7. יָכוֹל מֵרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁוכו' בַּעֲבוּר זֶה לֹא אָמַרְתִּי וכו' מֻנָּחִים לְפָנֶיךָ – “One might have thought [that the obligation to narrate the Pesach story begins] from the first of the month. [The Torah therefore specifies, ‘on that day.’ But ‘on that day’ could imply ‘while it is still daytime.’ The Torah therefore adds, ‘It is because of this.’] And ‘because of this’ can only be said [when matzah and maror]are placed before you.”
Now could one not place a Seder plate – with matzos and the various symbols – on the table from the first of the month?
For this reason the Haggadah says “placed before you,” implying [not merely “laid on the table,” but] the way in which the above obligation is “laid down” in the Torah. This attitude is contrary to the ruling of certain so-called rabbis, who displace the appointed time of the Maariv prayers because of suppertime: supper, after all, must be eaten at suppertime, while Maariv can be moved earlier or later to accommodate it. And the same applies to other such matters.
A Jew ought to conduct all his activities according to the Shulchan Aruch, in the way that the Torah lays them down for him: not in the way he would like to act, in the way his reason dictates – or, rather, in the way he says his reason dictates. For in fact, that is not what his reason dictates. As Rambam says, a Jew’s reason and will are uniformly in harmony with the requirements of the Torah. With this principle, in fact, Rambam explains the law that “[the individual who refuses to give a divorce29] is compelled until he says, ‘I want to.’” In fact every Jew would like to follow the path laid down by the Torah, except that in certain matters people are accustomed to simply repeating what they hear others say – until they find themselves drawn after misguided opinions.
The remedy: to conduct one’s life according to what the Torah has “laid down before you.”
8. וְגַם אֶת הַגּוֹיאֲשֶׁריַעֲבֹדוּדָּןאָנֹכִי – “But I shall also execute judgment upon the nation whom they shall serve.”30
[One of those present asked:] “What need is there for this judgment? For even without it the people would leave in prosperity, as it is written, ‘and afterwards they shall come out with great wealth.’”
[The Rebbe replied:] The style of this question does not match its subject. For in this verse G‑d is telling Avraham Avinu what will befall Israel [not only in Egypt but] in the course of their subjection to the Four Kingdoms.31 This narration covers five topics: (a) their alien status (b) in a foreign land (c) with hard labor and affliction; (d) the judgment to be executed upon their tormentors, and (e) their exodus with great wealth. There is thus no point to the question of what need there is for the promise that “I shall also execute judgment,” which is one of the five stages that the seed of Avraham Avinu would undergo until the imminent coming of our Righteous Mashiach.
But there is still a need to explain why the Almighty will judge the nations amongst whom the Children of Israel are exiled – for was it not the Almighty Himself who delivered them into their hands?
This matter can be understood in the light of the Midrash, which teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, will execute judgment32 upon the nations for having venged themselves upon Israel through cruel subjection – not for the sake of improving or settling their respective countries, but for the sake of persecution through forced labor.33
“This teaching will enable us to better understand our opening quotation, which in its plain sense refers to the nation which shall enslave Israel. However, it may also be interpreted as referring to [the punishment of nations on account of] Israel, who are serving these nations – as was the case when the people of Israel were [subject to] Assyria and Egypt and serving them, confident that these powers would save them. But when G‑d wrought judgment on Assyria and Egypt, then all of Israel knew that salvation could come only from Him, whereupon they repented and were saved.
“The same is true of today’s bitter exile. There are those who place their trust in ‘Assyria’ and ‘Egypt’, believing that through them will sprout the salvation of Israel. Yet the Almighty will execute a mighty judgment upon them, not only for their crimes, but moreover in order that the people of Israel should see that those on whom they leaned are ‘a staff of shattered reed.’34 They will then repent, and G‑d will redeem us speedily through our Righteous Mashiach.”
9. The first time that the Jewish people underwent self-sacrifice was at the splitting of the Red Sea, when they leaped into the sea with mesirus nefesh. While in Egypt they had served G‑d with self-subordination,35 in that “they did not change their names nor their language,”36 nor “their garb”37 – these being the three main characteristics that distinguish different kinds of people from each other. When Jews use Jewish names, such as Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov; when they speak the Jewish language of their exile; and when they conduct themselves as Jews, wearing beard and peyos; – then they are עַם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן, “a people that dwells apart.”38 An individual of this description cannot readily associate with one who has thrown off the yoke of Heaven, and cannot frequent certain places.
The Jews in Egypt preserved their marks of distinction with an extraordinary degree of self-subordination, and without asking “Why?” This is how a Jew should act, and this is how they acted. And through crying out to G‑d out of faith, and through the kabbalas ol that determines that a Jew should be firm in not changing his name, garb, conduct, and the Jewish language of his exile, they were granted their redemption.
10. [In reply to a question, the Rebbe here distinguishes – using exceedingly technical language – between אֱמוּנָה בִּבְחִינַת קַטְנוּת, explaining that faith belongs by definition to a minor intellectual scale, and אֱמוּנָה בִּבְחִינַת מַקִּיף, describing faith which is transcendent, i.e., not internalized nor given detailed application.]
11. R. Shlomo, a well-known chassid better known as R. Shlomo der Lekachmacher;39once heard from his uncle, R. Gavriel Nosse-Chein,40 one of the earliest teachings that the latter41 heard from the mouth of the Alter Rebbe, as follows.
The Torah says, אָנֹכִי ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ וגו' – “I am the L‑rd42 your G‑d Who took you out [of the Land of Egypt].” Surely, comments the Alter Rebbe, it would have been more remarkable to have said, “Who brought you [to Myself and to the Holy Land],” as it is written, “And I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Me.”43
In explanation, the Alter Rebbe says: People do not go into exile alone, of their own free will. There is an entire scheme of hishtalshelus, a chainlike succession of events through which G‑d, Who engineers circumstances, leads the Jewish people into exile for a purpose. People would like to get out of exile themselves, but do not know how to get out or where to go. For this there is a directive from Above: אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ – “[I am the L‑rd your G‑d] Who brought you out.”
This teaching of the Alter Rebbe must be understood in terms of avodah.
Every Jew whom Divine Providence leads from one country to another should know that this is happening for a particular purpose – for he needs to accomplish certain tasks in Torah and avodah in the place to which he has been newly brought.
We chassidim, all chassidim, should be especially grateful to the Almighty for the undeserved lovingkindness with which He granted us the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid [of Mezritch]. And in particular, we Chabad chassidim should praise the Almighty for having bestowed upon us the gift of the great luminaries, our Rebbeim (May their merit stand us and all of Israel in good stead!), who show us the path of life.
In earlier times, people did not know where to go and how to go. But over the last roughly two hundred years, from the time of the Baal Shem Tov onwards, there has been someone to show how and where to go.
12. Concerning our era44 it is written, הַמַּשְׂכִּיל בָּעֵת הַהִיא יִדֹּם – “At that time shall the wise man be silent.”45 This does not mean that one should say nothing. It means that one should say once – what needs to be said concerning “that time,” not laboriously spelling it out46 day after day. Rather, one should be silent, as in the verse, וַיִּדֹּם אַהֲרֹן – “And Aharon fell silent.”47 When the death penalty was decreed for Nadav and Avihu, two saintly personages whose entire aim in life was “coming near to G‑d,”48 at that time “Aharon fell silent.”
For the wise man at this time – in this era on the eve of the Redemption, in this era of the birthpangs of Mashiach, when the Almighty is cleansing the sinful world and sinful men, in this era when harsh edicts (Heaven forfend!) have been decreed on the saintliest individuals within the House of Israel – this is a time to remain silent. One’s head is dulled, one’s heart is bruised, one’s spirit is battered: it is natural to fall silent.
But in spite of all, one must not be foolish. We must look with eyes wide open at what is happening, and see the truthful meaning that all these events signify. We must be obedient, and fulfill what is expected of us, without waiting for later, because that could be (G‑d forbid) too late.
We once explained that chassidim should relate to a subject’s innermost dimension. This means that one should not be satisfied with what one understands at first glance, even when that happens to be a great deal. Everything that G‑d has decreed on this era of the End of Days, on this eve of the Redemption, with all the severity of the birthpangs of the Mashiach, – chassidim ought to understand all this in its innermost dimension, and ponder deeply upon it. For a chassid to be a fool is a shame and a disgrace.
There were once two well-known chassidim who were brothers, R. Moshe and R. Ze’ev Vilenker.49 Though R. Moshe met misnagdim too through his business dealings, he never became involved in polemics with them. His favorite epithet was “kids”; irrespective of whether the individual being described had a white beard or a black, he would be “a kid with a beard.”
His brother R. Ze’ev, who had more contact with the people around him, would tell a misnagdisher businessman: “Very well, so you’re no great scholar; where could you have learned to be otherwise? You’re no great fearer of Heaven? – Could be worse. But why are you still a fool?”
13. The title Haggadah50can be interpreted in two ways – one from the root meaning to “draw [down],”51 and the other from the root meaning to “gather together.”52 In one of his maamarim, the Tzemach Tzedek explains the latter interpretation in three ways.53
14. Some Seder Customs54 in Lubavitch:
It was not customary to stand during the recitation of the passage beginning שְׁפוֹךְ.
The cup of Eliyahu is filled after the Grace after Meals, except for certain occasions when it used to be filled beforehand. (This year the Rebbe himself poured Eliyahu’s cup before the Grace after Meals, on both evenings.)
After the cup is poured candles are taken in hand, and all the doors up to and including the outer door are opened. The passage beginning שְׁפוֹךְ is then said. Those who were sent to open the doors are waited for, and Hallel is recited on their return.
