[NGFP-BookClub] Pour The Wrath - from avigdor shinan

[avigdor shinan]

Shalom shalom -

 

The second part of this letter will start our discussion of the “Shfoch Chamatcha” unit, asking God to pour his wrath upon different enemies of his people. But before doing it I would like to add few more remarks regarding what we did so far.

 

Studying the Haggadah means for me at lest 3 different things:

[a] Understanding that this text has a very very long history. For me – as a scholar and not as an educator or a rabbi – the most important question is the question of origin and time of each unit and custom. Since when do we break the middle Matzh into two? Since when do we tell the enigmatic story (yes, it is still an enigma for me!) about the rabbis in Bene Brak? When and how did Laban become the most terrible villain as described in the text? Since when do we deal on the first night of Passover with the number of the plagues that the Egyptians suffered on the seven day of Passover, when the people crossed the red sea? and so forth. Once we answer such questions, the road is paved for new ones – a long trip indeed.

[b] Asking questions is as important as answering them. Sometimes a good question is much more interesting (and sometime provocative) than an answer. I love the “Ma Nishtana” part (i.e. asking questions) more than I love the “Avadim Hayinu” (we were slaves, i.e. the answers). That is why I always deliberately asked questions, which I was not sure that even I have the best possible answer for them. The Seder night should be a night of asking, and sometimes also answering. Please remember that the many (hundreds? Thousands?) books and articles about the Haggadah are just an attempt to answer a very short list of questions!

[c] By asking questions and providing possible answers we do enrich our Seder night, participate in the huge enterprise of telling and retelling the story of exodus anew. In my home we discuss various issues emerging from the Haggadah as a way of fulfilling its claim that “Kol HaMarbe” – the more you speak about Exodus - the better. 

 

We have dealt so far with the introductory Aramaic HLA piece, with the BBS (=The incident in Bene Brak) and the most Yishivish (as some of you said) part of AOA (beginning with Arami Oved Avi). There were 7 questions regarding this unit and let me deal again – for the last time, I promise – with one of them: Why use Deuteronomy 26 to tell the story of the book of Exodus? Great questions! Some will say because these verses were very popular (since they were said in the second temple period each time you brought Bikurim [=the first fruits] to the temple). Some say because they do not mention Moses – a figure which was not invited to participate in the seder night! (this issue deserves a full course by itself). Some say that the rabbis liked the number of the verses – four – since almost everything (questions, sons, cups of wine etc.) is fourtish [is this a real English word? I wonder]. And if we could look at about the 500 different commentators on the Haggadah and the thousands scholarly and semi-scholarly discussions of this fascinating text – we should for sure find many more. The questions remains – the answers vary.

 

So far for the past.

 

For the future: the “Pour Thy Wrath” unit. There are few different translations of this text (composed mainly from verses from the Psalms and Lamentation) and I assume that they may pose a real problem in a context in which Jews and gentiles live together, especially on good terms.

 

The questions that come to my mind are (and you may, and probably will, have others as well) are:

1 – Why is this unit, from the very beginning, found in the Haggadah?

2 – since when is it included in the Haggadah? Where did it all start?

3 – Why these specific verses?

4 – Why are they said after the Grace after the meal and in the middle of reciting the Hallel?

5 – Why do we usually open the door while saying this unit?

6 – Do other non-Ashkenazi communities (such as the Yemenites) include the Shfoch verses in their Haggadah? Are they saying another verses instead?

7 – Is there any reason why we should continue saying these verses in our modern time when many of us dwell peacefully among non-Jews? How do they react – if they are familiar with this custom – to the harsh request of them being totally destroyed? I will tell you later about a cardinal (a real one! The cardinal of Milano) who was my guest on a Seder night, and his answer to this question).

8 – how is the Haggadah treating the non-Jew? Is he mentioned in other parts of this text?

 

These are 8 different questions. Do I have the one and only, absolute, answer to all of them? Reading what I said so far, you know my answer.

 

Shabbat shalom and please continue commenting on the Haggadah riddles.

 

Avigdor shinan

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ngfp.org/pipermail/ngfp-bookclub/attachments/20060324/2dbf1c90/attachment.htm