This Is for Judah

(From a commentary on the Passover Haggadah [narrative])

“This is the bread of poverty that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt.” The Mitzva [commandment] of eating Matza [the Passover unleavened bread] was given to the children of Israel even before they went out from Egypt after the future exodus, which was to be in haste. It follows that the Mitzva of eating a Matza was given to them while they were still enslaved, and the aim of the Mitzva was for the time of redemption, since then they departed in haste.

This is why we like to remember the eating of Matzas in Egypt even today, since we, too, are as when we were enslaved abroad. Also, with this Mitzva, we aim to extend the redemption that will happen soon in our days, Amen, just as our fathers ate in Egypt.

“This year—here… next year—free.” It is written above that with the aim of this Mitzva we can evoke the guaranteed redemption, destined for us, as in the Mitzva of eating the Matza of our fathers in Egypt.

“We were slaves…” It is written in Masechet Pesachim (p 116a), “Begins with denunciation, and ends with praise.” Concerning the denunciation, Rav and Shmuel were in dispute: Rav said to begin with “In the beginning, our fathers were idol worshipers,” and Shmuel said to begin with “We were slaves.” The practice follows Shmuel.

We need to understand their dispute. The reason for “beginning with denunciation and ending in praise” is as it is written, “As the advantage of the light from within the darkness.” We must remember the issue of the denunciation, for through it we acquire thorough knowledge of the mercies of the Creator that He did with us.

It is known that all of our beginning is only in denunciation, since “absence precedes presence.” This is why “a wild ass’s colt is born a man.” And in the end, he acquires the shape of a man. This applies to every element in Creation, and this was so in the rooting of the Israeli nation, too.

The reason for this is that the Creator elicited Creation existence from absence. Hence, there is not a single creation that was not previously in absence. However, this absence has a distinct form in each element in creation, because when we divide reality into four types—still, vegetative, animate, and speaking—we find that the beginning of the still is necessarily complete absence.

However, the beginning of the vegetative is not complete absence but merely from its former degree, which, compared to itself, is considered absence. And in the matter of sowing and decay, which are necessary for any seed, it is received from the shape of the still. Also, it is the same with the absence of the animate and the speaking: The vegetative form is regarded as absence with respect to the animate, and the animate form is regarded as absence with respect to the speaking.

Hence, the text teaches us that the absence that precedes man’s existence is the form of the beast. This is why it is written, “a wild ass’s colt is born a man,” as it is necessary for every person to begin in the state of a beast. The writing says, “Man and beast You save, O Lord.” As a beast is given all that it needs for its sustenance and the fulfillment of its purpose, He also provides man with all that is necessary for his substance and the fulfillment of his purpose.

Therefore, we should understand where is the advantage of man’s form over the beast, from the perspective of their own preparation. Indeed, this is discerned in their wishes, since man’s wishes are certainly different from those of a beast. And to that extent, God’s salvation of man differs from God’s salvation of a beast.

Thus, after all the inquiries and scrutinies, we find that the only need in man’s wishes, which does not exist in the whole of the animate species, is the awakening toward Godly Dvekut [adhesion]. Only the human species is ready for it, and none other.

It follows that the whole issue of presence in the human species is in that preparation imprinted in him to crave His work, and in this he is superior to the beast. Many have already said that even the intelligence in craftsmanship and in political conducts is present, with great wisdom, in many specimens in the animal world.

Accordingly, we can also understand the matter of the absence that precedes the existence of man as the negation of the desire for God’s proximity, since this is the animate degree. Now we understand the words of the Mishnah that said, “Begins with denunciation, and ends with praise.” This means that we must remember and research the absence that precedes our existence in a positive manner, as this is the denunciation that precedes the praise, and from it we will understand the praise more profoundly, as it is written, “Begins with denunciation, and ends with praise.”

This is also the meaning of our four exiles, exile after exile, which precede the four redemptions, redemption after redemption, up to the fourth redemption, which is the complete perfection that we hope for soon in our days, Amen. Exile refers to “absence that precedes the presence,” which is redemption. And since this absence is what prepares for the HaVaYaH ascribed to it, like the sowing that prepares the reaping, all the letters of Ge'ula [redemption] are present in Gola [exile], except for the Aleph, since this letter indicates the “Aluph [Champion] of the world.”

This teaches us that the form of the absence is but the negation of the presence. And we know the form of the presence—redemption—from the verse, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor …for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” Hence, the form of the previous absence, meaning the form of exile, is only the absence of the knowledge of the Creator. This is the absence of the Aleph, which is missing in the Gola, and present in the Ge'ula—the Dvekut with the “Champion of the world.” This is precisely the redemption of our souls, no more and no less, as we have said that all the letters of Ge'ula are present in Gola but the Aleph, which is the “Champion of the world.”

To understand this weighty issue, that the absence in itself prepares the presence ascribed to it, we should learn from the conducts of this corporeal world. We see that in the concept of freedom, which is a sublime concept, only a chosen few perceive it, and even they require appropriate preparations. The majority of the people are utterly incapable of perceiving it. Conversely, with regard to the concept of enslavement, small and great are equal, and even the least among the people will not tolerate it.

(We saw that in Poland, they lost their kingdom only because the majority of them did not properly understand the merit of freedom and did not keep it. Hence, they fell under the burden of subjugation under the Russian government for a hundred years. During that time, they all suffered under the burden of subjugation and from least to great, they desperately sought freedom. Although they did not yet assume the taste of freedom as it truly is, and each of them imagined it as they wanted, in the absence of freedom, which is subjugation, it was thoroughly engraved in their hearts to cherish and like freedom. For this reason, when they were liberated from the burden of subjugation, many of them were bewildered, not knowing what they have gained by this freedom. Some of them even regretted it and said that their government was burdening them with even more taxes than the foreign government and wished for their return. This was so because the force of absence did not sufficiently affect them.)

Now we can understand the dispute between Rav and Shmuel. Rav interprets the Mishnah as beginning with denunciation, so that through it the salvation will be thoroughly appreciated. Hence, he says to begin from the time of Terah, and does not say what Shmuel does, since in Egypt, His love and work were already planted in some in the nation. Also, the added difficulty of enslavement in Egypt is not a deficiency in itself in the life of the nation called “Adam.”

And Shmuel does not interpret like Rav, since the concept of the freedom of the nation in knowing the Creator is a sublime concept that only a few understand, and this is through appropriate preparations, but the majority of the nation has not achieved this attainment.

Conversely, everyone grasps the difficulty of subjugation, as Even Ezra wrote in the beginning of the portion Mishpatim, “Nothing is harder for man than to be in the authority of another man like him.”

He interprets the Mishnah that because absence prepares the presence, it is considered a part of His salvation, and we should be grateful also for this. Hence, we should not begin with “In the beginning, our fathers were idol worshipers,” since that time is not even regarded as “absence that precedes the presence,” since they are completely devoid of the human type of presence, since they were completely removed from His love.

Hence, we begin with the enslavement in Egypt when the sparks of His love were burning in their hearts, to an extent, but due to impatience and hard work, it was being quenched each day. This is considered “absence that precedes presence,” which is why he says to begin with “we were slaves.”