Adult Learners: Using Our Heads on Seder Night
MORDECHAI SCHIFFMAN
MENTAL IMAGERY The Alter of Kelm, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, notes that usually when the Sages use the term obligated ( chayav ) we tend to treat it as a full-fledged obligation. Yet, for some reason, when we read in the Haggadah “In every generation one is obligated ( chayav ) to see himself as though he had personally come out from Egypt,” people don’t take it seriously (Chochma U’Mussar 2:140). Perhaps we assume it isn’t meant to be taken literally. Perhaps we aren’t very good at using our imagination. Perhaps we are uncomfortable closing our eyes in silence while we envision the exodus. Whatever the reason, it can be impactful and trans- formative to tap into this mental power at the Seder. I offer three perspectives from modern commentaries. Discuss and explore the merits of each and consider which might help you accomplish the goal of seeing yourself leaving Egypt?
ENACTMENT “How can I remember an event that took place long before I was born? The answer given by the seder service on Pesach is: through re-enactment, by reliving the events of ancient times as if they were happening now… At the beginning of the seder, by lifting the matzah and declaring, ‘This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt,’ we make a leap across time and turn ‘then’ into ‘now’. ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’ (Exodus 13:8). In these words, tradition heard the continuous present, the past that lives on, the event that speaks to me in the first person singular.” — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ Haggadah, pp. 29-30
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ON THIS NIGHT WE ARE ALL TEACHERS
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