Why Do We Start the Haggadah With Aramaic? with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

[music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music and singing] >> Shalom aleichem everybody. Welcome back to the Hebrew and English class. Welcome home to Torah. Warm welcome. Uh just as a side, this is a very short shiur. Um this is the safer that I've been learning every year. It's the Michtav Hagada. It's quite thick. It's momish like an encyclopedia. And I just picked like one point, okay? One point. And it's like this. The question that is asked, why is ha lachma anya, this is the bread of our affliction. This is the bread. This is the bread of our affliction. Why is the this little paragraph in Aramaic? Aramaic? Shouldn't be in Aramaic? It is in Aramaic. The rest of most of the Haggadah, and quite a majority, is all in Hebrew, lashon hakodesh. So, why is it in Aramaic? So, that was the question that was asked. And there's uh how many answers? There's at least nine different answers. At least nine answers. So, we'll talk about a few of them. And I I will tell you, it's quite enlightening. In other words, the very fact that the question is asked, I think, is enlightening in on its own. >> [snorts] >> First of all, who wrote the Haggadah? So, you could say it was an evolution, right? You have a pasuk in the Torah that you should tell over. The narrative in what we say, it was discussed by the chachamim. Perhaps they should read, right? Like in the the Shema, there was a question what should we read what should we read for the Shema? What should we read for the Haggadah that we left Egypt? So, by the Shema, for example, parshas Bilam, but they said it was too long. Here, wow, it is long, but it's it's like piecemeal. As as the generations went, there were things that were added. Some say it was Yehuda Hanasi that initiated the text, the narrative that we're going to be using for the Haggadah. Um I mean, from the Torah itself, it's when the children ask and you teach them and you have to tell over the story of yetziat Mitzrayim. And you have to speak about Pesach, you have to talk about maror and matzah. Great, but the actual text. There are some that would say that Rav Saadia Gaon is the one who finalized So, you're talking about a space of like 6-700 years from Yehuda Hanasi until Rav Saadia Gaon. But there is an important um uh opinion that it was Eliyahu Hanavi himself, because many of the authors in Jewish books write their name encrypted into the first paragraph somehow. And the word ha lachma anya, hey aleph, I know it's not exactly in the order of Eliyahu Hanavi, but it's the same initials of Eliyahu Hanavi. So, perhaps while we're reading the Haggadah, the very beginning, we should recognize that Eliyahu, who never died and lived many generations throughout Jewish history, had an influence on the Haggadah itself. Um Rabbi Chaim mentioned about matzah being the bread of our faith, but the word itself, oni, it's lo- lachem oni, lechem oni, as the pasuk says, could be understood oni as answers. And he gave the gematria very interestingly, right? That it matches up with the word matzah based on three of the answers that are given. Right? But also means poor man's bread. So, this is the bread of our affliction, but at the same time, it's also the bread in which we're going to answer questions on. We're going to have a whole dialogue. Keeping that in mind, that could give you an insight why it is in Aramaic, at least the first part. Rashi writes, very interesting. This is the first paragraph on the right side, >> [snorts] >> that we're saying the these um this paragraph in lashon not in lashon hakodesh. Right? Let me just read the word kasav. She'ilu hayinu omerim pisqa zu bilashon hakodesh, so if we would have said it in Hebrew, hayu shom'im hashaydim, the demons would have heard. Okay? Hayu shom'im hashaydim shanu machrizim kol mi she ra'ev ya'vol veyochal. What we're saying is anyone who is hungry come and eat. And they would have come. Hayu bo'im venichnasim labayit. They would have come and entered our house. We're talking about the shaydim or the demons. Vechach ne'emar bilashon Aramit. That's why it's said over in the Aramaic language. Keivan she'ein hashaydim mevinim Aramit. We have the Gemara in Chagigah [clears throat] that the angels, the demons, they don't know Aramaic. So, we're not we don't want to invite them. Now, there is a little bit of an issue because the the Rokeach, the Rid, the Maharshal, the Chachamim, they all asked this famous question. Cuz we have a Gemara that says in pasuk, look up Exodus chapter 12 verse 42. It says lail shimmurim, it's a night of How do you want to translate shimmurim? It's a night of guarding, that Hashem is protecting us that night. So, what do we have to fear from mazikim, from demons? It's a night that God has anticipated. That's a better translation, but let's leave it as it's a night of guarding, and many Jews don't lock their doors at night on the night of Pesach. There's a certain level of emunah, right? It's a it's the bread of our faith and trust in Hashem. Um bizrat Hashem, may we see many miracles occur once again on this night. And we're shomrim min hamazikim. So, if it's a lail shimmurim, what are we afraid of? Why are we saying Why are we speaking in Aramaic? So that the shaydim don't come? Are we really afraid of damages based, you know, coming from these demons? So, the answer was, according to them, the kavana of the Gemara that is in also Chagigah and Pesachim, she'ein hamazikim bo'im me'atzmam lehazik. They're not coming on their own on that night to to cause damage, and they're probably not going to cause damage on that night. Ach, im haya omer bilashon she'ein mevinim, but if you speak it over in a language they would understand, which would be Hebrew, kol mi she ra'ev ya'vol, where we say anyone who is hungry come and eat, we say in Aramaic, hayu magi'im hamazikim, that they might come and cause damage. But the Pri Megadim katav, he writes she'kein hashaydim lo yaziku'tanu. No. They're not going to cause any damage to us that night. You know why? It says avot einenu rotzim she'yavo'u. So, we don't really want them to come to us. There is a pasuk in Proverbs chapter 14:10 that says, in his joy no stranger shall mingle. So, we don't want we don't want them we're not interested in their in their company. That's great. But he also explains that um actually the Rid explains that if the shaydim would understand our words, let's assume for a second that if we spoke in Hebrew, they would understand our words, yeish lachash umitokach yavo'u labayit le'achar Pesach, veyaziku libnei habayit. That it's like opening the door, so to speak, to them. That even [clears throat] if they're not going to do damage on the night of Pesach, the very fact that we're inviting them into our house, right? It's like once you say something, the power of words are very um are very powerful. And so, they would come. If you're inviting everybody, anyone who's hungry come and eat, that they would come to your house. At least they would feel comfortable coming even after Pesach and perhaps causing damage there. Just another side point. So, not only do we say anyone who is hungry come and eat, but then we say all who need Pesach come. So, I I read also in the Michtav an explanation that we say anyone who is hungry because as the the pasuk in the prophets speak about that there will be a hunger not for bread, but for the words of Torah, people, anybody, Jews, non-Jews, would want to come and participate to to partake of the words of Torah, which is very important. But then we say all who need, you come and eat. And that's referring to only Jews, because non-Jews, even if you're a ben Noach, even if you're righteous, you cannot eat from the korban Pesach. Unfortunately, we don't have the korban Pesach today. And um bizrat Hashem, bimheira biyameinu, we will have the korban Pesach. But it's a very interesting concept of an invitation. Another explanation, number two, the Sefer Hamanhig explains that the reason we speak in the vernacular, in other words, the Aramaic was the language of the people, and this was in order the if to make a um a recognition of the miracles that took place and to par- lefarneis chaneis, to proclaim the miracle out loud to everybody, so everyone can understand. >> [snorts] >> Um the Shvilei Haleket explains, and this I nobody really I shouldn't say nobody, but there were a lot of questions on this, that in Yerushalayim specifically, ah, I now understand it. So, that the the language in Yerushalayim, the the Aramit, he says "Lashon simcha, lashon ma'alya." Which is actually a a nice way of saying that it's the opposite. It's not simcha, and it's not ma'alya. Ma'alya means a very high level. It's the opposite. It's language of destruction, not simcha, but atzuvot of of sadness. And that's because the language of the kinot, for example, the lamentations, right? Is written in Aramaic and therefore what we're remembering is the churban, and [snorts] therefore it's very important. The same night of the week that the Pesach seder is on is the same night of the week that Tisha B'Av is going to be on. And there's a reason why we have the egg on the seder plate. I mean, it also represents the chagiga, but it also represents mourning and a remembrance of the destruction of the Temple as we end the seder on a high note, "Next year in Yerushalayim." Okay, the Ritba says that this is basically the common language for women children. So, the people who are, let's say, less familiar with Hebrew uh would would be able to understand the different um mitzvahs and uh the story of the leaving of Egypt, which is obviously the most important thing that they should understand, so it would be in the vernacular. Okay? Now, the Ritba and the uh Avudraham, they write that if we would have said over these words in Hebrew, lashon kodesh, then the angels would understand our words that we are praising Hashem. And [clears throat] if we're praising Hashem, they might come and likatrogalenu uh accuse us or um you know, persecute us, prosecute us. And they would say to Hashem that we're not really fit to be redeemed. Therefore, we say this in the language of Aramaic that the angels do not understand, as we mentioned already in the Gemara. And therefore, if we would have said it in Hebrew, perhaps they would come and um accuse us of not being uh fit. There's a very another another interesting um idea brought down in the Eicha Rabbah, which I actually have in front of me, but it says "Golah Yehudah moni." So, the pasuk says "Yehudah will be exiled from their troubles." So, what does that mean, "from their troubles"? What was the big trouble that we had that this is the cause of our exile? Apparently, it says like this, "Lo golu Yisrael l'Bavel, we weren't exiled to Babylon until we started eating chametz on Pesach." So, the Jews kept Pesach even if we were idol worshipers and adulterers and murderers, right? I'm not saying all of us we're talking about a significant uh minority that caused trouble for the Jewish people. >> [cough and clears throat] >> It wasn't until we started eating chametz on Pesach. That was like the final straw. Truth is, the Gemara brings the Midrash brings down a lot of other final straws, but if we were eating chametz on Pesach, that is not a good sign. Therefore, they specifically uh established these words should be said in the language of Aramaic, which is what the language of Babylon was, in order lahaschil et habanim t'chilas hagadah et hachet shegaram l'golateinu, that we should remind our children that at the very beginning of the hagadah, by reading it in Aramaic, which is the language of Babylon, which is the reason we were exiled in the first place, because of the sin that caused us to be exiled, and therefore amad am l'yotzei Mitzrayim, we're going to try to uh educate our children uh to be more careful about not eating chametz on Pesach because that was the final straw, so to speak, and bring us into the exile. And the Rabbeinu Yonah writes "She tiknu lomar ha lachma anya", the reason we say it in Aramaic is because there is in this the uh the the pasuk uh in the paragraph haskaras l'ne'im, when we say "kol dichfin", anyone who needs to eat the Pesach, this is referring to the poor people who don't have the money that they should come into our house and they should eat from our table, right? Eat off our table, so to speak, because the ne'im are similar to what we said earlier about the women and the children the women and the children may may not know Hebrew as well, so too the poor people probably didn't have an education and they wouldn't have known Hebrew, so it has to be said in Aramaic. Uh the last the last actually, there's two more. The last two says like this. Um you know, I'll just skip that one. Let's go to the last one. The Azaryahu writes that the I think it's very I think it is one of the most important things you should take away, that the reason we're saying "ha lachma anya" in Aramaic in Aramaic is k'dei sheyavinu hagoyim habavli'im, that when we're in the exile and the we're saying it whether in here in Aramaic, sometimes if you're you don't know Aramaic, you're just going to say it in English, so that the specifically here the Babylonians would understand that the Jews are einam k'fu'ei tovah, that the Jewish people, even in exile, are not ungrateful for, you know, the host country. Right? I know that many Americans, you know, we feel such gratitude. I mean, I'm not sure how that's going to last, but so much gratitude for the way we were treated. So, here too, in Babylonia, that we weren't treated horribly at the time. And therefore, the Azaryahu writes "k'dei sheyavinu hagoyim habavli'im she'am Yisrael einam k'fu'ei tovah, she'arei zochrim heim et hanisim v'hatovah shenasu lahem", will remember that if they see that the Jewish people are so grateful to Hashem, to Kodesh Baruch Hu, for all the miracles that happened to them, im kein yizkaru af et hatovah hagoyim, then then we could also come to recognize if they treat us well, that we would also have a certain amount of gratitude that we would express. Okay? And the yidui lahem, it's like a confession to them. V'al y'dei kach yeitivu oiseim hagoyim, and through that the would treat us better. Okay? It's not a trick. This is k'fu'ei tov is a very bad character trait, to be ungrateful. We have to have gratitude. And if we recognize, and we can recognize now with the miracles that are happening constantly with the war that we're in now, not only that, but the last even 100 years, 500 years, all the way back, the fact that we're still around 2,000 years in exile, and Hashem has kept his promise. And uh the comment on this, believe it or not, it says "kol hakofeir b'tuvato shel chaveiro", if you do not have um an appreciation for the good that other do others do for you, in other words, anyone who denies the good that's done to him by another person, he's k'ilu kofeir b'tuvato shel Kodesh Baruch Hu Makom, it's as if just keep in mind, maybe it's not just as if, right? You're you're you're a denier of God's goodness. I'm sorry, you're a denier of a human being's goodness, so too you would be like a denier of God's goodness to you. And we don't want to be in that position. So, b'ezrat Hashem we'll be able to recognize, hopefully that the will treat us well, that we can recognize the goodness they do to us, or those that do, that we have a deep appreci- appreciation. I know there's like almost a civil war. I'm trying to And I'll say it, there's the toshevei Eisav and the not toshevei Eisav, right? You know who you have on one side, we don't have to say their names over and over again. The real anti-Semites on the I'll call them the Christian right. And then you have broken Hashem, a lot of we call them Jew lovers, phi- philo, you know, Yehudut. They love philo-Semetics. They they they they they know the Jewish people are God's chosen people, and they know what the what the Bible says, that if you bless them, you will be blessed. And I just give my own blessing to those who continue to bless the Jews. And I'm going to bless I want to be also blessed. So, I'm going to bless the Jews. B'ezrat Hashem, right? Not only should we, here in this room, uh see our own aspirations fulfilled, we should all be filled filled with health and happiness and shalom bayit, but it should continue and roll over into the whole nation, that the nation should be full of shalom mamesh with all the different, what do you call, distinctions and you know, during the 12 days of Nisan, the first Why do we not say tachanun for the whole month? Because during the first 12 days, it's a holiday to each tribe that um a different prince brought gifts for the chanukat hamizbe'ach, for the um inauguration of the Temple. There's a tradition to read each one of those days, and we do this here at the Yibaneh Center, out of the sefer Torah. We take the sefer Torah out and we read each nasi each day, and we try to appreciate the different energies um and the different unique, you know, uh potentials that each tribe has given and will continue to give to Am Yisrael. So, that's ultimately what we wanted is is actors. And it starts I'm not going to say where it starts. It sounds like there's a relationship. If you're not having a appreciation of Kodesh Baruchu, you're probably not going to appreciate kavod acher what other people do. So, hopefully we can appreciate each other individually and that should just grow to our real appreciation of Hashem. With that I say to everyone have a freilichen chodesh a simple good time in preparation. It's all about preparation. Okay, enjoy the even Hashem the same serve Hashem with joy and Hashem when it comes to service in the temple with the 3 million you know, representatives for their families bring sheep to the base of mikdash so we can bring them home and roast them. Hashem will see the in-gathering the exiles, the rebuilding of the temple, of course coming of Mashiach to make it all going to happen. But it's really up to us to to build the foundation for all that to happen. I want to see that soon. >> [music] [music and singing] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> Amen.