The one section of the Pesach Haggadah that comes from Deuteronomy is the section below. Read and comment: your assignment is #5 on the Mile High Parshanut assignment sheet.
Take note of the often discussed phrase 'A Wandering Aramean was my father', which is sometimes translated 'An Aramean oppressed my father'.
Devarim 26:5-9
ה וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי | יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט וַיְהִי־שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב: ו וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים וַיְעַנּוּנוּ וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה: ז וַנִּצְעַק אֶל־יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָֹה אֶת־קֹלֵנוּ וַיַּרְא אֶת־עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת־עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת־לַחֲצֵנוּ: ח וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְהוָֹה מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל וּבְאֹתוֹת וּבְמֹפְתִים: ט וַיְבִאֵנוּ אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וַיִּתֶּן־לָנוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ:
5. And you shall speak and say before the Lord your God, A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous;
6. And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard slavery;
7. And when we cried to the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression;
8. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesomeness, and with signs, and with wonders;
9. And he has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, a land that flows with milk and honey.
6. And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard slavery;
7. And when we cried to the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression;
8. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesomeness, and with signs, and with wonders;
9. And he has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, a land that flows with milk and honey.
עצום- (became) strong, huge
ReplyDeleteירב - multiplied, numerous
נצחק- laugh
בזרע- arm
מופתים- wonders
נטיוה- tendencies, bent, inclined, outstretched
עמל- labor, oppression
לחצנו- we shook, pressed, pressured
Samuel Fogel
ReplyDeleteDuring the time that the jews were enslaved Pharoh was very harsh on the jewish people. When Moses was directing by God to go and tell him to free his people Pharoh did not agree and to my surprise Pharoh was very relentless to let the people go and only only after the ten plages did he finally free the Israelites. But why was he so relentless to let them go why did he make his own people suffer for so long over some slaves was it worth all the death he caused to everyone including his family what was in it for Pharoh to hold back, what was his will to hold back for so long? There is no reason as to why he did so but without this huge conflict Pesach would not be so interesting and inattentive.
Samuel Fogel
DeleteSecond commentary:
After many years of suffering inflicted on the Israelites God finally let them go. God does all theses nice things for his people but still he does not do it immediately. But why does he put them through the pain in the fist place when he could of stopped it from happing at all? Does he want them to learn a lesson? In that case what would that lesson be and what would we be like today if we had not fought through slavery and other painful times?
Dylan
ReplyDelete10 Q's:
1. What is an Aramean, who is he, why is he important?
2. Why do we need to say that a Aramean was my father (in a ceremony) before our G-d?
3. Why did G-d allow the Egyptians to thrive and make the Israelites suffer?
4. Why did G-d allow the Egyptians to afflict us in the first place?
5. Why is voice singular, since multiple Israelites would have been calling out to G-d?
6.
7. What are these signs and wonders that G-d used to help the Israelites get out of slavery?
8. Why does it say 'with great awesomeness' instead of just great, why does the text put so much emphasis on this?
9. How did He bring us this place?
10. Why does it say the land flows with milk and honey?
Continuation of 10 Q's:
ReplyDelete6. The text says that the Aramean sojourned with a few in Egypt, who are these people that he sojourned with?
In verse 5 it says the words Arami oved avi. This phrase has no precise meaning. Rabbis believe it refers to Jacob alone, or Jacobs entire family. This phrase is very similar to Numbers 20:15-16. Numbers 20:15-16 says "Our fathers went down to Egypt, and we sojourned in Egypt for a long time. And the Egyptians mistreated us and our forefathers". I think this is interesting that Moses is making a statement like a statement previously made. Another phrase that is important is Aramean means alongside the river.
ReplyDeleteIn the phrase Arami oved avi oved has a few different meanings. One idea is that oved means perish. By using the word perish it poses a reason for the Jews to move to Egypt. The reason for going to Egypt would be because of a famine. Another meaning for oved could mean straying. By this it could talk about Jacob have a nomadic lifestyle in the sense that he was always moving.
" 7. then we cried unto God, the God of our forefathers, and God heard our voice and saw our wretchedness, our misery and our oppression".
ReplyDeletein this verse it is mostly talking about how the the children of Israel are crying to Hashem about there misery in Egypt and how they need his help. according to this text he heard there voice in depression and sorrow.
" 8. and God brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand and an out- stretched Arm and with great awfulness, by instructive signs and punishing miracles".
God listened to the jewish people's sorrow and complaints about Egypt and how the Egyptians are treating them in slavery. so god came out with an out stretched arm and saved the children of israel and brought them to another land flowing with milk and honey. and in my opinion God shows his love towards the Jewish people by taking them out of the land of slavery and hatred.
"9. and he brought us unto this place and gave us this land a land flowing with milk and honey."
its kind of the same as number 8 it just kid of connects with it in similarity. in this verse God brought them to the " place" but not just any random place a place flowing with milk and honey.
The phrase that rashi is going to comment on is "An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather".
ReplyDeleteRashi is trying to explain who the text might be speaking about. He says that the text could be referring to Laban (the aramean) trying to trick Jacob (the forefather). Laban had intentions to rob Jacob of his life so he could work for him. In this aspect, it is the thought counts, and rashi believes that intention is just as bad as doing the act itself.
In the next one, Rashi is commenting on what the torah means by "To this place" and "he gave us this land"
Rashi beleives that to this place is referring to the temple, and this land is referring to the land of israel. if "this place" meant the land of israel, it would be a repetition to say "This land".
Modern commentary: JPS
ReplyDelete“My father was a fugitive Aramean”-
The words ‘my father’ is uncertain and can mean several things. It could be referring to Jacob, or Jacob’s whole family that went down to Egypt with him. It could also be referring to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob’s sons. The word fugitive has two meanings to it. It means either perish, or stray. Using the words ‘perish’ the verse would possibly relate to the danger that the famine caused which eventually lead Jacob and his family to move to Egypt. Using the word ‘stray’ it would be referring to the migratory life of Jacob. The word ‘fugitive’ might refer to Jacobs journey/flight from Esau or Laban.
It is very interesting that each word could have several different meanings that may sometimes be nothing near each other. All in all this verse's conclusion was to 'contrast the homeless, landless beginnings of the Israelites with their present possession of a fertile land'.
The God cast about Passover brings up a few important points. The video starts out by talking about the Seder plate and it’s meaning. The foods on the Seder plate represent 5 major symbols. Dipping the parsley in salt water represents the tears that were shed during the years of enslavement. The shank bone of a lamb represents the 10th plague, death of the firstborn. The blood was a symbol meaning that death shall pass over them. The egg is a symbol of morning. The Charoset represents the mortar that the Israelites had to use while building structures. Lastly, the Marror represents the bitterness in Egypt.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the Seder is asking the 4 questions. In the God Cast, there were 4 sons, one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who doesn’t know hot to ask a question. The youngest person is supposed to recite the questions. There were also many arguments between rabbis as to how many plagues there actually were. Some Rabbis thought that there were 50!
The video also brought up that many people ask why this night is different from all other nights and how are we able to celebrate this night while there is still slavery going on. The video answered these questions by stating that Pharohs do not exist anymore, and that the factor of eating means that we, as Jewish people, are free.
In this Parsha, the Israelites are giving thanks to God for hearing us and taking us out of Egypt with an outstretched arm. Also, for giving us the "land flowing with milk and honey". A land flowing with milk and honey is an interesting term that is used a lot in the torah.
ReplyDeleteאֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ is translated in English as " a land flowing with milk and honey". This, to the Israelites, is a dreamland. They are out of slavery and in addition to that, get a land that has a lot of resources. Yay God!!
Another interesting verse in this section is "A wandering Armenian was my father". The verse, אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, is sometimes translated as "An Armenian oppressed my father". These two verses are completely opposite. In one translation, the Armenian is a father, someone who is supposed to love and support you. But, in the other, the Armenian is an oppressor, someone who causes trouble and hardship. the word that is troublesome is אֹבֵד. When you google אֹבֵד, the words "be lost" come up the most. This makes me think that maybe the Jews got lost and ran into and Armenian who may or may not have helped them. Hmmm...The world may never know.