Pesah

8/9/2019 Pesah

1/6

Pesah, Exodus #9 of 9, p.1

The Haggadot of the Kibbutzim: A Study in Alternative Ideology

We Were Slaves

... We were slaves to Pharoah inEgypt...

TRADITIONAL Haggadah

... but the Lord our God

took us out of there with a

mighty hand and an

outstretched arm. If the

Holy One, blessed be He,

had not brought our fathers

out of Egypt, the we, our

children and our children's

children would still be

enslaved to Pharaoh in

Egypt.

and the Lord took us out

of Egypt. Not through an

angel, not through a seraph

and not through a

messenger, but the Holy

One, blessed be He, Healone ...

KIBBUTZ Haggadot

... and we went out from there in the month of Aviv (Spring)

with our children and elders. And ifwe had not gone out of

there, then we and our children and our children's children

would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.(Kibbutz Kfar Gil`adi 1941)

"Go, return to Egypt" (Ex. 4:19) and make Me a nation. Doyou know how a nation is formed? Call unto you the workers

and the miserable and all those who groan from work and toil

and who are tortured at the hands of the taskmasters and

clerks who have no heart left and in it little feeling. Speak to

them and take them out of the house of bondage and redeem

them and give them laws and ordinances and make from them

a people.

Go to them and tell them that they are slaves--and they

will not understand ... and open their eyes with a mighty hand

... and redeem them. And from amongst your brethren many

people will follow you ... and you will become the father of

many men, the head of their tribes. You will make of theworms--men, and of the men--a people, and from the sands--a

land.By David Frischmann (Kibbutz Na`an 1940)

On Crossing the Souf (Red) Sea


Thus how much more so do we owe

thanks to the Ever-Present for all His

manifold favors! He brought us

forth from Egypt, executed

judgments upon them and upon their

gods, slew their first-born, gave us

their wealth, divided the sea for us,

led us through it on dry land and

drowned our oppressors in it,

supplied our needs in the wilderness

for forty years ... brought us into the

Land of Israel...

KIBBUTZ Haggadot

It is taught: Rabbi Meir said: At the moment when the

children of Israel were standing at the edge of the sea,

the tribes were arguing with one another. One would

say: "I'm going into the sea first." And another would

reply: "I'm going into the sea first!"

When the tribe of Benjamin jumped in first, they were

stoned by the leaders of Judah.

It was not so, said Rabbi Yehudah. Rather one would

say: "I'm not going into the sea first." And another

would reply: "Neither am I going in first!"

At just that moment Nahshon ben Aminadav jumped

into the sea and was first.(based on B. Talmud, Sotah 36b-37a)

8/9/2019 Pesah

2/6


. . .

" ."

In Every Generationone is obligated to see oneself as if s/he, personally, wentout of Egypt as it says, for God took us out of there to bring us to the land whichwas sworn to be for our ancestors. (Deut. 6:23, not in KibbutzHaggadot)

continuation:


,

.. Therefore we must

thank, sing, praise, glorify, exalt, raise up,

acclaim [God] who did all these miracles

for us and for our ancestors and brought usout from slavery to freedom,

from sorrow to joy, from mourning to

festivity, from darkness to great light and

from enslavement to redemption!

And we shall sing before God a new song,

Halleluyah!

KIBBUTZ Haggadot

, , , ,

,

,

,

.

1941 ,

Therefore we must

build, work, sow, plant, plow, guard and

strive to go out from slavery to freedom,

from sorrow to joy, from grief to holidays,

from darkness to great light and from

enslavement to redemption!

And we shall sing before God a new song,

Halleluyah!

.1944

On every single day one musst see oneself

as if s/he tips the scales between going out

of Egypt or prolonging thegolah(Diaspora).

Kibbutz Kfar Gil`adi 1944

8/9/2019 Pesah

3/6

8/9/2019 Pesah

4/6


Preparatory Homework

Compare these three versions fo the Four Questions:

The OriginalFour Questions

(From theMishna) (Pesahim ( 10:4

They filled a second cup for him. At this stage the son

asks his father; if the son is unintelligent, his father

instructs him [to ask]:

Why is this night different from all [other] nights.

For on all [other] nights we eat leavened and

unleavened bread, whereas on this night [we eat]

only leavened bread. On all other nights we eat all

kinds of herbs, on this night bitter herbs. On all

other nights we eat meat roast, stewed or boiled, on

this night, roast only. On all other nights we dip once,

but on this night we dip twice. And according to the

son's intelligence his father instructs him. He

commences with shame and concludes with praise; and

expounds from a wandering aramean was my father

until he completes the whole section.

,

:

. :

THE TRADITIONAL FOUR QUESTIONS

?Ma nishtana halayla hazeh mikol haleylot?

Why is this night different from all other nights?

.1

,

. .2

,

. .3

,

A. For on all other nights we

eat eitherhametz

ormatzah, on this night weeat only matzah.

B. For on all other nights weeat any kind of vegetables,on this night bitter herbs.

C. For on all other nights wedo not dip (our vegetables)even once, on this nightwe dip twice.

D. For on all other nights we

eat either sitting upright orreclining, on this night we

8/9/2019 Pesah

5/6


. .4

, .

all recline.

8/9/2019 Pesah

6/6


KIBBUTZ VERSIONS:

A. Ma nishtana ... Why is this night different from all

other nights?

B. For on all other nights some eat early and others

later, tonight all eat together.C. For on all other nights our members are dispersed

all over the country, tonight we are gathered

together.

D. For on all other nights the children are seated at

their own table, tonight they are seated at their

parents' table.

Kibbutz Kfar Gil`adi 1941

C. For in all the world each household conducts a

seder, and we are conducting a seder together?

D. For in all the world there are rich and poor,but in our kibbutz all are equal.

Kibbutz Alonim1949

Pesah

Documents

Transcript of Pesah