At the beginning of the Torah portion Va'eira, four expressions are used with regard to the redemption from Egypt: "I will release you... I will save you... I will liberate you... I will take you...."
[1] Our Sages note
[2] that the four cups of wine which we drink during the Pesach Seder correspond to these four expressions.
Accordingly, the following question arises: Bearing in mind that we eat matzah on Pesach "because our ancestors were liberated from Egypt,"[3] why do we not eat four matzos, just as we drink four cups of wine?[4] Why do we take only three matzos to the Seder?
Evidently, there must be two aspects to the exodus from Egypt, one that is composed of three details and one that is made up of four. What are these two aspects?
At the time the Jewish people departed from Egypt they were not yet spiritually worthy of redemption.[5] In fact, had they remained one more moment in Egypt, they would have become forever mired in impurity.
Notwithstanding their state of depravity, G-d in His infinite kindness revealed Himself to them and redeemed them.
This is why the completion of the exodus came about only when the Jews received the Torah,[6] for complete liberation from Egypt required that the newborn nation rid itself of Egyptian impurity.
This was accomplished as the Jews prepared themselves in the days between the exodus and the receiving of the Torah;[7] they achieved such heights that by the time the Torah was given they could justifiably be called a "holy nation."[8]
The difference between the symbolism of "matzah" and "wine" will be understood accordingly:
Matzah emphasizes the aspect of the exodus that came about as a result of G-d's redemption from the impurity of Egypt. It is for this reason that matzah is called "impoverished bread"[9] - bread that lacks taste - for it is a remembrance of spiritual impoverishment.
"Taste" refers to[10] something a person can appreciate in some way. Since the liberation from Egypt originated from Above rather than from the spiritual preparation of the Jewish people, it is understandable that it lacked "taste" - the Jews were compelled to leave.
Wine, however, has taste and is enjoyable. It is a "remembrance of the liberation and freedom"[11] ultimately achieved by the Jews, i.e., it was through their own service that they were redeemed from the evil of Egypt.
The reason for three matzos vis-à-vis four cups of wine now becomes clear:
There is a difference between the first three expressions of liberation and the fourth, in that the first three - "I will release you... I will save you... I will liberate you" - are aspects of redemption that took place immediately upon the departure from Egypt; they came from Above.
The fourth expression - "I will take you unto Me as a Nation" - however, depended on the Jewish people; they had to become worthy of being called G-d's nation. This was accomplished when they received the Torah.
Thus, matzah is equated with the number three, corresponding to the first three expressions of liberation, inasmuch as matzah commemorates the redemption as it came from Above.
The cups of wine, however, allude to the liberation accomplished by and within the Jewish people. The cups are therefore equated with the number four, for they denote the fourth expression of redemption - "I will take you unto Me as a Nation."
Based on Likkutei Sichos Vol. XXVI, pp. 43-46.
Notes:
- (Back to text) Shmos 6:6-7.
- (Back to text) Yerushalmi, Pesachim 10:1; Bereishis Rabbah 88:5; Shmos Rabbah 6:4.
- (Back to text) Text of the Haggadah.
- (Back to text) See Mordechai, Pesachim - "Tosefes m'Arvei Pesachim"; Matei Moshe section 607.
- (Back to text) See Tzror Hamor, Bo 12:40. See also Zohar Chadash beginning of the portion Yisro.
- (Back to text) See Shmos 3:12.
- (Back to text) See Zohar Chadash ibid.; Ran conclusion of Pesachim; See also Likkutei Sichos XXII, p. 114.
- (Back to text) Shmos 19:6.
- (Back to text) Devarim 16:3.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos XVI p. 124ff and sources cited there.
- (Back to text) Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein, Orach Chayim 472:14.
At the beginning of the Torah portion Va'eira the verse states:
[1] "And the L-rd [Elokim, the Name symbolic of strict justice] spoke to Moshe and said to him: 'I am G-d.' "
Rashi comments: "G-d spoke sternly to Moshe because he [Moshe] was severe in speaking and saying [to G-d]: 'Why have you dealt badly with this nation?' "
Moreover, Rashi,[2] quoting the Midrash on the verse[3] "And I revealed Myself to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov..." writes that G-d said to Moshe: "Alas for those who have passed on and whose likes are not to be found. I mourn the passing of the Patriarchs.... They did not question My actions as you question My actions."
How is it possible to say that Moshe, the "select of mankind,"[4] questioned G-d's actions, and to compare him unfavorably with the Patriarchs?
Rashi comments on the statement "And I revealed Myself" and says: "To the Patriarchs." Many commentators on Rashi ask: what does Rashi add? The verse itself goes on to say that G-d appeared "to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov"?
By stating "To the Patriarchs," Rashi is in effect saying that the clear and unequivocal revelation of G-dliness to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov - for which reason they did not question G-d's actions - stemmed from the very fact that they were the Patriarchs of the Jewish people.[5] In other words, such revelations were granted these three in order that they bequeath them[6] to their descendants, for "A father bequeaths his son... wisdom."[7]
Accordingly, the question becomes even greater: Since every Jew enjoys the revelation of G-dliness as an inheritance from the Patriarchs, how was it possible for Moshe to be critical of G-d's actions?
Our Sages tell us that the exodus from Egypt came about in the merit of and as a reward for the Jews' belief in G-d.[8] This means that the revelation within the Jewish people of this essential aspect of their Jewishness made them worthy of redemption.
Even in the midst of the most severe Egyptian oppression, the Jews were called "believers, the children of believers."[9] But this inherited, almost unconscious belief - this "baseline belief" - was not yet fully developed and revealed within them. In order to be redeemed in their own merit, it was necessary that the Jews' natural belief in and unity with G-d be consciously recognized - that it become wholly theirs.
This is what Moshe was able to accomplish, for herein lay the difference between him and the Patriarchs: As bequeathed by the Patriarchs, the essential hallmarks of Jewishness are something every Jew has as a natural consequence of being a child of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.[10]
Moshe, however, in addition to being one of the "Seven Shepherds that draws down vitality and G-dliness to all Jewish souls," is also the "sum of them all, and is called the Faithful Shepherd."[11] Moshe causes the faith possessed by every Jew to permeate all aspects of his being.
Moshe's question: "Why have you dealt badly?" and G-d's response: "I have revealed Myself to the Patriarchs" will be understood accordingly:
Since the time for the Jews' liberation from Egypt was fast approaching, and Moshe was acting as G-d's emissary to redeem them, it was necessary that the people's inherited belief in G-d come to permeate them completely.
Moshe's question "Why have you dealt badly?" elicited G-d's revelatory response - va'eira - which brought the Jews to so believe in G-d that faith penetrated every fibre of their being. Even the lower levels of their intellect - the levels that give rise to doubts - would now be permeated with unquestioning belief in G-d.
The redemption came about as a result of Moshe's question and G-d's response.
Compiled from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVI, pp. 47-55.
Notes:
- (Back to text) Shmos 6:2.
- (Back to text) Ibid. verse 9.
- (Back to text) Ibid. verse 3.
- (Back to text) Pirush HaMishnayos of the Rambam, chapter of Cheilek, in the Seventh Principle.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos III, p. 855ff.
- (Back to text) See Torah Or, Va'eira.
- (Back to text) Ediyos 2:9.
- (Back to text) Mechiltah, Beshallach 14:31; Yalkut ibid., Remez 240.
- (Back to text) Shmos 4:31; Shabbos 97a. See also commentary of Rashi on Shmos 4:2.
- (Back to text) See Tanya chs. 18-19.
- (Back to text) Tanya ch. 42.
Shmos