koberstein
Active member
ASK JEWS WHO IS THE FIGURE THEY MOST ASSOCIATE WITH PASSOVER and the
Exodus from Egypt, and the most likely answer will be Moses. How surprising then
that in the Haggada, the text that is read at the Passover Seder, Moses' is mentioned
only once, and that in passing. The rabbis almost left him out to ensure God remains
the hero of the Passover story.
To commemorate the Exodus, the Rabbis composed the Haggada, a small book that
is read aloud at the Seder, the festival meal celebrated on Passover's first two nights
(in Israel the Seder is celebrated on the first night). Some parts of the Haggada
quote the Torah, and other parts were written some two thousand years ago, and
still other parts from the Middle Ages. Reading the Haggada aloud fulfills the Torah's
command to all fathers to tell their children the story of the liberation from Egyptian
slavery (Exodus 13:8, 14-15). Indeed, few other mitzvot (commandment) have been
as widely observed in Jewish history. For that reason, the Haggada is probably familiar
to more Jews than is the Torah.
Exodus from Egypt, and the most likely answer will be Moses. How surprising then
that in the Haggada, the text that is read at the Passover Seder, Moses' is mentioned
only once, and that in passing. The rabbis almost left him out to ensure God remains
the hero of the Passover story.
To commemorate the Exodus, the Rabbis composed the Haggada, a small book that
is read aloud at the Seder, the festival meal celebrated on Passover's first two nights
(in Israel the Seder is celebrated on the first night). Some parts of the Haggada
quote the Torah, and other parts were written some two thousand years ago, and
still other parts from the Middle Ages. Reading the Haggada aloud fulfills the Torah's
command to all fathers to tell their children the story of the liberation from Egyptian
slavery (Exodus 13:8, 14-15). Indeed, few other mitzvot (commandment) have been
as widely observed in Jewish history. For that reason, the Haggada is probably familiar
to more Jews than is the Torah.
