Spark of Jewish Experience

HAKOL KOL YAACOV- The voice is the voice of Yaacov (our forefather) The voice is what defines our essence as a nation and also our individuality.  Speech is our power. Perhaps this is the reason the holiday is called PEH-SACH-the mouth that tells. Most important theme of the seder night is just that; it is to discuss the experience with this most powerful tool we have, our mouth.

 We read in the Haggadah V’YASEM L’GOY GADOL- I will make you into a large nation.  We know us Jews were never a threatening number in any time in our history. The commentaries expound on the words METZEYUANIM SHAM-they stood out like a large nation. How did the Israelites stand out?

There were four distinct traits which stood out in our ancestors when they were slaves in Egypt. 1) They didn’t change their mother tongue 2) They didn’t intermarry 3) They didn’t change their names; Schwartz, Borochoff and Hakimi were still prominent. Lastly they did not speak bad about their fellow comrade. (No Lashon Harah). This is what defined them as the Israelites. This is what the Egyptians and the world looked at and said ” Hey, their different then us!!”.

There is question many ask. We can understand the first three that are on the list. In essence, it makes sense. The Egyptians dressed  in jeans and a t-shirt while the Jews wore the black hat and the tzitzit; that’s a clear distinction. The same goes with different language and last names. However how does not speaking bad about their fellow Jew stand out?  It really doesn’t seem one can make a distinction about one not speaking bad about someone or not. What did the Egyptians notice that made them feel different? There are two examples given that have to be presented for us to shed some light and see what defined a Jew in Egypt.

Growing up in TV America one is aware of the many detective shows that have been spawned over the years. So in a sense we can relate to the Orchat Tzadikim example of a chacham and a friend walking by a certain street where a crime took place and there was a corpse lying with a bullet hole in his head and his mouth wide open.  The chacham asked the friend “What did you notice about the victim”?. The friend replied back “The bloody spot in the dead person’s temple”. The Chacham then said “You failed to make a positive observation; the deceased had nice teeth”.

Let’s give another example and then perhaps we’ll be able to understand what the Egyptians saw in us in the last defining category.  Rabbi Faider of the Chaffetz Chaim Yeshiva high school wanted to test his student’s observational skills. One day each student received a color picture of a tree in a garden. On the tree was a paper bag. He then asked the students what they noticed about the picture. Almost all said the paper bag. Only a few mentioned the beautiful garden.

Granted by not speaking bad about a person one refrains from negativity. The flip side of not speaking bad is that it makes a person look positive. That positive energy is more pronounced as one furthers himself more and more from being negative and critical about people. This is what the Egyptians noticed that was different. The Jews were very positive. Speech is powerful and it can be lethal. It can be used to build empires in this world leading to rewards for eternity. One can also build with speech an evil empire and destroy himself and others that cross his path. For this reason the tongue has two coverings, the teeth and cheeks. This is to protect it from being too spontaneous and to hopefully cause us to be more thoughtful before we speak.

On the seder night one can basically ask and receive a favorable response more so than on any night. The reason is G-d had mercy on the Jews  that night even though we didn’t deserve it. It says USHMA TZA’AKATAM-he heard our screams and he had mercy.

Speech is a gift given to humans that thereby differentiates them from other species. It connects the heavens (spiritual) to earth (physical). In essence this is how we communicate with G-d. Anyone who understands the laws of prayer is aware that without verbalization our prayers are not as potent.  Speech connects the world of thought to world of action. We then have to ask a basic question – If speech is essential for prayer to reach the  eavens, how then did G-d just,hear our screams and respond?  Didn’t we say verbalization is required? We see how clever Pharoah and the Egyptians were. They worked the poor Jews to exhaustion till they couldn’t think and express themselves. This was done by design. They knew the power of the Jew is through his mouth and they planned to stifle that weapon.

Now we see what a merciful night the seder is. Even without the speech, without the bridge between heaven and earth, G-d still listened and released us from bondage. However, today is our chance to correct, or perhaps one should say, fill the void, of not having speech that night. On the seder night we use our speech as a vehicle that transcends our prayers, our love, our commitment to G-d.  We use the seder as a platform to accomplish the power of speech. The fifth step of the haggadah “Maggid-to tell over” so we can V’HEGADEDA L’BINCHA-tell our children. We arouse our children’s curiosity and encourage them to ask questions. Any child would automatically ask question after they recite the MA NISHTANA. How many fathers have come to me and asked me “What do I answer my son when he recites the 4 questions?  This night is a night where everything is open for disscussion. Apparently the section following the MAH NISHTANA is the response by the patriach of the family, answering the child.

Sometimes its very hard to describe an experience. We, many times, say “I guess you just had to be there”.As a matter of fact, the chassidim, on their special occasions, would sing a tune for about 20 minutes and it would be so deep, profound and meaningful; funny thing is it had no words. In the concluding games of the 1986 Baseball World Series (game 6, the Mets won in game 7) Vince Scully, the announcer, did something unusual but smart. After the climatic hit, he did not say a word. For 10 minutes we saw images of celebration. He then came back on the air and said “words can not describe what you just saw”.

Rabbi Simcha Siesal waited 25 years to share a profound Torah idea. He was concerned if he would have spoke about it to soon he would lose it. A thought enters our inner being and becomes part of you. If one, however speaks to soon he will risk losing the true meaning of the thought. So we see speech has its limits, its finite.

When I think of the power of speech that many of our brethren possess, I think of the late 70’s and early 80’s solidarity rallies in midtown Manhattan for Soviet Jewry. It was quite impressive hearing  some of those eloquent and fire and brimstone speakers using their freedom of speech and screaming “let my people go”. Ironically, I didn’t think of it then,  but I ended up marrying a nice girl from the  Soviet Union. This was freedom of speech at its best.

At Madison Square Garden many years ago, where the Siyum Hashas -the celebration of finishing a 7 year cycle in the Talmud- was it was quite impressive hearing some of our Torah giants address and inspire the audience. An orator can give a lasting and impactful impression.

A few profound statements in history that come to mInd as I’m pressured to finish this article:

“My father bit you like a snake, I’m going to bite you like a scorpion” – King Rechavam making a negative impression as the new king of Israel

 “Ask not what the country can do for you but what you can do for this country” – President John F. Kennedy

” Give me Liberty or give me death” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Virginia Convention in 1775 which made a strong impact on Americans

The pain that the Jews experienced in Egypt was indescribable and could not be put in words. Although words, speech is an easier way of communicating with G-d, a good scream now and then can go a long way. Perhaps the Egyptians underestimated that capability. Or perhaps G-d loves the Jewish nation so much that every so often on a good day or night he shows his love  owever we express ourselves. Well guess what –  one of those good nights happens to be the seder night. Let’s communicate talk, scream, ask questions, make statements, cry, laugh, sing, bless and enjoy the freedom of expression, the freedom and gift of speech as long as it’s expressed in a positive way….then we’ll be positive.