This series is devoted to short but complete Torah morsels that
can be used at the seder. This series is reprinted from
Rashi is Simple with permission of the author, myself.
Complete postings may be found at http://www.shamash.org/rashi/

In todays posting we review the Passover Hagaddah requirement to
        >BEGIN the passover story with the BAD PARTS (we were slaves
        >FINISH the passover story with the GOOD(We are now free)
This requirement (BEGIN-BAD, FINISH-FREE) comes from the Talmud
Pesachim (116). No derivation is given there; we give one below.




#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
In chapter 7 of the Rambam laws of Bread and Matzoh we read that
when reciting the Passover story we must
    >a)Start with SHAME;end with PRAISE
For example
    >b)We worshiped idols;now God
    >c)We were slaves; now free




This paragraph of Rambam comes from a Gmarrah in Pesachim 116
but no Biblical reason is given for the requirement to mention
BOTH SHAME (slavery) and PRAISE(Freedom).




   However it is easy to see that this requirement of stating
   both SHAME and PRAISE comes from the two verses cited by
   Rambam requiring us to relate the passover story
        >5-15-5  remember you were SLAVES
        >2-13-3  remember the EXODuS(REDEMPTION)
   So the two verses complement each other and require us to
   state BOTH
        >SLAVERY
        >REDEMPTION




   Once we obtain this requirement to say both
        >SLAVERY
        >REDEMPTION
   we simply search the Bible for descriptions of stories
   of Passover that have both SLAVERY and REDEMPTION. We find
        >5-6-21:23 (This passage occurs in the Hagaddah
                    right after the 4 questions are asked)
        >5-26-5:11 (This passage forms the bulk of the first
                    part of the Agaddah in telling the story)




   (We treated these two verses the same way other complementary
   pairs of verses are treated---as two parts of the same
   process---see our treatment of TWO COMPLEMENTARY VERSES,
   one of Rabbi Ishmael's principles, that was discussed in
   v5n12-v5n16)




   Finally there are opinions that
        >BEGIN SHAME; FINISH PRAISE
   means not only to mention that we were SLAVES but also to
   mention that initially, Abrahams father, Terach was
        >an IDOLATER
   while after the Exodus we became a nation of
        >PROPHETS.


#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2000 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*