A review by Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky
Hamodia 30 Nissan 5767 / April 18, 2007
The Maggid section of the Haggadah ends with the injunction; Bechol dor vador chayav adam liros es atzmo ke’ilu hu yatza miMitzrayim, “In every generation, a person has to see himself as if he went out from Egypt.” It certainly seems like a roundabout way to express a relatively simple idea. Why not say simply, “A person has to see himself as if he left Egypt”? Why “bechol dor vador”?
Years ago, I was speaking to a group of parents before the Pesach Seder. After all the preparation that goes into Pesach — the shopping, the cleaning, the cooking and setting up — we finally reach the Pesach Seder(that’s if you are staying home. If you are going away, you have to pack and then dress for every meal, which frankly I think is harder).
When we finally come after all this effort to the Pesach Seder,we have a mitzvah to tell our children the story of yetzias Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt. Often these days, parents complain that their children don’t listen to them. Tonight is a golden opportunity; you are commanded to talk and they are commanded to listen. I looked around the room at parents who had labored so many hours in preparation for this special evening and asked, “Do you have anything you want to say?”
How strange that the Pesach Seder, which is such a seminal event in Jewish life, is often left to rote. Parents are content to say over vortlech they said years ago without thinking if the message still has meaning to the Seder participants.
Let me clarify: The Torah doesn’t change. However, the application does. When Moshe Rabbeinu was niftar,the chatzatzros, the trumpets he made, could no longer be used and were hidden away. Why davka the trumpets? The other things that Moshe made for the Mishkanwere still used after his passing.
The trumpets were blown to assemble the people. And Yehoshua had to know that he was leading a different generation. The clarion call that assembled the last generation couldn’t be used for the next generation. The message stayed the same, but the means of communicating it had to change.
The Rambam had to respond to Aristotelian philosophy. After working in Jewish education and outreach for 30 years, I can attest that I have never met anyone who was bothered by that issue. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch battled secular humanism. I have never found this to be a burning issue with today’s youth. If you want to speak to today’s generation, you have to summon them with the trumpets of today.
That is why the Haggadah says bechol dor vador. You have to see yourself as having gone out of Egypt. So the Sederhas to have a message for today, and the means of communicating that message has to be tailored to this generation, not 500 or 50 years ago. The message of yetzias Mitzrayim has to be for this year and this generation.
Rabbi Dan Roth has labored for years on his recently published exposition on Pirkei Avos, Relevance. I know he has labored for years, because I was an integral part of the process. As he would learn through the mefarshim on each mishnah and work on each essay developing the theme that he wanted to bring out of each mishnah (hence, my use of the term “exposition” rather than “commentary”), his major concern was always whether this was something that people care about. Is this an idea that will touch people’s lives when they read it?
That is why I am so proud of this book. I feel as if I have a personal chelek in its message (by the way, the title is mine).
From Pesach to Shavuos, there is a minhag to learn Pirkei Avos. This is the derech eretz kadmah laTorah, the essential ethical development a person needs in order to reach the kabbalas haTorah of Shavuos. But in order for the words of the chachamim to reach us, we need the right trumpets to call us to the words of our sages.
Today people are struggling to find happiness in their lives; to build meaningful relationships with their spouses and children and friends. They have to balance work schedules that become more and more demanding. Technology through the ubiquitous cell phone and electronic media challenge us in ways that past generations never had to face. In Relevance, Torah study, kollel life, hedonism, aging and character development are all presented with a modern twist, citing scientific and psychological studies to support the age-old wisdom of Torah.
The law of the ox that gores the cow stays the same, but it is brought to life for a generation that doesn’t own oxen and cattle.
The essays in this book will be read and reread by Jews from all walks of life, on all levels of understanding and commitment for years to come. Rabbi Roth has provided an important service with this work.
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