Parsha Halacha

Parsha Halacha –Pesach

Seven Dayeinu Insights

Sponsored by Daniel Courtney in honor of his wife Jessica’s birthday and in appreciation for all of the Torah that Rabbi Citron shares with us. Co- Sponsored by Mr and Mrs Solly and Debbie Btesh in memory of Debbie’s Grandfather, Abraham ben Yehuda, whose Yohrzeit is today - Nissan 6

Parsha Halacha is underwritten by a grant from Dr. Stephen and Bella Brenner and Dr. Morton Borg in loving memory of Stephen's father, Shmuel Tzvi ben Pinchas, and Bella's and Morton's parents, Avraham ben Yitzchak and Leah bas HaRav Sholom Zev HaCohen.

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Ma'ot Chittim

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Click here for a printable version

Helpful Pesach Links:

1. Laws and Customs of Pesach 5785 
2. Times for Pesach 5785
3. One Haggadah Insight
4. One Haggadah insight of the Arugat HaBosem
5. Three Haggadah Insights
6. Three Haggadah Insights 5776
7. Three Hagaddah Insights of the Sefat Emmet
8. Three Haggadah Insights of the Chatam Sofer 
9. Four haggadah Insights
10. Five Haggadah Insights
11. Seven Haggadah Insights
12. Seven Haggadah Insights of the Ben Ish Chai
13. 15 Miracles of Dayeinu and their Lessons

1)     Origins of Dayeinu

Although the paragraph of Dayeinu does not appear in the Haggadah of the Rambam, it’s found in the Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon,^[1] in the siddur of Rav Sa’adiah Gaon (as a section which one may add), in the Machzor Vitry, and in the commentary Zevach Pesach by the Abarbanel.

The Abarbanel writes^[2] that the author of Dayeinu was Rabbi Akiva. This is based on the fact that Rabbi Akiva is quoted right before Dayeinu (regarding the number of plagues in Egypt and at the sea). It is noteworthy, however, that Dayeinu isn’t found in the Mechilta (on Exodus 14:31), which is the source of that statement by Rabbi Akiva.

2)     No Interruptions

The Lubavitcher Rebbe writes that one shouldn’t interrupt in the middle of the 14 Dayeinus. Several reasons have been suggested for this:^[3]

a)     One shouldn’t interrupt when praising G-d just as one shouldn’t interrupt unnecessarily while reciting Psalms, as the Me’iri on Brachot 14a says, “As one is saying (Half Hallel) with the intention to praise and acknowledge (the Almighty), it’s improper to interrupt unnecessarily.”

b)     Since the number of Dayeinus (14 or 15) is significant (see below), it’s correct to say them as one unit. 

3)     Gematriyah of דינו

The Mishnat Chassidim writes that the Gematriyah (numerical value) of Dayeinu/דיינו (80 is the same as that of יסוד/Yesod (foundation). Also the 15 Dayeinus correspond to the name of י-ה (which equals 15) and to the 15 Kabbalistic levels of Yesod in the spiritual realms.^[4] In fact the Haggadah of the Alter Rebbe spells דינו with one י (yud). But since it has a dagesh in it (a dot to emphasize the pronunciation^[5]), it counts like two yuds.

4)     Which 15?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out we only have 14 repetitions of the word Dayeinu in our Haggadah, not 15, which differs from the Mishnat Chassidim who says there are 15. He offers two explanations:

a)     Perhaps the Mishnat Chassidim is referring to the number of Divine acts of kindnesses (ma’alot) for which we are thanking G-d in this poem, which are 15.

b)     In the Haggadah of the Shibolei HaLeket, by Tzidkiyahu ben Avraham HaRofeh,who lived in of 13^th-century Rome, as well as in the Haggadah printed in Soncino, Lombardy, Italy in 1486, there is a 15^th Dayeinu. Which is that if G-d had built for us the Beit HaMikdash (referring to the Mishkan that was erected in Shilo, Nov, and then Givon) and didn’t build the Beit HaBechirah (referring to the Beit HaMikash in Jerusalem), it would have been enough.

Since the author of the Mishnat Chassidim (Rabbi Emanuel Chai Reki) lived in Italy, he was likely referring to that nusach (version) of the Haggadah when he said there are 15 Dayeinus.

5)     The Number 15

The number 15 is special in many ways. It’s the number of:^[6]

a)     Generations from Avraham to King Solomon.^[7]

b)     Steps in the Beit HaMikdash between the Ezrat Nashim (women’s courtyard) and the Ezrat Yisrael (Courtyard of the Israelites) upon which the Levites would stand and sing during the Simchat Beit Hasho’eivah (Rejoicing of the water-drawing on the nights of Sukkot).^[8]

c)     Kindnesses G-d did for the Jewish people at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. See Ezekiel 16:9 -13.^[9]

d)     Steps in the Haggadah (Kadesh, Urechatz, etc).

e)     Psalms beginning with the words Shir Hama’alot.^[10]

f)      Praises to the A-lmighty listed in the Yishtabach blessing.^[11]

g)     Words in the blessing of the Kohanim.

h)     Praises in Baruch She’amar^[12] and 

i)       Praises in Emet Veyatziv.^[13]

6)     Destroying the Inner Enemy

“If You destroyed their gods and hadn’t killed their firstborn”

Based on the text of the Haggadah it seems that G-d first destroyed the idols of the Egyptians and then killed their firstborn. In the verse, however, the order seems to be reversed. As it says (Exodus 12:12), “ I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and beast; and I will mete out punishments to all the gods of Egypt,” indicating that the punishment to the gods came after the death of the firstborn.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the reason that the gods were destroyed was so that when the firstborn would be killed, the remaining Egyptians shouldn’t say that this plague was a punishment wrought by their gods. As the Midrash says^[14] (based on the verse, “And every first-born of the beast”), “Now what sin did the beasts commit? They were smitten so that the Egyptians would not say ‘Our god (i.e., the beasts, whom they worshipped) brought this catastrophe upon us, awesome is our god, against whom this catastrophe did not prevail!’” The verse therefore mentions the death of the firstborn first since that was the reason for the destruction of the gods.

In terms of the timing, the gods were struck down first so that they shouldn’t exist at the time of the death of the firstborn (which could lead to the above result).^[15] This is the order mentioned in the Haggadah.

According to the Zohar (vol. 2 page 18a), the destruction of the Egyptian gods was done by the Jewish people who roasted the Pesach sacrifice which consisted of sheep and goats, animals that were worshipped by the Egyptians. This happened before the death of the firstborn. 

Lesson: Sometimes, in order for us to overcome the enemy on the outside, we need to vanquish the inner enemy. Thus, the Jews needed to sacrifice the animals and reject the Egyptian idolatry themselves before they could be freed by their Egyptian masters.

7)     The Holiness of Mount Sinai

“If You had brought us close to Mount Sinai and hadn’t given us the Torah”

The commentaries question the accomplishment of being at Mount Sinai if we would not have received the Torah. Here are some of the many explanations that are given:

a.     Even before we received the Torah, we experienced Divine revelation, as the verse says, “When the mountain was ablaze with fire… our God has just shown us a majestic Presence,”^[16] and as we say in the Musaf of Rosh HaShana, “You were revealed with Your cloud of Glory at Mount Sinai.”^[17]

b.     Being “brought close to Mount Sinai” refers to receiving the Ten Commandments while “being given the Torah” refers to the rest of the Torah and its mitzvot.^[18]

c.      The Talmud says^[19] that at Mount Sinai the Jewish people were purified of the spiritual contamination caused by the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. This happened even before the Jewish people received the Torah.^[20]   

Wishing you and your families a Shabbat Shalom UMevorach and a Kosher and Happy Pesach!

[1] Haggadah of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

[2] In Zevach Pesach quoted in ibid.

[3] The Rebbe’s Haggadah for Youth by Rabbi Zalman Shanowitz, New York, 2007.

[4] These are the internal, middle and external aspects (חיצון אמצעי ופנימי) of the Yesod of the five partzufimin every realm. (These are Arich Anpin, Abba, Ima, Za and Nukva/אריך אנפין, אבא, אמא, ז"א ונוקבא.)

[5] This is known as a dagesh chazak which can indicate that the one letter represents two letters.

[6] Several of these are quoted in the Artscroll Haggadah.

[7] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Peretz, Chetzron, Ram, Aminadav, Nachshon, Salmah, Boaz, Oved, Jesse, David and Solomon (Ruth 4:18 and on).

[8] Mishnah, Sukkah 5:4

[9] These are: 1) “I bathed you in water, 2) and washed the blood off you, 3) and anointed you with oil. 

4) I clothed you with embroidered garments, 5) and gave you sandals of tachash leather to wear, 6) and wound fine linen about your head, 7) and dressed you in silks. 8) I decked you out in finery 9) and put bracelets on your arms 10) and a chain around your neck. 11) I put a ring in your nose, 12) and earrings in your ears, 13) and a splendid crown on your head. 14) You adorned yourself with gold and silver, and your apparel was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. 15) Your food was choice flour, honey, and oil.”

[10] Psalms 120 – 134.

[11] These are: שִׁיר וּשְׁבָחָה הַלֵּל וְזִמְרָה עז וּמֶמְשָׁלָה נֶצַח גְּדֻלָּה וּגְבוּרָה תְּהִלָּה וְתִפְאֶרֶת קְדֻשָּׁה וּמַלְכוּת בְּרָכות וְהודָאות.

[12] שאמר והיה העולם, עושה בראשית, אומר ועושה, גוזר ומקיים, מרחם על הארץ, מרחם על הבריות, משלם שכר טוב, חי לעד וקיים לנצח, פודה ומציל, הא-ל, האב, הרחמן, המהולל, משובח, מפואר

[13] וְיַצִּיב וְנָכוֹן וְקַיָּם וְיָשָׁר וְנֶאֱמָן וְאָהוּב וְחָבִיב וְנֶחְמָד וְנָעִים וְנוֹרָא וְאַדִּיר וּמְתֻקָּן וּמְקֻבָּל וְטוֹב וְיָפֶה

[14] Mechilta (13:9)

[15] See Sukkah 29a that the gods of the nations are destroyed with them.

[16] Deuteronomy 5:20-21.

[17] The Lubavitcher Rebbe, based on Shibolei Haleket.

[18] Ibid based on the Zevach Pesach by the Abarbanel.

[19] Shabbat 146a.

[20] The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, quoted here.