I didn't really have anything to write so I figured I would just present a short question that I had and hopefully people can discuss it in the comments and maybe we can collectively reach a reasonable answer.
This shabbos I was reading a piece from the Michtav Me'Eliyahu about Pesach. In the middle he mentions a familiar concept about the Jewish calendar. He says that as we go through the year we are not merely remembering that which occurs throughout the different time periods, we are actually re-experiencing that which happened years and years ago. This applies to all periods of the Jewish calendar.
That being said I had a question regarding Pesach. As we know, there is a special mitzvah on Pesach to tell over the story of leaving Mitzrayim and we are supposed to elaborate on it to the best of our abilities. Usually this results in a long seder full of divrei torah. However, these divrei torah are usually centered around the various parts of the haggadah. My question is two pronged: firstly, why do we spend so much time on discussing the haggadah and not as much time on the actual story of leaving Mitzrayim? And secondly, why is this mitzvah exclusive to Pesach? If we are constantly re-experiencing the events of the past throughout every day of every year, why the special mitzvah of telling this story but not the other stories that have happened to bnei Yisroel throughout the many years?
The first question may just be that we have lost touch with the original purpose of the haggadah. It may be that the haggadah was originally meant to be an outline for the discussion at the seder but then people began to dissect the script of the haggadah itself, but I don't know if that's really the reason. There may be something deeper involved.
The second question could be answered simply by the fact that this is the time of the birth of the Jewish people and it is more crucial that we elaborate on that event than on any other. But I'm not convinced that this is the only (or even a sufficient) answer.
Any ideas?
This shabbos I was reading a piece from the Michtav Me'Eliyahu about Pesach. In the middle he mentions a familiar concept about the Jewish calendar. He says that as we go through the year we are not merely remembering that which occurs throughout the different time periods, we are actually re-experiencing that which happened years and years ago. This applies to all periods of the Jewish calendar.
That being said I had a question regarding Pesach. As we know, there is a special mitzvah on Pesach to tell over the story of leaving Mitzrayim and we are supposed to elaborate on it to the best of our abilities. Usually this results in a long seder full of divrei torah. However, these divrei torah are usually centered around the various parts of the haggadah. My question is two pronged: firstly, why do we spend so much time on discussing the haggadah and not as much time on the actual story of leaving Mitzrayim? And secondly, why is this mitzvah exclusive to Pesach? If we are constantly re-experiencing the events of the past throughout every day of every year, why the special mitzvah of telling this story but not the other stories that have happened to bnei Yisroel throughout the many years?
The first question may just be that we have lost touch with the original purpose of the haggadah. It may be that the haggadah was originally meant to be an outline for the discussion at the seder but then people began to dissect the script of the haggadah itself, but I don't know if that's really the reason. There may be something deeper involved.
The second question could be answered simply by the fact that this is the time of the birth of the Jewish people and it is more crucial that we elaborate on that event than on any other. But I'm not convinced that this is the only (or even a sufficient) answer.
Any ideas?
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