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Last weeks Mishnah Day Berakot 2:1 was written by Dr. Dvora Weisberg Ph.D. It was sent out in error ahead of time. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
The exodus from Egypt is mentioned in the evening service.
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: I am almost seventy years old, and I never understood the basis for the requirement that the exodus from Egypt be mentioned in the evening service, until Ben Zoma interpreted the verse: (Deuteronomy 16:3). He expounded thus: “the days of your life” would imply that we “so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life” mention the Exodus [only] during the daytime. But “ all the days of your life”  includes the nights as well.
The Sages, however, say: “The days of your life” establishes the requirement that we mention the Exodus while we live in this world. “ All the days of your life” includes the World to Come.
Commentary
The Exodus from Egypt ( yetzi’at mitzrayim ) is a pivotal event in the historical memory of the Jewish people. No wonder, therefore, that our tradition prescribes that we take steps to nurture that memory. We remember our liberation from Egyptian bondage by mentioning it, by performing symbolic ritual acts that remind us of the Exodus and of its central importance. (The Hebrew words for “remember” and “mention” share the same Hebrew root -- .) One well-known example of this practice is the traditional “third paragraph” of the Sh’ma , Numbers 15:37-41, called parashat tzitzit because it contains the requirement to make fringes ( tzitzit ) on the corners of our garments. Verse 41 reads: “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am Adonai, your God.” By reciting this third paragraph of the Sh’ma , Jews have historically made sure to recall the liberation from Egyptian bondage every single day of their lives.
In the time of the Mishnah this third paragraph was omitted from the evening service, since tzitzit are not customarily worn at night. Our text comes to tell us that even so, we are to recall the Exodus at that hour. How do we know this? Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah is impressed by a midrash (a Scriptural interpretation) on Deuteronomy 16:3 offered by his colleague Ben Zoma. That verse, says Ben Zoma, would have made perfect sense even had it not contained the word “all” . In that case, we would have understood it to mean that we are to remember the Exodus during “ the days of your life, ” that is, every day , during the “daytime” recitation of the Sh’ma . The word “all” must therefore come to add some detail that we would not otherwise have derived from the verse. That detail, says Ben Zoma, is the requirement to mention the Exodus at night as well.
Some traditional commentators believe that Ben Zoma’s midrash is the reason the custom was changed and that the traditional evening Sh’ma came to include parashat tzitzit . Others hold that the mishnah is referring to the birkat ge’ulah , the benediction that immediately follows the paragraphs of the Sh’ma both morning and evening. That blessing mentions the Exodus, for example, in the verses mi khamokha and Adonai yimlokh (Exodus 15:11 and 18), taken from the Song of the Sea, the great poem that celebrates God’s victory over Pharaoh’s army. These commentators say that Ben Zoma wants us to recite those verses in the version of this blessing that we recite in the evening as well as the one we say in the morning.
The anonymous “Sages” in our mishnah understand Deuteronomy 16:3 in a way that differs from Ben Zoma’s reading. They interpret the word “all” to mean that the mention of the Exodus is a requirement not only in “this world” but also in “the World to Come,” the days following Israel’s messianic redemption. There is a tradition (based upon Jeremiah 23:7-8) that once this final, glorious redemption has taken place we shall no longer have need to recall the earlier liberation from Egypt. The “Sages” reject this tradition. Even then, they teach, when all bondage will have been banished forever and when the world will have been perfected under God’s sovereignty, yetzi’at mitzrayim will remain a vital theme in our prayers and in the way we understand our history and faith.
Questions for Discussion
Most North American Reform siddurim (prayer books) have historically omitted all but the last two verses of the traditional third paragraph of the Sh’ma , in both the morning and evening services. But Mishkan Tefilah , the new siddur (prayer book) published by the Central Conference of America Rabbis, has restored parashat tzitzit in its entirety as an optional reading in some services (see, for example, p. 68). What sort of statement do we Reform Jews make, either by omitting or including that section of the Sh’ma in our daily worship? What are some of the other ways in which we “mention” the theme of the Exodus in our ritual practice?
Dr. Mark E. Washofsky Ph.D. is the Solomon B. Freehof Professor of Jewish Law and Practice at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati. Dr. Washofsky has been a member of the HUC-JIR faculty since 1985, most recently serving as Professor of Rabbinics, and specializes in the literature of the Talmud and Jewish law. He received his rabbinical ordination (1980) and Ph.D. (1987) from HUC-JIR. |
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