Tuesday, 14 August 2012


Brochas Daf Yud Beis amud beis

At the conclusion of the daf we find the famous exegesis of Ben Zoma quoted at the beginning of the Pesach Hagadah.  The posuk says: “That you may remember the day when you come out of Egypt, all the days of your life.”  From the words, “the days of your life” we derive the requirement to mention the Exodus during the days; from the extra word “all” we derive the requirement to mention the Exodus by night.  The Chachomim’s interpretation of “the days of your life” is an obligation to mention the Exodus in our own era, with the superfluous “all” including a requirement to mention it even in the Messianic era.

The Maharal uses this passage to explain the basis of Midrashic exegesis.  “The words ‘all the days of your life” are completely superfluous and had they been omitted the meaning of this verse would not have been affected in any way.  According to the Midrashic perspective such superfluous words are intended to broaden the meaning of the verse (making it more inclusive,) so that it applies not only to the issue at hand (in this case, commemorating the Exodus on Pesach night) but also to the most closely associated issue, the requirement to commemorate the Exodus every day. 

Thus the Rabbis all agree, firstly, that the words ‘all the days of your life’ attribute a wider meaning, associating it with the daily mitzvah to commemorate the Exodus; after all, the Pesach sacrifice as well as the requirement to mention the Exodus, fulfil the same joint purpose to commemorate the Exodus and instil it in our memories. Secondly, they agree that the universal word ‘all’ within the phrase ‘all the days of your life’ is also superfluous.  It is, so to speak, a superfluous word, within a superfluous phrase (and therefore itself subject to elucidation).

For R. Elazar, the superfluous universal word ‘all’ indicates that we must interpret the word ‘day’ more widely, so that it includes day and night. By contrast, the Rabbis see the entire phrase as an organic whole, and therefore apply the superfluous word to the entire verse: Israel must commemorate the Exodus ‘all of Israel’s days’ i.e. both in the current era and subsequent to the coming of Messiah, when even greater miracles will have been done for us.

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