Letters to the Editor – Tisha B’Av & Tu B’Av 5786
Send us your comments editor@mizrachi.org
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of Eretz Yisrael in our tradition – difficult, but not impossible. Rabbi Moshe Lichtman writes (HaMizrachi, Pesach 5786, Vol. 8, No.9) that “Eretz Yisrael is a central theme of the holiday of Pesach and the Haggadah we read at the Seder.” This seems overstated. We do not mention the Land of Israel frequently in the Haggadah and when we do, it is often not given prominence. For example, Dayeinu lists entering the Land as one of fourteen things we are grateful for. Another verse mentioning Eretz Yisrael may only be included as part of a proof text that subsequent generations were also freed at the Exodus.
In two telling instances, Chazal downplay the Eretz Yisrael theme at the Seder. We expound upon four verses from the Mikra Bikurim passage and stop our interpretive endeavors just before “And I brought you to this place” (Devarim 26:9). Secondly, the Seder highlights four expressions of redemption, thereby leaving out “And I will bring you to the Land” (Shemot 6:8). These two items reflect a conscious decision to emphasize the Exodus alone on Pesach night and to leave the Holy Land for other occasions.
Granted, some authorities relate a potential fifth cup to “V’heveiti, I will bring.” However, many rabbinic luminaries reduce or negate this theme. Rashi and Rashbam know nothing about a fifth cup. Maharal (Gevurot Hashem 65) and Netziv (HaEmek Davar, Shemot 6:6) think the fifth cup is unrelated to “I will bring.” The Ba’al HaMeor rules against Rabbi Tarfon and the fifth cup. The Rosh (Pesachim 10:33) cites an opinion that only someone thirsty can drink a fifth cup. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 581:1) does not mention it and Rema only writes of drinking a fifth cup when thirsty. Even those who do introduce a fifth see it as voluntary and not obligatory. The fifth cup is simply not a major player in our tradition.
Judaism incorporates many important values, but none of them are central to every event. This caution applies to Torah study, compassion, faith, prayer, and the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Yitzchak Blau
Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Orayta
Alon Shvut, Israel
Rabbi Moshe Lichtman’s response:
Rabbi Blau doesn’t deny that Eretz Yisrael is an important component of Judaism; he just feels that one shouldn’t exaggerate its importance.
The main focus of the Seder is undoubtedly the Exodus. Therefore, other concepts will be harder to find. That’s why I mentioned the verse that says that the ultimate goal was to enter Eretz Yisrael, showing that it is crucial to the story. After all, Rabbi Blau himself fusses about the fact that the fifth language of redemption was left out of the Haggadah, downplaying, in his view, the importance of Eretz Yisrael. If so, why were the words “In order to bring us, to give us the Land…” left in this paragraph? For the proof being made – that future generations were also redeemed – they are entirely unnecessary.
“In every generation, one is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, as it says, ‘You shall tell your children on that day, saying, “Because of this, Hashem did [these things] for me when I left Egypt.”’ Hashem did not redeem only our forefathers; He also redeemed us with them, as it says, ‘He brought us out of there…’”
The Ba’al Haggadah could have stopped there. The point – that future generations were also redeemed – had already been proven three times over, through the words “for me,” “I,” and “us.” If anything, the mention of Eretz Yisrael could have been omitted entirely; after all, the word “us” appears there too, which would have been sufficient. So why continue? Why belabor it? The answer, I believe, is that the additional words “in order to bring us” were included deliberately, to drive home that the Exodus was never only about leaving Egypt. The goal was to arrive somewhere: to dwell as a holy people in our Holy Land.
Anyone familiar with Chazal’s copious statements on Eretz Yisrael knows that they had no problem “exaggerating” its importance. “Anyone who dwells in Eretz Yisrael is like one who has a G-d, while anyone who dwells outside the Land is like one who worships idols.” “Dwelling in Eretz Yisrael is equal to all the mitzvot in the Torah.”
One of the clearest statements on the matter comes from an unlikely source: “Eretz Yisrael is the peg upon which the entire Torah hangs!” Those are the words of Rav Yaakov Emden – the same gadol whose idea was the central focus of my article, which Rabbi Blau chose to sideline in favor of the two-to-three sentence preamble I had written as a mere introduction.
Regarding the fifth cup, the Da’at Zekeinim MiBa’alei HaTosafot says it best: “Four cups correspond to four redemptions… and the fifth cup… corresponds to ‘I will bring [you…].’ For that, too, is redemption, as people say: ‘If a master frees his slave and gives him all that he owns but does not bring the slave to his dwelling place, what has he accomplished?’ Similarly, had Hashem failed to bring us to Eretz Yisrael, what good would the exodus from Egypt have been?”
If Eretz Yisrael was peripheral to the Seder, no one told the Tosafists. The fifth cup exists precisely because the Exodus without the Land is an incomplete redemption. Sounds pretty central to me.