Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
6 min read
Shemot, 12:8: “They shall eat the flesh on that night – roasted over the fire – and matzahs; with bitter herbs shall they eat.
Rashi, 12:8: sv. With bitter herbs: “Every bitter herb is called ‘Maror’ – the Torah commanded them to eat bitter herbs as a remembrance that they embittered their lives.”
As the Jews prepared to leave Egypt, they were commanded in three mitzvot: The Korban Pesach, (Pascal Lamb), Matzah and Marror (bitter herbs). Sadly, we are unable to fulfill two of these three mitzvot on the Torah level – Korban Pesach and Marror1. Nonetheless, we do remember all three at Seder night. Indeed, one of the most important parts of Seder night is when we recite Rabban Gamliel’s dictum that whoever has not mentioned Pesach, Matzah and Marror has not fulfilled his obligation.
These Mitzvot contain great symbolism about the experiences that the Jewish people had undergone in Egypt, and about their imminent Exodus from this terrible Exile. We mention the Korban Pesach as a remembrance of the events surrounding the Plague of the First-born and how God passed over the houses of the Jewish people and did not harm them. The Matzah reminds us of the haste with which the Jewish people left Egypt. The Marror recollects the bitterness of the slavery in Egypt. The commentaries ask an obvious question on this section of the Haggadah - it is not in chronological order. The slavery took place before the events of the actual Exodus and yet is mentioned last - why did Rabban Gamliel change the order?
It seems that Rabban Gamliel’s change comes to teach us a fundamental principle in how we should relate to difficult times. When a person is in the midst of a difficult or painful situation the natural reaction is to see this as an inherently ‘negative’ occurrence that has no benefits. Of course, the Torah outlook holds otherwise – God is all-Good and all-Powerful and only wants our good. However, we realize that this World is the world of toil and challenge and at times, God, in His Infinite Wisdom deems it appropriate for us to undergo difficulties. There is always a purpose to these difficulties – it may be to help us grow in a certain way, or to set off a course of events that is ultimately positive – indeed often both purposes are fulfilled though challenging times. However, when a person is in the midst of his suffering it is very hard to remember this truth. One way a person can remind himself of this truth is to recall past difficult events and see how they panned out so that eventually they resulted in a positive outcome.
An excellent example of this phenomenon is the Egyptian Exile and the subsequent Exodus. The Jewish people underwent incredible suffering in Egypt and the commentaries explain why it was imperative that they reach this nadir before the zenith of the Exodus and the Giving of the Torah. In brief, it was essential to the future make-up of the Jewish people that it would be totally evident that the Exodus was completely in the Hands of God, as reflected by the numerous open Miracles that took place. This is because of a principle that the beginning of anything is the seed of all that will follow. God intended for the Jewish people to be a nation different from all other Nations in that they would live above the normal laws of nature. In order for this to take place, it was imperative that the beginning was totally beyond the laws of Nature.
Had the Jewish people not been in a situation of slavery and total weakness, had we been simply living in Egypt and then left, it would have been all too easy for us to attribute some or all of our success to our own hands - there would have been the temptation that the Torah often warns of – the belief that, ‘my power and my strength enabled me to achieve this success’. Instead, the slavery facilitated the miraculous events that characterized the Exodus which were clearly completely from the Hand of G-d and involved no input from any human being.
With this understanding, we can answer the question as to why we mention the Korban Pesach and Matzah before the Marror. The best way that we can come to appreciate the ultimate benefits of the tremendous suffering that our ancestors endured in Egypt is to first recall the outcome of that suffering, as represented by the Pesach and Matzah. Then, when we come to the slavery, we can approach it with a sense of understanding and appreciation for why it was not only necessary but imperative for our future.
The following incredible story provides just one example of how a seemingly ‘negative’ occurrence is actually the cause of a very ‘positive’ event. A few months ago, a young woman suffered kidney problems and was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. Four of her brothers were found to be suitable donors, but they could not decide which brother should be the donor. The youngest brother was particularly hesitant about the prospect of being a donor – he had a young family and was fearful of the effects of a kidney transplant.
They decided to draw lots, and the youngest brother reluctantly agreed to join. Sure enough, his name was drawn to be the donor. He was distraught at this outcome and the brothers agreed to ask the great Sage, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, how to proceed. They expected that he would exempt the youngest brother due to his fears, yet to their surprise he said that he should go ahead and he gave a blessing that everything would turn out for the best.
The brother underwent the surgery to remove his kidney and everything was going smoothly until, to their astonishment the surgeons discovered a tumor on his kidney that was hidden from view whilst it was in the body. They realized that had the kidney not been removed, then this man’s life would have been in grave danger from the dreaded cancer.2 Thus, it became clear that the seemingly ‘negative’ event of this man donating his kidney, was in fact a life-saving occurrence. May we all merit to be able to recognize the ultimate good in the challenging events that we undergo.
