Rabbi’s Corner-
וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ. שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלוֹתֵנוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם.
And it is this that has stood for our ancestors and for us; since it is not [only] one [person or nation] that has stood [against] us to destroy us, but rather in each generation, they stand [against] us to destroy us, but the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hand.
We lovingly and joyously sing the “Vehi Sheamdah”, cups aloft, as part of the Maggid section of the Haggadah- telling the story of the Exodus.
But is the “it is this” that has stood by us.- in Hebrew “Vehi”?
The simple meaning is that it refers back to God’s promise recited in the previous paragraph which quotes the Torah text of the special covenant God made with Abraham.
“Blessed be the One who keeps His promise to Israel, blessed be He; since the Holy One, blessed be He, calculated the end [of the exile,] to do as He said to Avraham, our father, in the Covenant between the Pieces, as it is stated (Genesis 15:13-14), “And He said to Avram, ‘you should surely know that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation for which they shall toil will I judge, and afterwards they will go out with much property.'”
However the Arizal (Rabbi Isaac Luria 16th Cent – Master Kabbalist) explains that “Vehi” refers to our inner fountains of faith.
This interpretation seems at first glance diametrically the opposite of the literal meaning. But one can actually explain that they are interconnected.
When we have faith in Hashem this so to speak inspires Hashem to have faith in us and thus He keeps His promises to redeem us.
This is really important as our religious faith in the Exodus is not founded on the idea that we are passive and God is the only actor taking us out of Egypt.
God wants us awaken our souls to higher levels and work on ourselves to come close to Him. Pesach is a unique opportunity to do that through the Seder night and its special Mitzvot. It is a night of special Divine favour and it is up to us to grab the moment of holiness and bring it into our lives. Then God will respond and provide the pathways for our personal and even national redemptions.
Pesach is the time of the year to raise our minds and hearts to live on a more sublime level.
The Matza diet represents nullification of our ego (short for Easing God Out!) and allowing the light of Hashem in.
Finally its worth pointing out that the letters of Vehi stand for 4 spiritual concepts
Vav= 6= 6 orders of the Mishna – meaning the Oral Tradition
Hei= 5 = 5 books of the Torah
Yud= 10 = 10 commandments
Aleph = 1 = Hashem is One
When are lives are guided by these four ideas then Hashem stands by us and there is no force in the world that can stop the Jewish people from marching to the Ultimate Redemption. May we merit this very soon.
Shabbat Shalom