## Marbeh Lesaper on Pesach Haggadah, Kadesh

###### Marbeh Lesaper on Pesach Haggadah, Kadesh 7:1
[Marbeh Lesaper on Pesach Haggadah, Kadesh 7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Marbeh%20Lesaper%20on%20Pesach%20Haggadah/s/Kadesh/r/7:1)

**אשר בחר בנו** ז"ל הרמב"ן בחומש פ' בשלב על פסוק כל מחלה וכו' וז"ל והנני מאיר עיניך כי כל ברכה שיש בה מלכות היא כן שחלקו כבוד למלכות העולם אשר קדשנו ואשר עשה לנו (ר"ל בנסתר) והסמוכה לחברתה אשר לא יזכירו מלכו' הוא לנוכח אתה גיבור אתה קדוש וכן כולם ותקנו עלינו לשבח נסתר מפני שמזכירין בה מפני מלך מלכי המלכי' והבן זה עכ"ל וקשה מברכת הקידוש ואשר גאלנו. וכן מזכירין ביוד ימי תשובה זכרינו דהן מתחילין בנסתר ומסיימין בנוכח וכן הרבה כדומה לזה. וצ"ל דדווקא בתחילת הברכה שמזכירין בה מלכות צריך נסתר. אבל סוף הברכה שהוא דרך בקשה ותפילה הוא בנוכח. וגם צ"ע שאנו אומרים אין לנו מלך אלא אתה. ואפשר דדווקא במלך העולם הקפידו בנסתר ועיין בתוס' דפסחים דף ק"ו ע"ב:

**Rabbi Mark Greenspan:**
***Kadesh Asher bachar banu***: As with many blessings, the Kiddush begins “Praised are You…” (in the second person) but continues “That he chose us…” (in the third person). Ramban makes the following comment in *Parshat B’shalach* on Exodus 15:26:²²
“*Any berakhah*which acknowledges God’s sovereignty,²³… continues in the third person (for example, *asher kidshanu* – ‘Who sanctifies us’) while blesses that do not begin with the divine name because they fellow another blessing, are written in the second person,²⁴; Long blessings which begin and end with the words *baruch attah Adonai*; and connected blessings which follow either a short or long blessing. They do not begin with the words *baruch attah Adonai* but end with these words. Ramban suggests here that the language and person of the blessing depends on the type of blessing we are reciting. such as the second blessing of the *Amidah* which begins *attah gibor*, ‘You are mighty.’ Similarly the sages decreed that the *Alaynu* should be written in the third person because it begins by acknowledging God’s sovereignty.” 
This explanation is problematic since the blessing over the wine which we recite later in the *Haggadah, Asher g’alanu* as well as the prayer we add to the *Amida* during the Ten Days of Repentance, *Zochreinu*, begins in the third person and then switches to the second person, contradicting the Ramban.²⁵ The Ramban believed that the first part of the blessing must be in the third person but not the latter part of the blessing. The last part of a blessing which is written in the form of a petition can be written in the second person. This matter needs more study.

footnotes:
²² “Give ear to His commandments and heed His laws and I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.” This verse begins in the third person and then switches to the second person, just like the formula. Ramban comments on this and other verses which contain this switch of person – they are the basis for the Kiddush formula.
²³ That is, it begins with the word Baruch attah Adonai
²⁴ There are three formulas for blessings: Short blessings which begin baruch attah Adonai
²⁵ In the Haggadah we say, “Who redeemed us and our ancestors….so too did Adonai our God, bring us to the other festivals and seasons. In the Amida we say, “Remember us for life, O King who delights in life…” In the first blessing of the Amida then we switch to the second person from the third person.