## Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya

###### Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:1
[Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tevele%20Bondi%20on%20Pesach%20Haggadah/s/Magid,_Ha%20Lachma%20Anya/r/1:1)

**מגיד.** ובמה מקיים חציה לה' בלימוד התורה ולזאת מרמז הסימן בתיבת מגיד ע"י לימוד התורה.

**Rabbi Mark Greenspan:**
**Maggid:** We devote the first part of the Seder to God through the study of Torah. Maggid refers to the study of Torah.


###### Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:2
[Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tevele%20Bondi%20on%20Pesach%20Haggadah/s/Magid,_Ha%20Lachma%20Anya/r/1:2)

עוד מרמז מגיד שהבעל תשובה צריך ווידוי פה. מן קדש עד נרצה המה ט"ז תיבות ובהם נכלל כל סידור הפסח לרמז כנגד חרבו של הקב"ה שנקרא יוה"ך ובו הכה המצרים עד שגאלנו בזמן הזה בלילה הזה וע"ז תפסו בסימנים אלו הט"ז תיבות ולזאת הכוונה המנהג ג"כ לזרוק מעט מן הכוס ט"ז פעמים כננד הנ"ל יו"ד פעמים להעשרה מכות ועוד ג' פעמים לדם ואש ותמרות עשן.

**Rabbi Mark Greenspan:**
Maggid also means confession. The Baal Teshuvah must make a verbal confession. From Kadesh to Nirtzah (the order of the Seder) there are sixteen words which together allude to *Yohakh*, the sword of the Holy One. God smote Egypt with it until the Egyptians allowed the Israelites to go free. It is for this reason that we toss sixteen drops of wine from our cup when we recite the ten plagues, the plague acrostic *(D'zakh Adash Ba'achav)*, and the three expressions דם ואש ותמרות עשן.


###### Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:3
[Tevele Bondi on Pesach Haggadah, Magid, Ha Lachma Anya 1:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tevele%20Bondi%20on%20Pesach%20Haggadah/s/Magid,_Ha%20Lachma%20Anya/r/1:3)

ומרמז ג"כ דבר והיפוכה שעבוד וחירות ותקנו הך פסקא לשון ארמי' בבבל להתחיל בגנות במצרים אכלו לחם עוני כמו שכתב הר"י אברבנאל המצריים היו מאכילין את ישראל לחם הקלוקל לם גרוע וקשה שהיא כבד קשה לאכול ממאכל בעלי עבודה קשה. ומהאי טעמא מגיד על הפרוסה כי כן דרכו של עני בפרוסה והיא לזכרון שעבוד וגנות אכן לבסוף מסיים בחירות ושבח לשנה הבאה בני חורין:

**Rabbi Mark Greenspan:**
Maggid also refers to each symbol and its opposite. The sages decreed that the opening passage should be in Aramaic, the language of Babylonia, so that we begin with disgrace. Abarbanel wrote that the Egyptians fed Israel this unappetizing bread which is hard to swallow and digest. We begin by referring to a piece of matzah - since it is the way of the needy to only keep out a piece of bread. It is a reminder of servitude and disgrace. But one ends by saying, "Next year may we be free." 
Let Me Explain:
Rabbi Bondi offers two ways of reading Maggid. The first is Torah study and the second, confession. For the sages studying Torah was a kind of prayer - it is a devotional act through which we praise God by seeking to understand God's revelation. The intellect and the heart are directly connected to one another. The second interpretation of Maggid is "confession." This is part of the spiritual process of repentance which begins preparatory (Kaddesh), continues with purification (Rechatz and Karpas) and then rejoicing in the presence of God (Yahatz). We are now prepared to offer confession (Maggid), part of the process of return to God. Maggid as confession is not as strange as it might seem, at first. In Deuteronomy 26, which is the basis of the Maggid, the passage is introduced: "I acknowledge (higaditi) this day before the Lord your God that I have entered the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to assign to us." (Deut 26:3) Higaditi comes from the same root as Haggadah. It is a kind of confession or affirmation of faith. By reciting the Haggadah we are confirming our connection to God and our historic roots as a nation.
The "order of the Seder" also alludes to a deeper mystical meaning. The sixteen words that make up the poem "Kaddesh U'Rechatz…" are associated with the sixteen times that we place our finger and remove wine from our cup later on and the mysterious name of God, Yohakh (see the foot note below). There are other references to God's sword later in the Seder.
Finally, Maggid begins with a theme that appears throughout the Seder: each object or symbol at the Seder represents an idea and its opposite: slavery and freedom, bitterness and hope, etc. In the opening words of the Seder we begin by holding up the matzah and referring to it as a poor person's bread or slave's food but we end by saying, "Next year we will be free." We are supposed to see both darkness and hope in all things on this night.