Rabbi Horowitz focuses in this passage on the meaning of Exodus 13:8; this verse is the key verse for the mitzvah of the Seder. We are commanded to tell our child the story of the Exodus. Vi-heegadita, and you shall tell, comes from the same Hebrew root as Haggadah. This verse is used as a proof text for the child who does not know how to ask as well as the wicked child. It is also quoted as a proof text for the statement, “In every generation each person is obligated to see himself as if he personally went forth from Egypt.” The one who does not know how to ask; you should open it up for him: Several questions are raised here with regard to the question of telling one’s children about the Exodus.

1. The commentators point out that the proof text here, Exodus 13:8, begins with a reference to the one who doesn’t know how to ask (“You shall tell your child on that day…”) but ends with a reference to the wicked child (“It is because of this which God did for me – and not for him”).
2. A second problem is a grammatical one. The Haggadah says, “For me and not for HIM,” when it should have said, “for me and not for YOU – had you been in Egypt you wouldn’t have been redeemed.” The statement should have been posed in the second person singular instead in the third person. Why is this?
3. A third problem is the proof text for the statement: “In every generation one is obligated to see himself as if he went forth from Egypt.” How do we know this statement refers to future generations based on the verse, “It is because of what Adonai did for me when I went forth from Egypt.” This statement might have specifically been made by Moses to his own generation and those who were with him in the wilderness but not future generations.
4. Finally, we make reference at the beginning of the Haggadah to “us, our children, and our children’s children.” Based on Exodus 13:8, it should have been enough to make reference to “us and our children” since we are only obligated to tell the story to our children (and not our children’s children.) We learn from Exodus 13:8 that a parent is obligated not only to tell his child the story of the Exodus but to make sure that the child will do the same for the next generation. We learn a lesson from the superfluous language in this verse: “You shall tell your child on that day, saying (leimor). The word leimor is unnecessary. It implies something more than just telling the story, just as the double verb in Exodus 13:19 implies that we must not only make an oath but make sure that our children do the same.¹⁹ is interpreted to mean not only should you make an oath to take Joseph’s remains out of Egypt but you are obligated to make sure you children do so as well. The use of the superfluous word leimor in Exodus 13:8 implies a second obligation, not just to tell one’s children the story, but to tell them: “It is because of this that the Lord took me out of Egypt.” Even though one’s child may not have personally experienced the Exodus, he is obligated to remind his children of their obligation to instruct their children with the specific language of Exodus 13:8. Thus the Haggadah tells us that the story of the obligation applies to “us, our children, and our children’s children.” We must make sure that our children pass on the story as well not just as a story but as a personal history, since, “Every generation we must see ourselves as if we went forth from Egypt.” That is why we do not use the second person when addressing the wicked child. The teaching in this passage, “For me and not for him,” applies to all Jews and not just the wicked child who we happen to be addressing.

footnotes: ¹⁹ Exodus 13:19 deals with Israel’s oath to take Joseph’s remains out of Egypt. The Hebrew hashbei’a hishbi’a