Summary - The Simple child’s question is not as simple as it seems at first: “What is this?” Because of his purity of heart he is given permission to ask about anything regarding Passover and the Seder. He wonders about why it is necessary to have two symbols of slavery and two of freedom, and what the significance of the haroset is. Chida goes on to analyze the full passage in Exodus from which this question is taken. Of special interest is the question regarding the first born women - why weren’t they sanctified like the first born men. The simple one, what does he say? “What is this?” (Ex. 12:26) You shall say to him, “With a mighty hand Adonai brought us out of Egypt. The simple child is given permission to express himself and ask about anything, “What is this?” since there are other things which we do. There are two symbols of freedom and two symbols of slavery at the Seder: matzah and maror are symbols of slavery while dipping and leaning are symbols of freedom. Why are there two symbols (of each)? It should have been enough with just one symbol. The father gives a simple answer, “It was with a mighty hand that Adonai brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.” (Ex. 13:14) This is the essence of the Exodus and further it was performed with a strong hand; therefore we have two symbols of freedom. God took us out of Egypt from beneath the control of the heavenly prince known as Egypt, as the sages state regarding the verse, “the Israelites caught sight of Egypt¹⁷⁴ and singular as well. advancing upon them.” (Ex. 14:10) And also from the house of bondage - the Egyptians, the nation to which we were enslaved. We were enslaved to the heavenly prince and to the nation, so we have two symbols of slavery.

footnotes: ¹⁷⁴ Note that it says Egypt and not Egyptians. The people caught sight of the prince Egypt advancing toward them. Since the verse is singular, the sages interpret the word mitzrayim

It is also possible that in his innocence the simple child asks, “How could God smite every first born, taking justice into His own hand? The answer is, “With a mighty hand God took us out.” That is, with great strength God took us out because if God hadn’t and we had delayed even one more second in Egypt the impurity of Egypt would have clung to us, lowering us to the fiftieth level of impurity. The name of Israel would have been obliterated, God forbid. In a place of great loss a person may take justice into one’s own hand.

Or maybe the simple child asks, after making the charoset, a reminder of the mortar, why was it necessary to have maror, which alludes to the verse, “They embittered their lives?” We have already hinted at the matter of “making bricks with mortar, and sorts of tasks in the field,” (Ex. 1:14) with the charoset. The father answers, “WIth a strong hand God took us out.” Chozek yad, “With a strong hand.” The harshness of subjugation helped us complete the slavery; therefore, we have something special to hint at the harshness of the slavery - the maror is an allusion to “They embittered their lives.” This was essential to the Exodus.

It is possible to interpret the rest of the verses at the end of Parshat Bo, as an answer to the simple person. It is written: “You shall say to him, ‘It was with a mighty hand that Adonai brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, Adonai slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of both man and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to Adonai every first male issue of the womb, but redeem every first-born among my sons.’ And so it shall be as a sign upon your hand and as a symbol on your forehead that with a mighty hand Adonai freed us from Egypt.” (Ex. 13:14-16) One might think, before beginning “With a strong hand God took us out,” the verse should have begun, When Pharaoh was harsh, *“*God took us out with a strong hand.” Further, one wonders why God did not command the firstborn females to also sanctify themselves since the Egyptian firstborn females also died in Egypt as the sages state, “All the first born females died in Egypt except Batya bat Pharaoh who was saved through the merit of Moses.¹⁷⁵ 18:3 - the first born females also died in Egypt; Other Midrashim disagree. Among the Acharonim,¹⁷⁶ in Jewish law and history, are the leading rabbis and poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563. there are those who say that firstborn women should also fast on Passover Eve. If this is so, why weren’t the female firstborn set apart and sanctified (like other firstborn)? Do we not set apart other first born animals, even the first born of the asses¹⁷⁷ were sanctified though they are impure animals. After some time I came upon Sefer Maaseh Rokeach (a commentary on the Mishnah) by Rabbi Eliezer of Cracow,¹⁷⁸ and Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam. of blessed memory. The Rabbi explores why the women did not practice pidyon. He answered that there was a debate in the upper world saying “as these, so these. Since the males were condemned (for worshiping false gods) they needed redemption. But there was no condemnation of women for, as is known, it is because of righteous women that we were redeemed from Egypt. Therefore there was no danger of them dying like the males who were denounced and so God saved them. See what is written there at length in Masechet Bechorot.

footnotes: ¹⁷⁵ According to Shemot Rabba ¹⁷⁶ Aḥaronim ¹⁷⁷ See Numbers 31:30 ¹⁷⁸ Rabbi Elazar Rokeach, also known as Eleazar ben Samuel (c. 1665—1742) was the author of Maaseh Rokeach

A Midrashic interpretation of the text is offered: the sages said that harshness of subjugation in Egypt shortened the time that the Israelites were enslaved. Since the Israelites were considered children to God, God caused the harshness of subjugation to subtract from years of slavery. It can be compared to a king who became angry with his son and banished him. Anyone who treated the son with kindness during the time that the king was angry, found favor before the king. But if the son had been a slave, kindness would have meant nothing to the king. Anyone who caused suffering to a slave and avenged him would have been judged praiseworthy. This is similar to what Rabbi Akiva said in a discussion with Turnus Rufus (chapter 1 of Baba Batra):¹⁷⁹ 10a as the heavenly prince of Egypt said Israel was “a nation within a nation;” (Deut. 4:34) so that the Israelites were idolaters just like the Egyptians. It was necessary to prove that even the wicked of Israel who worshipped idols and the ignorant who had no understanding were considered God’s, “children.” This is why their redemption was necessary: most of the Israelites were idolaters and ignoramuses at that time who lacked understanding. But God desired for the sake of His righteousness that the first born of Egypt be stricken - even the first born of the animals - to teach that even animals that were first born had to die. This was proof that since Israel are God’s children, even if they acted like animals, they were still judged as God's children. The first born asses were also killed if they were “firstborn;” so too, ignorant Israelites were precious and excluded from the final plague (even if they acted like asses). (See The author of Mishnah LaMelech,¹⁸⁰ (ib. 1731), glosses and comments on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah; later it was printed together with the Mishneh Torah. on the Mishnah Torah, Laws of Slaves, chapter 3 writes that a kohen who is ignorant, has no holiness.) Since all are God’s “children,” and are considered first born as Scripture states, “Israel is my first born child,” (Ex. 4:10) the harshness of slavery was shortened - including for the wicked and the ignoramuses. As a result, the completion of the the slavery arrived when it did. Because of this, our Creator commanded us to sanctify the first born of human beings, animals and even asses to teach that human beings who act like animals and asses are still called firstborn. This was essential for the Exodus - God smote the animals and the asses to show that just as they were among those who faced the bitter cup of death, so too were the wicked who were compared to animals (See Ps. 49:13) and the ignorant. They are all called firstborn and what evil was done to them was taken into account when the time of the redemption was pruned. (Song 2:12)

footnotes: ¹⁷⁹ See BT Baba Batra ¹⁸⁰ Judah ben Samuel Rosanes (1657-1727) was Rabbi of Constantinople and son-in-law of Abraham Rosanes I.On account of his knowledge of Arabic and Turkish he was appointed by the government as chief rabbi of the Ottoman empire. He died at an advanced age in Constantinople on April 13, 1727. Mishneh la-Melek

Based on this reasoning it is possible to understand why the simple child asked the question in his simplicity, “What is this?” That is, he is asking, “What is the reason for the sanctification of the first born animals?” And if you answer that it is because all the first born animals in Egypt died this is still difficult - what was the reason for smiting the first born animals in the first place? The reason why the first born of the other male and female slaves were punished was because they rejoiced in the suffering of the Israelites who were enslaved with them. But why animals? And even more, what did the first born asses die in Egypt and why sanctify the first born asses who were impure? His father says to him, “It was with a strong hand that God took us out of Egypt;” that is, God took the Israelites out with a strong hand because it was before their time to leave Egypt. This was the reason for the harshness of subjugation. The harshness hastened the time of redemption because the Israelites are the children of the living God. Pharaoh refused to send us out because we were also idolaters and were considered like lowly animals of all the slaves. The ignorant of Israel were also like asses and it was found that like the Egyptians they sinned through idolatry. It seemed obvious to the Egyptians that the idolaters and ignorant should not have the status of God’s “children” so that the harshness of their exile would not be taken into consideration. To show their error God smote all the first born, even the animals and asses. This was to show that even first born asses were taken into account; how much more so the wicked and the ignorant of Israel who were still considered God’s children, as the verse states, “Israel is my first born child.” As a result, the harshness of the subjugation hastened Israel’s early redemption to show that every Israelite had the status of a firstborn. Since the Exodus from Egypt was related to the harshness of slavery, “It shall be a sign upon your arm and frontlets...because with a mighty hand God took us out of Egypt before the allotted time, including the wicked and ignorant. Therefore all of them were obligated to put on tefillin to remind them of God’s wondrous acts. God is with us because all of Israel are children, even the wicked and ignorant, as has been said.

Returning to our introduction, it is possible to explain the statement midrashically, “Israel is my firstborn child. I have said to you, ‘Let my child go so that he may serve me.” (Ex 4:22-3) Also Moses said, “Let my people go so that they may serve Me.” (Ex 7:16, 19; 9:1, 13) This matter is discussed in the Jerusalem Talmud in the eighth chapter of Berachot,¹⁸¹ 60a “One who is waited upon by a Kohen is guilty of defrauding sacred property.” A question is raised in *Hagahot Maimoniot (*in the third chapter of Mishnah Torah the laws of slaves) based on Rambam’s statement, “A Kohen who becomes a slave cannot have his ear pierced because he would then be disqualified from the priesthood because of a blemish.¹⁸² In the Hagahot Mordechai¹⁸³, is one of the sources of the Shulchan Aruch. He was killed in the Rindfleisch massacres in 1298. in Gittin it is explained that the case in the Talmud is different since one chooses to forgo his honor may do so. In Sefer Yad Aharon¹⁸⁴ (Orech Chaim 128) writes that there is no problem for a Kohen who becomes a slave since the court sold him as punishment for having stolen. It would seem that the answer (of how a kohen could be a servant) is that after six years even if it is his desire to continue to serve his master, he may not do so because he cannot have his ear pierced and thereby forgo the priesthood because of a blemish. When the time that the court sold him for is complete, and he still wants to serve, he is not allowed to do so because a kohen who serves a person is guilty of misappropriating God’s property (ma’al). The author of the Mishneh LaMelech,¹⁸⁵ commenting on the laws of slavery in the Mishneh Torah, suggests that it is speaking about an ignorant kohen. According to the opinion of the Ribash¹⁸⁶ the Talmud is talking about a kohen who has no authenticated lineage. According to the opinion of Rabbeinu Simchah who is quoted by the Mordechai in chapter 5 of Gittin, this is implied by the fact that a kohen cannot give permission to someone else to lead the Grace after meal unless the person is his teacher or someone of higher status than him. Now, until Aaron and his offspring were chosen for the priesthood, all the first born were considered the kohanim. When the moment of reckoning based on the Covenant of the Pieces came about, the Egyptians forced the Israelites to serve them even though they considered themselves firstborn, as scripture states, “Israel are my first born children.” Since the firstborn were considered kohanim and it was considered misappropriation for them to serve the Egyptians. As long as the Covenant of the Pieces was not fulfilled as God had decreed, they had no rights and so it was permissible for them to be enslaved by the Egyptians and serve them. The Israelites were considered like kohenim who were sold into slavery by the court. It was permissible for the buyer to use his services. The moment the decree was completed, Israel returned to their holy status and it was forbidden for anyone to use their service - to do so was misappropriation of God’s property (ma’al). This is the significance of the statement, “Israel is my first born;” they had the lineage which allowed for the statement, “Let my child go so that he may serve Me.” specifically serve Me, since it is prohibited for a kohen to serve anyone else since this would be ma’al. Similarly, Scripture states “Let my people (ami) go that they may serve ME;” that is, the word ami is an expression used for Torah scholars, as in the verse, “Declare to My people (my Torah scholars) their transgression,” (Isaiah 58:1 see Rashi ad locum¹⁸⁷ ) That is: even though it might have occurred to you that they are ignoramuses, this is not so. Rather they became scholars the moment they received the Torah, “And all your children shall be disciples of Adonai. (Is, 54:13) Anyone who attempts to learn Torah is considered like one who has learned Torah. They are not exempt because of lineage or ignorance so that one can use their services… This is what the sages implied regarding the verse, “at the end of the four hundred and thirtieth year, to the very day…” since the end had come God did not prevent them for even one second (from leaving). Once the end of the decree had come, they could not serve the Egyptians of their own will or even with simple tasks because one who uses the services of the Kohen is considered guilty of misappropriation of their service. This is so according to those who hold that a kohen is not allowed to forgo his priestly status.

footnotes: ¹⁸¹ JT Brachot ¹⁸² See Mishnah Torah Avadim, 3:8 Since he cannot have his ear pierced it implies he can serve as a slave at least during the period until shemita. ¹⁸³ Mordechai ben Hillel HaKohen‎; c.1250–1298, also known as The Mordechai, was a 13th-century German rabbi and posek. His chief legal commentary on the Talmud, referred to as The Mordechai ¹⁸⁵ Judah ben Samuel Rosanes (1657-1727) was Rabbi of Constantinople and son-in-law of Abraham Rosanes I. His teachers in Talmud and rabbinics were Samuel HaLevi and Joseph di Trani the Younger. On account of his knowledge of Arabic and Turkish he was appointed by the government as chief rabbi of the Ottoman empire. He died at an advanced age in Constantinople on April 13, 1727. ¹⁸⁶ Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet (1326–1408) was a Spanish Talmudic authority, was born at Valencia and settled early in life at Barcelona, where he studied at the school of Nissim of Gerona. ¹⁸⁷ Rashi on 58:1 - and relate to My people their transgression These are the Torah scholars, whose every inadvertent sin is counted as a transgression, for an error in study is accounted as an intentional sin.

It is possible this is the meaning of the verse, “Israel is holy to Adonai, first fruits of His harvest. All who ate of it were held guilty; Disaster befell them, declares Adonai.” (Jer. 2:3) It implies that Israel is holy like the Kohanim and were, “the first fruit of the harvest” - were considered to be first born and *kohanim. “*All who ate of it were held guilty,” - one who makes a kohen serve him is considered to have misappropriated God’s property. Even though the Israelites were in Egyptian exile for hundreds of years, to this one may say, “Disaster befell them (the Egyptians), says Adonai. Even though God decreed this, God treated them like a kohen who was sold by the court for his theft so that it was permissible for the kohen to serve others. But this was set for a set number of years that God decreed upon them to serve others.

Another answer is hinted at in the question of the simple child and the verses in Parshat Bo which we analyzed above. Since the first born females also died in Egypt during the plague of the first born, why weren’t the first born Israelite women also sanctified? The answer to this question is based on what is written in the recently published book, Yaarot Devash.¹⁸⁸ The author writes that the seventy offspring of our forefather Jacob who went down to Egypt corresponded to the seventy nations and their angelic princes. Only the angelic representative of Egypt was female, as is written, “I have likened you, my darling, to a mare in Pharaoh’s chariots.”(Song 1:9) Corresponding to the angelic representative of Egypt, Yocheved was born between the walls (upon entering Egypt),¹⁸⁹ thereby completing the number of seventy descendents. Like the prince(ss) of Egypt, the seventieth descendent of Jacob was female. Therefore, while Pharaoh reigned over Egypt , he was reigned over by a feminine. Heavenly representative. That is why he said, “Let every girl live,” (Ex. 1:22) since the angelic princess watched over them. And it was for this reason that Yocheved gave birth to Moses, and that she was born in Egypt. From Yocheved the one who would negate the angelic princess of Egypt was born. That is also why all of the firstborn Egyptian women died during the tenth plague. This is the essence of his lengthy explanation. It might be that the firstborn women of other idolatrous nations who were in Egypt (there were members of every nation present in Egypt) did not die; only the firstborn males of other nations died. This is what is stated in Shemot Rabbah, chapter 18, “the first fruit of their vigor,” (Ex 18:3) - The first drop that were female firstborns also died,”¹⁹⁰ that is, the firstborn Egyptian women. This is the meaning of the verse, “He struck every first-born in Egypt, the first fruits of their vigor in the tents of Ham.” This implies that the male firstborn in Egypt died including of the nations; in addition to them, God smote “the vigor in the tents of Ham” - specifically the Egyptian women. If this analysis is correct then (we must ask) - weren’t the Israelites also guests in Egypt and therefore should have been judged like the other nations. If so, then only the males would have died and not the females just like the female firstborn of the other nations! It is for this reason that God commanded that only the firstborn males needed redemption because God had saved the male firstborn from dying in Egypt, and God did not need to save the firstborn females. The female firstborn did not need redemption and that is the essential reason why the firstborn women do not have to fast on Passover eve. The simple person asks about “What is this,” when he sees the firstborn male animals are sanctified but not the female ones. He asks like a person who cannot articulate his question. He receives the answer, “With a mighty hand…and God smote all the first born of the other nations - the male ones specifically. Only the female Egyptian firstborn died so the Israelite female firstborn do not require redemption. This may be because the angelic representative of Egypt was female as Scripture says, “On that day, the Egyptians shall be like women….” (Is. 19:16) as is explained in Exodus Rabbah 8:2.

footnotes: ¹⁸⁸ Rav Jonathan Eybeschütz (1690 – 1764) was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. With Rav Jacob Emden, he is well known as a protagonist in the Emden– Eybeschütz Controversy. (wikipedia). This book is a collection of sermons on ethical matters . ¹⁸⁹ See BT Sota 12a; Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: The “daughter of Levi” is Jochebed, whose conception was on the road, and she was born between the walls, i.e., in Egypt, as it is stated: “And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt” (Nu. 26:59). ¹⁹⁰ Exodus Rabbat 18:3