Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah said, "Behold I am like a seventy year old man yet I have not merited to understand why the Exodus from Egypt should be said at night until Ben Zoma explicated it, as it is stated (Deut. 16:3), 'In order that you remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life;' 'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked during] the days, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also during] the nights." But the Sages say, "'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked in] this world, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also in] the next world. This is a second example that the Maggid brings to show that it is a commandment to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt at length. It is taken from the Mishnah Berachot in which Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah states what he learned on the day when he was appointed chief of the Sanhedrin. According to the Jerusalem Talmud in Berachot, at the time, he was only thirteen years old.³¹ It is with surprise that he says, “I am like a person of seventy years old!” He implies that though his expertise and background in matters of Torah increased so that he was equal in knowledge to a seventy year old, he still could not prove that one should mention the Exodus at night, until Ben Zoma taught him how to do so. Ben Zoma is Shimon Ben Zoma. Of Ben Zoma it is said that, “When he saw the throngs of Israel he said, ‘Blessed is the One who created all these beings to serve me,’” implying that he was the perfection of humanity. This statement was not meant to be “prideful, and arrogant,” God forbid! (Prov.8:13) Rather his statement was meant to arouse the hearts of the students and to inspire them. Ben Zoma was extremely young, and was not yet ordained so he was referred to by his father’s name, “Ben Zoma.”…Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah comments that even though he was young, it was through God’s grace that he became like a seventy year old, complete in his knowledge of Torah and in his position as head of the Sanhedrin. He now complains that if this is so, why couldn’t he figure out the answer as Ben Zoma did. After all, Ben Zoma was younger than him and did not experience the miracle that Elazar ben Azariah did.³² Ben Zoma’s Midrash is to prove that mentioning the Exodus at night means mentioning it every evening in the evening liturgy (and not just on Passover). The Talmud ³³ already proved that we mention the Exodus by reciting the passage dealing with fringes in the Sh’ma since it contains a statement regarding the Exodus.³⁴ Even though the commandment of fringes is not observed at night, since the Torah states, “you shall see it…” (Num. 15:39) Ben Zoma argues that it is fitting to recite the whole last passage of the Sh’ma in the evening including this passage because it also contains a reference to the Exodus. In this way, we mention the Exodus at night. Even though Deut. 16:3 is taken from the passage dealing with the Passover offering , Ben Zoma realized that it was impossible that this verse is a reference only to the Passover offering since it concludes, “All the days of your life.” How could it be a reference only to the Passover offering which is offered yearly and not something we do every day? How is it possible that we should explicate the laws of Passover all year long? We have learned that, “We study the laws of the festival before the festival.³⁵ Ben Zoma concludes that the verse in Deuteronomy regarding the Exodus is recited “all the days of your life,” something we do each day. The first half of the statement, “For you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly,” (Deut. 16:3) is an explanation for the Passover offering and matzot. The second half of the verse, “That you may remember the day of your Exodus from the land of Egypt all the days of your life” is a way of saying, “Have I not commanded and warned you to remember the Exodus from Egypt so that you must do so not only on Passover but every day?”

footnotes: ³¹ There appears to be differences of opinion regarding Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah’s age at the time he was appointed head of the Sanhedrin. According to the Babylonian Talmud, he was eighteen years old. There are versions of the Jerusalem Talmud state that he was sixteen years old, as do some of the of commentators. ³² According to the Talmud, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah became white haired overnight even though he was so young so that he would have the appearance of an elder. ³³ Berachot 14b ³⁴ “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God.” Num. 15:41 ³⁵ Since we only offer the Passover offering once a year, we only explicate its laws in the time preceding the Passover observance.

We conclude that, “The days of your life,” means to mention it during the day... By adding “All,” the verse includes the obligation to mention it at night as well. The Sages did not agree with this interpretation since they thought of the night as a continuation of the day, as in the verse, “There was evening and there was morning, one day.” (Gen. 1:5) If so, then ‘night’ is included in the word ‘day,’ and all twenty four hours are called “day.” Therefore, we learn something different from the verse that states that we are obligated to recite the passage dealing with fringes. The Sages interpret this verse as follows: “The days of your life” means in this world, the world of exile, and the word “All” comes to include Messianic times, for even in that time mentioning the Exodus will not be removed from our lips.

The Talmud continues this discussion with Ben Zoma saying, ‘And is the Exodus from Egypt mentioned in the days of the Messiah? Didn’t Jeremiah prophesy regarding Messianic times: ‘Behold, days are coming, says the Lord when they will no longer say: The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt. Rather: (they will say,) As the Lord lives, that brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel up out of the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them’ (Jer. 23:7–8). To this, the Sages said, ‘This does not mean that the Exodus from Egypt will be uprooted from its place. Rather, redemption from the subjugation of the kingdoms will be primary and the Exodus from Egypt will be secondary.’” The Sages were saying that Scripture did not suggest that the festivals of God would be abolished and that there would be new festivals, for the Torah of God and the commandments are eternal without additions or subtractions. The Sages stated,³⁶ “These are the Commandments:” (Lev. 27:34) The word, ‘these,’ teaches us that a prophet is not permitted to introduce new elements related to the Torah.” (Reading of the Megillah was not considered to be an additional holiday.)³⁷ It was Jeremiah’s intention that in the Messianic days the Exodus would not be viewed as the most essential redemption as it is today. Instead the gathering of the Exiles would be greater and it would be viewed as the most essential redemption by most people and therefore the Exodus would be secondary and lesser.

footnotes: ³⁶ Shabbat 104a ³⁷ See Ruth Rabbah 4:5

Even though the Sages are correct, there is another way of answering the question. When the prophet said, “The Lord lives who brought up…” meant that when the people of Israel spoke with one another or made a promise, they would begin by speaking of the Exodus since this was our greatest oath. But in Messianic times, they would begin their oath by saying, “As the Lord lives, that brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel up out of the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them,” since the gathering of the exiles would be a greater wonder than the Exodus from Egypt. This does not contradict the statement that one must mention the Exodus from Egypt in the passage dealing with fringes day or night. It is a set commandment that can never be changed. The Torah commands us regarding our actions and commandments while the prophet Jeremiah was speaking about how people were to make oaths.

Since Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah was talking about the passage dealing with the fringes which also mentions the Exodus, the Maggid brings this statement as a proof that one should mention the Exodus on Passover night in order to emphasize its importance. That is to say, to prove that one must tell the story on Passover eve, Rabbi Elazar first says that one mentions the Exodus every night according to the interpretation of Ben Zoma. Even according to the Sages, one must continue to do so in Messianic times. Since we conclude that if we mention the miracle every night, how much more so tell the story on the eve of Passover, when this event took place. Therefore, one who tells the story at length on this night is truly praiseworthy. Rabbi Elazar did not prove this from the verse, “It is a night of vigil to the Lord,” (Ex.12:42) since this only refers to the eve of Passover. Rabbi Elazar wanted to show that this commandment is applied to all nights, as I have said.

With this I have answered the questions brought in the fourteenth through the eighteenth gates.