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יק ֱא 'ה ר ַמ ָא הֹכּ ,םָﬠָה לָכּ ל ֶא ַﬠ ֻשוֹ הְי ר ֶמאֹיַו :ר ַמֱאֶנּ ֶשׁ ,וֹת ָדֹבֲﬠַל םוֹק ָמַּה וּנָב ְרֵק וי ָשׁ ְכַﬠְו ,וּני ֵתוֹבֲא וּיָה ה ָרָז ה ָדוֹבֲﬠ י ֵד ְבוֹע הָלּ ִח ְתּ ִמ
םָה ָר ְב ַא ת ֶא םֶכי ִבֲא ת ֶא חַק ֶאָו .םי ִ רֵח ֲא םי ִה ֱא וּד ְבַﬠַיַּו ,רוֹחָנ י ִבֲאַו םָה ָר ְב ַא י ִבֲא ח ַר ֶתּ ,םָלוֹע ֵמ םֶכי ֵתוֹבֲא וּב ְשָׁי רָהָנַּה רֶבֵﬠ ְבּ : ל ֵא ָר ְשִׂי
רַה ת ֶא ו ָשֵׂﬠְל ן ֵתּ ֶאָו .וי ָשֵׂﬠ ת ֶאְו בֹקֲﬠַי ת ֶא קָח ְצִיְל ן ֵתּ ֶאָו ,קָח ְצִי ת ֶא וֹל ן ֵתּ ֶאָו וֹע ְרַז ת ֶא הֶבּ ְר ַאָו ,ןַﬠָנ ְכּ ץ ֶר ֶא לָכ ְבּ וֹתוֹא ֵלוֹאָו רָהָנַּה רֶבֵﬠ ֵמ
. םִי ָר ְצ ִמ וּד ְרָי ויָנָבוּ בֹקֲﬠַיְו ,וֹתֹא ת ֶשׁ ֶרָל רי ִﬠ ֵשּׂ

At first our forefathers worshiped idols, but then the Omnipresent brought us near to divine service, as it is
written: "Joshua said to all the people: so says the Lord God of Israel--your fathers have always lived beyond
the Euphrates River, Terach the father of Abraham and Nachor; they worshipped other gods. I took your father
Abraham from the other side of the river and led him through all the land of Canaan. I multiplied his family
and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau; to Esau I gave Mount Seir to inherit, however Jacob and
his children went down to Egypt."

Why Do We Need Both ‘Avadim Hayenu’ and ‘MiTchila Ovdei Avoda Zara’?‐

Ben Gelman (12th Grade)

The passage of MiTchila Ovdei Avoda Zara appears in Maggid, some time after the paragraph of Avadim
Hayenu has already been read. Both passages seem to deal with similar themes, relating to stories of our ances-
tors becoming closer to G-d. In the first text, early Jews are described as slaves. In MiTchila Ovdei Avoda Zara,
we are reminded that our ancestors worshipped idols but later became closer to Hashem. This begs the question:
why do we need to read both passages when they both have very similar topics?

After further consideration, it seems that the two sections may in fact oppose each other: Avadim Hayenu fo-
cuses on the physical redemption from slavery while MiTchila Ovdei Avoda Zara is more concerned with how
the Jews became spiritually redeemed. Rabbi Michael Rosensweig notes that there is a debate in the Talmud
between Rav and Shmuel over which passage is more important. Should we emphasize the escape from slavery
more or rather the spiritual return to Hashem?

It seems to me that the two must coexist, and are incomplete without one another. The inclusion of both is sup-
posed to teach us a lesson: that finding true meaning in life and serving G-d in the right way is only possible
when we have been both physically and spiritually redeemed. Just as the Jews in this story could not serve G-d
without first escaping from both slavery and the avoda zara of their ancestors, so too, all Jews cannot realize
their religious potential without having both the practical means to do so as well as the ability to transcend the
physical to connect with G-d.

Liam Marin—1st grade