Page 88 - RMBA Upper School Haggadah 2018

goat. But cats do whatever they please so, it’s ok, right? But then, a dog approaches and bites
the cat, but dogs do that all the me. And soon a s ck beats the dog. Now ok, it’s not nice, but
s cks are o en used to beat, so it’s ok? But wait, there’s more! A fire comes along, that’s right a
fire (so realis c) and burns the s ck. So naturally, water is nearby ( me to get my supersuit) and
comes to the rescue. He puts out the fire but is too late for the s ck which has been long since
been disintegrated by the fire. The water (now saddened by the s cks death) falls back into a
puddle form and is lapped up by an ox. Now, the ox naturally needs water to survive, so why is it
the fate of the ox to be slaughtered by the butcher? And why is it by any means wrong for the
Angel of Death to do its job. Obviously G-d had something wrong with it because soon a er He
defeats the angel. But G-d, why? Is there a reason that each character is overcome with a
challenge and each character fails to defeat said challenge?
The answer to this ques on comes by an interpreta on by the Vilna Gaon who says that each
character in this story refers to a person or group in history. The kid is said to represent the
birthright that Jacob bought from Esav. And the father represents Jacob who buys the birthright.
The two zuzim represent the bread and stew that Jacob used to buy the birthright. The cat is
used to describe the jealousy Jacob’s sons had of their younger brother, Joseph. That is why the
cat eats the kid, just as the brothers throw Joseph into the pit. As the song goes on so do the
comparisons, with Egypt being played by the dog. Egypt starved us of our freedom and our
iden ty. But soon a savior rose in both tales, the s ck and staff. The s ck in Chad Gadya
represents Moshe Rabeinu’s staff, which redeemed us and brought us through the desert
bringing us our freedom and laws to follow. But just as soon as our spirits rose so did a thirst, for
idolatry, represented by the fire. It swallows up the sense of leadership and loyalty to G-d the
s ck gave us and replaces it with a thirst of idolatry. The water, which ex nguishes the fire, has
the honor of represen ng the sages of BCE who ex nguished the thirst of idolatry. But just as
the water cools and calms it is swallowed by an ox, or in history, the Romans. A er years of
history the butcher of the ox comes with a name, Moshiach Ben-Yosef, the one who restores
Eretz Yisroel to its fullest, and the one who slaughters the ox. But as the years fly by the angel of
death represents itself as he takes the life of both the butcher and Messiah Ben- Yosef. And as
G-d defeats death it signifies the coming of Moshiach Ben-David, who will defeat the challenge
of death and bring us all out of gallus.
The lesson of this song and meaning is that just as we ques on history and why the characters
are constantly faced with challenges and some mes fail, so too we should understand that this
is how the story of the Jews goes. We rise and fall all according to our ac ons and the will of
G-d. We should learn from this that a er facing a challenge that challenges the way we live we
should not see it just as a challenge but as an opportunity to rise up even higher than before.
Why Do We say Chad Gadya On Pesach? - Daniel Gross (10th grade)
Chad Gadya is very out of place. With the seder planned out to a science, many important
sugyas on the seder, and reasonings behind the seder, it seems hard to find the reason for
pu ng Chad Gadya into one of the most holy days of the year. If one would like to argue that
the goat in the song represents the Korban Pesach, it s ll would not make much sense. A er all,
the song talks about a lot of other things than the goat. One could also a empt to argue that

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