Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch-Bringing Order to the Seder

(3) The person conducting the seder should make changes on this night so that the children will see have their curiosity piqued and thus, remain awake and [be motivated to] ask: "Why is this night different from all other nights?" until he replies to them: "This and this occurred...
What changes should be made? He should give them roasted seeds and nuts, the table should be taken away before they eat;7Pesachim 115b relates that one Pesach, Abaye was sitting before Rabbah, and the latter suddenly picked up the table as if he had finished eating. Abaye exclaimed: "We have not begun to eat and you have already picked up the table! Matzot should be snatched from each other. When a person does not have a son, his wife should ask him. The Sages stressed that the Haggadah should be recited as a response to questions. We show greater interest in learning about a subject when questions have first been raised in our minds. If he does not have a wife, [he and a colleague] should ask each other: "Why is this night different?" This applies even if they are all wise. A person who is alone should ask himself: "Why is this night different?"Since the question and answer approach is the most desirable way to recite the Haggadah, everyone must follow this pattern, even if he must ask himself the questions.

(4) One must begin [the narrative describing our ancestors'] base [roots] and conclude with [their] praise.

What does this imply? One begins relating how originally, in the age of Terach,2Abraham's father our ancestors denied [God's existence]3The Rambam is alluding to the passage "Originally, our ancestors were idol-worshipers." and strayed after vanity, pursuing idol worship. One concludes with the true faith: how the Omnipresent has drawn us close to Him, separated us from the gentiles, and drawn us near to His Oneness. by giving us the Torah.
Similarly, one begins by stating that we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and [describing] all the evil done to us,7The Rambam's statements are based on Pesachim 116a, which mentions a debate between Rav and Shmuel concerning the interpretation of "One must begin [the narrative describing our ancestors'] base [roots] and conclude with [their] praise."
Rav maintains that it is proper to begin from "Originally, our ancestors were worshipers of idols," emphasizing our degrading spiritual roots. Shmuel maintains that we should begin from "We were slaves to Pharaoh, stressing the humble material origins from which our people stem. Customarily, we follow both opinions in our recitation of the Haggadah (Rav Yitzchak Alfasi), and hence the Rambam includes both opinions in this halachah. and concludes with the miracles and wonders that were wrought upon us, and our freedom.8relating the story of the Exodus.
This [implies] that one should extrapolate bringing other verses to explain and clarify the statements of this passage as found in the Haggadah. [the passage beginning] from [Deuteronomy 26:5]: "An Aramean sought to destroy my ancestor..."This passage served as the statement of thanksgiving recited by the farmers bringing bikkurim (the first fruits) to the Temple. The Mishnah (Pesachim 116a) mentions that it was instituted as the basis of the Haggadah. until one concludes the entire passage.11i.e., until Deuteronomy 26:8. Whoever adds and extends his extrapolation12beyond the accepted text of this passage is praiseworthy.

From the beginning, our ancestors were idol worshipers. And now, the Place [of all] has brought us close to His worship, as it is stated (Joshua 24:2-4), "Yehoshua said to the whole people, so said the Lord, God of Israel, 'Over the river did your ancestors dwell from always, Terach the father of Avraham and the father of Nachor, and they worshiped other gods.

(2) He1the person leading the Seder begins and recites the blessing, בורא פרי האדמה,2recited before partaking of a vegetable. It is proper to have the intention to include also the maror, which is eaten later. takes the vegetable, and eats a כזית. He and all those eating together with him, each and every one, do not eat less than a כזית.5 The Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 473:6, states that less than a כזית should be eaten, in order that no question arise as to whether or not one is obligated to recite a blessing afterwards.

It was also taught in the baraita: Rabbi Yehoshua says: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt; and in Nisan in the future the Jewish people will be redeemed in the final redemption. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that the final redemption will be in Nisan? The verse states: “It is a night of watching for the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is the Lord’s night of watching, for all the children of Israel throughout their generations” (Exodus 12:42). This teaches that the night of Passover is a night that has been continuously watched, i.e., set aside for the purpose of redemption, from the six days of Creation, and it will continue to be so until the final redemption.

(2) It is a mitzvah to inform one's sons even though they do not ask, as [Exodus 13:8] states: "You shall tell your son."

(1) Then said to Moses, “You shall soon see what I will do to Pharaoh: he shall let them go because of a greater might; indeed, because of a greater might he shall drive them from his land.” (2) God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am God. (3) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name (4) I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. (5) I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. (6) Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. (7) And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. (8) I will bring you into the land which I swore*swore Lit. “raised My hand.” to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession...

(6) And he put his trust in יהוה, who reckoned it to his merit. (7) Then [God] said to him, “I am יהוה who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to assign this land to you as a possession.” (8) And he said, “O lord יהוה, how shall I know that I am to possess it?”....(13) And [God] said to Abram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; (14) but I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth.

(18) On that day God made a covenant with Abram: “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—

Blessed be the One who keeps His promise to Israel, blessed be He; since the Holy One, blessed be He, calculated the end [of the exile,] to do as He said to Avraham, our father, in the Covenant between the Pieces, as it is stated (Genesis 15:13-14), "And He said to Avram, 'you should surely know that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation for which they shall toil will I judge, and afterwards they will go out with much property.'"

(6) In every generation, a person must present himself as if he is now leaving the slavery of Egypt..."

Pesachim 116b explains that the mitzvah of relating the story of the Exodus cannot remain on the intellectual level alone. Rather, it must affect a person to the extent that he feels that he is leaving Egypt.

And it is this that has stood for our ancestors and for us; since it is not [only] one [person or nation] that has stood [against] us to destroy us, but rather in each generation, they stand [against] us to destroy us, but the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hand.