I gave a shiur a couple of days ago at Midreshet Rachel about the Mitzvah of ‘sipur yetziat mitzraim’. This is the mitzah of speaking about the exodus from Egypt on the night(s) of seder. I discussed the differences between this mitzvah and the twice daily mitzvah of remembering the exodus. We go through the Hagada and discuss the format and structure of the seder. It is interesting that the mishna tells us that we must begin with disgrace and end with praise, there is an argument between Rav and Shmuel as to what this means, and we do both. In other words we have two sets of 4 questions – Mah Nishtana and later the 4 sons. We have 2 separate answers – We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Our ancestors worshipped idols, and we have two sets of praise to conclude.
Many people don’t realise that the second (and long, boring) part of the Hagada (before the meal) is all based on a couple of p’sukim (verses). The Mishna tells us to ‘darshan’ them (and I’m still not sure how to translate that word but I’m open to offers) so we go on a long excursion through drashot on p’sukim. I think knowing that format helps to make sense of what is actually going on at the seder. But for that you will have to listen to the recording.
The shiur is just under an hour. Enjoy.

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