By Rabbi Moshe Pogrow
Jewish life, both private and public, is based on the awareness that Hashem is in our midst. Everything that affects us, big or small, is not left to the force of nature, but is subject to Divine providence, to G-d’s direction of history.
In the beginning, we needed miracles to convince us that Hashem cares about human affairs. Although there was no reason for it, it was at least excusable that we “put G-d to the test” by asking for proof of His presence. We said, “Hayesh Elokim b’kirbeinu, im ayin?” (Shemos 17:7). All the nissim, all the demonstrations with which Hashem introduced us into history, from Egypt to Canaan, had one purpose: to teach us that G-d dwells in our midst.
But as the Jews enter Eretz Yisrael, these nissim now come to an end. They enabled us to recognize G-d’s existence and His presence in the world, and now, this must be an absolute certainty for all time. We cannot ask for new miracles to convince us. Know that Hashem is in our midst, in a world that appears to be run by the laws of nature. Instead, remembering the nissim of history should keep us certain that He is near to us. It should teach us that we can expect further manifestations of His presence only if we devote ourselves to doing what is good in His eyes.
We are told that when our children ask, we must tell them about these nissim. This awareness must be the basis of their Torah education.
If we transmit our historical experiences to our children, they will not need constantly recurring nissim that suspend the normal order of the world.
The question asked in the pasuk is “Ma ha’eidos vehachukim vehamishpatim?” Instead of teaching the commands, we tell the historical origin of our nation, of the nissim that occurred, of Matan Torah. These events attest to G-d and obligate us to keep His commandments.
Accordingly, there are two possibilities about the meaning of “ma ha’eidos.” It is possible that it is, in fact, a question about actual commandments, and we are supposed to transmit first the historical facts that obligate us to keep them, and only then the commandments themselves. The result will be, as Pirkei Avos says, yiraso kodemes chachmaso (3:9). Our ancestors’ oath—naaseh v’nishma—will be realized, for the learning of Torah will be guided by the goal of fulfilling it.
However, it is also possible that “ma ha’eidos?” is not a question about the content of the commandments themselves, but about the reason we are obligated to keep them. The child recognizes the distinctiveness of the symbolic acts, laws of morality, and social regulations that distinguish the Jewish people from all other nations, and he wants to know the reason for this singularity of Jewish life.
Based on the commentary of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l on Chumash, with permission from the publisher.
