As part of the preparation for leil haseder, we have Shabbas Hagadol. Different reasons are given for the title Shabbos Hagadol. The Shulchan Aruch quotes the midrash that the miracle that we are referring to is the taking of the lamb from the Egyptians for our korban Pesach and they were not able to stop us. The miracle took place on Yud Nissan, which that year of Yetzias Mitzrayim was on a Shabbos. The obvious question is that the commemoration of that miracle should be on Yud Nissan, not on Shabbas.
I saw a beautiful answer in the commentary of Maayan shel Torah on the Hagadda. He explains that the logic of why Shabbas became greater (gadol) is based on the following idea. Until Yetzias Mitzryaim, Shabbas was known as a day to remember that Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. However, there was still a theory, especially amongst the non-Jews, that Hashem retired so to speak, and is not involved with what is going on in this world. This false theory was debunked when Hashem showed how involved He is in the world, through sending the ten makos and taking the Jewish people out of Egypt.
Therefore, in essence, Shabbas itself became greater when Hashem began taking the Jewish people out of Egypt. Then, Shabbas – which until then just represented the six days of creation – was transformed into a day that demonstrated that Hashem is actively involved in the most minute details of our lives. This is a powerful message going into leil haseder, when the whole night is focused on our emuna in Hashem, and the belief that whatever Hashem does is really for the good, and nothing in life happens without Hashem.
In fact, throughout the Hagadda, one can see how the above theme develops. It also resolves many of the seemingly contradictory messages of, on the one hand, the idea of freedom and joy, and on the other hand, the sense of galus and pain and sadness. The answer becomes revealed through the korech, which combines the matzah which represents freedom, and the marror, which represents bitterness. Ultimately it all becomes one unit of positivity, and although we can’t see how the marror, which means the bad things, is good, we can sweeten it with the charoses and bind it with the matzos, in order to express our belief that ultimately, all is good if it comes from Hashem.
by Rabbi Daniel Coren
