am@vilya.UUCP (MALEK) (08/29/85)
> Permit me to correct just one misconception. Nowhere in the Passover Seder > do we thank the Lord for killing first-born Egyptions. Le-makei mizraim bi-vechoreihem, Ki leolam chasdo (hallel) Ilu harag et bechoraihem ve-lo natan lanu et mamonam, dayainu (There may be more, I am quoting without a full search) > We thank him for having spared our own first born sons, but not for taking > the Egyptions'. We thank Him for delivering us from the Pharoahs soldiers, > but not for drowning them in the Red Sea. Ilu he'eviranu betocho be-charava ve-lo shika tzareinu be-tocho, dayainu (had he taken us through the sea and not drowned our enemies in it, dayainu) > In fact, the TEXT of the Seder reminds us of G*d's sadness over the deaths > of the Egyption soldiers, and reminds us not to celebrate their deaths, > since the Egyptians are G*d's children, just as we are. > Frank Silbermann (caps are mine-am) Could you please quote the text to which you refer. I searched my Hagada and failed to find such a text. Some people mistakenly believe that the spilling of wine during the reading of the ten plagues is in order to make people feel bad for the poor Egyptians, but if the sages wanted to put such sadness into the seder they would have done so in the text. The spilling of the wine is a sign of celebration, just like the spilling of wine at havdalah (I can't prove it though), just like people spill champagne on each other when they win the pennant. "Kol bayit she-ain nishpach bo yayin ka-mayim ayno roeh siman bracha" - only a house where wine is spilled like water is blessed. The talmud, in reference to the verse near the end of Kings Vol 1, "Va-tavor ha-rina ba-machane" - and the rejoicing passed in the camp, says: "Ba-avod reshaim rina" - when the wicked are destroyed we rejoice. If G-d feels bad in a cosmological way, it is not our concern to the extent that we should be less happy. "If the Jews had sung G-d's praises when the soldiers of Sancheriv died in the time of Chizkiyahu, the messiah would have come immediately" (Talmud Sanhedrin, I would not feign to call this a translation) I will post more references if someone requests them. > since the Egyptians are G*d's children, just as we are. Can you show this from Jewish sources? Avi Malek -- Avi Malek @ATT Bell Labs Parsippany, NJ