I

t is interesting that our portion
for Shabbat of Passover, Exodus.
12:21-51, concludes with the
making of matzah, and its
Haftarah, from the Book of
Joshua, concludes with eating
it. The apparent progression
— from making matzah to
eating it — is linked through
an upward trajectory. This
sense of upward trajectory is
also a leitmotif of the seder
itself.
The Mishnah offered an
instruction for leading the
seder. Mishnah Pesachim
10:4, as translated by the
popular website Sefaria,
reads: “He begins [instruct-
ing him about the Exodus
story] with [the account
of Israel’
s] shame and con-
cludes with [Israel’
s] praise
(glory) ...” If you look in your family’
s
Haggadah, you’
re likely to find some
variant of the above. Many modern
Haggadot reference this general con-
cept when they use phrases like “from
slavery to freedom,” “from degrada-
tion to dignity” or “from catastrophe
to consolation.”
We commonly presume today that
this upward trajectory refers to us —
the Jewish people — and, indeed, this
is one valid interpretation. We prove
this, in part, by referring to the above
translation, “[… Israel’
s] shame and
[Israel’
s] praise.” If you look closely,
however, you’
ll see that the word
“Israel” is only in brackets. This indi-
cates that it is an interpretation of the
original Mishnah. Not surprisingly,
there are others.
What was Mishnah’
s original
intent? To understand this better,
let us turn to the original Hebrew,
matchil bi’
g’
nut, u’
m’
sayeim b’
shevach,
which means, “Begin with genut
and conclude with shevach.” What

are genut and shevach? Rather than
“shame” and “glory,” as common
translations suggest, rabbinic litera-
ture understands the word genut
to mean “shortcomings” or “dis-
grace,” and shevach as “praise-
worthiness.” In our example, a
better definition of genut would
be “unseemly behavior deserv-
ing censure,” and shevach as
“worthy acts deserving praise.”
In Beyond the Text: A Holistic
Approach to Liturgy, liturgi-
cal scholar Rabbi Lawrence
Hoffman posits that within its
historical context, the Mishnah
was offering guidance in table
leadership skills: To achieve an
overall mood of uplift, begin
with the somber material and
end with the celebratory. Thus,
a second interpretation of “from
genut to shevach” has to do with
the emotional feeling of the seder.
Yet a third interpretation is that
we refer to God’
s own genut and
shevach. As is commonly known,
the Passover seder is modeled on
the Greco-Roman symposium,
which was, in part, believed to be
underwritten by the gods. There, the
format would be to first “roast” the
gods and then to end the evening
with their praise. Similarly today, we
might open a wedding toast with an
embarrassing story but conclude with
heartfelt praise for bride and groom.
In other words, we begin by daring
to hold God to account for the fact
of our slavery, but in keeping with
an upward trajectory, conclude with
words of praise for the fact of our
freedom and redemption.
May we all enjoy a Passover filled
with deep questions, satisfying
answers and great joy. ■

Aura Ahuvia is rabbi at Congregation Shir

Tikvah in Troy.

46 April 18 • 2019
jn

From Disgrace To Praise

Rabbi Aura
Ahuvia

Parshat

Pesach

I: Exodus

12:21-51;

Numbers

28:16-25;

Joshua 3:5-7,

5:2-6:1, 27.

spirit

torah portion

CELEBRATE spri
ng

CELEBRATE f
reedom

CELEBRATE passover

Hag Sameah.


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