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 

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