Pesach Day 2: This Is A Story About Stories

Description

Let me tell you a story… about stories.

Storytelling is a Mitzvah. “And you shall tell your child” is a Torah commandment obligating us to tell the our story. In addition to “educating” our children in the Jewish way, we also have to “tell” our children the story of being a Jew.

This indeed is the centerpiece of the Seder. The Haggadah, the “telling,” is anchored around Maggid, the relating of the story, our story.

However, unlike the Mitzvah of Torah study and Jewish education, the Mitzvah of telling the story has no blessing. Every morning we recite the Birchat Hatorah, Baruch Ata…asher kidishanu b’mitzvotov v’tzivanu al divrei Torah, the blessing on the study of Torah.

And yet, unlike every other Mitzvah of the Seder night, we do not make a bracha, a blessing, on the storytelling.

We make a bracha when we light candles, make kiddush, eat the vegetable dipped in salt water, washing our hands for Hamotzi, on the Matzo, on the Maror, on the food of the meal, on bentching, on Hallel… on everything but Maggid.

Why don’t we bless the Mitzvah of telling the story?

We can answer this question with, you guessed it, a story.