Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim - Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

In this shiur, the Rav explains why the Haggadah centers around the parsha of ארמי אובד אבי, the same text used in Mikra Bikkurim. While both mitzvot share a foundation of hakarat hatov, Bikkurim is fulfilled through simple recitation, whereas the Haggadah transforms that text into a much deeper experience. It is not just storytelling, but a structured mitzvah that includes reading a fixed Torah text, analyzing it through Torah Sheba’al Peh, and transmitting it as part of the mesorah from one generation to the next. The Rav shows that Sippur Yetziat Mitzrayim goes beyond intellectual study. It is built as a dialogue that encourages questioning and searching, and it is expressed not only through speech but through action, particularly the seudah and symbolic foods. The night culminates in shirah, an emotional outpouring of praise, and ultimately reframes the Exodus as something not just historically relevant, but personally experienced and continuously unfolding in every generation. __Chapters__ 0:00 Arami Oved Avi 15:00 First Aspect: Kriah 24:49 Second Aspect: Interpretation and Learning 33:14 Third Aspect: Transmitting the Mesorah 44:40 Fourth Aspect: Search for God 50:03 Fifth Aspect: The Seuda 1:13:00 Sixth Aspect: Shirah and Shevach 1:24:00 Seventh Aspect: Eternal Book of Destiny 1:37:50 Eighth Aspect: The Goal of Yetziat Mitzrayim 2:06:18 Ninth Aspect: Gratitude 2:13:00 Tenth Aspect: The Future Redemption