רָ א וּ … כִָּק שִׁ מְְבּ
כ וֹ ת אֲ שֶׁ רָל עַ ל ־ מַ מְְו דָ עוּnְי
recitation of verses beginning with lines from Psalm 79 :
ְשׁ ֹפ h ְתָמֲ ח רֶאn ל ־ הַ גּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁ ל ֹא
. n ל ֹא י אָ כַ ל אֶ ת ־ ַ י עֲ קֹ ב וְּו אֶ ת ־ נָ ֵ ו ה וּ הֵ שַׁ מּ
“ Pour out your fury on the nations that do not know you ….. for they have devoured Jacob and desolated his home .”
To whom are these words addressed ?
The conventional answer is that they are addressed to God , who is asked to inflict retribution on those who have harmed God ’ s people . But perhaps we can imagine the “ you ” here to be each celebrant at the Seder reading the Haggadah .
That is , after we see the emptiness at the hopedfor door of redemption , we are prompted to pour out our own fury at what the world can inflict . We need the catharsis of expressing rage at the violation and destruction of human bodies , the cruel holding of hostages who have yet to be brought out from darkness to light , and the crushing of the dream that in a sovereign and armed Jewish state such things were safely in the past .
So yes , the expression of rage at brutality suffered by our people is not out of place . It is natural , and does no good when it is kept in . But there is one more crucial element in this cathartic moment that must not be missed . For the anger to which we give expression is placed just before the third
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