For Chad Gadya
Rabbi Robert Scheinberg , PhD
In his commentary to the Haggadah , the eminent Israeli Talmud scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz imagines a child trying to make sense of Chad Gadya , the unusual song with which we conclude the Seder . He suggests : A child might read this song as a poem about vengeance and justice . An apparently innocent goat who is eaten by a cat , and then a dog bites the cat . Steinsaltz ’ s hypothetical child assumes this dog is a noble , justice-loving animal who , having witnessed the cruel unprovoked attack against the blameless goat , seeks to punish the cat for this nefarious deed .
Next , the stick beats the dog -- so presumably , the stick is an ally of the cat . The child begins to sort the characters in this story into two teams : the evil Team Cat , who cause the suffering of the innocent and perpetrate reprisals upon those who challenge their right to do so , and the noble Team Dog , who empathize with the suffering of the innocent goat and seek to punish those who victimized it .
The fire burns the stick - so the fire is on Team Dog . The water that extinguishes the fire is on Team Cat . The ox that drinks the water is on the noble Team Dog , and the shochet is on the evil Team Cat . The Angel of Death is on the noble Team Dog … which means that the Holy Blessed
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