ו נ י י ה ם י ד ב
ע Avadim Hayinu
We Were Enslaved
Ilu – ו ל
א Rabbi David Greenstein , PhD
The word “ ilu ” is the pivotal word of the Haggadah , the Passover storytelling . This tiny Hebrew word combines two words – im - ם א - and lu – ו ל . The first word – im - means “ if ”. It is a word that points to the future and to open-ended possibilities and opportunities – and hope . The second word – lu – means “ if only ” or “ would it have been the case ” and points backward to lost chances , regrets and dreads . In the word , ilu , we bring together these opposing perspectives , sensing both possibilities and impossibilities .
The word first appears in the middle of our response to the beloved introduction of the Haggadah , the Four Questions . We rightly celebrate the first sentence of that answer :
“ We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and the Eternal , our Almighty God , took us out with a mighty Hand and an outstretched Arm !”
And we embrace the end of the paragraph that encourages us to increase our engagement in the Telling . But we too often ignore the middle of the paragraph , the sentence that begins with ilu :
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