A slight divergence from Nach, to Pesach.
What is the most important mitzvah of the Seder that many people forget?
To answer this, let's think about the statement of the Mishnah, which is found in our Haggadah: "In each and every generation, a person must see himself as if he left Egypt."
We discuss this every Pesach. Matzah, Maror, Magid, the four cups are all part of how we recreate that experience. And of course, hard internal work is necessary to utilize these tools to get to the point of seeing ourselves as if we left Egypt.
But remember the end of Maggid? After the whole story is over, we say the word "Therefore."
Therefore. We recognize what God did (that's seeing ourselves as leaving Egypt), and then we say "Therefore." Therefore, because what God did, "we are obligated to give thanks, to praise, to extol. . . to the One who did for forefathers and for us all of these miracles. . ."
The purpose of Maggid is to make us aware. Then we are called upon to respond, and that response is Hallel.
To blow through Hallel is to miss the point of the Seder. If we skim through it, if we skip it, then we show that we didn't really do Maggid. So take a few minutes before Pesach starts to review Hallel. A lot of people aren't so familiar with it, it sounds repetitive, it is uncomfortable to our "modern" worldview. But not everything unfamiliar should stay that way, the themes of Hallel are both complex and uplifting, and sometimes we need to venture out of our comfort zone and adjust our worldview.
Chag kasher v'sameach.
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