Rav Aryeh Leib of Stanislav zt"l
הרב אריה לייב בן מרדכי מסטניסלב זצ"ל
Cheshvan 10 , 5510
Divrei Torah of Rav Aryeh Leib of Stanislav zt"l
peirush/commentary on chad gadya from haggadah shel pesach
In response to some who ridiculed the Chad Gadya poem, the Baal Shem of Michelstadt, Rav Yitzchok Aryeh Zekel Leib Wormser, wrote this commentary:
“Chad gadya d’zabin abba b’trie zuzei-- One goat that Father bought for two zuzim”
The gadya or baby goat refers to Am Yisrael who are hinted to in the midrash on Naso where twelve tribal leaders offer ten goats as a sacrifice to Hashem. The word gadya also stands for (the combined gematrios): gimel = 3 patriarchs; dalet = 4 matriarchs, yud = 10 commandments, alef = the Torah. The “Abba” is Our Father in Heaven, Hashem, as it says, “Are you not our Father?” And He acquired us, as Chazal say in Avos: “Yisroel--one acquisition as it says in Shemos (15:16) “This people You acquired.” The two zuzim are plural and symbolize the two luchos given to Moshe two times: once before the sin of the golden calf and once again afterwards.
“Vasa shunra v’achla l’gadya – And a cat came and ate the goat.”
The cat refers to the first of the four kings that Daniel mentions in his prophetic dream. That is: Nebuchadnezer, king of Babylon. The הוא נבוכדנצר מלך בבל" " –the Aramiac word for cat has the same numerical value as “He is Nebuchadnetzer, the king of Babylon.” The characteristic of cats is ingratitude--cats, as pets, behave ungratefully. Nebuchadnetzer was very ungrateful towards Hashem, despite all the miracles that occurred for him and despite the fact that he was granted success in conquering Israel. He was the first of four kings to do evil unto the Jewish people, destroying the First Temple and sending the Jews into exile. שונרא it can alternatively be spelled ending with either yud or hey and alludes to the nesher or aryeh – the vulture or lion, both of which Babylon is compared to (See Daniel, chapter 7). The word enosh is also included in shunra see the pasuk: “Kadmisa craye v’gapin d’nesher v’levav enosh yehavis leh.
“V’asa kalba v’achla l’shunra – And a dog came and ate the cat.” The dog refers to the second king that appeared in Daniel’s prophetic vision: Koresh the Persian who killed Belshatzar and all of Nebuchadnetzer’s descendants. He is called a dog because Kalba stands for: “Koresh lacham es Belshatzar and: Koresh lakad es Bavel-- Koresh fought against Belshatzar and Koresh captured Babylon.” Koresh appeared in Daniel’s vision as a gazelle or bear which is the gematria of kalba/ כלבא. The dog is a loyal pet known as “man’s best friend” and Koresh was loyal to G-d; he acted faithfully, urging the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of Hashem’s Temple (see Ezra 1) The word kalba also means “chaperon” as in Nechemia 2 ; there are legends that he was weaned by a dog (see Sefer Yuchsin p. 136b).
“Veasa chutra v'hika l’kalba – And a stick came and hit the dog.” This refers to Alexander the Great of Macedon, the third king seen by Daniel in his prophetic vision. He killed Koresh and captured the royal crown from him (see Daniel 8). He is called a stick or staff because his rule stretched over almost the entire civilized world (Daniel 11). He was a powerful and upstanding ruler like a staff or stick (see Avoda Zara 41).
The word חוטרא/stick also stands for the following sequence of events. Each beginning letter of each sentence in this narrative forms the acronym, א:
אלכסנדר טרח ויגע רוב חיותו. חכמת ופילוסופית טבעית רבו אריסטולס. אבל טרחות חקירתו ריק והבל. אנשיו וחיילותיו חרבו טירות רבות. ארצו טרם ראה חלה וימת. וימלוך טמא רשע אנטיוכס חריקיו.
“Alexander exerted great effort during his life, in that he studied natural wisdom and philosophy from his teacher Aristotle. However, all his efforts were in vain. His warriors and soldiers destroyed many cities, yet he died on the battlefield far from home and a wicked, king reigned after him named Antiochus.”
“V’asa nura v’saraf l’chutra – And a fire came and burned the stick.”
Nura, or fire, refers to Yehuda Maccabee who burned the stick by killing the Macedonian Greeks and their king and destroying their land. Thus, he saved Bnei Yisroel from the Greek’s dominion over them. Nura, together with the word itself, is equal to the gematria of “Yehuda Maccabee and his brothers the Kohanim.” נורא = יהודה מכבי ואחיו כהנים
“Veasa maya v’kaba l’nura – and water came and put out the fire.”
The maya, or water, refers to King Herod who killed all the descendants of the Hasmonean Dynasty and left no survivors. He wrested the kingdom from their grasp and took it for himself. He is symbolized by the water, maya/ מיא –which is the acronym of the following: מזרע אנטיפטר יהיה. מצד אמו ישראל. מי יהיה אחרון. אגריפס מלך יהודים. מי ימית אותו. מלך אפסינוס יקרא. את מלכותו יקח. את מקדשינו יחריב. מי יגאל אותנו. יונה מגזע אמיתי. מי יבוא אתו. אליהו משיח יחד. אימתי יבא משיח. משיתיאשו ישראל אותו.
“He will be descended from Antipater; his mother was a Jewess (Sotah 41). Who shall reign afterwards? Agrippas, the Jewish King. Who shall kill him? King Aspasyanus (Vespasian); he shall take his kingdom, destroy our Temple. Who shall redeem us? A dove from the true line. Who shall bring him? Eliyahu and Mashiach, together. When shall Mashiach come? When Bnei Yisroel despair of all hope of his arrival.”
“V’asa tora v’shasa l’maya – And an ox came and drank the water.”
The ox refers to Aspayanus (Vespasian) the Roman, and his son Titus. They are the Caesars-- the Greco-Roman title for king-- and they comprise the fourth king seen by Daniel in his prophetic vision. They destroyed the Second Temple and murdered the Herodian kings, ending their dynasty. They exiled Bnei Yisroel from their land. They are known as the “tora -- ox” whose gematria is the same as that of “Aspasyanus and his son Titus.” תורא=אספסינס ובנו טיטוס
Another reason they are symbolized by the ox is that the Roman leaders are called the ox or shor (see the Tikkunim ).
The fourth kingdom that Daniel sees is divided and split into two (see Daniel 2:41-42). The Romans are the first half; the second half are the Yishmaelite Muslim. The two cultures clash “as iron does not mix with clay.” (Daniel 2:43).
“V’asa shochet v’shachat l’tora– And a slaughterer came and butchered the ox.”
The shochet, or slaughterer, refers to the first Ishmaelite king named Mohamed who reigned in the year שע"ד of the אלף חמיש י. He captured the great city of Antioch and the entire Aramaic lands as well as Armenia, their holy city, and all of Asia Minor. There was none greater than he, and all Christians who refused to converted were slaughtered. It is said that on one day he killed 150,000 Christians. His reign has been a thorn in the side of the Romans till this day.
He is called שוחט because this gematria is equivalent to: המלך מחמוד נביאיהם" – The King Mohamed, their prophet.”
He is the king of Yishmael, the second of the two kingdoms, of the fourth reign, as seen in Daniel’s prophetic vision as mentioned above.
Another reason Yishmael is known as the shochet is hinted at by the four commandments that the Muslims religiously uphold more so than the other gentile nations. They are: (halal) ritual slaughter and (khitan) circumcision, (haram) refraining from eating pig’s meat and (wudu and Janabat ghusl) ritual immersion. שחיטה ומילה חזיר טבילה whose acronym spells: שוחט.
“V’asa malach hamaves v’shachat l’shochet – the Angel of Death came and killed the slaughterer.”
The angel of death refers to the King Gog from the land of Magog. He is prophesied by Yechezkel (Yechezkel 38:8, 16, 10). The togrema refers to Yishmael who shall kill many nations (see further Zechariya 11,12,13 and 14).
He is called the Angel of Death because the gematria of: מלאך המות is the same as: הוא המלך הגדול גוג מארץ המגוג.
“V’asa Hakadosh Baruch Hu v’shachat l’Malach Hamaves. And the Holy One came and killed the Angel of Death.”
Hashem, the Holy One blessed be He, shall kill Gog and all of his myriad minions. At that time, the following verses shall be fulfilled: “And they shall know that I am Hashem your G-d,” and, “I gathered them unto their land and I shall leave none of them there behind.” This did not occur after the Babylonian exile when, as stated in Nechemia 7, only 42,360 returned.
This fulfills the prophecy in Zecharia 13: “And on that day, said the Lord of Hosts, I shall cut down the idols from the land and their memory shall cease and their prophets as well, and the spirit of impurity shall I remove from the land; death shall be swallowed up forever and on that day Hashem and His Name shall be one.” Amen, may it be His will. (Baal Shem of Michelstadt citing Olas Chodesh Nissan תש"מ)