בדמייך חיי, Rabbi Alan Haber

On the Seder Night, as part of our סיפור יציאת מצרים, we studied the Parsha of ארמי אבד אבי (Devarim 26:5-8).  The Haggadah, based on מדרשי חז"ל, went through each phrase in these few sentences and expanded upon its meaning, often by making reference to verses elsewhere in the Tanach.  One of these Drashot has always confused me:

ויהי שם לגוי גדול עצום ורב:  ורב –  כמה שנאמר, “רבבה כצמח השדה נתתיך ותרבי ותגדלי ותבאי בעדי עדיים שדים נכנו ושערך צמח ואת ערם ועריה: ואעבור עליך ואראך מתבוססת בדמיך ואמר לך בדמיך חיי ואמר לך בדמיך חיי:”

The Haggadah connects the word “ורב” (numerous) in the Pasuk with a verse in the book of Yechezkel (16:7) that uses a related word to compare the multiplication of Am Yisrael in Egypt to the growth of a plant in nature.

Following this, many Haggadah texts quote the previous Pasuk (16:6), containing the powerful phrase “ואמר לך בדמייך חיי, ואומר לך בדמייך חיי”.  (Note: this second pasuk appears in many Haggadah texts, but not all.  In fact, it is missing from the Rambam’s text and a number of other early ones.  It does, however, appear in some texts from several hundred years ago, and I have seen the claim that this was part of the original text quoted in the name of the Arizal.  In any case, I will relate to it here in the manner in which it appears in many – if not most – contemporary Haggadot.)

The verse in Yechezkel 16:6 is familiar to many, due to its inclusion in the Haggadah, as well as in the ceremony for a Brit Milah.  Over the years, the potent expression “בדמייך חיי”  has conjured up many images and ideas and become a slogan of sorts for Jews who have made sacrifices for the sake of Hashem.  Naomi Shemer, for example, wrote a song based on this verse, connecting it to the reality of modern Israel, where “life” often comes as a result of “blood” – first the sacrifices of the Shoah, and then of those who fell in Israel’s wars and to acts of terrorism.

I remember the last time I was in Gush Katif (may it be speedily rebuilt).  It was in the summer of the year 5765, a week before the IDF closed the area to non-residents.  I was there with a group of MMY girls who came to try to give some support to the beleaguered residents.  A woman who lived there acted as our tour guide, taking us around and showing us the various sites.  At each spot, she showed us what they had built and often mentioned various terrorist attacks that had taken place over the years, mentioning many specific individuals who had been killed or wounded there.  As she did so, she kept repeating the refrain “בדמייך חיי!”. 

The rabbis understood the verse in a similar, yet somewhat different way.  They suggested that the repetition of the phrase is a hint to two separate bloods – the blood of the קרבן פסח and the blood of ברית מילה.  Through these two mitzvot involving blood, they say, Am Yisrael achieves life (it is for this reason that the verse is recited at a Brit Milah.)

Interestingly, though, the simple “pshat” meaning of the Pasuk is different from these interpretations.  In order to arrive at the meanings discussed above, the verse must be read as “ואמר לך, בדמייך חיי” – “I said to you, ‘In (or by) your blood shall you live’”.  However, most commentators explain the simple meaning of the verse in a more prosaic way, by placing the comma in a different place: “ואמר לך בדמייך, חיי” – meaning, “While you were still in your blood, I said to you, ‘You shall live!’”

When looking at this verse in its original context in a nevuah of Yechezkel, a number of questions arise, both about the nevuah itself, and about its introduction at this point in the Haggadah.

(In order to understand this better, it is highly recommended that the reader pause for a moment here, take a Tanach and read Chapter 16 of Yechezkel before continuing with this article.)  Here is a summary of the different sections of that chapter:

1. Psukim 1-3: The nevuah is introduced as a rebuke to Am Yisrael for her “abominations”.
2. Psukim 4-14: The main metaphor – Am Yisrael is compared to a baby girl who was abandoned in the first moments after birth and left in the field, still covered in blood and with her umbilical cord attached, completely neglected.  Hashem found her there and saw her “מתבוססת בדמייך” (wallowing in her blood), and said to her “חיי” – “You shall live!”  She then grew up and reached maturity, and Hashem cleansed her of her blood, clothed her in beautiful clothing and jewelry, and entered into a covenant of marriage with her.  She was very beautiful, became famous and was admired by all.
3. Psukim 15-35:  The metaphor continues – the young bride became arrogant and unfaithful, and turned into an adultress and a harlot.  This imagery, comparing Am Yisrael’s relationship to Hashem with that of a husband and wife, and comparing Am Yisrael’s sins to adultery and harlotry, are common in the books of the Tanach.  However, this specific passage is unusually graphic in its imagery and particularly harsh in its rebuke.  See, for example, the closing Pasuk of this section: “לכן זונה, שמעי דבר ה'!”
4. Psukim 36-60:  Because of her crimes and betrayal, Am Yisrael will be harshly punished, her land will be destroyed and she will be shamed and humiliated.
5. Psukim 61-63:  After Hashem’s anger has been spent, Am Yisrael will be redeemed.  But not because she will deserve it – rather, because Hashem keeps His covenant.  Therefore, even after she has been redeemed and forgiven, she will be reminded of her sin and must constantly be ashamed, so she will not sin again.

As mentioned above, we can ask a number of questions about this chapter in Yechezkel, and about the way in which the Haggadah quotes it:

1. The imagery at the first part of the Perek in Yechezkel is that Hashem finds the abandoned baby and promises to save her.  When she grows up and reaches the stage of “ותבאי בעדי עדיים שדים נכנו ושערך צמח”, He sees that she is beautiful and mature, and prepares to marry her.  It then says that at this point in preparation for their marriage (“והנה עתך עת דודים”), He clothes her and cleanses her of her blood.  This seems strange.  If He found this neglected baby lying in the field, why didn’t He immediately wash her and clothe her?  Why did He leave her naked and bloody until she grew up?
2. What does the Haggadah mean by connecting this Pasuk to the word “ורב” in “Parshat Arami”?  What does this add to our understanding of the primary statement and the story of יציאת מצרים?
3. Why would the Haggadah make reference to such a harsh nevuah?  Although the part referred to is unquestionably a beautiful image, it cannot be divorced from its context – a passage that is highly critical of Am Yisrael.  Why would we make reference specifically to this nevuah in the context of telling the story of יציאת מצרים on the night of the Seder??
4. The expression “בדמייך חיי” is a powerful one.  As mentioned above, it has evoked many emotional reactions and became the source of an important idea in חז"ל.  Yet, as also explained above, the simple reading of the verse is much less dramatic.  How and why did it get these connotations?   Is there a hint in the Pasuk for the Midrashic meanings? 
5. The quotation in the Haggadah switches the order of the psukim – first רבבה כצמח השדה and then ואמר לך בדמייך חיי – but in the text of Yechezkel it’s the other way around!  What is the meaning of this?

I think one approach can answer all of these questions. 

The historical period covered by the first part of the nevua is the period of Am Yisrael’s enslavement in Egypt.  It is at this time that the prophet metaphorically describes us as an abandoned baby lying helpless in the field.  The image of “wallowing in blood” symbolizes the impurity of Egypt, the sin, the bad values.  The expressions “עדי עדיים” and “עת דודים” refer to the time of יציאת מצרים and מתן תורה.  At the time we left Egypt, we were fully grown and mature, yet still covered in blood, and still naked.  The clothing and jewelry that the nevuah describes as the source of our beauty and fame represent the Torah and Mitzvot we received at Har Sinai.

Someone who found an abandoned baby and wanted to take care of her would certainly wash and dress her.  The fact that the metaphor in Yechezkel delays those actions until we reached maturity is meant to teach us that the “childhood” of Am Yisrael was spent in Egypt, immersed in immorality.  Although Hashem promised to save us, He left us for a time in Egypt.  We “grew up” under the influences of their culture, which we also participated in (Yechezkel 20:8), and therefore even many years later we were still naked and dirty.

This may therefore be what the Haggadah is trying to point out by connecting the verse in Yechezkel to our story.  When we speak of becoming a “גוי גדול עצום ורב”, we are actually talking about a period during which we were immersed in immorality and sin – and this had an effect on us.
According to the “Pshat” of the nevuah, Hashem did everything for us, and we deserved nothing. “ואומר לך בדמייך” – while still wallowing in the blood of impurity, He promised that we would live.  And in the later stages of history represented by the later sections of the nevuah, we betrayed Hashem and continued to sin.  So we do not deserve the final redemption any more than we deserved the original one.

However, the Midrash quoted in the haggadah gives it a different spin and teaches us how to remove ourselves from this nevuah and enter a different category.  It places the phrase “ואמר לך בדמייך חיי” AFTER the maturation of Am Yisrael (even though in the text of Yechezkel it is before).  And we know that the rabbis moved that comma, and told us that the key to life is actually the blood of the קרבן פסח and ברית מילה.  By doing so, they are teaching us that there is a way to deserve redemption.  And that is to redeem oneself from the “blood” of sin with the purifying blood of self-sacrifice. 

The night following the Seder, we begin the process of ספירת העומר.  This 49-day process is meant to replicate and reenact the period of time during which we removed ourselves from the impurity of Egypt, and elevated ourselves to become worthy of receiving the Torah. 

Along the way, in our contemporary calendar, we pass through a number of other commemorations.  A few days after Pesach, we have Yom HaShoah – the day which Am Yisrael has chosen to commemorate the horrible sacrifices of the Holocaust (there is a significant debate about whether or not this was the correct time to choose for this – but rightly or wrongly, this is when it’s done.)  A week or so after that, we observe Yom Ha’Atzmaut, but only after Yom HaZikaron, when we remember those who fell in the wars that made it possible for us to achieve and maintain this independence.  Along the way, we observe customs of mourning to remember the students of Rabbi Akiva who died, as well as those who were murdered על קידוש השם during the Crusades.  We then move to the elation of ל"ג בעומר and then יום ירושלים, commemorating another modern miracle that came at the price of many Jewish lives.  And then finally, we enter the month of Sivan and the שלושת ימי הגבלה, when we attempt to complete the process of purification to receive the Torah anew.

The message “ואמר לך בדמייך חיי”, in the context of its original meaning in the nevuah of Yechezkel, together with the additional and at times opposing meanings added by the Midrash and the Haggadah, is extremely relevant at this time and in our generation.  We can be thrust into the final Redemption undeserving and ashamed, as Yechezkel admonishes.  Or, we can do Teshuva for our sins, purifying ourselves and growing through accepting the Torah, so that we achieve life and merit Redemption as a result of our own actions.