Chad Gadya, One Little Goat: What is the Connection to the Seder Haggadah?

Everyone is familiar with the last song in the Ashkenazic Haggadah, Chad Gadya, One Little Goat:

One Little Goat, One Little Goat, that father bought for two zuzim,
One Little Goat, One Little Goat.
And then came a cat, and ate the goat that father bought for two zuzim,
One Little Goat, One Little Goat….
And then came the Holy One, blessed is He, and killed the angel of death, who slew the slaughterer, who slaughtered the ox…that beat the dog that bit the cat, that ate the goat that father bought for two zuzim,
One Little Goat, One Little Goat.

However, the question is: What is the Connection to the Seder Haggadah? This song could easily be better related to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when we all stand before God in judgment.

According to Rav Dovid Cohen, the answer may lie in the Rambam’s description of the mitzvah to recount the exodus from Egypt (Note: Even though the Rambam did not have Chad Gadya in his Haggadah).

We are commanded to recite the story of the Exodus from Egypt, with all the eloquence at our command, on the eve of the fifteenth of Nisan. One who expands on this theme is to be commended, enlarging on the iniquity of the Egyptians and the sufferings which they inflicted upon us, and on the way in which God wrought His vengeance upon them…. (Sefer HaMitzvos, Aseh 157)

Chad Gadya’s inclusion in the Haggadah reminds us of the message that in the end God’s takes His vengeance, justice is done and everyone gets their just deserts.

The lesson of Chad Gadya is, therefore, very much connected to the Seder, even though, it has a broader mussar message for everyone all year. In the end, as they say, whatever goes around comes around, whether at home or at work, at school or at play -- justice is done and everyone gets their just deserts.

Yom Kippur: Why is it Called God’s Name Day

Yom Kippur is sometimes called Gottes Namen, God’s Name, Day. Some of the reasons offered for this name are:
1 -The Kohen Gadol pronounced the shem ha-meforash as part of the avodah
2 - We conclude with yichud Hashem reciting Hashem hu ha’Elokim, seven times.

Rav Dovid Cohen offered another explanation. The Ramban says the Bnei Yisrael lost knowledge of the Names, shemos, of Hashem at the chet ha-‘egel, the sin of the Golden Calf. At mattan Torah God provided them with weapons i.e. shemos to protect themselves against pestilence and the angel of death. Death would have been conquered as in the time of Adam before he sinned in the Garden of Eden when there was no death.

Va’yis’natzlu v’nei Yisrael es ‘ed’yam mei’har choreiv.
And the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb (Shemos 33:6)

The Ramban on this pasuk is based on the Midrash:
R. Simeon b. Yohai said: [They stripped themselves of] the belts with which He had girded them (Shemos Rabbah 45:2).

BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE THEE (XXIII, 20). Thus it is written, I said: Ye are godlike beings (Ps. LXXXII, 6). Had Israel waited for Moses and not perpetrated that act, there would have been no exile, neither would the Angel of Death have had any power over them. And thus it says, And the writing was the writing of God, graven (haruth) upon the tables (Ex. XXXII, 16). What is the meaning of ’haruth’? R. Judah and R. Nehemiah each explained it. R. Judah says: Free (heruth) from captivity; and R. Nehemiah says: Free from the Angel of Death. When Israel exclaimed: ’All that the Lord hath spoken will we do, and hearken’ (ib. XXIV, 7), the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ' If I gave but one commandment to Adam, that he might fulfill it, and I made him equal to the ministering angels,- for it says, Behold, the man was as one of us (Gen. III, 22) --how much more so should those who practise and fulfill all the six hundred and thirteen commandments-not to mention their general principles, details, and minutiae-- be deserving of eternal life?’ This is the meaning of And from Mattanah to Nahaliel--nahalu (Num. XXI, 19)4; for they had inherited [through the Torah, given as a gift], from God eternal life. As soon, however, as they said, ’This is thy god, O Israel’ (Ex. XXXII, 4), death came upon them. God said: ‘You have followed the course of Adam who did not withstand his trials for more than three hours, and at nine hours death was decreed upon him. “ I said: Ye are godlike beings,” but since you have followed the footsteps of Adam, Nevertheless ye shall die like men. (Shemos Rabbah 32:1)

The Ramban says, that Yisrael accepted death upon themselves as punishment in repentance and remorse for their sin with the Golden Calf.

Yisrael’s voluntary acceptance of death by giving up the power of the shemos to protect them was part of their teshuvah. The second luchos given on Yom Kippur is a sign that their teshuvah was accepted. Hence, the connection to Yom Kippur and the shemos of Hashem on God’s Name Day – Gottes Namen.

The Butcher in Monsey: No One is Immune to the Yetzer Hara’

Rav Dovid Cohen pointed out that the incident of the butcher in Monsey is proof that no one is immune to the yetzer hara’. Rav Dovid noted that the first comment of the Rema in Shulchan ‘Arukh:
Shi’vi’si Hashem l’neg’di samid…
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. (Tehillim 16:8), is the first step to fend off the yetzer hara’.

The Rema follows with the elaboration of the Moreh Nevukhim which directs us to keep our mindset along the following lines as an antidote to the yetzer hara’:

WE do not sit, move, and occupy ourselves when we are alone and
at home, in the same manner as we do in the presence of a great
king; we speak and open our mouth as we please when we are with
the people of our own household and with our relatives, but not so
when we are in a royal assembly. If we therefore desire to attain
human perfection, and to be truly men of God, we must awake
from our sleep, and bear in mind that the great king that is over us,
and is always joined to us, is greater than any earthly king, greater
than David and Solomon. The king that cleaves to us and embraces
us is the Intellect that influences us, and forms the link between us
and God. We perceive God by means of that light that He sends
down unto us, wherefore the Psalmist says," In Thy light shall we
see light" (Ps. xxxvi. g): so God looks down upon us through that
same light, and is always with us beholding and watching us on
account of this light." Can any hide himself in secret places that I
shall not see him ?" (Jer. xxiii. 24). Note this particularly.
When the perfect bear this in mind, they will be filled with fear of
God, humility, and piety, with true, not apparent, reverence and
respect of God, in such a manner that their conduct, even when
alone with their wives or in the bath, will be as modest as they are
in public intercourse with other people. Thus it is related of our
renowned Sages that even in their sexual intercourse with their
wives they behaved with great modesty. They also said," Who is
modest ? He whose conduct in the dark night is the same as in the
day." You know also how much they warned us not to walk
proudly, since" the fulness of the whole earth is His glory" (Isa.
vi. 3). They thought that by these rules the above-mentioned idea
will be firmly established in the hearts of men, viz., that we are
always before God, and it is in the presence of His glory that we go
to and fro. The great men among our Sages would not uncover
their heads because they believed that God's glory was round them
and over them; for the same reason they spoke little. In our
Commentary on the Sayings of the Fathers (chap. i. 17) we have
fully explained how we have to restrict our speech. Comp." For
God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be
few" (Eccles. v. i).
What I have here pointed out to you is the object of all our
religious acts. For by [carrying out] all the details of the prescribed
practices, and repeating them continually, some few pious men
may attain human perfection. They will be filled with respect and
reverence towards God; and bearing in mind who is with them,
they will perform their duty. God declares in plain words that it is
the object of all religious acts to produce in man fear of God and
obedience to His word-the state of mind which we have
demonstrated in this chapter for those who desire to know the
truth, as being our duty to seek. Comp." If thou wilt not observe to
do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou
mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God"
(Dent. xrvffi. 58). Consider how clearly it is stated here that the
only object and aim of" all the words of this law" is to [make
man] fear" the glorious and fearful name?' That this end is
attained by certain acts we learn likewise from the phrase
employed in this verse:" If thou wilt not observe to do . . . that
thou mayest fear?' For this phrase clearly shows that fear of God is
inculcated [into our hearts] when we act in accordance with the
positive and the negative precepts. But the truths which the Law
teaches us-the knowledge of God's Existence and Unity create in us
love of God, as we have shown repeatedly. You know how
frequently the Law exhorts us to love God. Comp." And thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might 11 (Deut. vi. 5). The two objects, love and
fear of God, are acquired by two different means. The love is the
result of the truths taught in the Law, including the true knowledge
of the Existence of God; whilst fear of God is produced by the
practices prescribed in the Law. Note this explanation. (Moreh, III:52)