Pesach is the holiday of geulah, which is usually translated as “redemption.” Our rabbis place geulah at the center of the Seder night by mandating (Mishna Pesachim 10:6) that the retelling of the story of our leaving Mitzrayim conclude with the blessing of “ga’al Yisrael,” praising God for our redemption through the Exodus. But “redemption” is an artificial translation—when was the last time you used that word in your daily life? What does “geulah” really mean? When looking for the meaning behind a word, we should look to the core of our tradition—the Torah and our tefillah. From these sources, let us explore the dimensions of geulah.
In the Torah, the primary discussion of geulah involves property law. In chapter 25 of Vayikra, we learn that if someone is so impoverished that they have to sell their ancestral property, the relative of the original owner has the obligation to “goel” (redeem) the property and return it to the one who was forced to sell it. Geulah here is, fundamentally, returning lost property to its rightful owner, back where it belongs.
Geulah occupies a central position in our prayers as a motif of the central tefillah, the Amidah. In three critical points, the authors of our prayers use “geulah,” to describe returning something to its proper place: first, the individual before God; then, the Jewish people to Yerushalayim; finally, a lost object or a lost person.
In Brachot 4b, Rabbi Yochanan promises a Heavenly reward to those that connect (somech) geulah to tefillah, which we accomplish by concluding the bracha of “ga’al Yisrael” immediately, before starting the Amidah. Rashi—quoting the Yerushalmi—explains that, after knocking on God’s door, praising Him for all the good that He performs for us, especially taking us out of Mitzrayim, God—as it were—opens the door for us. How can we not take this opportunity to pray for our needs? Geulah here, represents a return of closeness to God after time away during the rest of our day.
Next, the opening bracha of the Amidah can be read as a summary of Jewish history. We begin the blessing by mentioning God’s connection with Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, then continue by referencing Moshe’s description of God as great, strong and wondrous (Devarim 10:17). The next section refers to the building the Beit Hamikdash (El Elyon is connected to Yerushalayim in Bereshit 14:18), God’s forbearance during the sins of the Jews and during the times of the Prophets (gomel chesed) and then, the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (konai hakol; hakol which means “everything,” a gentler term for sad events). After our downfall, God remembers the patriarchs and brings a goel (redeemer) to their children—bringing us back to our home in Yerushalayim for the rebuilding of the Temple, which is where our tefillot were authored.
Finally, during weekdays, we devote an entire bracha of our tefillah to geulah. We ask God to “Riva rivanu—defend our cause,” quoting Tehillim 119:154. As Dr. Shalom Holtz—a professor of Bible at Yeshiva University—demonstrates in his book “Praying Legally,” that much of the prayers in Tanach—the primary source of the siddur—make reference to the courtroom setting. Here, a litigant is pleading with the judge to decide in his favor and rightfully award damages or return lost property. In this bracha, we extend this language and ask that God remove suffering from us—physical or psychological—and return us to our natural state of emotional well-being.
We, then, broaden our request and ask for “geulah l’ma’an shemcha—to reverse the chillul Hashem (desecration of God’s name),” that is Jewish suffering and exile (Yechezkel 36:20) and return us—both individuals and as the Jewish people—to our proper place of honor amongst the nations.
The geulah we celebrate on Pesach is the Jewish people leaving the slavery of Mitzrayim to return to their proper place—not just free men and women—but servants of Hashem. God’s demand of Pharaoh is not just “let my people go,” it is always that they be freed so that they can serve God (Exodus 5:1 and elsewhere). “Geulah” means a return to standing before God, which is why Rabbi Akiva requires that the bracha that concludes the seder includes a prayer that we return to Yerushalayim, so that next year, we can celebrate this holiday in its proper place with a korban Pesach.
From this definition of the geulah, we can find new meaning in the first use of this word in the Torah: Yaakov’s blessing of his grandchildren in Bereshit 48:16, which begins with the well-known call to “hamalach hagoel oti”—the angel that brought me geulah. From the beginning of his life, Yaakov only knew of broken families—alienation from his brother, fleeing from his home and his parents, betrayal from his father-in-law and the disappearance of his favorite child. Only now, when God has given him the opportunity to bless his grandchildren, Yaakov finally sees himself in his proper place as the leader of Bnai Yisrael.
May God answer all of our tefillot at the Seder and throughout the year, and help us find our way back home.
Hesh Luber lives in Teaneck with his wife and family.
