Machshava:

Pesach 

Description

The core text of the Hagadah, Devarim 26:5-8 and its attendant Midrash, is filled with curiosities. Perhaps there is no passage more startling than the Midrash on the last verse - ויוציאנו ה' ממצרים ביד חזקה...which includes two distinct Midrashim (divided by "דבר אחר") but also contains references to events that elude us in the Exodus narrative in Shemot. בזרוע נטויה is interpreted as referring to the "sword" - but there is no sword in our story. Truth to tell, all five of the interpretations seems out of place. Based on the work of Prof. David Henschke, we suggest that "rhetorical misdirection" keeps us from seeing the actual referent of this line of Midrash - and then we present what that referent is.