Marsha from NYC asked:

Dear Rabbi,

Why is Moses' name not mentioned in the Haggadah?

Dear Marsha,

To answer this question, let's look at the very first Pesach Seder in history.

After a full year in the desert, the Jewish People celebrated the Pesach festival. They offered the Paschal lamb and ate matzah and maror. But when it came time to tell the Pesach story, who did they tell it to? To whom did they relate the plagues and miracles, the Strong Hand and Outstretched Arm? Everybody was there! Everyone saw it with their own eyes!

Only one person had children who did not personally experience the going out of Egypt - Moses! Moses' two sons were in Midian during the Exodus. Moses, therefore, was the first person in history to relate the Pesach story to children who didn't know it first-hand.

As we know, "Moses was the most humble person on the face of the earth." Would you be surprised, then, if the world's humblest person omitted his name from the story, and instead he attributed all the credit to Hashem? This would then become a precedent for future generations.

© Ohr Somayach International