ועל הים מה הוא אומר וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים וייראו העם את ה' ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו.

And at the sea, what does it say? “And the Jewish people saw what the great hand of Hashem did to the Egyptians and the nation feared Hashem and they trusted in Hashem and Moshe His servant. (Pesach Haggadah)

Incredibly, throughout virtually the entire Haggadah, which recounts the Exodus from Egypt that took place under the dedicated leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe’s name is not mentioned. There is a famous explanation from the Vilna Gaon that one of the major themes of the Haggadah is that Hashem took us out of Egypt by Himself, as we express in the words “Ani Hashem — Ani v’lo malach … Ani Hu v’lo acher” (I am Hashem — I and not an angel … It was me and not anyone else) — so that we should not delude ourselves into thinking that salvation will come from the hands of mortals. Rather, we are reminded that we have nobody to turn to other than Hashem himself (see Sotah 49a). Accordingly, it is important that Moshe’s name not become the focus of the Haggadah, or even a distraction from the divine source of our deliverance. 

And yet, at the same time, there is one parenthetical allusion to Moshe’s name in the concluding section of the Maggid section of the Haggadah, dealing with the reckoning of the plagues that afflicted the Egyptians. As the Tanna Rabbi Yosi Haglili tabulates the total number of adversities suffered by the Egyptians, he notes for each plague in Egypt there were five corresponding plagues (like the number of fingers in a hand) during the splitting of the sea. The full verse printed in the Haggadah that speaks of the “hand of Hashem” ends with the words, “they trusted in Hashem, and in Moshe his servant.” 

According to the Vilna Gaon’s explanation, this is the exception that proves the rule. Since Moshe’s name is only mentioned once, and even during this occasion in a supporting role as the “servant” of Hashem, we are thus sensitized to the realization that Moshe’s name indeed does not appear elsewhere in the Haggadah, and are forced to understand that this is because his role in the redemption was not as our true savior, but as the servant of Hashem who is the true source of the redemption of our people. 

Nonetheless, if this is the purpose of the parenthetical mention of his name, the point of Moshe’s subordinate role would seem to be best expressed by eliminating his name altogether. Indeed, in the Rambam’s version of the Haggadah, the entire section describing the multitude of plagues during the splitting of the sea is omitted entirely, resulting in no mention at all of Moshe’s name. 

Some explain that the name of Moshe would have been eliminated altogether, except that Moshe’s name needed to be mentioned in this specific verse, since it is forbidden to quote only half of a verse (see Ta’anis 27b). However, there are other verses in the Haggadah that are only quoted in part, including the immediately preceding verse cited in the Haggadah that refers to the “finger” of Hashem. Indeed, Rav Yitzchak Yosef shlit”a, quoting his father Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l, writes in the Yalkut Yosef (Tefillah 2:131, n.17) that the incomplete verses in the Haggadah prove that one is permitted to quote a fragment from a verse for the purpose of amplifying a homiletic message. Thus, we still need to understand more fully why Moshe’s name is mentioned even in passing.

Perhaps we can explain that it was in fact necessary to include Moshe’s name in the Haggadah as an expression of hakaras hatov (gratitude) to Moshe for his supporting role, even if Moshe was not the ultimate force for our salvation. The Gemora in Bava Kamma (92b) notes that as a matter of proper etiquette, one should thank the royal waiter who brings the wine to the table, even though the king of the palace was truly responsible for providing the wine (see Rashi’s explanation ad locum). Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l (as elucidated by Rav Hershel Schachter shlit”a in Nefesh HaRav, p. 112) understood that this Gemora is teaching an important principle about serving Hashem properly. If we do not show proper appreciation toward human beings, we will not learn to express the requisite amount of recognition and gratitude to Hashem. Thus, it could be that our version of the Haggadah similarly includes a solitary acknowledgment of Moshe Rabbeinu, to inspire us towards the appropriate level of gratitude that we need to have towards Hashem for all the goodness that He has bestowed upon us (see Pesachim 116a in which Rav Nachman underscores the centrality of the theme of gratitude to Hashem in the Haggadah). 

Rav Soloveitchik himself cited from his father a different explanation regarding the general omission of Moshe’s name (Shiurim l’zecher Aba Mori, volume 2, pp. 158-160). Rav Moshe Soloveitchik zt”l noted that, although the Rambam omitted any mention of Moshe’s name in his version of the Haggadah, he does write (Chametz u’Matzah 7:2) that a parent is obligated to tell a wise son during the course of the recitation of the Haggadah about “what transpired to us in Egypt, including the miracles that were brought about by Moshe Rabbeinu.“ However, we need to understand why there is no such requirement for a son of lesser erudition.

The midrash (Shir Hashirim Rabbah 3:1) expounds upon the verses in Shir Hashirim (3:1-4):

על משכבי בלילות, זה לילה של מצרים, בקשתי את שאהבה נפשי, זה משה ... עד שהביאתיו אל בית אמי, זה סיני.

 “Upon my couch at night” — this is the night of Egypt, “I sought the one I love” — this is Moshe … “until I brought him to my mother’s house” — this is Sinai. 

Rav Moshe Soloveitchik understood that this Midrash refers to Pesach night. The Jewish people “sought” to include their beloved leader, Moshe Rabbeinu, in the Haggadah, but, as the opening verse continues, “I sought but found him not,” because Pesach night belongs solely to Hashem, who redeemed us without an intermediary. However, when Moshe was brought “to my mother’s house,” representing the giving of the Torah at Sinai, he played a prominent role as the Torah teacher to the Jewish people, and therefore merits having the Torah called in his name, as recorded in the verse, “the Torah of Moshe my servant” (Malachi 3:22). 

Accordingly, Rav Soloveitchik suggested, based on his father’s interpretation of the Midrash, that the obligation recorded by the Rambam to mention Moshe Rabbeinu’s name in the retelling of the Exodus from Egypt to the wise son, relates exclusively to the Sinaitic experience of receiving the Torah, the climactic moment of the redemptive experience that only the wise son can truly comprehend. However, when telling the story of the Exodus to a child of lesser erudition, the focus is solely upon our emancipation from slavery in Egypt, regarding which any mention of Moshe Rabbeinu’s name would be inappropriate since the redemption came from Hashem alone. 

Thus, we can derive from the general omission of Moshe’s name in the Haggadah that salvation comes from Hashem alone. From the single mention of his name in our version of the Haggadah, we are reminded to show gratitude towards the servants of Hashem as well. Finally, the Rambam teaches us that while deliverance comes from Hashem, there was a crucial role played by Moshe in delivering the fruits of such deliverance through the transmission of the Torah, which represents the ultimate fulfillment of our redemption.