Siman 430

The Shabbat before Pesach – we call it "Shabbat HaGadol" because of the great miracle that occurred on it. For the Pesach of Egypt – its taking was on the tenth, and the Pesach on which they departed from Egypt was a Thursday (Shabbat 87a). It follows that the Shabbat before it was the tenth of the month, and each person took a lamb for his Pesach and tied it to the legs of his bed. The Egyptians asked them: What is this? And they replied that the Holy One, Blessed be He, commanded to slaughter it. The Egyptians worshipped the lamb, and their teeth were set on edge, and they remained silent. Furthermore, Israel informed them that the Holy One, Blessed be He, was destined to kill their firstborns, and the firstborns of Egypt went and waged war with Pharaoh and their fathers. This is what is stated: "To Him who smote Egypt through their firstborns," as is explained in the Midrash. And on account of that miracle, we call it "Shabbat HaGadol."

And perhaps you will say: If so, it should not have been associated with Shabbat, but rather with the tenth of the month? For it can be said: Since Miriam died on the tenth of the month—they did not want to associate it with the day, to make it a day of joy. And furthermore: For on the tenth of the month they ascended from the Jordan, as is written in Yehoshua, and I would have said that the remembrance is for the miracle of the Jordan—for this reason they established it on Shabbat, for the ascent from the Jordan was not on Shabbat (Bach). And perhaps you will say: What does it matter to us if we associate it with the Jordan? For it can be said: That these days we associate with the miracles of Egypt, which are greater than the miracles of the Jordan.

And some have written: because the miracle came about through Shabbat. Since the Egyptians knew that they were observers of Shabbat, they therefore asked them: Why do you need a lamb on Shabbat? And their answer was as has been explained (Levush). And furthermore: they saw them tying the lamb on Shabbat, and tying is forbidden on Shabbat. And they asked them about this, and they answered them as I have written (Prisha). And one should not ask: if so, the miracle occurred all four days until Pesach, for the Egyptians were unable to prevent them from this and waged wars, and if so, should they all be called "great"? For it can be said: that the essence is the beginning (Beit Yosef).

And it can further be said: that the truth is that Shabbat is dependent upon Pesach, and Pesach upon Shabbat. For Shabbat is a sign of the creation of the world, and Pesach is a sign of providence and the love of Israel. And one without the other is nothing, as is understood. Therefore, immediately upon the exodus from Egypt, the Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us the Shabbat, and did not wait for the giving of the Torah. Because Pesach is a necessity for Shabbat, and Shabbat is a necessity for Pesach. Therefore, this Shabbat is called "HaGadol," for on it the Holy One, Blessed be He, was magnified, as aside from the creation of the world, His providence, may He be blessed, was clarified. And we also were magnified, in that He chose us from every nation. Therefore, in truth, we call it "HaGadol." And see what I wrote above in siman 242.

The custom is to cease on this Shabbat from the recitation of "Barchi Nafshi." And we say "Avadim Hayinu" until "to atone for all our iniquities." And some cast doubt on this, for behold it was taught: Could it be from Rosh Chodesh? The verse teaches: "On that day," and it refers to the verse "And you shall tell your son" (the Gra). And it has already been explained that we deliver a derashah on Shabbat HaGadol. And some have written that when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat, we deliver the derashah on the preceding Shabbat (Chayei Adam). And this was for them, as they would say the laws of Pesach in the derashah, and they needed to inform them before Pesach what they should do. But for us, where anyone who has a question asks the Rav, and our derashah is on other matters—we deliver the derashah on Shabbat Erev Pesach. And all the laws are said in the piyut of Shabbat HaGadol. And the haftarah of "Ve-arvah"—we do not read it as the haftarah except when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat, because in it is written: "Bring the tithe to the storehouse," and Erev Pesach was the time of biur in the fourth year of the Shemittah cycle and in the seventh, as we learned in the fifth chapter of Maaser Sheni. And some say the opposite: that on Shabbat it is impossible to perform biur, and we do not read "Ve-arvah" as the haftarah on it, and in other years we read "Ve-arvah" as the haftarah as a remembrance of this (in the name of the Gra). And such is the custom among us, to read "Ve-arvah" as the haftarah on every Shabbat HaGadol, and not when Erev Pesach falls on Shabbat, for then we read the haftarah of the parashah.