Pesach - deciphering the חד גדיא

The Vilna Gaon explains the allusions in Chad Gadya as follows:

• The חד גדיא is Yosef concerning who the gemara says in Shabbos (דף י', ע"ב) 

ואמר רבא בר מחסיא אמר רב חמא בר גוריא אמר רב לעולם אל ישנה אדם בנו בין הבנים שבשביל משקל שני סלעים מילת שנתן יעקב ליוסף יותר משאר בניו נתקנאו בו אחיו ונתגלגל הדבר וירדו אבותינו למצרים

A person should never show preference to one son over the other because the brothers were jealous of Yosef over a two סלעים of fine wool which resulted in our fathers going down to Mitzraim.

According to this, דזבין אבא בתרי זוזי refers to the two סלעים which Yaakov spent on the כתונת פסים which he gave to Yosef.

• The cat which ate the lamb refers to the jealousy of the brothers, who were jealous like a cat, because Yaakov showed a preference for Yosef.

• The dog which bit the cat refers to Pharoh who is compared to a dog and who punished the בני ישראל for their selling Yosef.

• The stick which hit the dog refers to the staff of Moshe which was used to bring the עשר מכות on Mitzraim.

• The fire which burnt the stick refers to the יצר הרע for עבודה זרה which caused the destruction of the בית ראשון which was built as the culmination of יציאת מצרים.

• The water which quenched the fire refers to the תורה of the אנשי כנסת הגדולה who davened that the יצר הרע for עבודה זרה should be removed, because it was too strong for people to overcome.

• The ox which drank the water refers to the Romans, who are compared to an ox, and who destroyed the בית שני which was built through the efforts of the אנשי כנסת הגדולה.

• The shochet who slaughtered the ox refers to משיח בן יוסף who will overcome the מלכות אדום.

• The malach ha’maves who killed the shochet refers to the death of משיח בן יוסף.

• Hashem killing the malach ha’maves refers to תחית המתים.

Why is the jealousy of the brothers for Yosef’s preferential treatment the eventual cause of תחיית המתים?

The Michtav Me’Eliyahu explains as follows:

Yaakov’s original intention was to marry רחל, however Lavan substituted לאה for רחל, so he married לאה first and only then did he marry רחל. Hashem gave children to לאה before רחל because (בראשית כ"ט, ל"א) – וירא ה' כי שנואה לאה. That is why Yosef, who would originally have been the בכור, was actually born after ראובן. Subsequently, the jealousy of the brothers for Yosef was caused because Yosef was the בכור according to Yaakov’s original intentions, which is why Yaakov showed a preference for Yosef, but the brothers should have had the בכורה according to what actually transpired.

In other words, Yosef represented the מחשבה בכח, the initial thought of Yaakov to found כלל ישראל, and the brothers represented the מעשה בפועל, what Yaakov actually did initially in order to found כלל ישראל. Due to the fact that there was a contradiction between Yaakov’s initial מחשבה and what he actually did, because of Lavan’s substitution of Leah for Rachel, a מחלוקת arose between יוסף and the brothers.

However the reason why there is ever a difference or a contradiction between a person’s initial intention to do a מצוה and what a person actually ends up doing when they perform the מצוה, is only because of the חטא of אדם הראשון. Before the חטא of אדם הראשון there was no interruption and no inhibition between the מחשבה to do a מצוה and the accomplishment of the מצוה.

Therefore the מחלוקת between יוסף and the brothers, both of whom have a rightful claim to the בכורה, can only be fully resolved when we return to the situation of אדם הראשון קודם החטא, in which there is no contention between the מחשבת המצוה and the מעשה בפועל of the מצוה, which is the state that the world will be in after תחיית המתים.