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B"H

the rule is is that we usually say brochos over Mitvos that we do.

Since it's a Mitzvah to tell over the story of going out of Egypt on the first night of Pesach [as it even says in the Hagadah itself], why do we not say a unique brocho for this, such as "Blessed.... who has commanded us to recount the exodus from Egypt" or something similar?

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    Abudarham: והקשה הריא"ף למה אין מברכין על קריאתה כמו שמברכין על קריאת מגילה והלא מצות עשה היא שנאמר והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא וכו' ותירץ כי במה שאומר בתחלה בקדוש זכר ליציאת מצרים יצא והרשב"א כתב טעם אחר שאין לברך על קריאתה מפני שהיא מצוה שאין לה קצבה ידועה ואפילו בדבור בעלמא שידבר בענין יציאת מצרים יצא אלא כל המרבה הרי זה משובח ונקראה הגדה על שם (שמות יג:ח) והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא וכו' ועוד מפני שמגיד בה עניו יציאת מצרים הנסים ונפלאות שעשה עמנו הקב"ה באותו זמן. ויש מפרשים הגדה שהוא לשון הודאה ושבח להקב"ה על שהוציאנו מארץ מצרים כמו שמתרגם בירושלמי הגדתי היום לה' אלהיך (דברים כו:ג) שבחית יומא דין. Commented Apr 26, 2022 at 20:54

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There is a famous Chasam Sofer (someone feel free to find the source inside and link) who notes that the whole point of Seder night is, as we are told in the Haggada:

בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם

In each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt.

This experience is likened to that of a ger (a convert) who does not make a bracha upon his tevillah (immersion) in a mikvah (ritual bath) until after he comes out. The reason being, because prior to entering the water he was still a non-Jew and could not say:

בָּרוּךְ ... אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל הַטְּבִילָה

Who has commanded us concerning immersion (refer to Tosafos s.v. al hatevillah - Pesachim 7b)

Therefore, so too with the case of seder night, it is only after we complete re-telling the story of the Jewish peoples' liberation from slavery, that we feel like we were personally there and can only make a bracha after this point but not before.

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  • so why dont we make the bracha after? Commented Apr 26, 2022 at 23:43
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    Brachot on mitzvot are made before the mitzva is done or before its completion
    – treenuts15
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 1:31
  • @YitzchakL - we do make a bracha afterwards - the second cup
    – Dov
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 6:40
  • @treenuts15 - as per the Abudarham mentioned in the comments, the Rashba notes that we don't say a bracha for a mitzvah with no minimum prescribed length and amount - i.e. with sippur yetzias mitzrayim any amount of length of discussion would suffice.
    – Dov
    Commented Apr 27, 2022 at 6:45
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    I believe the source for the Chassam Sofer is drashos chelek 2 page רסח עמוד ב. Here is the link for hebrewbooks. It's ד"ה מה שמקשין הראשונים. hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21254&st=&pgnum=123 Commented Aug 2, 2022 at 19:19
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BH

In accordance with the minhag hamakom,I will attempt to answer my own question.

In a Chabad hagadah which has notes from the Rebbe and other Chabad rebbeim (could be the Rebbe's hagadah itself but not entirely sure), at the beginning of maggid it has a note explaining that (can't remember all of the names but I'm pretty sure) that the Rebbe rashab asked his father, the Rebbe maharash, why we don't say a brocho on maggid (for telling over yetzias mitzrayim specifically), and he replied that he didn't know

Then it says that the Rebbe maharash asked his father the tzemach tzedek, who also said he didn't know, who asked the mittler rebbe, who at first gave the answer of the Rashba, that it's already included in kiddush when we say "zaicher liyitsias mitzrayim", but that wasn't a fully satisfying answer since other brochos for mitzvos aren't simply included in other brochos in that way

Then it says that the mittler rebbe asked the Alter Rebbe who also said he didn't know

So how could I, or anyone else, possibly answer, if all of these torah giants, who know all commentaries and rishonim etc didn't know?

What's the one thing that all cases had in common?

They involved a son asking his father a question on pesach night, of why we do something differently

Perhaps this is itself the reason that the chochomim didn't institute the same kind of brocho for sipur yitsias mitzrayim: in order for the children to ask why this brocho is different than all other brochos

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