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Moses is not mentioned in the Hagaddah (with one minor exception), presumably to show that the exodus happened entirely by G-d's power and to not deify Moses.

Presumably, though, the maggid during the original second seder (a year after the Exodus) mentioned Moses since they knew him and since most stories involve human actors (e.g., Shemot through Beshalach).

I understand there was no fixed Hagaddah until the Middle Ages, but I assume the text evolved over time, and that the traditions of the Hagaddah are older than the text.

So the question comes down to - how old is the tradition to exclude Moses from the Passover maggid? Does it date back to the Talmudic era? King David's time? The midbar?

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    Technically, he is mentioned in the first elaboration of the plagues (paragraph starting Rabbi Yosi Hagelili). (Yes, I know the Rambam didn't have those paragraphs in his Haggadah...)
    – Double AA ♦
    Mar 22 '13 at 6:19
  • Why the downvote?
    – Charles Koppelman
    Mar 22 '13 at 16:11
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    -1 "When did Moses get dropped from Hagaddahs? By whom?" How do you expect an answer to this when the entire basis for your question is the unsupported assumption that "the maggid during most families' second seder (a year after the event) mentioned Moses"? (BTW, I just downvoted now; I wasn't the earlier downvoter).
    – Fred
    Mar 22 '13 at 18:33
  • @Fred although it's unsupported, it's logical for a retelling of the Exodus (by the people who were there and had just left) mentioned Moses since, well, they knew him! If the answer is "Moses has been excluded from the Passover story since it was ever told," and there are sources that support that (maybe a midrash?) then I'd be happy with that as an answer. My assumption is that most stories told involve human actors (e.g., Shemot through Beshalach).
    – Charles Koppelman
    Mar 22 '13 at 20:54
  • @Fred ...Maybe the question is invalid because the first hagaddah per se excluded Moses, but I'm still interested if there was a tradition to exclude Moses in the Tamludic period or before.
    – Charles Koppelman
    Mar 22 '13 at 20:55
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Considering that both the current Sephardi and Ashkenazi rites came from the Siddur Rav Amram Gaon a copy of his siddur with Haggada was printed in 1921. According to various sources Jewish Viritual Library Jewish Agency There was no codified nusach before then. So that would make Rav Amram Gaon and his Hagadah written around 858CE.

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    but was there a custom before then to omit Moshe before or was it his innovation?
    – Charles Koppelman
    Mar 22 '13 at 15:35
  • There was no formalized Siddur(or Haggadah) before then other than the discussions in the Talmud. Which was the reason he wrote the siddur in the first place. So I would have to say the entire Haggada as we now have it was his innovation(aside from later aditions).
    – Rabbi Michael Tzadok
    Mar 23 '13 at 16:48
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I recently saw a suggestion (via Aish HaTorah but, as I recall, with no source cited) that the first Pesach (in the desert, in Beha'alotcha) featured only two kids above the age of one who had not been witnesses to all that happened: Moshe's own two children, who were returned to him just before Matan Torah. As such, the only one who could 'really' perform v'higadeta l'vincha to an uninformed audience was Moshe Rabbenu himself. As the most humble man on earth, it is not surprising that he'd leave himself out of the picture. Only Hashem acted. We emulate that pattern in our haggadot.

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