הפיזיונומיה וההגדה Physiognomy and Haggadah

Esh Kodesh (1939):
Therefore, the organs that you set within us, and the spirit and soul that You breathed into our nostrils, and the tongue that you placed in our mouth--all of them shall thank and bless, praise and glorify, sing about, exalt and revere, sanctify and declare the sovereignty of Your name, our King continuously.
We enumerate in detail each one of these--the organs the spirit, the soul, the tongue, the mouth and so on--individually. The text does not say that we thanked and blessed generally because it is telling us that even after a person has lived in this world, when his limbs, spirit, soul, tongue, mouth, and so on have each separated, he will still continue to thank God. We end by saying all my bones shall say: 'God, who is like You?" That even if there is nothing left of me except the bones, they will continue to say, "God, who is there like You?"

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה', אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל-עָם וְרוֹמְמָנוּ מִכָּל-לָשׁוֹן

קַדֵּשׁ

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has chosen us from all peoples and has raised us above all tongues and has sanctified us with His commandments.

וא”א שיהיה הדיבור רק ע”י כלים גשמיים ... וזהו צורת

האדם שהוא חי מדבר

This power of speech in man does not only come from the physical organs of speech but rather, it comes from the soul too] … Therefore, the essence of man is a living being that speaks.

Maharal, Chidushei HaAgadot, Arachin 15a

Reclining Abdomen: Norwegian Medical Association Journal (2012): The weight of a meal influences the uncomfortable feeling of being stuffed--and is due to pressure on the antrum – the lower portion of the stomach. Leaning to the left allows the antrum to expand, and through a combination of pressure and a muscle (pyloric sphincter) the flow of food enters the small intestine in regulated amounts.

Reclining Abdomen: Otium/Negotia (Matthew Roller, Dining Posture in Ancient Rome): reclining in triclinium center cushion--Roman convivium different froom Greek symposiumco
Reclining and registration (manumissio censu) ft of eated the social facts necessary for a shift of legal status.
שֶׁבְּכָל הַלֵּילוֹת אָנוּ אוֹכְלִין בֵּין יוֹשְׁבִין וּבֵין מְסֻבִּין - הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה כֻּלָּנוּ מְסֻבִּין

וַיּוֹצִיאֵנוּ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מִשָּׁם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה

וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו "בְּחוֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים".

Arm: And the Lord, our God, took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched forearm.

Hand (Tam): With the strength of [His] hand did the Lord take us out from Egypt, from the house of slaves' (Exodus 13:14).

וַתִּרְבִּי וַתִּגְדְּלִי וַתָּבֹאִי בַּעֲדִי עֲדָיִים, שָׁדַיִם נָכֹנוּ וּשְׂעָרֵךְ צִמֵּחַ, וְאַתְּ עֵרֹם וְעֶרְיָה. וָאֶעֱבֹר עָלַיִךְ וָאֶרְאֵךְ מִתְבּוֹסֶסֶת בְּדָמָיִךְ, וָאֹמַר לָךְ בְּדָמַיִךְ חֲיִי, וָאֹמַר לָךְ בְּדָמַיִךְ חֲיִי

. . . . and you increased and grew and became highly ornamented, your breasts were set and your hair grew, but you were naked and barren;" "And I passed over you and I saw you wallowing in your blood, and I said to you, you shall live in your blood, and I said to you, you shall live in your blood" (Ezekiel 16:6).

וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ ה' מִמִצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה, וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל, וּבְאֹתוֹת וּבְמֹפְתִים.

יא וַיּוֹצֵא יִשְׂרָאֵל, מִתּוֹכָם: כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ.

יב בְּיָד חֲזָקָה, וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה: כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ

לָכֵן אֱמֹר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲנִי יְהֹוָה וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלֹת מִצְרַיִם וְהִצַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעֲבֹדָתָם וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבִשְׁפָטִים גְּדֹלִים:

Arm and Hand: "And the Lord took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched forearm and with great awe and with signs and with wonders" (Deuteronomy 26:8)

And brought out Israel from their midst with a strong hand and an outstretched arm

(Psalm 136)

Therefore, say to the children of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will save you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments (Exodus 6)

What are these? Signs of the manifest, actions, acquisition.

Rav Kook, Olat Reiya: The word ‘arm’ ( zero'a) comes from the root zera, meaning ’seed.’ The Divine redemption of Israel in Egypt was a holy seed, planted at a point in time, allowing for the release of divine inner light. It is a continuous act--memorialized in tefillin.

בְּבַיִת אֶחָד יֵאָכֵל, לֹא-תוֹצִיא מִן-הַבַּיִת מִן-הַבָּשָׂר חוּצָה; וְעֶצֶם, לֹא תִשְׁבְּרוּ-בוֹ.

Exodus 12:46

Tosefta Berachot 5:5
What is the arrangement of reclining? When there are two cushions, the most important person reclines at the head of the first, the second to him is below.

Yerushalmi 10:1, 37b
R. Levi said: because it is the custom of slaves to eat standing, here they eat reclining to proclaim that they have gone from slavery to freedom.

R. Elazar of Worms: 16 drops are spilled from the cup--matching 16 sides of the sword of God.
Abravanel: not to rejoice over enemy (Proverbs 24:17)

Steven Wilf