At the very end of the Seder, the last song of Nirtzah in virtually all Haggadot, is Chad Gadya: the story of the poor goat bought for 2 Zuz that was eaten by a cat that was bit by a dog that was hit by a stick, so and so forth, up until HaKadosh Baruch Hu comes and kills the Malach HaMavet. This seems like a very random story to put at the end of the Haggadah that mainly focuses on Yetzi’at Mitzrayim. At this point, it is very late and most people just want to go to bed already. Why add a long story about a goat that seems to have nothing to do with the Seder or the holiday of Pesach at all?
The Aruch HaShulchan, Rav Yechiel Michel HaLevi Epstein, answers this question in his Haggadah, Leil Shimurim. Chad Gadya is all about the story starting at Mechirat Yosef all the way until Mashi’ach BiMeheirah BeYameinu. The goat we are talking about is the goat that the brothers of Yoseif killed to trick Ya'akov, their father, into thinking that Yoseif was dead. The Aramaic word Zaben, which most Haggadot translate as to buy (my father bought for 2 Zuz), also means to sell. The word Abba not only refers to a father but is also Lashon Chashivut, language that connotes importance. When Yoseif rose up in Mitzrayim to become the 2nd in command, all the Mitzrim called him Avreich, as it says in the Pasuk, “VaYikre’u Lefanav Avreich,” “And they called out in front of him, Avreich'' (BeReishit 41:43). Targum Onkelos translates Avreich into aramaic as “Abba LeMalka.” The brothers sold Yoseif, they sold him for 20 silver pieces, which divided among the 10 brothers is 2 Zuz a piece. That’s what “DeZaben Abba BeTrei Zuzei” means, Yoseif HaTzaddik was sold for 2 Zuz.
Rav Epstein continues that the cat that ate the goat is a reference to the brothers based on the Gemara in Berachot. The Gemara says, “HaRo’eh Chatul BaChalom BeAtra DeKaru Lei … Shinara Na’aseh Lo Shinui Ra,” “One who sees a cat in a place where they call it a Shinara (as opposed to a Shunara), it is a sign that he will undergo a change for the worse” (Berachot 56b). The brothers of Yoseif were Tzaddikim but they underwent a change for the worse with the whole incident with Yoseif.
Taking this even further, the Aruch HaShulchan brings up the Midrash in Shemot Rabbah that says, “Ein HaKadosh Baruch Hu Rodeh Et HaResha’im Ela BeMateh. VeLamah? Lefi SheNimshelu LaKelavim, SheNe’emar ‘VeYashuvu La’Erev Yehemu KaKelev.’ KeSheim SheDarko Shel Kelev Lilkot BeMakel … Amar Lahem HaKadosh Baruch Hu Paraoh Rasha Hu … Hakeh Oto BeMakel,” “Hashem only disciplines the wicked with a staff. Why? Because the wicked are compared to dogs it says ‘And they return each evening crying like dogs’ [Tehillim 59:15], just like the dog gets struck with lashes … Hashem said to them ‘Paraoh is wicked, strike him with your staff” (Shemot Rabbah 9:2). The stick that hit the dog that bit the cat is referring to Moshe’s staff that hit Paraoh with the Ten Plagues after Paraoh was very harsh to the Jews.
Next comes the fire. The Gemara in Yuma says that the Yeitzer HaRa to do Avodah Zara is considered fire. Bnei Yisrael gave in to this Yeitzer HaRa and worshiped Avodah Zara, which burnt Moshe’s staff that saved us from Paraoh. We know that the Torah is a Nimshal for water, and anyone who is “thirsty” should learn Torah. The Torah is the water in Chad Gadya that quenched the fire of Avodah Zara.
In BeReishit Rabbah 2:4 we know that the Greeks combatted Torah with an ox, their god. The Greeks told Bnei Yisrael, “Kitvu Al Keren HaShor She’Ein Lachem Cheilek BeiLokei Yisrael,” “Write on the horn of the ox that you have no part in the God of Israel”. Then comes the Shochet who schechts the ox. The Chashmona’im were Kohanim, who usually schecht oxen in the Beit HaMikdash, but here they schechted Antiochus and the Greeks and their ox.
The Malach HaMavet in Chad Gadya is a reference to the Romans who burnt down the Beit HaMikdash. Just like the Malach HaMavet destroys what is in its way (like by Makkat Bechorot), so too, the Romans destroyed what was in their way, namely the Beit HaMikdash. Chad Gadya ends off with HaKadosh Baruch Hu killing the Malach HaMavet. This is obviously a reference to the coming of Mashi’ach and the building of the third Beit HaMikdash.
Rav Epstein concludes his Haggadah with the statement, “HaRachaman Yezakeinu BeVi’at Go’eil Tzedek UBeVanav Beit HaMikdash BiMeheirah BeYameinu Amein”. May we be Zocheh to see the ending of Chad Gadya, Hashem schechting the Malach HaMavet, the coming of Mashi’ach, speedily in our days.