Seventh Day of Pesach

Shavua Tov. Hard to believe that Pesach has flown by so quickly and tomorrow night is the seventh night of Pesach. The seventh day celebrates קריעת ים סוף, or the splitting of the Red Sea. This event is a close second to the Revelation on Mount Sinai on Shavuot.

Our rabbis tell us that the שפחה על הים, the maidservant by the sea, had more prophecy than יחזקאל בן בוזי. Yechezkel's prophecies were considered the deepest and highest of any prophet.

The entire nation was transformed and elevated to the point where they witnessed the "Hand of G-d." In this state, they saw an image of G-d as a powerful warrior fighting on behalf of עם ישראל. (At Mount Sinai they saw Hashem as a saintly sage with a long white beard.)

The only images that one can witness is in a subconscious state as in prophecy. Claiming to see an image of G-d in a conscious state would be blasphemy or idol worship.

Our focus on the last day of Pesach should be to acknowledge Hashem and His outward miracles. Even the nursing baby suddenly stopped nursing and praised Hashem with the words זה א-לי ואנוהו, this is my G-d and I will glorify Him.

Yesterday was four with ספירת העומר

שיר השירים

This Shabbat is שבת חול המועד and it is customary in Ashkenazi synagogues to read שיר השירים. The theme of Pesach is the גאולה, the redemption. Shir Hashirim also carries this theme.

It is well known that Rabbi Akiva pushed for שיר השירים to become part of Tanach. He said that if the other books of the Tanach are holy, then שיר השירים, written by Shlomo Hamelech, is holy of holies.

What appears to be a love story, is an allegory describing the love between Hashem and the Jewish people. There is also a bit of a plot in שיר השירים according to some commentators. Two lovers profess their deep love for one another and they are mocked by those around them. They are separated by the mockers. They write love letters to one another and look forward to the day they will be reunited.

In the end, when they are together again, all acknowledge that there love is true. The mockers represent the nations of the world. And the reunion describes the end of days, the גאולה, when the world realizes Hashem is true and His Torah is true.

Yesterday was two with ספירת העומר.

Festival Animals

The number of animals in Jerusalem on Pesach is mind boggling. There was a requirement to bring a minimum of three animals as sacrifices. The first was the קרבן פסח that was partly offered on the מזבח and the remainder eaten at the Seder.

The second קרבן was called עולת ראיה, which was a burnt offering. The Torah says that we are not allowed to come empty handed. ולא תראו פני ריקם. The עולת ראיה was a sacrifice for being seen, ראיה, at the Temple Mount.

The third sacrifice was the קרבן חגיגה, or the Festival Sacrifice. There is a commandment to rejoice on the festival. The Rabbis say, אין שמחה אלא בבשר, there's no joy like the joy of eating meat. Part of this sacrifice was offered on the altar and the majority was eaten by the contributor.

Aside from these three sacrifices, people also offered sin offerings that they owed as well as שלמים, peace offerings. There were other sacrifices besides these.

So we can see, that there were an incredible amount of animals on the festivals. This is what Yechezkel meant when he said that in the future the desolate cities will again be filled with Jews equal to the number of cattle brought for sacrifices on the festivals.

Don't forget ספירת העומר. Yesterday was one!

ספירת העומר

Moadim Lesimcha. Our Maariv tonight had five changes or additions. First we said מוריד הטל followed by ואתה חוננתנו followed by ותן ברכה and יעלה ויבוא and we began counting the Omer.

We must remember that ספירת העומר is the fulfillment of a Torah commandment. We are taught that we are to count seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot.

On a spiritual level, we are to take into account that עם ישראל left the most decadent and impure place on earth, namely Egypt. After forty-nine days they had to prepare themselves for the greatest day in human history. That is, the receiving of the Torah and the revelation on Mount Sinai.

Each day we are similarly supposed to elevate ourselves spiritually in preparation for Shavuot. The Jewish people succeeded to such a degree of purity that they were on the level of Adam and Eve before the sin.

May this holiday season be one of spirituality and Kedusha.

Being Free

There is an important point to keep in mind as we make our final preparations for the Chag. Rav Pinchas Abuchatzeira שליט״א tells the story of a gentleman who approached him with a question after giving a Pesach Shiur. He asked: If we are celebrating our freedom, why must we be bogged down with so many details connected with the holiday? As free men we should be at ease to do whatever we feel like doing.

Rav Pinchas explained that it's true that the essence of Pesach is to celebrate our freedom. However, we follow חז״ל who say אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה. This means that one who is truly free and is not a prisoner to his work or even his lusts, is not really free. Only one whose priority is Torah and Mitzvot down to the last detail is the real free man. We must remember this particularly on Pesach.

We must also remember that tonight is בדיקת חמץ and it is preferable to do the search at the start of the evening from 7:30 onwards. חג כשר ושמח.

Keep the Fire Burning

Shavua Tov. There was a large room in the Beit Hamikdash called לשכת העצים. This was where wood was stored so that the fire on the מזבח remained burning 24/7. The Talmud in מסכת יומא discusses the orderly fashion in which the wood was neatly placed on the altar.

Today's Parsha describes the commandment to keep the fire burning and a further commandment to remove the ashes that remained. The removal of the ashes was not a task that was very glamorous to say the least. Yet the Kohanim viewed this Avodah as a great honor and even fought over the right to remove the ashes.

The constant fire bordered on the miraculous as it also applied in winter despite the rain and winds. The message is clear that we literally have to keep "the fire burning." We must never let it be extinguished. We have to maintain our enthusiasm and zeal in the observance of the Torah. This is especially true now that we are in the home stretch of our Pesach preparations.

Shabbat Hagadol

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Hagadol. It is considered an extremely important Shabbat. Aside from the custom of reading part of the Hagaddah during the course of the day, it is meant to be a Shabbat of a spiritual nature.

Just like Shabbat Shuva before Yom Kippur, on these two Shabbatot we are to listen to Drashot of big rabbis to prepare us for the Pesach holiday. Because of all of the cleaning and physical preparations, we easily can forget the spiritual message of Pesach.

The removal of Chametz symbolizes the removal of haughtiness and negativity. The eating of Matza is to emphasize humility in our service of Hashem.

There are two reasons why we call this Shabbat, שבת הגדול. The first is that the Haftarah uses the words, הנה היום הגדול בא, that a great day is coming. And the second reason is that some call it שבת הנס הגדול, the Shabbat of the great miracle. This refers to the tying up of the lambs, an object of Egyptian idol worship, to the bedposts on the Shabbat before the Exodus. These lambs were offered as the Pesach sacrifice and the Egyptians did not protest.

This Shabbat should be taken very seriously so that we appreciate the overall specialness of the holiday of Pesach. Shabbat Shalom

Children at the Seder

We must not forget that the most important people at the Seder are the children. Since one of the two Torah commandments to be fulfilled is והגדת לבנך, "tell your children", this must be taken seriously. (The other Mitzva is to eat Matza.)

Because the children are so important, we must gear the Seder towards them. It is nice to be able to share deep concepts among the adults, but it must not be at the expense of the children.

Even if we have to speed up the Seder, it is preferred over creating boredom for the kids. This is the reason we implement several unusual activities during the evening. Aside from מה נשתנה, we dip the Karpas in salt water, we take drops of wine for the ten plagues, we sing fun songs like והיא שעמדה and דיינו, and we make a game out of hiding the Afikoman. All of this, is to keep the children involved.

And by the way, it is written in the שלחן ערוך that it's a Mitzva to be certain that children take a good nap on Erev Pesach. We must not forget the children.

הגעלה

After preparing items for הגעלה, one must remember the following: We follow the concept of רוב תשמישו, the way it is used most of the time. Most utensils can be kashered with this purging in boiling hot water.

The principle is that the heat of the boiling water will pull out whatever absorbed tastes there are in the specific item. This includes things made of metal and wood and even plastics. Glass doesn't absorb but is still effective with הגעלה according to Rav Avraham Yosef, son of Rav Ovadia זצ״ל.

Our primary problem is with earthenware vessels such as china that may not be kashered. Earthenware only absorbs and the heat does not help.

Remember that silverware can easily be kashered and used on Pesach.

Yeshurun Synagogue on King George is offering free הגעלה on Wednesday and Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Reclining

One of the details that shows how seriously we take our Seder, is the matter of reclining, or הסבה in Hebrew. We are meant to follow the dictates of our sages and how they directed us in carrying out the Seder.

The Halacha is that both men and women are required to recline only when we drink the four cups of wine and the three times we eat Matza. If we do not recline, we have not fulfilled the commandment of eating Matza or drinking the wine and it must be repeated.

We lean to the left so that the קנה, windpipe, shall not come before the וושט, the food pipe, so that we don't choke.

The leaning is a symbol of our freedom to demonstrate that we appreciate that had Hashem not taken us out of Egypt, we would still be there. This may seem like an insignificant detail, but it should be observed like all Halacha.

It's All About Me

Shavua Tov. Today's Parsha, ויקרא, discusses the various sacrifices in the Beit Hamikdash with emphasis on שוגג, involuntary offenses. When a person violates an עבירה that carries with it כרת or death by the court, and he wasn't aware of his sin, he must offer a קרבן חטאת, a sin offering.

The idea here is that one must always strive towards getting closer to Hashem so that even a mistaken violation distanced him from G-d. The idea of the קרבן comes from the word קרוב, to get closer. The sacrifice again brings him back to where he should be.

In the case of the נשיא, who could be a head of tribe or even a king, the Torah says, אשר נשיא יחטא, WHEN a נשיא will sin and not If he will sin. Those three words first letters spell אני, which indicates selfishness and thinking that everything centers around him.

When a person is in a position of power the ego gives him a sense of entitlement that everything is coming to him. It's amazing how the Torah understood human nature.

תיקון האדם

This Shabbat is relatively quiet. We start the third book of the Torah, ויקרא. This book is also known as תורת כהנים as it deals with many of the laws connected with Kohanim and their service in the Beit Hamikdash.

This Parsha discusses the various sacrifices that were offered for various types of transgressions. The word קרבן has in it the word, קרוב, as the sacrifices were a means of getting closer to Hashem.

The של״ה הקודש says that the word אדם is used instead of איש. The אדם in the Parsha refers to אדם הראשון and the damage to the world because of his sin. In essence, the book of ויקרא emphasizes תיקון האדם, that man has a lifelong task of self improvement.

My seven year old grandson, Aaron David complained that everyone is always telling him to try to be better and work harder. He asked when he will be left alone and people like me will stop telling him to improve.

I told him that this will go on throughout his life. We have to continue to try harder and work on ourselves as long as there is breath within us. This is תיקון האדם. Shabbat Shalom

Rabbinic Bitter Herbs

The Rambam in ספר המצוות, addresses the question as to why מרור is not considered a Torah law but rabbinic. The question comes about because the Torah specifically says regarding the קרבן פסח, that it shall be eaten על מצות ומרורים יאכלוהו. This would seem to indicate a Torah commandment to eat the bitter herbs.

The Rambam explains that the מרור is really a supplement to the primary Mitzva of offering and eating the קרבן פסח. This is similar to other sacrifices where there is a primary commandment to offer a particular sacrifice. This is followed by the details connected with it. For example, frankincense and wine are included as items to supplement the specific sacrifice. There is no separate Mitzva regarding frankincense or the wine libation. Like the מרור they are details regarding the Mitzva, but not a Mitzva in themselves. Hence, the מרור is a rabbinic law at our Seder.

Pesach Torah Laws

When we approach the holiday of Pesach, we begin by separating the various Halachot of the Chag. We must first look at which laws are from the Torah.

On Seder night, there are two Torah laws. The first is the obligation to eat Matza. We are to eat a כזית of Matza which equals one slice on three occasions. The first is for the blessing over the Matza. The second כזית is when we make the Hillel "sandwich". And the third כזית is when we complete our meal with the eating of the Afikomen.

The second Torah law at the Seder, is to tell the Pesach story. This is learned from the words והגדת לבנך, "and you shall tell your children." We fulfill this Mitzva by focusing our Seder on the children. We devise all kinds of tricks to keep the children awake and involved throughout the night.

The climax of telling the story is when we quote Rabban Gamliel who said that minimally we must explain פסח מצה מרור. That is, we are to speak of the Pesach sacrifice, as well as the reason for eating Maror and Matza.

So we begin our Seder with fulfilling carefully the Torah laws and we then move on to the rabbinic laws.

Halacha

Pesach is definitely in the air with tonight being Rosh Chodesh Nissan. This is a holiday that tests one's commitment to Halacha. On the one hand, it is clearly a holiday of abundant Chumrot, stringencies, as it is only one week and people tend to be extra strict during the week of Pesach. Admittedly, some of these Chumrot are often exaggerated, but the actual Halacha must not be compromised.

Years ago, I remember young students taking home a flyer titled, "Do it right on Pesach night. It had all of the measurements necessary in order to fulfill the Mitzvot of the evening. This included the required size of our wine glasses for the four cups, the amount of Matza, Maror, Karpas, etc.

Pesach is really a test for all of us to see how seriously we take Halacha and how thoroughly we want to follow it. Ideally, we are to act like the wise son in the Hagaddah. He wanted to know everything about Pesach to the last detail. So should we.

A Time to be Frume

There is a time for everything according to Kohelet. This certainly applies to when it is appropriate to act in a very "holy" way and when it is not.

A case in point is a Halacha brought in the Rambam related to laws connected with when one is allowed to enter the Beit Hamikdash. We are aware that one is not allowed to go when in a state of impurity.

The Rambam brings a case where one inadvertently became טמא when he was already in the Beit Hamikdash. This could happen if someone died and he was under the same roof with the corpse. The Halacha is that this newly defiled individual must get off of Temple grounds immediately without pause.

If he stops for a moment to bow to Hashem, he is punishable with Karet for praying in the Temple in a state of impurity. This is an example where being "frume" at that moment is inappropriate. Interesting Halacha.

Shabbat

Shavua Tov. A major theme of today's Parsha, is the sanctity of Shabbat. We have a Mitzva at the beginning of ויקהל that tells us that we are to work for six days and rest on Shabbat. We are also not allowed to kindle a fire on Shabbat.

There are many interpretations as to why only this מלאכה out of all 39, is mentioned separately. An accepted explanation is that it actually refers to the high courts being forbidden to give the death penalty of "burning" on Shabbat. And if burning is forbidden, so are the other three methods of capital punishment.

The של״ה הקודש would like us to appreciate the special gift that is Shabbat. In our Shacharit prayers on Shabbat we say ישמח משה במתנת ידו, where Shabbat is referred to as a gift.

The joy felt on Shabbat with our נשמה יתירה, extra soul, is actually one sixtieth of the joy felt in עולם הבא. This explains why we feel sad as Shabbat ends and we no longer feel that bliss.

This is also why our sages say, שקטלה שבת כנגד כל המצוות, that Shabbat is equal to all of the Mitzvot of the Torah.

פרשת החודש

  This Shabbat is a double Parsha of ויקהל-פקודי and פרשת החודש. We finish the book of שמות and we "bench" Rosh Chodesh for the month of Nissan on Tuesday.

The idea in Parshat החודש is that the Jewish calendar begins with the month of Nissan that is to be viewed as the first month. We began as a nation in Egypt which makes sense that we begin with Nissan.

Another idea that is learned is that certain laws were given in Egypt even though it was a place of great impurity. The של״ה הקודש describes these Mitzvot as an engagement gift between Hashem and the Jewish people. The real gift, that is, the entire Torah, was given on Mount Sinai when we went from being engaged to being married to Hashem.

The third idea in פרשת החודש is that Moshe Rabbeinu was shown how to count the new month based on the new moon. On a mystical level, Eisav is compared to the sun, and Yakov, the moon. As long as Eisav's light shines, Yakov's light is not fully noticed.

Thank G-d we are living in a time where Eisav's light is weakening and Yakov's light is shining brighter and brighter. Shabbat Shalom

אך

There are two other examples of the word אך that have a special meaning related to Pesach. Both are found in the twelfth chapter of שמות. The first says אך אשר יאכל לכל נפש which means, "But, only that which is needed for food for the soul." This is the source for the allowance to cook on Yom Tov.

The second אך is much more interesting in that one certainly would not understand it without the Oral Law. The Pasuk says, אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאור מבתיכם, "But on the first day, one needs to remove his Chametz from his home." The first day means Erev Pesach, the fourteenth of Nissan. Not only is this a novel ruling, but we say that the word אך is חלק, which means to divide. It is the only day of the year that half of the day we are permitted to eat Chametz and the other half we are not. ( The Rabbis added two hours before noon as a precaution.)

The above information is fascinating but it also demonstrates the need for the תורה שבעל פה to clarify matters for us.

39 מלאכות

In פרשת כי תשא, we have the source for the 39 מלאכות of Shabbat. These 39 are viewed so seriously that the intentional violation of any one of them with warning and witnesses, gives the violator the death penalty. If he knew it was forbidden but there were no witnesses, he would get כרת. And if he violated any of these 39 by mistake, he would need to bring a sin offering, קרבן חטאת.

The previous Parshiot of תרומה and תצוה and the first part of כי תשא, all discussed details involved in the construction of the Mishkan. Suddenly, we are presented with the Pasuk, אך את שבתותי תשמורו, "But, you shall observe My Shabbatot. The word אך has significant derivatives where it is a word that teaches a great deal. (More examples of אך tomorrow, G-d willing) In this case the אך teaches that the construction of the Mishkan cannot take place on Shabbat and even more importantly, those 39 acts done in order to construct the Mishkan, are the same 39 acts forbidden to be done on Shabbat.