Shvii shel Pesach
In the Torah reading for the 7th day of Pesach, we read the portion from Parshas B'Shalach in which the Jews left Egypt, Pharoah chased them, they got to the sea, God split the sea, they said the song of praise "Az Yashir". After Az Yashir, we continue to read one more piece - the arrival of the Jews in a place called Mara after they complained they had had no water for a few days.
The whole day is about the splitting of the sea, so why do we not just stop the reading at the conclusion of that portion? Why do we continue and read about the events at Mara?
The splitting of the sea was the height of inspiration. I can try to picture the water rising up into a wall. I can try to picture the water crashing down on the Egyptians behind the fleeing Jews. I can try to imagine the awesomeness of it. I think of Niagra Falls and find that amazing. Think of a sunset or any natural phenomenon that you find inspiring, and the splitting of the sea was that a million times multiplied. It even says a maid servant was more inspired at the splitting of the sea and had a higher level of prophecy that did the greatest of the later prophets, Yehezkal ben Buzi.
But inspiration is not enough. They were so greatly inspired, but right away they started kvetching again as soon as things got uncomfortable.
What happened to the great emunah they had attained and displayed by the splitting of the sea that the passuk even describes ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו? What happened to the great inspiration? They were without water and suddenly forgot the power Hashem has to provide? They forgot all they saw at the splitting of the sea and in the desert leading up to it and in Egypt?
They wasted the experience of the Kriyas Yam Suf. They were inspired, but they let it slip away. Inspiration is nice, but it must be actualized into some sort of concrete improvement. They let the inspiration slip away, so Hashem brought them to Mara. He showed them that they had immediately sunk back to their previous level and that He does have the power to provide, as He performed the miracle with the water and the tree. And he gave them a series of mitzvos. he made it concrete this time.
no more "inspiration". Now you get inspired and you take something with you. You find a way to actually improve yourself and act on it.
That, maybe, is why we read more than the splitting of the sea and add the parsha of Mara. because it completes the splitting.
Showing posts with label pesach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pesach. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Pesach: matza and chametz
Pesach - Matzah
The Matzah and Chametz are really very similar. In fact they have almost the exact same ingredients. It is basically flour and water.
Yet, one is a mitzvah to eat on Pesach, and one is assur to eat on Pesach. One is the symbol of freedom from the slavery of Egypt and one is not. One is the bread of the poor man and one is the bread of the wealthy. One costs 6 NIS in the store to buy and one costs upwards of 160NIS per kilo.
The difference between these two items that are really so similar is striking.
This teaches us a lesson that it is all a matter of what you do with it. You can have a character trait, for example, that can go either way. It can be used for good or for bad. It is a matter of your attitude and your direction.
You can take the flour and water and make it into chametz, you can take the flour and water and make it into matzah. You can take any character trait within you, any behavioral custom, and use it for good, or use it for bad.
Matzah is not good or bad and chametz is not good or bad. But the same item can be used to make one or the other. The lesson of the matzah is that just like we have to purge the chametz from within us, so too do we have to learn to use our behaviors and traits for good and not for bad.
The Matzah and Chametz are really very similar. In fact they have almost the exact same ingredients. It is basically flour and water.
Yet, one is a mitzvah to eat on Pesach, and one is assur to eat on Pesach. One is the symbol of freedom from the slavery of Egypt and one is not. One is the bread of the poor man and one is the bread of the wealthy. One costs 6 NIS in the store to buy and one costs upwards of 160NIS per kilo.
The difference between these two items that are really so similar is striking.
This teaches us a lesson that it is all a matter of what you do with it. You can have a character trait, for example, that can go either way. It can be used for good or for bad. It is a matter of your attitude and your direction.
You can take the flour and water and make it into chametz, you can take the flour and water and make it into matzah. You can take any character trait within you, any behavioral custom, and use it for good, or use it for bad.
Matzah is not good or bad and chametz is not good or bad. But the same item can be used to make one or the other. The lesson of the matzah is that just like we have to purge the chametz from within us, so too do we have to learn to use our behaviors and traits for good and not for bad.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
from rag to riches
Shavuos - Omer
The Torah is going through various details of the various holidays. It discusses the Omer offerings and upon arriving at the end of the Omer count (i.e. Shavuos), one has to bring a sacrifice called "shtei ha'lechem" - the two loaves. In 23:17 the Torah tells us, "מִמּוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם תָּבִיאּוּ לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה, שְׁתַּיִם שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים--סֹלֶת תִּהְיֶינָה, חָמֵץ תֵּאָפֶינָה: בִּכּוּרִים, לַיהוָה" or in English, "Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto the LORD."
This korban had a very unusual detail that makes it practically unique. It was made from chametz - leaven. It is one of two korbanos that contain leaven (the second is the korban Toda). All other sacrifices, including all the various mincha offerings, including the lechem ha'panim, including all other dough that would be offered in avrious forms in the mikdash, were leaven free. Kosher for Passover. Matza, albeit it thick and soft usually.
What is the significance of this sacrifice, the "Two Loaves" being made from chametz, unlike almost every other korban?
This offering, the שתי הלחם, is brought at the conclusion of the omer. The Omer count began on Pesach and concludes on Shavuos. In a sense, the Omer is the bridge between Pesach and Shavuos.
Pesach is יציאת מצרים - the Exodus from Egypt. Shavuos is מתן תורה - the giving of the Torah. Omer, the bridge between them, is the process of leaving Egypt and working towards מתן תורה. It is the time to prepare for the receiving of the Torah.
On Pesach we ate לחם עוני - poor man's bread, a.k.a. the Bread of Affliction. We eat the matza to remember the days of slavery and oppression. By doing so we recall the process of leaving Egypt and leaving that oppression behind. Shavuos is when we finally hit the target and got the Torah. That is when we ultimately became free and a nation.
To symbolize this we offer the rare sacrifice with חמץ - the opposite of poor man's bread. This is the bread of the free and the wealthy. The un-oppressed. Rich man's bread, if you must. When we get to Shavuos we can finally say the עוני of מצרים is behind us.
We start with poor man's bread, we work towards our freedom and we end with rich man's bread.
The Torah is going through various details of the various holidays. It discusses the Omer offerings and upon arriving at the end of the Omer count (i.e. Shavuos), one has to bring a sacrifice called "shtei ha'lechem" - the two loaves. In 23:17 the Torah tells us, "מִמּוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם תָּבִיאּוּ לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה, שְׁתַּיִם שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים--סֹלֶת תִּהְיֶינָה, חָמֵץ תֵּאָפֶינָה: בִּכּוּרִים, לַיהוָה" or in English, "Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto the LORD."
This korban had a very unusual detail that makes it practically unique. It was made from chametz - leaven. It is one of two korbanos that contain leaven (the second is the korban Toda). All other sacrifices, including all the various mincha offerings, including the lechem ha'panim, including all other dough that would be offered in avrious forms in the mikdash, were leaven free. Kosher for Passover. Matza, albeit it thick and soft usually.
What is the significance of this sacrifice, the "Two Loaves" being made from chametz, unlike almost every other korban?
This offering, the שתי הלחם, is brought at the conclusion of the omer. The Omer count began on Pesach and concludes on Shavuos. In a sense, the Omer is the bridge between Pesach and Shavuos.
Pesach is יציאת מצרים - the Exodus from Egypt. Shavuos is מתן תורה - the giving of the Torah. Omer, the bridge between them, is the process of leaving Egypt and working towards מתן תורה. It is the time to prepare for the receiving of the Torah.
On Pesach we ate לחם עוני - poor man's bread, a.k.a. the Bread of Affliction. We eat the matza to remember the days of slavery and oppression. By doing so we recall the process of leaving Egypt and leaving that oppression behind. Shavuos is when we finally hit the target and got the Torah. That is when we ultimately became free and a nation.
To symbolize this we offer the rare sacrifice with חמץ - the opposite of poor man's bread. This is the bread of the free and the wealthy. The un-oppressed. Rich man's bread, if you must. When we get to Shavuos we can finally say the עוני of מצרים is behind us.
We start with poor man's bread, we work towards our freedom and we end with rich man's bread.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
going the extra mile
Pesah - Haggada
Kol Hamira
It is interesting to note that on erev Pesah, after we have spent much time and energy cleaning and removing the hametz from our homes, then we again searched for more "just in case", and we then annulled anything we might have missed, and we then burned whatever we found, we still make yet another announcement annulling any unfound hametz.
Hametz, we are told by the meforshim, represents our actions of sin. Pesah is a time where we remove the hametz from the house but also from within us. We improve our ways and repent from the sins we have done.
So, we clean our house and get rid of any hametz. We also clean our actions and get rid of any bad traits and habits.
Then we search for for still anything we might have missed.
Then we still say the oral annulment in case anything was missed.
We go through a lot of hoops to in the goal of self-improvement.
This announcement of Kol Hamira is said commonly at the time the korban pesah was being offered in the mikdash. As we get closer to Pesah, as we get closer to the time of closeness with Hashem, and as we bring the korban pesah, we should be trying harder and harder to remove the hametz - any trace of impurity in our actions and thoughts. That is why even after we have done everything we can to get rid of the slightest traces of hametz, we still have to make this announcement of annulment. At this time when we are trying to get so close to Hashem we have to go the extra mile.
Kol Hamira
It is interesting to note that on erev Pesah, after we have spent much time and energy cleaning and removing the hametz from our homes, then we again searched for more "just in case", and we then annulled anything we might have missed, and we then burned whatever we found, we still make yet another announcement annulling any unfound hametz.
Hametz, we are told by the meforshim, represents our actions of sin. Pesah is a time where we remove the hametz from the house but also from within us. We improve our ways and repent from the sins we have done.
So, we clean our house and get rid of any hametz. We also clean our actions and get rid of any bad traits and habits.
Then we search for for still anything we might have missed.
Then we still say the oral annulment in case anything was missed.
We go through a lot of hoops to in the goal of self-improvement.
This announcement of Kol Hamira is said commonly at the time the korban pesah was being offered in the mikdash. As we get closer to Pesah, as we get closer to the time of closeness with Hashem, and as we bring the korban pesah, we should be trying harder and harder to remove the hametz - any trace of impurity in our actions and thoughts. That is why even after we have done everything we can to get rid of the slightest traces of hametz, we still have to make this announcement of annulment. At this time when we are trying to get so close to Hashem we have to go the extra mile.
sifting out more from holiness
Pesah - Shir Ha'Shirim
On Shabbos Hol Ha'Moed of Pesah we have a custom to read Shir Ha'Shirim.
In 1:1 of Shir Ha'Shirim, the passuk starts off saying, "שיר השירים אשר לשלמה". Rashi tells us that Shir Ha'Shirim is an especially holy song and book, much more so than any of the other כתובים - later biblical writings. Rashi compares it to a king who gives a kilo of wheat to a baker and tells him to sift out the various levels of impurities and use the flour to make a special delicate loaf of bread.
So too, Rashi says, is Shir Ha'Shirim. All the כתובים are holy, but Shir Ha'Shirim is קדש קדשים - especially holy.
Kodesh Kodoshim is not a separate entity, in the sense that you have two levels; holy and holy of holies, with them being independant of each other. You achieve the level of "especially holy" by taking the holy and continuing to refine it.
You can have "holiness" and still not be completely pure. If you take that "holy" and continue to sift out the impurities you can then achieve the ultimate level of holiness, holy of holies.
This is similar to Hametz itself and its disposal and metaphorically to our actions. If we continue to sift out the hametz from within us we can continue to improve our ways and strive and even achieve higher levels of kedusha, eventually reaching the status of holy of holies.
On Shabbos Hol Ha'Moed of Pesah we have a custom to read Shir Ha'Shirim.
In 1:1 of Shir Ha'Shirim, the passuk starts off saying, "שיר השירים אשר לשלמה". Rashi tells us that Shir Ha'Shirim is an especially holy song and book, much more so than any of the other כתובים - later biblical writings. Rashi compares it to a king who gives a kilo of wheat to a baker and tells him to sift out the various levels of impurities and use the flour to make a special delicate loaf of bread.
So too, Rashi says, is Shir Ha'Shirim. All the כתובים are holy, but Shir Ha'Shirim is קדש קדשים - especially holy.
Kodesh Kodoshim is not a separate entity, in the sense that you have two levels; holy and holy of holies, with them being independant of each other. You achieve the level of "especially holy" by taking the holy and continuing to refine it.
You can have "holiness" and still not be completely pure. If you take that "holy" and continue to sift out the impurities you can then achieve the ultimate level of holiness, holy of holies.
This is similar to Hametz itself and its disposal and metaphorically to our actions. If we continue to sift out the hametz from within us we can continue to improve our ways and strive and even achieve higher levels of kedusha, eventually reaching the status of holy of holies.
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