Pesach: Planning For Our Future

There is a story of the Riziner Rebbe, where a Jew fell asleep in the shul and as the Rizener was performing bedikat chometz he got up to Kol Chamira, and the Jew woke and said “oy, they are up to Kol Nidrei and I slept through the seudah hamafseket.” Everyone laughed. The Rizener Rebbe did not laugh, and encouraged his congregants not to laugh as well, as he explained that whatever a Jew can accomplish in the month of Tishrei can be accomplished on Pesach, as the pasuk says ועבדת את העבודה הזאת בחודש הזה. In this chodesh, called “hachodesh haze lachem,” one can accomplish the same growth he can accomplish on  Yom Kippur.

On the outset, we can see a connection between Pesach and Yom Kippur, for on both days we wear a  kittel. Both chagim probe us to aim for growth and teshuva. On Pesach we search for chometz in all cracks and crevices, which is a similar message to how we search ourselves on Yom Kippur. At the same time, the outer avoda is different. On Yom Kippur, the main avoda is by day -- all of the sacrifices are brought during daytime. Whereas on Pesach the main event is at night, at the seder.

Why is this? The avoda of Pesach is to start anew.  החודש הזה לכם – the root of this holiday is chidush, meaning new.  Pesach is about our ability to start over -- a fresh start, if you will.  The sefer Yesod Vaavoda explains 99% of sin is silliness, while only 1% is the yetzer hara, and 99% of teshuva is קבלה לעתיד, acceptance to do better in the future, while only 1% is חרטה, regret. Meaning, the sin is only 1% yetzer hara, so when we exchange life in this world for life in the next world; we trade our eternal life for physical pleasures in this world. The silliness is that a person thinks he is gaining olam hazeh, life in this world,  when in reality he isn’t even getting that. That is the 99% silliness; we get convinced we will obtain the olam haze, but we don’t even get that. What we end up getting is a life devoid of meaning.

Despite living in a world that is so advanced and developed, we sadly find depression rates at an alarmingly high rate. We find TV stars and sports celebrities who seemingly have it alll, but often appear to be living a life of emptiness. Perhaps this is similar to שיבוד, שיעבוד מצרים – shackled or enslaved. This person cannot be a ben chorin, a free man. Just as some people smoke despite knowing it is destroying their body,  we also do things that destroy our soul.  On the Yom Kippur confessional we say,  ולא שוא לנו  “the sin wasn’t even worth it.” This is the 99% silliness. The 1% of the yetzer hara can be helped with the 1% of regret, but the key is the  99% of the silliness. To fix that we need the 99% of קבלה לעתיד, working hard to change ourselves going forward. We need to develop a real thought out plan; one that the Chacham would devise. The plan of someone who is thinking about his future.איזהו חכם הרואה את הנולד. “The wise person is one who foresees the future.”

Perhaps this is the difference between Yom Kippur and Pesach. Yom Kippur is חרטה, regret – uproot the damage of the yezter hara by confessing our sins, and uprooting the damage the yezter did to us by causing us to sin. But on Pesach the avoda is cheirut, the freedom of kabala al ha’atid, chudish, hachodesh hazeh lachem, starting anew. This is the fight against our silliness to sin. This is why Yom Kippur is a daytime chag – a person has to work at night to do teshuvah to merit to do service the next day,  כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם... But Pesach is not about now;  it is about what is going to change in my life, about the future, and it can even be at night. A most important concept at the seder מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח , “we begin with the harder part of our history and work towards the good, end goal of redemption." Yes, we start with the bad, because we realize we have sins, but we start there and make a plan for what will be. We aren’t afraid of the night, of the genut, or the difficult beginning we had.

In one of his popular Shabbat HaGadol Drashot, Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman says that this avoda of newness that Pesach represents, contains three parts:

1. The belief that I can actually do it. Many commentators explain that the evil Rasha that our Haggadah describes is not the complete evil person, but rather one who is despaired that he can ever be better. He thinks he is so lost and there is no point in trying to change. He is called a כופר בעיקר, a denier, because he removes himself from the Jewish people. We have to answer בעבור זה עשה ה' עשה לי,  Hashem took ME out despite that I was on 49th level of impurty. We must believe no matter how far we fell, we can always rise up again.
2. The mindset that we need to do it - we have to recognize that if we do not start anew, our lives might turn to emptiness, devoid of real spiritual fulfillment.
3. How should we do this? We want to start fresh, like on a GPS, we need to recalculate. This is not easy when we are so busy with work. We get so busy with life that we don’t allow ourselves the time to introspect and plan for meaningful change. We need to change our mindset. We only live once and it goes fast. We have to have wisdom to make life meaningful.

Parshat HaChodesh: When Does the Obligation to Recount the Story Begin?

As we approach Shabbat Hachodesh and the arrival of Rosh Chodesh Nissan next Tuesday, I am reminded of a strange paragraph in the Haggadah:

יכול מראש חודש, תלמוד לומר ״ביום ההוא.״ אי ביום ההוא, יכול מבעוד יום. תלמוד לומר ״בעבור זה.״ בעבור זה לא אמרתי אלא בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך.

“One might think that the obligation to recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt begins from the first day of the month of Nissan. However, the Torah states, “on that day.” “On that day” might be understood to mean while it is still daylight, therefore, the text specifies “it is because of this.” I can say “it is because of this” only at such time when the matzah and marror are in front of you.

I find this challenging to understand -- why would one ever think the obligation to recount the story starts on Rosh Chodesh? From the time we are small children, we are taught that we celebrate Pesach to commemorate the way the Jews left Egypt in haste on the 15th of Nissan, not letting their bread rise and taking it in the form of Matzah. It was the 15th! Why would we think this obligation begins two weeks earlier?

Let’s explore a few approaches to understand this:

1. The Talmud teaches us the concept of שואלין ודורשין; that there is special halacha on Pesach to start preparing to learn the laws of Pesach in advance of the holiday. Due to the complexities of the laws, we need to get a head start. We have the practice to begin studying the laws thirty days beforehand, but the Torah tells us (Shemot 12:2) that Moshe relayed the first commandment in the Torah, of Rosh Chodesh, with Rosh Chodesh Nissan; that he told the Jewish people they should join together to bring the Korban Pesach, and so he prepared them with all the laws of Pesach. So perhaps we might have thought that if we were already preparing, we might already be obligated to tell the story of the Exodus.

2. There are some commentaries that say the redemption actually began on Rosh Chodesh. With that understanding, we can well understand why we might think the obligation to recount the story of the Exodus should begin as well.

3. In a similar fashion, if we take a strict reading of the text, the Torah says (Shemot 13:5) וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת-הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה, in introducing the obligation to keep the holiday of Pesach, the Torah says and you will perform this service “in this month.” Perhaps we have to do it all month, starting on Rosh Chodesh.

4. זכור את יום השבת – זכר ליציאת מצרים – There is a mitzvah to “remember the Shabbat,” with similar language for the daily mitzvah to “remember the Exodus from Egypt.” When it comes to Shabbat we fulfill the mitzvah of Zachor during the week by always thinking about and planning for Shabbat. We refer to weekdays in their relation to Shabbat, היום יום               בשבת, we shop all week for food for Shabbat, etc. If so, perhaps remembering the Exodus also begins before the actual holiday, i.e. from Rosh Chodesh.

We have determined there are some reasons why we might have thought the obligation begins on Rosh Chodesh. It is for that reason the Torah says ״ביום ההוא.״ – the obligation doesn’t begin on Rosh Chodesh, but “on the day.” of the Exodus, or the 15th of Nissan.  But why would we think this obligation begins while it is still daylight on the 14th?

Rabbi Tzvi Sobolovsky suggests that perhaps Pesach is like all other Shabbatot and Yomim Tovim, where you can accept them early, while it is still daylight. But the Haggadah is teaching us that Pesach is different. It is the only holiday we cannot bring in early. We learn from the words בעבור זה that we cannot fulfill the obligation until the matzah and marror are in front of us at night. Pesach is a holiday at night. Consider that most other holidays have their main celebration by day (Shofar, Lulav, Megillah, Seudat Purim and Mishloach Manot, etc.), but Pesach is a night holiday. The redemption was at night, so our obligation is at night. (CLICK HERE for an explanation of why we are obligated to wait until dark to say Kiddush at the Seder, while we do not have to wait on Shabbat.)

In conclusion, it all comes down to the Seder night, as that is when the obligations begin and when we need to be prepared to recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Let the consideration of this paragraph in the Haggadah inspire us to get a head start and get prepared for the seder so that we can maximize our family’s experience.

Parshat Ki Tisa and Parshat Parah: What Do They Have in Common?

This Shabbat we read Parshat Ki Tisa with the additional portion from Parshat Chukat, known as Parshat Parah. Although there may be numerous connections between the two parshiyot, here I will explore one that is near and dear to me; one I believe to be a crucial part of our philosophy as Orthodox Jews.

The Parah Adumah (Red Cow) discussed in Parshat Chukat is utilized in a process of purifying a person who became impure through contact with a dead person. In addition to what’s on the surface, Chazal teach us that this cow is brought to rectify the horrible sin of the Golden Calf , which is found in Parshat Ki Tisa. After Moshe goes up to Har Sinai to get the luchot from Hashem, the Jews grow inpatient and ask Aaron to create this calf as some form of intermediary to Hashem. An in-depth look at the commentaries will reveal different understandings of what exactly they did wrong here, but that notwithstanding, how does the Red Cow rectify this sin of the Golden Calf?

The simple understanding is that the sin was done with a baby calf and so the positive act of purification with “its mother” the Red Cow is done to make up for the misdeeds done with her calf. But what exactly does this mean? How are the two connected in a deep way, allowing us to really understand the message?

The Brisker Rav suggests that the sin of the Golden Calf  was that the Jewish people attempted to add to their avodat Hashem, something not suggested by G-d Himself or one of his prophets. Perhaps this was not avodah zara in the sense of bowing down to a foreign idol, but rather it was an attempt to reach G-d out of fear that Moshe wasn’t going to return. But despite some good intentions, they tried to do things differently, and in a way that was not warranted. It is for this reason that Hashem commands us to bring a Red Cow and it is commanded in the verse as זאת חקת התורה, “This is a chok from the Torah.” A chok is a mitzvah that Hashem specifically does not reveal his reasons and logic for. We are asked to do, and we do because Hashem said so. Now we see that to make up for the Golden Calf, where we tried to create or reform our service of Hashem without his permission, we are asked to rectify our wrongdoing by performing a mitzvah we do not understand.

The message here is crucial. As Jews, we are taught that Talmud Torah is of paramount importance. We are supposed to learn and to question, so we can perform the mitzvot better. Yet, there is an important aspect that our commitment to performing mitzvot should never be based on that understanding. We do mitzvot because Hashem asked us to, period! After we accept that, only then we can spend our lives searching and questioning. We have to recognize that a crucial element of our lives as Jews is to do the mitzvot unconditionally, and to not reform them without G-d’s permission or the guidance of our Chachamim. That was the mistake of the Golden Calf, and now we understand why bringing the Red Cow was so important. We  can now also understand and appreciate why these two parshiyot get read together this Shabbat.

Purim: The Final Kabbalat HaTorah

The Ariz”l writes יום כיפורים – כ-פורים, Purim is compared to Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year. Not only that, it seems to be on a higher level, for Yom Kippur is like Purim.

What does this mean? How are we to understand that Purim, a day of costumes, food and wine is holier than the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur?

Rav Dessler explains that Yom Kippur is the day of כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם...לפני ה' תטהרו where Hashem forgives us and we become purified; we achieve a closeness to Hashem, yet this comes out of יראה, fear. On the other hand, it is on Purim where we get close to Hashem out of אהבה ושמחה, love and happiness; out of recognition for the miracles that Hashem did for us and for seeing His constant Hashgacha in all that goes on in the world.  Despite our being in galut and His presence sometimes hidden, הסתר. Closeness achieved out of love and happiness is a much higher level than one derived out of fear.

To explore this a little deeper, let us look at the words of the Vilna Gaon:

"ענין פורים שהוא נגד יוהכ''פ, כי שמונה עשר ימים טובים בשנה, שנים שנים, שבעה שבעה."

“Purim corresponds to Yom Kippur, for there are 18 days of Yom Tov during the year, a pair of twos and a pair of sevens.” What does this refer to? The first set of two refers to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the second set of two refers to Shemini Atzeret and Shavuot. The first set of seven refers to the seven days of Sukkot and the second set of seven refers to the seven days of Pesach.

וכנגדן ח' ימי חנוכה" והנה ח' ימים שאין גומרין את ההלל”

There are eight days where we do not say a full Hallel, the last six days of Pesach, then Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. To make up for those eight days, Chazal instituted a full Hallel on Chanukah.

The Vilna Gaon concludes that since Chanukah has the full Hallel, it does not need the formal obligation of simcha; there is no obligation to eat. To make up for that simcha, we have 6 days of simcha on Pesach, and two days on Rosh Hashanah, where there is an obligation to eat and enjoy the day. Finally, there is Yom Kippur, a day of atonement and refraining from food and drink,  so we actually must refrain from simcha. To make up for that, Chazal instituted Purim, where we are obligated not just to rejoice with food and drink, but to rejoice a lot, go to far lengths to have and create simcha. Where does this simcha come from? As we will see below, after the miracles of Purim occurred, the Jewish people re-accepted the Torah out of a love for Hashem. In fact, as we will see now, the connection between Yom Kippur and Purim rests on the common theme of Kabbalat HaTorah. I will develop this even further:

What connection is there between Yom Kippur and Kabbalat HaTorah?

The original Kabbalat HaTorah began with Moshe going up to Har Sinai with the Jews saying נעשה ונשמה; it was a total and unconditional acceptance of the Torah. When Moshe comes down from the mountain he observes the Jews committing the sin of the Golden Calf, where upon he smashes the luchot, necessitating a teshuva process for the Jewish people. After Moshe helped us achieve forgiveness, he came back down on Yom Kippur with the 2nd luchot.That is the simcha of Yom Kippur – it is a day of Kabbalat HaTorah that came about from genuine teshuvah.

Yet there was one significant drawback - the Kabbalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur was out of אונס it was somewhat forced. As we find the Gemara in Shabbat פח says,

ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר – א''ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא, מלמד שכפה הקב''ה עליהם הר כגיגית, ואמר להם, אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב, ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם.

That Hashem lifted the mountain above the heads of klal yisrael and said, “accept the Torah and it will be good for you, if you don’t it this will be your grave.”

How could this have been באונס? Did we not have free choice?

The Maharal explains that we were not a physically forced to accept the Torah, rather we were אנוסים מחמת הכרה, it was total awe. We had reached the level of פנים אל פנים דיבר ה' עמכם, with awe we saw the importance of Torah and that the entire world rests on it. So did we have real choice? Yes, we did choose, but in that position who could have rejected the Torah??

We now have a better understanding of the nature of Kabbalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur. Now, take a step back and ask, didn’t the Jews accept the Torah unconditionally, with נעשה ונשמע? Why did we need this second, more forceful acceptance? Furthermore, we will soon see  there was a third Kabbalat HaTorah on Purim. Why the need for a third?

נעשה ונשמע was a great accomplishment, to take Torah upon yourself unconditionally, but the downside is that just like you accept it upon yourself, you can easily just as easily give it up. That is why Hashem chose to “lift the mountain over us.” There has to be a certain element of it being forced to show that Hashem is in charge and there are consequences to not following Him. Yet that is all out of יראה. It was a Kabbalat HaTorah, but somewhat short lived, as seen with the quick mistake at the sin of the Golden Calf, as many have wondered how could the Jews sin so quickly after receiving the Torah. I believe the answer to be they accepted the Torah out of awe; it was so overwhelming, and so it was short lived. It wasn’t something they could hold onto for the long-term.

The Gemara says, אמר רבא אעפ''כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש, דכתיב (אסתר ט) קיימו וקיבלו היהודים

“During the times of Achashveirosh the Jews re-accepted the Torah, as it says, קיימו וקיבלו.”

One could ask, the order of the pasuk is incorrect, first it should say they קיבלו and then it should say קיימו? Therefore, Chazal explain, קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר, they accepted that which they had previously accepted. Rashi explains, מאהבת הנס שנעשה להם, meaning  the Torah that was accepted out of אונס at Har Sinai, was not accepted out of love.

Were there no other miracles earlier in history between the time of the 2nd luchot and Purim? Why was it specifically this miracle which caused the Jewish people to re-accept the Torah?

The Gemara in חולין says, אסתר מן התורה מנין? ואנכי הסתר אסתיר, Chazal are teaching us that the times of אסתר  were a time of הסתר פנים – and it was through the hiddenness that Hashem showed his "אנכי", meaning, through His running the world, in what seems to be the simple acts of nature. Yet He tweaked it for the benefit of the Jewish people. Until this point, all the miracles were נסים גלוים, open and undeniable. Those do not have the same long lasting impact on us. As we explained above, it was those miracles that were the drawback to the Kabalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur, with the 2nd luchot. They were too open and undeniable – as we saw, the Jews didn’t know how to handle this and integrate it into their everyday lives – the result was the חטא העגל.

Perhaps now we appreciate what Purim is all about! It is all about our recognizing the hand of Hashem in our lives through the hidden miracles of Purim. From those miracles we see the Hand of Hashem in every act of nature. This should bring us to a closeness and a love for Him. This can bring about the strongest kind of Kabbalat HaTorah. It is for this reason, we needed a third Kabbalat HaTorah, one that through love could last us for all times. This is the simcha we all need to connect to on Purim!

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Links to Other Purim Torah

1. CLICK HERE to read my blog post from last year on Parshat Zachor
2. CLICK HERE to listen to a shiur I gave last year at the YU Midreshet Yom Rishon on this topic. CLICK HERE to view the source sheet.
3. CLICK HERE to listen to a shiur I gave on the Laws of Purim. CLICK HERE to a short synopsis I wrote on the Laws of Purim.

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Parshat Terumah: The Month of Adar: A Time to Be Happy

It often strikes me as odd, that when the month of Adar arrives, we begin to party; we dress up, play music, etc., but we are doing so 14 days before the holiday of Purim begins. You may be familiar with the phrase from our Chachamim  משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה, “when the month of Adar enters, we increase our level of happiness.” Why does this month have this character? Other months have chagim of simcha and we do not begin to celebrate two weeks in advance?

In order to understand this, we need to go back to the original full statement as written in the Talmud. The Talmud in Ta’anit 29a states, כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, כך משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה, “Just as when the month of Av arrives, we reduce our level of happiness, so too, when the month of Adar arrives, we increase our happiness.” What does this  mean, exactly, “כשם” or “Just as?” There is  a connection between the month of Av and Adar. What is that connection and how can that help us understand why in one month we increase our happiness, while in the other we decrease it? The Meiri, one of our Early Rishonim explains that just as we bless and thank Hashem over the good He bestows upon us, so too, we should thank him for the bad. After all, we do not comprehend His master plan and have to trust that whatever He does is in our best interest.  So perhaps that connects the months;  just as we thank Hashem in the happy month of Adar as we celebrate our redemption on Purim, so too -  as we enter the month of Av and prepare for mourning the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash - we should reduce our level of happiness.

There is one big difficulty with this resolution. Rav Eliyahu Chaim Cohen in his sefer Otzrot HaTorah on Purim asks that if the Meiri is correct, then the Talmud should have reversed the statement and said, “Just as we increase the happiness in Adar we decrease it in Av.” But the Talmud says it in the reverse? To further strengthen this question, Rav Cohen says that if we look at the Talmud in Brachot 54a we find the idea of כשם שמברכין על הטובה כך מברכין על הרעה, “just as we bless Hashem for the good we must bless Him for the bad.” So, as we thank Hashem for all the good he does, even when a loved one passes away, we must make the bracha of Dayan Ha’emet and bless Hashem. We see in this context that the כשם makes sense, but if our statement of the Talmud about the increase of simcha in Adar meant what the Meiri suggests, should it not have been stated in the reverse?

Therefore, Rav Cohen, suggests a different understanding of  כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, כך משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה - just as in the month of Av, the mourning does not begin on the 9th of Av, but rather we have the “nine days.”  These days give us an additional time period leading up to the 9th of Av, where we begin the mourning and reduce our level of simcha, just as when Adar comes, we don’t wait to celebrate on Purim, but we begin on Rosh Chodesh. The message is this:  our happiness is an important feeling and we cannot simply turn it on and off to extreme degrees overnight. We need time to build it up in Adar so we can celebrate appropriately on Purim,  and in Av we must decrease it over nine days so we can mourn appropriately on the 9th of Av.

There is one other important message that emanates from this discussion. I remember hearing Rabbi Paysach Krohn state the most important message of this Gemara is that whether it is Adar or Av, we are still obligated to be happy. The Gemara is telling us that in Adar we increase our level of happiness and in Av we decrease it, but we must always maintain a level of happiness. We see that happiness is a key ingredient in serving Hashem properly in the month of Adar, Av and throughout the year. Let us all merit only good things for our friends, family and all of klal Yisrael, so that it is  less of a challenge for us to appreciate the happiness we are meant to feel in Adar, and come to celebrate Purim in the best ways possible.