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Before a holiday, I like to take the time to really understand its meaning, especially one like Pesach, which is so clouded with its stigma of being difficult, a hardship, all that cleaning…As I related in a previous post (See “Rosh HaShana, the Sweet Circle”), there is the idea that time stands still and we move through it.  Each day, then, on the Jewish calendar, is the same in terms of its spiritual reality, as it was in previous years, and it will always be so.  Therefore, Rav Dessler tells us in Michtav MeEliyahu, when we celebrate a holiday we are not simply commemorating a past event.  We are reexperiencing the spiritual power of the day that manifested itself in the event that we are remembering.

So just what is the special spiritual power of Pesach?

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A common idea about Peasch that we have become familar with is, that every year when we are sitting at the seder on Pesach we need to feel as if we have also just come out of Egypt. I heard an interesting idea explaining how we can practically feel as if we have just come out of Egypt even in our generation. There is a deeper meaning to coming out of Egypt in addition to its literal interpretation. The word Mitzraim(Egypt) comes from the word Metzar(confinment/imprisionment) and coming out from Mitzraim means coming out from imprisionment. Another reference to something that confines us in a spiritual sense is being confronted by the Yetzer Hara(Evil Inclination), which constantly tries to take away our freedom and cause us to go into spiritual confinement because of our sins we commit. When we overcome the Yetzer Hara we are breaking free from our spiritual imprisionment and we become free again.

Despite this one may wonder what does breaking free from the Yetzer Hara’s influence have to do specifically with Pesach, because everyday we are in constant battle with it so why is this time of year any different ? The answer is, that on Pesach we are given the added energy that will help us be able to continue conquering the Yetzer Hara and continue freely performing mitzvot and keeping Torah throughout the rest of the year. May we all merit to fully feel that we have come out of Mitzraim on a personal and national level and that this Pesach be a time of Geulah (Redemption) for all of Am Yisrael!

Everyone here probably knows the “Vehi Sheamda” part of the Haggadah. What I am going to say right now is pretty self-evident but, for some reason, I’ve heard a lot of people make a mistake understanding this.

This is the full part in the Haggadah:

“Blessed is He who keeps His promise to Israel, blessed be He! For the Holy One, blessed be He, calculated the end [of the bondage], in order to do as He had said to our father Abraham at the “Covenant between the Portions,” as it is said: “And He said to Abraham, `You shall know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and make them suffer, for four hundred years. But I shall also judge the nation whom they shall serve, and after that they will come out with great wealth.’”

This is what has stood by our fathers and us! For not just one alone has risen against us to destroy us, but in every generation they rise against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hand!”

The misconception of a lot of people is that “This”, in other words, the thing which stood by our fathers and us, is the Torah. 

There are a few problems with that. (Torah wasn’t given then.) But - I’ve heard answers to these problems. The real problem to me, is that this is definitely not what the haggadah is saying. Rather, the haggadah is clearly saying that “This” is the promise which God made to Avraham that he will eventually leave Egypt. This promise was then translated into a promise of Klal Israel’s eternal nature - NETZACH ISRAEL. 

This is what got us out of Egypt! No, I’m sorry to tell you guys, not even torah and mitzvot because, at least from a very explicit reading, we did not have torah and mitzvot. And anyways, even if some people did learn torah even before it was given formally, many midrashim speak about how we were idolatrers in Egypt! 

However, Klal Israel is eternal! And this is a promise from God Himself! This promise came even before the Torah came! And with that promise, we know that even if many many people come to try and destroy us, they will NEVER be successful - because we have God’s word which protects us! 

If someone wants to connect to eternity - it is very easy - connect to Klal Israel! Roman emperors (and leaders from all other nations) have, throughout history, tried to accomplish incredible things to maintain an eternal legacy and get a share in eternity. To get your share in eternity - make your life part of Klal Israel’s life! Then - you will truly remain eternal. 

Here is a rendition I happen to really like of Vehi She-Amda!

Rabbi Avraham Itzhak Hakohen Kook had a calendar which he updated every month with an often-cryptic but always inspiring phrase. On year, for the month of Nissan, he wrote: “The Redemption from Egypt will forever stay the Spring of the entire world”.

With those words, Rav Kook expressed a fundamental idea in Jewish thought. In many of our sources, God is credited as being the God who took us out of Egypt. Some commentators ask why God is not being credited with the creation of the world, an act which seems much more important and which is relevant not only to the Jewish nation! The answer is that the Redemption of Egypt teaches us something which we cannot learn from the creation of the world. Yes, the creation of the world was an incredible miracle. However, some might claim (as Aristotelian philosophers did) that after the creation of the world, God stopped participating in his creation. The redemption from Egypt is proof that God takes an active part in his creation. God does not just watch history unfold but, when necessary, becomes an active participant in history!

This is why Rav Kook says that the redemption of Egypt will forever remain the spring of the entire world. From the redemption of Egypt, from the proof of God’s participation in our history, we can gain tremendous hope since, just as we know that God is Good, so too will the outcome of a creation in which he participates will be good.

Our sages teach us that in every generation, we should look at ourselves as if we were being taken out of Egypt. Some commentators explain this obligation as an obligation to always look at our current status, and understand that it is only possible thanks to the redemption of Egypt. Afterall, we say in the Haggadah that, without God’s intervention in Egypt, we would still be slave to Pharaoh – and so would our sons and grandsons. In each generation, we need to look at God’s participation in our history and be thankful for all the great outcomes of his participation!

In our generation, this challenge has been greatly facilitated. Since the start of the movement which has brought about the return of the Jewish People to our land, we have witnessed countless miracles which can only be explained by God’s participation in our creation. Rav Ouri Cherki once expressed that this redemption, in which we are currently living, is even greater than the redemption from Egypt! Afterall, in Egypt, we were one nation liberated from one land after 210 years. In our generation, we are still one nation, liberated from hundreds of land after almost 2000 years! All we need to do in order to feel gratitude for God’s participation in our creation is to open our eyes and see the redemption taking place right in front of us, just as it was taking place in Egypt.

In a recent Dvar Torah I gave at Hebrew University, I concluded by expressing hope that our current redemption should unfold quickly so that we will soon be able to once again give the Passover sacrifice. One student came to me afterwards and asked me what I meant by “our currently unfolding redemption”. Instead of answering him, I asked him to follow me and I took him outside where, on Mount Scopus, we have a beautiful view of the Temple mount, unfortunately still in ruins, and a good part of the holy city, now inhabited by the Jewish People. While we were both standing with the view of Jews slowly rebuilding the holy city of Jerusalem, I told him: “This is what I meant”. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (98a) teaches that the clearest sign of the end of galut is when the land begins to bear fruit again, as it says, “But you, mountains of Israel, will give forth your branch and bear your fruit for My people of Israel, for they are soon to come.” (Yechezkel 36:8)

May we merit to open our eyes and see all the great miracles happening thanks to God’s participation in our history!

A terrorist attack was planned in Haifa where a stolen car had 100 kilograms of explosives set to go off in a parking lot which could have caused the whole lot to go up in flames. The bombs failed to go off. Northern Police Head Commander Shimon Koren “…acknowledged the element of luck was decisive in averting tragedy.” (Source: jpost.com)