- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Hachodesh
18
commemorate Nisan as our first month. Included in
this reading are the instructions that were given
to Bnei Yisrael to prepare for Pesach. They were
told to select a lamb & safeguard it ("V’haya
lachem l’mishmeret") for 4 days, until it would
be slaughtered on 14 Nisan, with some of its
blood placed on the doorposts, & then eaten
together with Matza & Maror in an elaborate feast.
Rashi asks why it was necessary for the lamb to
be held for 4 full days! One approach: This was
an "in-your-face" act of faith, as we boldly took
the Egyptian god & openly slaughtered it, without
fear of the Egyptians. It took a bit of time to
gather up our courage to actually do this.
Rashi also quotes the navi Yechezkel: "I (G-d)
passed over you. I saw that this was a time of
loving; yet you were bare & naked." Hashem wanted
to liberate us, but we lacked the Mitzvot that
would give us sufficient merit. And so He gave us
two "bloody" commandments: the blood of Brit Mila
& the blood of the Korban Pesach. With these
"bloods" to our credit, we merited redemption.
Over the last half-year (if not the last many
years!) Israel & the Jewish People have been
confronted with fearsome challenges that test our
Emuna. Hardly a day goes by that we do not read
about, personally witness or experience a
tragedy. Indeed, as I write this, I have just
returned from the funeral of Sgt. Sivan Weil HY"D
of Ra’anana, who fell in battle this week in Gaza.
Through all these months, we have shown amazing
bravery & steadfastness. Though there is much
blood - our blood – upon many of our door-posts,
we do not capitulate or collapse; we go forward.
Though our meals may at times be accompanied by
"poor bread" or bitter herbs, yet we do not, we cannot despair.
I suggest that we, at this moment, are within
those very "four days of safeguarding." We are
stockpiling Mitzvot in huge amounts, performing
untold acts of Chesed, giving generously to good
causes, volunteering & praying for our holy
soldiers. We are maintaining our morality, our
dignity & our perseverance in the face of an
immoral, perverse world that turns everything upside-down.
But the moment of deliverance awaits us; the
banquet is coming, its aroma already fills the
air like that lamb-roast of old. Soon will be
fulfilled the pasuk from Zecharya: "By virtue of
the blood of your covenant I freed you from the
pit." Our destiny will not be denied; we have
paid dearly for it. And so, as we declare at
every Brit: "B’damayich chayi’i;" in our bloods we shall live. Eternally.
The Law of Bar Metzra
Various Rabbis | 5774
