The Passover Holiday
"Matzot shall be eaten in a holy place" (Vayikra 6:9)
It is written in the Torah Portion of Tzav, "Matzot shall be eaten in a holy place" (Vayikra 6:9) This is a hint to the Matzot that are eaten on the night of Passover, that they should be in a holy place. That is to say, that one should sanctify his mouth, for that is the place of eating the Matzot. This is also hinted at by the word "Pharoah", which in Hebrew has the same letters as Peh-Ra (an evil mouth), and the rectification for this is Pesach, which in Hebrew is similar to the Hebrew words Peh-Sach (a mouth which speaks). One should speak only words which are good and holy, for everyone who increases speaking about them (i.e., the miracles of Passover) is praiseworthy. And the opposite is also the case; someone who doesn't speak good words, G-d forbid, is not praiseworthy.
The Influence of the Seder Night
It is told in the Gemara about Rabbi Yehuda bar Ila'i, that he would have a headache from drinking the four cups of wine on the night of the Seder, from Passover until Shavuot; and this was something to wonder at, that every time he would have a headache, at exactly the same season from Passover until Shavuot. They explained this from a Mussar (ethical) point of view, that the meaning of this is that the influence of the night of the Seder needs to extend until Shavuout because that is its end-point and purpose, for the main reason that the children of Israel went out from Egypt was so that afterwards they would receive the Torah (from Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka).
"How many levels of goodness TO the Omnipresent are upon us". (from the Passover Hagada)
It should have been written, "FROM the Omnipresent are upon us", and not "TO the Omnipresent", as if the intention was that He received a benefit. And the explanation is, that everything that the Holy One Blessed Be He does for the people of Israel, He is also doing it for Himself, and if there is something which is good for the children of Israel, it is also good for Him. This is similar to what we find by Rabbi Yishmael who entered within (the Sanctuary of the Temple) and the Holy One Blessed Be He requested "Bless me", and Rabbi Yishmael said to Him, "May Your Mercy overcome Your anger at us". Wasn't that a blessing to Israel and not to the Holy One Blessed Be He? However, the explanation is that a blessing to Israel is in its very essence a blessing to the Holy One Blessed Be He.
Why are we stringent on Pesach about the slightest bit of Chametz?
Why are we stringent on Pesach about the slightest bit (of Chametz)? To hint that if the congregation of Israel had remained in Egypt the slightest bit more time, they would have entered the 50th gate of impurity. Everyone who is careful about avoiding the slightest bit of Chametz on Pesach is promised that he won't sin all year. (Ba'er Heitev Siman 447)
"In the beginning our forefathers were idol worshipers". (from the Passover Hagada)
Why does the Hagaddah begin with a disgrace and end with praise? To show us that even if a person is found at the lowest level, G-d forbid, he is still able to elevate himself to high levels.
Two Torah scrolls are taken out:1) Moshchu V'kchu (from the Torah Portion of "Bo")2) for the Maftir, "Uv'chodesh Harishon (from the Torah Portion of "Pinchas")The Haftorah is "B'ait Hahi" (Yehoshua 5)
A Light-filled, Happy and Kosher Yom Tov.
In Nissan we were redeemed, and in Nissan we are to be redeemed in the future. (Rosh Hashanah 11a)
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
The Torah Portion of Tzav
"And he shall remove his garments and he shall put on other garments" (Vayikra 6:4)
Rashi explains, garments in which he was dressed when he cooked a pot of food for his master, he should not pour while dressed in them, a cup of wine for his master. The Maharsha brings from this a proof, that a person should change his clothes in the honor of Shabbat to garments which are appropriate and clean, just as the Kohen would change his clothes at the time of his service, and would not use the same clothes that he wore when he was removing the ashes from the altar. Thus it is necessary to change clothes for Shabbat, and not use the same clothes that one wore on Erev Shabbat while preparing for Shabbat.
"Matzot shall be eaten in a holy place" (Vayikra 6:9)
This is a hint to the Matzot that are eaten on the night of Passover, that they should be in a holy place. That is to say, that one should sanctify his mouth, for that is the place of eating the Matzot. This is also hinted at by the word "Pharoah", which in Hebrew has the same letters as Peh-Ra (an evil mouth), and the rectification for this is Pesach, which in Hebrew is similar to the Hebrew words Peh-Sach (a mouth which speaks). One should speak only words which are good and holy, for everyone who increases speaking about them (i.e., the miracles of Passover) is praiseworthy. And the opposite is also the case; someone who doesn't speak good words, G-d forbid, is not praiseworthy.
Shabbat HaGadol
The Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat, because of the miracle which occurred on it: the children of Israel took sheep, and tied them to their beds, in preparation for slaughter. Even though the Egyptians were very angry that the Jews were going to slaughter sheep, since they worshiped the sheep as idols, they didn't say anything about it to the Jews because they had developed a great fear of the Jewish people.
Another reason that it is called Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat, is because then a Gadol (great person) speaks before the people about matters pertaining to the holiday, and therefore it is called "Shabbat HaGadol".
Another reason it is called "Shabbat HaGadol" is because the Haftara of this Shabbat ends with the words "Yom Hashem Hagadol..." (the Great day of Hashem).
Why do we have this remembrance precisely on Shabbat?
Even if the Jews had done so (taken the sheep) on one of the days of the week, it would also have been a miracle. Therefore the remembrance should have been set for the 10th day of Nissan, when they were commanded about it. However, because Miriam passed away on the 10th day of Nissan, as is explained in Shulchan Aruch Siman 580, they didn't want to set the remembrance for that day, but rather on the day of Shabbat, for in that year the 10th of Nissan was on Shabbat. (Shulchan Aruch HaRav)
Everyone who is careful about avoiding the slightest bit of Chametz on Pesach is promised that he won't sin all year. (Ba'er Heitev Siman 447)
Why are we stringent on Pesach about the slightest bit? To hint that if the congregation of Israel had remained in Egypt the slightest bit more time, they would have entered the 50th gate of impurity.
"Behold I am sending you Eliyahu HaNavi.." (Malachi 3:23)
In the Haftorah of Shabbat HaGadol, it is written: "Behold I am sending you Eliyahu HaNavi", but it should have been written "I will send you", in the future tense, and not "I am sending" which is in the present tense. The Chafetz Chaim explains that the reason it is written "I am sending" in the present tense, is that there is no delay from the side of the Holy One Blessed Be He and He would send Eliyahu HaNavi immediately, but the matter depends on us. And the moment there won't be any delay on the part of the Children of Israel, the Holy One Blessed Be He would immediately send the "Mevaser" (Herald who would proclaim the Redemption).
The Torah Portion of "Tzav" has 97 verses. There are 9 positive commandments and 9 negative commandments.The Haftorah is "V'arvah L'Hashem" (Malachi)
May you all have a light-filled and happy Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom.
In Nissan we were redeemed, and in Nissan we are to be redeemed in the future. (Rosh Hashanah 11a)
May we merit to eat from the Pesachim and the Zevachim (the Passover sacrificial offerings)
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
The Torah Portion of Vayikra
"And He called to Moshe..." (Vayikra 1:1)
Rashi says that this (the use of the term "calling") is a language of love, the language which the angels of service use, as it is said "And one (angel) will call to the other and say" (Yeshayahu 6:3). It can be asked, what kind of a proof is this, that since the angels of service use the term "calling" that this is a language of love? But the explanation is, as the Chatam Sofer says: behold the verse "And one (angel) will call to the other" is translated (to Aramaic) in the Tirgum Yonatan by "And they receive one from another". And on the face of things, what is the connection between a language of "receiving" to a language of "calling"? But we see that by means of the angel calling to the angel who is smaller than he is, the smaller angel is given additional strength so that he can sanctify Hashem and say "Holy holy holy..." (Yeshayahu 6:3). And we thus find that the "calling" of the angels causes "receiving". And that is why the Torah specifies also regarding the speech of Hashem to Moshe the language of "calling", to teach us that by means of this "calling", Moshe was given additional strength to receive the flow of prophesy and holiness, and if so, it's simple that this is a language of love.
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"A man if he offers from you an offering to Hashem" (Vayikra 1:2)
The Holy books write that there is a hint here, that if a man wants to bring himself
close to the Divine service of Hashem, he needs to negate all of his identity,
to submit himself to Hashem entirely, and to negate his "I", his ego. And that
is the intention of saying "A man if he offers 'from you'"; that is to say, if
he is prepared to sacrifice "from you", his identity, then he is worthy to be an
offering to Hashem.
"A man if he offers from you an offering to Hashem, from the cattle" (Vayikra 1:2)
The Holy Alshich wrote, that the main point of the service of bringing an
offering to Hashem is, that he should think in his heart, that according strict
justice, it would be appropriate to have done to himself that which is done to
the cattle, to burn his limbs and dash his blood on the altar, G-d forbid,
because of the sins which he has committed. And it is only because of the great
mercy and kindness of Hashem, that the animal has exchanged places with the man.
And this is the intention of saying "A man if he offers from you", that is, the
man needs to offer himself, but the sacrifice to Hashem is from the cattle,
since the animal is in place of him.
"...from the animals -- from the cattle and from the flocks..." (Vayikra 1:2)
Rashi says, one might be able to think wild animals are also included; to teach otherwise the Torah says "cattle and flocks". In the book "Eidut B'yosef" it is brought in the name of the Gaon Rav Ziskind M'Rotenberg z"l that behold, the early scholars found three reasons why we don't brinig sacrifices from wild animals: 1) The Holy One Blessed Be He said not to bother you to go out to forests. The explanation of this is that domestic animals are found amongst people but wild animals are found only in forests and places which are distant so that the hand of man cannot easily obtain them. 2) Hashem requests the pursued and the domestic animals are always pursued by the wild animals that want to tear them apart. 3) The wild animal has pride and a conceited spirit, but the domestic animal is humble and its spirit is as low as the earth, and the Holy One Blessed Be He hates pride and a conceited spirit. According to this, in the future to come, when it will be as it is written (Yeshayahu 11:7) "A lion like cattle will eat straw together in one trough and a small lad will lead them", it will be found then that wild animals will be easy to obtain, and also there will be peace between the domestic animal and the wild animal so the domestic animal will no longer be pursued. Thus, it will only because of the third reason, a conceited spirit (that we would bring only domestic animals for an offering). And this is the explanation of the verse in Tehillim (51:19), "The offerings to G-d are a broken spirit", that the sacrifices are only from domestic animals who have a broken spirit. And it is thereby demonstrated that "a broken and humble heart, G-d, You will not despise" (Tehillim 51:19). But if you will say that this is not important but rather the first two reasons given above, on this the verse says "Do good as You see fit to Tzion...Then You will desire the sacrifices of righteousness" (Tehillim 51:20-21). That is to say, that then in the future to come, there will not be domestic animals who are pursued and also wild animals will be easily obtained, but even so, only "bulls will then be offered on Your altar" (Tehillim 51:21). And it is thereby demonstrated that the main reason is because "a broken heart You will not despise". (Tehillim 51:21).
The Torah Portion of "Vayikra" has 111 verses. There are 11 positivecommandments and 5 negative commandments.The Haftorah is "Am Zu Yatzarti" (Yeshayahu 43:21-44:23)
May you all have a light-filled and happy Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom.
In Nissan we were redeemed, and in Nissan we are to be redeemed in the future.
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
The Torah Portion of Vayakheil
"And Moshe assembled..." (Shemot 35:1)
Rashi says that this occurred on the day after Yom Kippur. It is customary for people to appease their friends on the day before Yom Kippur, but also on the day after Yom Kippur we should take care to continue to assemble together and to live in peace and brotherhood. And that was the intention of what Rashi says "And Moshe assembled - on the day after Yom Kippur".
"You shall not light fire in any of your dwellings on the day of Shabbat" (Shemot 35:3)
It is brought in the holy books that even though the fire of Gehinnom is extinguished on Shabbat, for someone who desecrates Shabbat the fires of Gehinnom are kindled especially for him to punish him. And this is what the Torah is warning us, that one should be careful not to desecrate Shabbat since that would cause the fires of Gehinnom to be lit up for him. Also, the Sages said that the sin of desecrating Shabbat causes fires, G-d forbid. And this is what the Torah is hinting to us, that you shouldn't cause fires to flare up in your dwelling places, because of desecration of Shabbat, G-d forbid. Similarly, if we are careful not to desecrate Shabbat, then as a result there will not be any fires in our houses. In addition, it is hinted in the holy books, that on the holy Sabbath, one needs to be especially careful to prevent the kindling of the fire of divisive argumentation (Machloket). On Shabbat people are present in the Bait Knesset and are not busy with their weekday work, so the evil inclination finds an opportunity precisely on this holy day to incite people to have disagreements and arguments. And that is why the Torah says "You shall not light fire...on the day of Shabbat".
The Torah Portion of Pekudei
"These are the accountings of the Mishkan...which were counted at the word of Moshe." (Shemot 38:21)
The Holy Zohar asks, isn't it so that the blessing is not to be found except in something which is hidden from the eye, so why did they count all the silver? And the answer is that regarding the silver which was counted by Moshe Rabbeinu, that the blessing rests upon it even if it is counted and not hidden from the eye. And that is the explanation of the verse "these are the accountings of the Mishkan...which were counted at the word of Moshe" -- because they were counted by Moshe there was no damage or lack caused by the counting of the sum of the donations for the Mishkan, and on the contrary because of the power of Moshe's greatness and righteousness, there was no reason to prevent the blessing.
"...a hundred sockets (in Hebrew: "Adanim") for a hundred kikar..." (Shemot 38:27)
The Baal HaTurim wrote that in parallel to the hundred sockets they established to say a hundred blessings every day. And the Chidushei HaRim says that just as the sockets are the basis of the Mishkan, so also the blessings are the basis of the holiness of every man of Israel, and by means of the blessings he testifies that Hashem, may He be blessed, is the Master of all of Creation. The Kli Yakar says that a Socket (in Hebrew: Aden) is from the same root as Master (in Hebrew: Adon), and he says that someone holds himself to be lowly like a Socket, is a Master, and as in the language of the Zohar, someone who regards himself as lowly, is great.
We bless "Chazak" at the end of the Torah Portion of Pekudei, which is the end of the book of Shemot.
The Torah Portion of HaChodesh
The reason for this reading is to sanctify and declare the month of Nissan,
because of the importance of this month, for so it is written in the Torah:
"This month will be to you the head of the months; it is the first for you of
the months of the year". (Shemot 12:2) It is the head of the months and of the
festivals. (Practically speaking, this is not the actual sanctification of the
month but rather just an addition of holiness.)
Another reason for this reading: to announce to the people that Passover is
coming soon, so that they should prepare themselves to come up to Jerusalem for
the festival. The Mitzvah of coming up to Jerusalem for Passover is more
stringent than for the the other festivals, because of the "Korban Pesach"
(Passover offering), which is a positive commandment that has the punishment of
Korait (cutting off) if not fulfilled.
10 Crowns that were taken by Rosh Chodesh Nissan:
1) The first for the act of creation
2) The first for the princes; the princes began to bring sacrificial offerings
3) The first for the priests (the Kohanim); the priests began to do their
service
4) The first for the service; the sacrifices of the community began to be
offered
5) The first for the coming down of fire upon the sacrificial altar
6) The first for eating of the holy offerings, according to their statutory laws
7) The first for the indwelling of the Divine Presence
8) The first time for the Kohanim to bless the people of Israel
9) The first time when it became forbidden to offer sacrifices on Bamot, so that
they would be offered only in the Mishkan
10) The first of the months of the year
On Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Moshe blessed Israel, May it be His will that the Divine
Presence will dwell in the acts of your hands.
It is customary from Rosh Chodesh Nissan until the 13th of the month to say each
day the Torah verses about one of the princes from the dedication of the
sacrificial altar. On the the first day, we begin with "Vayihi Biyom Kalot
Moshe"; on the 12th day we complete the Torah portion of Naso; and on the 13th
day we say the Torah portion of Baaloticha until "Et Hamenorah". (A Kohen or a
Levi should not say the Yehi Ratzon.) (from Mishna Berura, Siman 429)
The Torah Portion of "Vayakheil" has 122 verses. The Torah Portion of "Pekudai" has 92 verses. There are 4 positive commandments and 5 negative commandments.
TwoTorah Scrolls are taken out:1) for the weekly Torah portion2) for the Torah Portion of "Bo", from "Vyomar Hashem... HaChodesh Hazeh Lachem"until "Tochlu Matzot".The Haftorah is "Kol HaAm HaAretz" (Yechezkel 45)
May you have a light-filled and happy Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom.
"In Nissan we were redeemed and in Nissan we will be redeemed in the future." (Mesechet Rosh Hashana 11a)
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
