 Torah Thoughts
SHABBAT HAGADOL (“The Great
Shabbat”)
The Shabbat preceding Passover is referred to as "Shabbat
HaGadol"- "the great Shabbat". There are a number of reasons
for this name.
One reason is that it commemorates a great event in Jewish
history. On the tenth day of Nissan, which was a Shabbat; the Jews brought to
their homes the animals which were to be used for the Passover sacrifice.
Curious Egyptians observing this strange scene inquired of their erstwhile
slaves regarding the unusual activity.
In our traditional sources, a number of responses are recorded.
One of them is that the Jews informed their former masters that these animals
were to be used as a Pesach sacrifice. Basically, they were telling the
Egyptians that we are going to slaughter and consume your gods in order to
honor our G-d.
This required tremendous courage and readiness for
self-sacrifice. The Jewish People boldly stared their oppressors in the face
and informed them that they were no longer bound by their culture and their
norms. The nascent nation was unshackling the fetters which kept them in the
shadows of the pyramids, slaves to their animalistic natures. They were
finally overcoming old addictions to mindless instinctual behaviors. The walk
towards the warm light of their fathers' G-d had now begun in earnest.
In order to merit a relationship with G-d, humans must
demonstrate the willingness to take risks and to sacrifice their own desires
for G-d's sake. This has been emblematic of the Jewish People for millennia. Abraham's
willingness to give his beloved son to G-d, and Isaac's willingness to give
his life, set the standard for their descendants until the conclusion of
history.
Our generation, in general, is not faced with choices involving
the ultimate sacrifice. Yet sometimes we face choices not much different in
their consequences. The ambient culture of political correctness dictates a
doctrine of moral equivalence. We are told that there is no such thing as
objective good and evil. Each individual, each culture, each civilization has
the right to express whatever is in its heart. If the pursuit of freedom of
expression leaves mangled corpses in its wake, so be it. The victims are
forbidden from declaring war on evil, for there is no such thing as evil
except the quest to destroy it.
Moral clarity and the single-minded pursuit of it are not always
popular positions. But that is the challenge that G-d has thrown before us.
Sometimes simply "doing the right thing" is so contrary to the
norms of one's environment that one does so only at the risk of being shunned
as a heretic, as an iconoclast who is destroying the neighborhood’s gods.
We as Jews must gather together the courage,
especially on this anniversary of Shabbat HaGadol, to follow in the giant
footsteps of our ancestors. In our personal lives and our interaction with
our society we must stand up to the challenges presented to us. If we are
aware of the gravity of their implications and we do what is right, even if
it is not popular, we will merit experiencing G-d's answer to our cries. Only
those who are bound to G-d are truly free.
Pesach
This year, Pesach is celebrated from Wednesday evening,
April 12 through Thursday night, April 20. Pesach is eight days outside of Israel, seven days in Israel. (Remember: Pesach is
more than just the Seder!) We do not work on the first two and last two
days- “Yom Tov” (April 13, 14, 19, 20). (In Israel- the first and seventh
days- April 13, 19) The days between “Yom Tov” are called “Chol HaMo’ed”-
the “secular” intermediate days of the festival.
During this holiday we commemorate the spectacular
redemption of our People from slavery in Egypt, and the birth of the
Jewish Nation.
We remember this event that changed the course of world
history by recounting the story at the Seder and by eating matzah and
removing all leavened bread from our possession. Leavened bread is a symbol
of materialism and arrogance (bread rises). Matzah is a symbol of humility
(flat) and faith. Before the Jewish People could receive the Torah (fifty
days after the Exodus) they had to go through a process of remaking
themselves as humble, spiritual, worthy recipients of G-d’s Torah. Once
this new perspective was gained, material objects were “safe” once more for
appropriate use. Thus we are permitted to eat bread during the rest of the
year!
BEDIKAT CHAMETZ (The Search for Chametz-leavened
bread)
1. The Torah does not permit us even to possess
chametz on Pesach.
There are two methods to fulfill the Torah's command:
a. (biur chametz) — physical destruction of the chametz
in one's possession, or its removal there from.
b. (bitul chametz) — renunciation of title to chametz in
one's possession.
By rabbinical decree, one is required to use both
methods.
2. As a prerequisite to biur chametz, one must
thoroughly search for chametz in one's house on the night before Pesach (Tuesday
night, April 11), preferably immediately after the time when the stars
first appear (This year about 8:15pm). Every room is searched thoroughly. The
pockets of clothing, the car and any other place chametz may be, must also be
searched. Any chametz found is put in safe keeping until the time prescribed
for the burning of the chametz on the following morning.
3. Anyone planning to be away from home over Pesach and
is leaving within thirty days before Pesach, must perform the search before
leaving. The same laws concerning the search are applicable, but no blessing
is recited.
4. No work may be begun, nor may a meal be begun, within
a half hour preceding nightfall.
5. The search should be done by the light of a candle
containing a single wick. These days a flashlight is safer and preferable.
6. Some have the custom to place ten pieces of bread
throughout the house before commencing the search. However, the search should
not be merely a cursory ceremony in which the pieces of bread are collected.
7. Immediately prior to the search, the blessing (see
your Siddur for blessing) is recited. One may not speak between the
recitation of the blessing and the beginning of the search. It is also proper
not to speak during the entire search, unless necessary for the search
itself.
8. Following the search, “Kol Chamira”, which
constitutes a nullification of the chametz, is recited. It is a statement
renouncing title to any chametz other than that set aside for breakfast,
sale, or destruction the following morning. It is important to understand the
formula of bitul chametz. Therefore, if one does not understand the Aramaic,
he should recite the following English version: "All chametz and sour
dough (leavening) in my possession which I have not seen and have not
destroyed shall be considered nullified and ownerless to me, even as the dust
of the earth."
9. The Torah prohibits deriving any benefit from chametz
from midday of Erev (the day before) Pesach until the end of Pesach.
Furthermore, the Torah commands us to have destroyed all of our chametz by
midday of Erev Pesach. By rabbinical decree, it is forbidden to eat chametz
after one-third of the day has passed (this year 10:40am April 12), and it is
forbidden to derive benefit from chametz after 5/12 of the day has passed
(this year 11:41am April 12).
10. Thus, chametz found during the search, as well as
any other chametz, must be destroyed the next morning, preferably by burning
(After this biur chametz has been performed, a more inclusive version of
bitul chametz is said, including all chametz (". . . whether I have seen
it or have not seen it; whether I have destroyed it or have not destroyed it
. . ."). Both the biur chametz and the bitul chametz should be done
before 5/12 of the day has passed (this year 11:41am); for, as soon as it is
forbidden to derive benefit from chametz, it is no longer within one's power
to renounce title to it, and bitul chametz cannot be done.
11. If one finds chametz in the house on chol hamoed
(intermediate days), he should destroy it immediately. If he finds it on Yom
Tov or Shabbat, it should not be moved, but covered with a vessel until the
conclusion of Yom Tov or Shabbat, when it must be destroyed.
The “seek and destroy” mission of Bedikat Chametz
symbolizes a spiritual mission in which we search our souls for residual
arrogance and other negative personality traits and spiritual blemishes. May
we all be inspired to “come clean” this Pesach!
EREV PESACH (Eve of Passover)
1. It is prohibited to eat matzah on Erev (the
day before) Pesach. We should go into Pesach feeling excited about fulfilling
the mitzvah of eating matzah.
2. First-born males fast usually on Erev
Pesach. (This commemorates their salvation at the time that the Egyptian
firstborns were killed.) This year, Erev Pesach is on Wednesday (April 12,
fast begins 4:56am, ends 8:16pm.) Those who fast recite an addition for a
fast day in the afternoon Amidah (standing prayer). First-borns may
partake of a meal celebrating the performance of a mitzvah (e.g. at the
completion of a Talmudic tractate, circumcision) thus breaking their fast.
They are then permitted to eat for the remainder of the day as well.
3. One may not do strenuous work or work for profit
after midday on Erev Pesach. Any work permitted on chol hamoed
(intermediate days of festivals) is permitted on Erev Pesach. It is also
permitted to have one's hair cut by a non-Jew on Erev Pesach, even after
midday.
4. There are different customs concerning doing work
before midday on Erev Pesach. Even where the custom is not to do work, Jewish
barbers may give haircuts and Jewish shoemakers may fix shoes before midday
on Erev Pesach. (Work related to the needs of the holiday.)
5. After three fourths of the day has passed, it
is forbidden to eat any food made of grain, so that one may eat matzah at the
Seder with appetite. One may eat moderate amounts of fruit, meat, etc. even
after three quarters of the day has passed, if it will not adversely affect
one's appetite at the Seder.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
Technical
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