Shalom.
And chag kasher v’sameach… blessings for a happy and kosher Passover.
Pesach, Passover is synonymous with the Exodus from Egypt, with Redemption, with delivery
from slavery and with the birth of the people of Israel.
As Israel prepares to celebrate the magnificent Festival of Passover, time of our Freedom,
we turn our hearts to the direction of the Holy Temple.
And it is to the rebuilt Holy Temple in Jerusalem, that one day all of Israel in her multitudes
will stream to bring the korban Pesach, the Passover offering.
The very first Passover offering took place hours before the Exodus, while yet in the
darkness of Egypt.
Not physical darkness…but in the husk of Egypt; the spiritual darkness of what Egypt
represents…denial of G-d.
As Pharaoh said, ‘Who is Hashem that I should heed His voice to send out Israel?
I do not know Hashem, nor will I send them out’ (Ex. 5:2).
Pharaoh and Egypt represent the opposite of faith.
The whole process of the offering was to demonstrate the reality of G-d even to Egypt, as the Torah
testifies, ‘And the Egyptians will know that I am G-d.’
Israel’s willingness to perform this offering in Egypt bore witness to their desire to be
servants of Hashem and not servants of Pharaoh.
Thus Passover, the first holiday of the first month, is the Rosh HaShana of faith.
Of faith in Hashem.
The seder night is like a fountain from which flows faith for the entire year.
All the other festivals draw their spiritual energy from Passover.
It’s the beginning of true service of G-d.
That first Passover in Egypt became a bridge to the future.
And the slaughtering of Egypt’s deity, the lamb, as the Passover offering, marked the
beginning of Israel’s beautiful new and life-long career – to slaughter false gods
before the eyes of the world, taking a stand for the One G-d.
Throughout two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people have prayed to return to Jerusalem,
and for the Temple service to be renewed.
This is the real meaning of the words with which the traditional Passover seder is concluded:
‘Next Year in Jerusalem’.
We pray for the opportunity to once again be able to fulfill the main commandment of
Passover…the korbon Pesach.
We’ve waited so long to fulfill the main commandment of Passover.
So what was it like?
The Mishna describes the steps of the Passover offering.
The nation of Israel converges on the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Many thousands of offerings are brought within a short period of time.
The kohanim who attend to the service need to be expert, sensitive, and focused.
The Passover offering is slaughtered in three groups.
The first group of Israelites enters, the Courtyard is filled, the gates are closed,
blasts are sounded from the silver trumpets.
The kohanim stand on lines with silver and golden vessels for receiving the blood of
the offering.
An Israelite performs the shechita, the actual slaughtering and a Kohen receives the blood
in a special designated vessel.
Many vessels containing the blood of the offerings are passed down the line of attending kohanim,
and the priest standing closest to the altar dashes the blood against the side of the altar,
on the bottom half of its wall, above the foundation of the altar.
The offering is accompanied by blasts from the silver trumpets and the singing of the
festive Hallel prayers by the Levitical choir.
The skin, the fats which will be brought to the altar, and innards are removed.
The offering is roasted whole in special Passover ovens constructed for this purpose.
The meat is roasted and in the evening the Israelites conduct the Passover seder in the
holy city of Jerusalem, with each group eating from its Passover offering.
As our sages describe, the singing of the festive Hallel prayers on this sacred night
rings forth from every home and bursts through the roofs to the heavens.
This is an eternal covenant (verse).
The observance of the Passover is an eternal covenant, never cancelled, as the Torah commands,
(Ex 12:14), ‘This day shall become a remembrance for you, and you shall celebrate it as a festival
for Hashem; for your generations, as an eternal decree shall you celebrate it.’
In the meantime, while the Passover offering is unilaterally, seemingly interminably on
hold, still Passover’s message and its power, and how it can potentially transform us, isn’t
limited to ancient Israel.
The experience of Pesach is the foundation of freedom for the whole world.
This was the intention of those great sages who penned the Passover haggada, the text
used to celebrate the Passover seder.
On Passover night we all read: "Whoever does not view himself as if he personally left
Egypt on this night, has not fulfilled his obligation."
The first step towards freedom is to realize that we are still enslaved to false gods.
Each of us is stuck in the private hell of our own personal Egypt.
What does freedom truly mean?
What does it mean to be free?
The Torah’s definition is not like most people would define, ‘if I’m free it means
I can do whatever I want.’
Torah’s definition of freedom is that I’m free to be a man, to have the opportunity
to try to rise to my greatest potential unhindered, I’m free to be able to choose to do the
right thing.
Our sages relate that when Israel was redeemed from the Egyptian exile, G-d mercifully orchestrated
their exit from there just in the nick of time – "at the end of four hundred and thirty
years, on that very day" (Ex. 12:41).
Israel demonstrated great collective and personal strength and fortitude by steadfastly maintaining
a certain level of sanctity throughout the ordeal of both physical and spiritual bondage.
But at the same time, the nation had sunk to a low level of spiritual impurity due to
the hardships and influences of the Egyptian captivity.
Thus we are taught that our ancestors were literally tottering one step away from the
brink of a spiritual chaos from which there would have been no return – the "49th level
of impurity" – had it not been for G-d's "strong hand and outstretched arm" (Psalms
136:12) which delivered us "on that very day"– on the very day and at the exact moment of
Divine redemption.
We are taught that G-d pulled Israel out of Egypt at the eleventh hour with great compassion.
The Heavenly illumination of this compassion was completely overwhelming.
They were immediately elevated to the highest level, the "49th level of purity"; transmuted
by the highest Divine light.
Although they had no preparation and were not ready – "they picked up their dough
before it became leaven" (Ex. 12:34) – they were catapulted from their low level directly
into the presence of the King's radiance, and it was this radiance which bore them out
from the realm of evil.
But it had the makings of a spiritual trauma, this moving from the lowest level to the highest,
with no stages in between; like going from 0 to 180 degrees.
The people did not remain long under the influence of this magnificent and undeserved light.
The next day it departed from them, and it was necessary for Israel to regain this illumination,
slowly, gradually and naturally, one level at a time, in preparation to stand at the
foot of Mount Sinai to hear the voice of G-d and receive the Torah, 49 days later on Shavuot,
the Festival of Weeks.
This is one of the secrets of the Divine commandment that instructs us to count off these seven
weeks, numbering 49 days from the second day of Passover leading up to the Shavuot festival
(Lev. 23:15): It is not only a concept of counting, but a period of intense spiritual
toil and discipline, and great effort, through which we slowly and gradually regain the light
that had been given to us gratis on the first night of Passover.
For so it is every year.
On the first night of Passover at the seder, we once again bask in that radiant light of
redemption.
If – hopefully – we grasp the moment properly, then we merit to leave Egypt.
But then the light departs and we must work hard to regain it, to build ourselves up to
the level where we are found deserving to receive the Torah anew.
On the last day of Passover, the eighth day, having departed from Egypt one week earlier,
our ancestors crossed the Sea of Reeds.
And so do we.
Or rather, at least, so can we.
This last day of Pesach is a day of great potential, illumination and spiritual portent;
indeed, it is at once both the culmination of the Festival of Passover and its inimitable,
powerful crescendo.
And ultimately, it is the splitting of the sea and Israel's crossing over to the other
side, never to look back, which began her role and destiny in the world.
"And the Children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, Egypt was journeying after
them, and they were very frightened; the Children of Israel cried out to Hashem."
(Ex. 14:10) Many are familiar with the teaching of our rabbis that the sea did not split until
one man – Nachson, prince of the tribe of Judah, walked into the water and continued
walking until it came up to his nostrils.
At the moment when he could go no further, G-d made the miracle, and the sea split and
remained open the entire night for all the nation to walk through on dry land.
We emphasize this teaching because it so clearly serves to indicate how G-d certainly makes
miracles, but only when man has done everything in his power.
Once one man did everything he could possibly do, no more and no less than wading in until
his nostrils, then G-d stepped in.
First we take a step for G-d and show Him our commitment, before expecting anything
of Him.
Torah expects us to utilize the Divine cycle of time as a vehicle to relive these experiences,
not just to commemorate events of a distant, misty past.
And this exhortation is not just for a select few: "With our young and our old we shall
depart" (Ex. 10:9).
It cannot be overstated that the Jewish experience, far from being stuck in the past, is a constant
bridge to the future; we are constantly alive in the moment of G-d's eternal now.
The question is, can we truly seize the promise of this moment, and rise to our potential.
If we can, then we shall finally cross the sea to true freedom, the freedom that will
only be attained when we cease to live in denial, and begin to live our lives illuminated
by that highest light that G-d gives us.
That’s what Pesach is really all about.
Over Passover, with G-d’s help, we shall visit the Temple Mount along with hundreds
of Jews and our joy at being able to make this pilgrimage on the Festival is palpable.
The mitvah is to be seen there by G-d.
But until Israel’s leaders enable the nation to bring the Passover offering, we are elongating
the exile.
As long as we allow the continued desecration of our holy place, and the denial of our own
Jewish identity, we have not achieved freedom.
Yet the Festival of Passover bequeaths to all mankind, a promise of freedom from bondage
and slavery, of all sorts, physical and spiritual.
Passover presents all people with an opportunity for acknowledging the miracles of G-d in our
lives.
It urges all people to strive to fulfill their greatest potential and to strive for true
freedom.
So let’s not waste this opportunity.
Strive to be free.
Strive to acknowledge the miracles of G-d in your life, and take a stand for Him.
That’s what leaving Egypt is all about.
May we merit to bring our Passover offering this year in the rebuilt Holy Temple of Jerusalem.
Chag Kasher V’Sameach, blessings for a joyous and kosher Passover.