?G-d remembered us when we were down.?
?The Sabbath before Pesach is called Shabbat HaGadol (the Great Sabbath), because of the miracle that occurred on it.? (Orach Chaim 430:1) And what was that miracle? The year that the Jews left Egypt, the tenth of Nissan fell out on the Sabbath. Every Israelite took a lamb for his paschal offering, as it says, ?On the tenth of this month, every man must take a lamb for each extended family, a lamb for each household.? (Exodus 12:3)
The Egyptians saw this and asked them why they needed the lambs, and they replied that they would be slaughtering the lambs for their paschal offerings in accordance with G-d?s command. The Egyptians were seething with anger over the Israelites? slaughtering of Egyptian deities (the lambs), yet they were unable to respond. In honor of this great miracle, it was decided to call the Sabbath before Pesach, ?Shabbat HaGadol?. (Mishna Berura, ad loc.)
It was the first time in history that the Israelites showed any resistance to the Egyptians, who had been enslaving them for hundreds of years. They acted against the Egyptians? faith, openly and without the fear and trembling that had previously characterized them. It was the first time that the Jewish people got a taste of liberty and freedom.
They derived their strength not from their possession of weapons enabling them to fight the Egyptians, but from their faith in G-d and in His ability to save them even when they were sunken in the darkness of the terrible Egyptian exile. The great miracle was revealed through the divine assistance that Israel enjoyed, through ?G-d?s remembering them when they were down - His kindness is forever.? (Psalms 136:23) G-d did so due to His great love for His firstborn.
Today, since tasting that first freedom on the Sabbath before the Exodus, the Jewish people have for thousands of years been marching along an ascending pathway - with ups and down - the First Temple, the Second Temple, two thousand years of exile, until this very day, when we have merited to return to Eretz Yisrael and to get a taste of the liberty and freedom in the land of our life?s blood.
?Whoever recounts the exodus at great length is praiseworthy.? (from the Haggadah) This refers not just to the historical exodus from Egypt, but also to the exodus from darkness to light and from exile to redemption in our generation. All this occurred through G-d?s compassion and love for His people Israel, who He has lovingly chosen in all ages.
With blessings for a happy and kosher Pesach.
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
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Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
?The Sabbath before Pesach is called Shabbat HaGadol (the Great Sabbath), because of the miracle that occurred on it.? (Orach Chaim 430:1) And what was that miracle? The year that the Jews left Egypt, the tenth of Nissan fell out on the Sabbath. Every Israelite took a lamb for his paschal offering, as it says, ?On the tenth of this month, every man must take a lamb for each extended family, a lamb for each household.? (Exodus 12:3)
The Egyptians saw this and asked them why they needed the lambs, and they replied that they would be slaughtering the lambs for their paschal offerings in accordance with G-d?s command. The Egyptians were seething with anger over the Israelites? slaughtering of Egyptian deities (the lambs), yet they were unable to respond. In honor of this great miracle, it was decided to call the Sabbath before Pesach, ?Shabbat HaGadol?. (Mishna Berura, ad loc.)
It was the first time in history that the Israelites showed any resistance to the Egyptians, who had been enslaving them for hundreds of years. They acted against the Egyptians? faith, openly and without the fear and trembling that had previously characterized them. It was the first time that the Jewish people got a taste of liberty and freedom.
They derived their strength not from their possession of weapons enabling them to fight the Egyptians, but from their faith in G-d and in His ability to save them even when they were sunken in the darkness of the terrible Egyptian exile. The great miracle was revealed through the divine assistance that Israel enjoyed, through ?G-d?s remembering them when they were down - His kindness is forever.? (Psalms 136:23) G-d did so due to His great love for His firstborn.
Today, since tasting that first freedom on the Sabbath before the Exodus, the Jewish people have for thousands of years been marching along an ascending pathway - with ups and down - the First Temple, the Second Temple, two thousand years of exile, until this very day, when we have merited to return to Eretz Yisrael and to get a taste of the liberty and freedom in the land of our life?s blood.
?Whoever recounts the exodus at great length is praiseworthy.? (from the Haggadah) This refers not just to the historical exodus from Egypt, but also to the exodus from darkness to light and from exile to redemption in our generation. All this occurred through G-d?s compassion and love for His people Israel, who He has lovingly chosen in all ages.
With blessings for a happy and kosher Pesach.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.