HaRav Shmuel Eliahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.
Our Sages said: “A person asks and expounds on the laws of Passover thirty days before Passover" (Pesachim 6a).
My father and mentor, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, of ZTS"L, would emphasize each year the obligation to begin studying the laws of Passover on Purim. Indeed, our Sages connected Purim and Passover through several halakhot. The most famous is that in a leap year Purim is celebrated in Adar 2 because of its proximity to Passover: “It is preferable to juxtapose Redemption with Redemption."
Purification from Impurity and Freedom for our Souls
In the book Bnei Yissaschar, it is explained based on what was written by the holy Rabbi, author of Chesed Le-Avraham, that during these 30 days a day-by-day process of purification takes place until the soul is freed from the bondage of evil forces on Pesach night. (Maayan Sheni, River 57).
The Bnei Yissaschar continues:
“It is received by us from the tradition of the early authorities (see the Tikkunei Zohar and Ra’aya Meheimna) that in the future, speedily in our days, the war against Amalek and its eradication will take place on the eve of Passover. Behold, the beginning is on the day of Purim and the completion and conclusion on the eve of Passover."
From this we may understand why we begin to expound the laws of Passover precisely on Purim, the day of the erasure of Amalek (Maamarei Chodesh Adar, discourse 4).
Three Commandments in the Erasure of Amalek
It is explained that there are three commandments regarding the erasure of Amalek:
In thought (not to forget)
In speech (to remember verbally through the Torah reading)
In action (to erase the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens).
Now, in thirty days there are 720 hours (30 × 24 = 720), which in gematria equals three times Amalek (240 × 3 = 720). Thus, each day we nullify part of the full measure of the husk entirely - in thought, speech, and action.
Therefore, in the book Lashon Chachamim by the Ben Ish Chai, of blessed memory, it was established to recite before the search for chametz a supplication that includes: “To remove idols from the land, and the false gods shall be utterly cut off…"
And after the search for chametz, a prayer that includes the request that: “The powers of impurity and the husk be nullified, and all Your enemies and all who hate You be swiftly cut off, and the kingdom of wicked arrogance be quickly uprooted, shattered, destroyed, and subdued speedily in our days. Remove from us sorrow and sighing."
Likewise, in the supplication before the burning of chametz we say: “May it rise before You as though we have fulfilled the commandment: ‘You shall burn their graven images with fire.’ May the spirits of impurity and the husk be destroyed, and all Your enemies and all who hate You be swiftly cut off, and the kingdom of wicked arrogance be uprooted, shattered, destroyed, and subdued speedily in our days. Therefore we hope in You, O Lord our God…"
And after the burning of the chametz we ask: “May all wickedness be consumed like smoke, for You will remove the dominion of arrogance from the earth."
At the conclusion of all these supplications, we pray for the manifestation of the Kingship of God, which will appear after the eradication of the shells of wickedness - just as all Israel and all Egypt saw the mighty hand of God that brought Israel out of Egypt, revealing that He is truly the King of the world. So too, with God’s help, will it be in the complete Redemption in the month of Nisan, in which we are destined to be redeemed.
Prophecies Being Fulfilled
In our present war with Iran we see how Amalek is being destroyed in this period between Purim and Passover. This fulfills the verse: “Behold, a people rises like a lioness and lifts itself like a lion; it does not lie down until it devours prey and drinks the blood of the slain" (Numbers 23:24).
And the prophecy of Micah: “The remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, tramples and tears, and none can deliver" (Micah 5:7).
All of this is to rectify the roar of anguish of God, who roars like a lion at the time of destruction and exile: “The Lord roars from on high and gives forth His voice from His holy dwelling; He roars mightily over His habitation" (Jeremiah 25:30).
You Shall Be a Blessing"
In this period, the People of Israel serve as a blessing to all nations: “And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong" (Zechariah 8:13).
Israel stands at the forefront of the war of the children of light against the children of darkness. The German chancellor has said that Israel defends the free world. All this is due to our liberation from subjugation to the nations and to the United Nations. When Israel is liberated, it functions as a world power, and the world wishes to partner with us, signing defense agreements so that our wisdom will protect them from Iran and Russia.
The Moral Compass of the World
Israel is not merely a State with high technological knowledge; it serves as a powerful moral and ethical compass that knows how to confront the wicked of the world. Israel teaches not to kneel or bow before tyrants.
For this reason, Turkey, Britain, and France - nations that were once world empires and today do not know how to fight for their freedom or their lives - struggle against us. Regarding this, Trump said that “Israel is the great story of the century."
The Fight for Freedom
Deborah and Barak fought to free Israel from the subjugation of the Canaanites. Thus she says in her song about those who stood aside and did not come to help in the war of Israel:
“Curse Meroz, said the angel of the Lord; curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord among the mighty." In contrast, she blesses the heroines: “Blessed above women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, be blessed above women in the tent."
The words of our Sages, cited by Rashi, are well known: “Whoever helps Israel is as though he helps the Divine Presence." Jael is blessed above the Matriarchs, of whom it is said, “in the tent." Accordingly, how blessed are the soldiers who fight and participate in this great sanctification of God’s Name. And even one who is not an active participant must rejoice in God’s salvation and pray for their success.
In Our Times as Well
To understand what spiritual servitude does to a person, we should recall that in the days of Mordechai and Esther there were Jews who bowed and prostrated themselves before Haman. Those Jews would shout, curse, and revile Mordechai the Jew for refusing to bow.
Similar today regarding those who constantly occupy themselves in various media outlets with finding faults in our wars, in the conduct of the army, in the conduct of the Prime Minister, so that there our spirit will be broken, Heaven forbid. They are like the Complainers who were evil in the eyes of God.
Foremost among them is a certain anti-Israel extremist fringe group “Rebbe" who lives in the United States and who told his students that anyone who rejoices in the victories of the State of Israel at this time is like those who danced around the Golden Calf. His students went to encourage Khamenei, the enemy of the Jews who prepared nuclear weapons to destroy the People of Israel. This “Rebbe" instructed his students to elect as mayor of New York a candidate hostile to Israel. The candidate’s wife rejoiced on Simchat Torah and danced over the blood of the sons and daughters of Israel who were murdered, raped, and burned.
To Be Free People and Not Spiritual Slaves
Halakhah states that even one who does not drink wine throughout the year because it is harmful to him must compel himself to drink four cups on the night of the Seder, in order to rejoice in the Redemption. Our Sages told of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai who would drink the four cups of Passover, and it was so difficult for him that he had a pounding headache until Shavuot (Nedarim 49b).
This is not like Kiddush on Shabbat or other festivals, where one may fulfill the obligation through another’s drinking. On Pesach one must drink for himself (Kaf HaChaim 472:75). “Even a poor person supported by charity must sell his garment, borrow, or hire himself out in order to obtain wine for the four cups" (Shulchan Aruch 472:13). Freedom must be expressed with joy.
There is also the commandment of “And you shall rejoice in your festival," and to recount the story of the miracle with joy and solidarity, proclaiming that we too were redeemed from Egypt. Women are also obligated in the telling of the Exodus. If a woman does not understand the language of the Haggadah, one must explain the Exodus to her in a language she understands, especially the section: “Rabban Gamliel would say… Pesach, matzah, and maror."
This obligation is a Torah commandment, written at least four times because of its great importance.
One Must Feel the Redemption
Our Sages said that it is not sufficient merely to tell the story, eat matzah, or drink four cups. One must recline like free people. The Rema writes that one who reclines throughout the entire Seder meal is praiseworthy, though he should take care not to recite Grace after Meals while reclining, as this is not respectful toward Heaven (Shulchan Aruch 472:7).
The obligation of reclining is so great that wherever one is required to recline, if he did not do so, he must repeat eating the matzah or drinking the wine while reclining (Shulchan Aruch 472:7). Some halakhic authorities following the Rema did not require one who forgot to recline to repeat the act - yet it is proper to be stringent.
Freedom Today
The State of Israel is now in a process of liberation from a subjugation that held it for many years.
We now see the European weakness that surrendered to the Iranians and now yields to Muslims who attack it from within. It does not dare reveal how many Muslims live in Europe. It is unwilling to enforce laws that require work, prohibit theft, and forbid rape. It allows entire Arab neighborhoods to form within Europe that local police cannot enter.
We too were partially subjugated to this “progressive" culture. We did not strike at the Arabs who attacked us; we responded only proportionally and minimally. We admired the language of “containment" and “low-intensity warfare" - euphemisms that legitimize weakness and submission before tyrants like Haman.
Now we have learned that their value system is false; that the chief judge of the International Court in The Hague is an anti-Semite suspected of assaulting women; that their academia shaped its values according to the bribes it received from the ruler of Qatar; that their academic content was designed according to the demands of the wicked tyrants of the Arab world.
Thus it has become clear that, because of money and the hatred of Jews, absurd articles were written in major Western media praising corrupt tyrants and opposing war against them, all under the guise of celebrated progressivism. In the past we valued their opinions more than our own. We studied in their “prestigious" universities and sent our finest commanders to train “centers of learning" and absorb their false values. We believed they were champions of justice and peace. We were their spiritual slaves. But now, thank God, we have learned that they are a band of hypocrites without a drop of truth. We have been liberated - and we are free people.
May the Almighty lead us to physical and spiritual victory over our enemies who seek to annul His Kingship over the world.