B"H "Path Markers" Pesach: By: Yaacov Silverstein e@mail: hm16@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il HomePage: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/ Year: 5761 This Years Parsha Series is prepared in the memory and merit of my grandfathers: Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon Z"L Rav Chaim Meir Ben Yakov Silverstein Z"L *****^^^^^^^***** Get Ready for Pesach and Birchat Ilanot!!! http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16 Chag Sameach!! Pesach 5761: =========== The Festival of Pesach is called "Zeman Cheiruseinu", the time of our freedom, when we were redeemed from the slavery in Mitzrayim (Egypt). The main theme of the Exodus from Egypt, is the freedom which we acquired as a Jewish nation. What exactly is freedom? Usually we call freedom, the ability for one to choose freely between available options. Yet the freedom which we commemorate on the days of Pesach, is a freedom of a different nature. This freedom is not based on the availability of choice, rather the ability for one to pursue the path which one wishes to follow, without any hindrance (No obstructions or restrictions). It is the ability to proceed with the choice which one has made. In Mitzrayim, the Divine spark was not let to shine. The word Mitzrayim comes from the root, Meitzar, which means limitation or confinement. The evil forces of Mitzrayim prevented us from attaining any spiritual growth. Slavery rarely allows one time for questioning and philosophizing. A slave only wishes to be free from the lashes and chains. The Exodus from Egypt, took away this limitation, and allowed us to again attain spiritual growth. The nation then proceeded to do the Mitzvos - starting with the sanctification of the months, the Korban Pesach (sacrifice), and ultimately the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Pesach occurs in the spring, which is a time when nature frees itself from the dormant winter. The plants burst forth out of the ground, the trees bud and flower, the animals emerge from their hibernation, and birds return from their migration. Spring is when the natural world springs free, unhindered by any growth restrictions. It says in the Haggadah, "In every generation a person should consider himself as though he was personally liberated from Egypt". As we explained, Mitzrayim comes from the root of boundaries and limitations through restrictions. If a person does not fulfill his potential in life, he is in bondage. Just as there is an external bondage, as we saw in Egypt, there is also an internal bondage, which prevents one from attaining his potential. The enslavement of Mitzrayim occurs in every generation, in the form of internal bondage. We are all required to struggle against these limitations, to reach our true potential in life. When we call Pesach, "the time of our freedom", we are not referring to only a thing of the past, rather it is also a time of the present. The time of Pesach is a time of year that every Jewish soul is given access to an influx of spiritual freedom. This influx can strengthen us in our resolve to continue our battle with our own personal Yetzer Hara (Evil inclination), until we reach the ultimate victory, with Hashem's help. We are not merely celebrating a historical event on Pesach, rather we are to turn this festival into on ongoing reality It is told of the Baal Shem-Tov, that on special occasions he would take his closest students to a secret place, deep in the forest, and recite some mystical words, and the holy fire would come. His successor, the Maggid of Mezeritch, used to say: "We no longer know that place in the forest, yet we do know the words, and when we say them, the holy fire comes". Reb Bunim, who was already the third generation away from the Baal Shem-Tov, said: "We do not know the place, nor de we know the words, yet when we tell over the story, the holy fire comes". Comes Rabbi Aryeh Carmell and explains that we also only know the story of the Exodus from Egypt, yet if we put our hearts into it, the holy fire can still come. I would like to end with a story about Rabbi Shimon Scwab Z"tl retold by Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn. In a lecture given about Pesach and the Haggadah, Rabbi Schwab recounted an incident which happened to him, many years before. When he was nine years old, he was sick with the "whooping cough". The only known treatment in those days, was to inhale hot vapors from the spout of a boiling kettle. As he bent over the pot, it suddenly turned over, and the boiling water spilled over his left arm, and he was badly burnt. Screaming from pain, it seemed like an eternity till the doctor arrived and placed ointments and salves over the bad burn. It took a full year for the skin to regenerate and return to its natural color. Over a half a century later, Rav Schwab pointed to his left arm and said, "If I would tell you that this arm was badly burnt, I am telling you the truth. Yet not one of the cells which existed in my arm then, is there now. Cells constantly regenerate, and so in a sense, the arm is a new arm. Nevertheless, even though the arm is about three times larger than it was at the age of nine, it is still the same arm". This is the lesson to take with us on Pesach where "In every generation, man is obligated to view himself as though he had gone out of Egypt". How can one do this, you ask? I wasn't there, my father wasn't and even my grandfather wasn't there? Yet in a sense we were actually all there, because the generations that actually left Egypt reproduced and recreated themselves till this very day. Thus as offspring's of that generation which left Egypt, we can truly say that we indeed left Egypt. (Adapted from - Seasons of Life, Second Thoughts, Living Each Day, Sanctuaries in Time, Masterplan, Along the Maggid's Journey) --------***********-------- A special Thank You to my mother for checking & correcting the first DT draft. A special Thank You to Project Genesis - http://www.torah.org for hosting this list. If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list send a blank email to the following address: --------***********--------