Marking the Beginning of Supernatural Time

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January 20 2018
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In the beginning of the Passover Haggadah, the author asks:


 


"יכול מראש חודש, תלמוד לומר 'ביום ההוא'. אי ביום ההוא יכול מבעוד יום, תלמוד לומר בעבור זה. בעבור זה לא אמרתי אלא בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מנחים לפניך (מכילתא בא, י"ז)


“One might think that the obligation to discuss the Exodus commences with the first day of the month of Nissan, but the Torah says: ‘You shall tell your son on that day.’ But the expression ‘on that day’ could be understood to man only during the daytime; therefore the Torah adds: ‘It is because of this that Hashem did so for me when I was out of Egypt.’ The pronoun ‘this’ implies something tangible, thus, ‘You shall tell your son’ applies only when matzah and maror lie before you – at the Seder.”


Rabbi Bernard Weinberger was the rabbi of the Young Israel of Brooklyn, in Williamsburg, starting mid twentieth century. He was renowned for his brilliant and eloquent sermons, which have been anthologized in “Shemen Hatov.”  Rabbi Weinberger’s ideas regarding Pesach were collected into the “Shemen Hatov Haggadah shel Pesach.” On this passage, Rabbi Weinberg offers a profound insight.


He notes that many have not understood the premise of the paragraph, namely, why anyone would think that we fulfil the mitzvah of telling the Passover story to our children two weeks prior to Pesach. Rabbi Weinberger posited that, actually, there is a very good reason to think that the night to tell our national story should take place on the first day of Nisan. It was on this day, when Hashem instructed Moshe and Aharon about establishing the Jewish calendar, that He refashioned an aspect of the creation. Up until that moment, the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (the day on which Rosh Hashanah falls) was the sole barometer for measuring time. Tishrei’s role as the first month went unchallenged and was embedded in nature. After all, it measured when God chose to start the clock on creation, the fashioning of the human being. But on that first day of Nisan, when God determined that “This month will be the head of the months” (Shmos 12:2), Hashem, in a certain way, effected a major addition to the creation to the word. From that important moment and on, the first of Tishrei remained the head of the year for all nations. It was part and parcel of the natural order. But with the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, a new nation was born that lived above and beyond nature. This new nation would not be dependent on the zodiac and the stars, but rather, under the direct supervision and providence of the Almighty. The exodus catalyzed this new relationship and this new existence in time. “The exodus brought freedom from nature.” The only mentions of months in the Torah are described ordinally, the first, the second, the twelfth, etc. The names of the month only came about with the Jews who returned to the Holy Land after the Babylonian dispersal.


Rabbi Weinberger highlights, brilliantly and eloquently as usual, that there is reason to celebrate on the first day of Nisan. Creating a calendar was not just giving the new Jewish nation a means of marking time. It actually changed the course of nature and established the Jewish people as a people living in a supernatural vortex. The creation of this alternative reality is sufficient reason to ask why not celebrate two weeks prior to the anniversary of the exodus, when this special calendar was created.


So we may not read the Haggadah and tell the story of the exodus on the first of Nisan, but we do celebrate every single Rosh Chodesh as a mini-yomtov. Many have the custom to avoid productive work on (parts of) Rosh Chodesh, we read the Torah and recite Hallel and the special Musaf service (commemorating an extra offering during Temple times) and perhaps, most importantly, use the day for prayer and reflection.


When I think of Rosh Chodesh and its significance, to me, based on my education and interests, I find significance in the metaphor of the moon. The moon waxes and wanes. Sometimes it’s barely visible and at other times, it lights up the nighttime sky. But it will never disappear and when only appearing as a tiny sliver, we know that it will cycle back to its resplendent self. This metaphor, of course, parallels the destiny of the Jewish people.


But Rabbi Weinberger’s insight provides additional significance to our monthly Rosh Chodesh celebration.


Rabbi Avigdor Miller (from tape #E-266, February, 2001) pointed out three special aspects to Rosh Chodesh that differ from what I’ve shared.


He began:


There are three elements that can be easily seen in every Rosh Chodesh. And if you ignore them or just think about them in a superficial manner, then you are wasting a valuable opportunity. And many people do waste this opportunity. Yes, many people.


First, he taught, we must thank God for giving us life during the last month. Many people did not live through the month. We recite Hallel in gratitude for the gift of life. We acknowledge the time we have been given.


Second, our sages have noted that Rosh Chodesh is a time for atonement. We can try to fix our missteps in the last month. It’s a lot easier to fix a month than an entire year. We can use our time to alter how we spent time in the past. Amazing!


Third, Rosh Chodesh is a day of prayer for success in the coming month. We anticipate the gift of time and pray that we use it properly.


Rabbi Miller concluded: “A month is not a day. It's not a week. It's a whole month. That's a big slice of life! And therefore on Rosh Chodesh we have to thank Hashem for the past month, we have to do teshuva for the things we did wrong in the past month and we have to ask Hashem for His help for the upcoming month.”


When Hashem appeared to Moshe and Aharon on the first of Nisan, two weeks prior to the exodus, He provided us with a huge gift. He created a completely new approach to time. He changed the parameters of the Creation to do so. He replicated an element of nature with added nobility.


How do we approach sanctified time? Are we using the time we are given wisely and compassionately? Do we even appreciate the gift? Do we wake up and acknowledge our role in the world and what is expected of us? Do we appreciate time in nature and the Jewish concept of supernatural time?


The first of Nisan was not just a date on which God met with the human leaders of the world’s greatest emancipation of slaves. It’s not just the date on which the clock began on our national existence. It was a revolutionary day in the annals of human history.


Rabbi Weinberger not only sheds light on the unique events of the first of Nisan, but he actually helps us understand why a somewhat cryptic passage was added to the liturgy of the Seder night. Indeed, there is great reason to assume that one could have celebrated our festival of the exodus two weeks earlier. The events of that day were that significant.


While the first of Nisan is not Pesach, it is the first day of the first month. It is the anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s ascension as the chosen nation. That selection brought with it a new understanding of time.


Perhaps this is why, despite finishing the construction of the Mishkan on the 25th of Kislev, God’s abode on earth was not dedicated until the first of Nisan. Why was there a need to hold up the dedication three-and-a-half months? Perhaps the Mishkan was to become the physical manifestation of God’s supernatural time and sanctification of Israel. Perhaps the first of Nisan became the day of Chosen-ness. God endowed the Hebrew slaves with chosen ness on the first of Nisan in Egypt. A year later, a physical representation of that status would be erected, creating a mortal symbol of the selection of Israel.


Let us commit to better understand and appreciate our monthly reminder of who we are and what we are to become. Let us appreciate the daily blessing we recite that God chose us from among the nations and gave us His Torah!


 


 

Machshava:
Pesach 
Parsha:
Bo 

Description

The question posed by the Haggadah in Mitchilah - that we could have thought of doing the seder on the first night of Nisan - is perplexing. Shemen Hatov explains it and adds a chiddush in our understanding of the establishment of the Jewish calendar.

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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Judy & Mark Frankel & family l'ilui nishmos מרדכי בן הרב משה יהודה ע"ה and משה יהודה ז"ל בן מאיר אליהו ויהודית and by Neal and Marilyn Gittleman for a refuah shleimah for Shmuel Shlomo ben Rivka Gittel