The mitzvah of Pesach Sheni, introduced in our parshah, raises a few questions.

Firstly, there is no other mitzvah which the Torah provides a second chance to fulfill in the event that one did not perform the mitzvah in its required time. If a person misses Keri’as Shema (Recitation of the Shema), Teki’as Shofar (Blowing the Shofar), Achilas Matzah (Eating Matzah), or any other mitzvah within its appointed period, there is no opportunity to make it up later. What is it about the mitzvah of Korban Pesach, the Pesach Sacrifice, that is different, such that the Torah provides an opportunity - actually, an obligation - to make it up if missed?

Additionally, the mitzvah of Pesach Sheni appears in the Torah immediately subsequent to the investiture and assignment of the Levi’im for Mishkan service, and immediately prior to the Torah’s breathtaking description of the Mishkan’s trek through the Midbar (Desert), depicting the pillars of cloud and fire leading the way, which signaled Hashem’s command to travel and encamp. Although the parshah could not commence with the topic of Pesach, as explained by Rashi (on Bamidbar 9:1), why does it appear specifically between the texts regarding Mishkan service of the Levi'im and the Mishkan’s travels? In other words, is there any specific connection between Korban Pesach and the Mishkan?

Although Keri’as Shema, Teki’as Shofar and many other mitzvos bear foundational messages of emunah and commitment to Hashem, Korban Pesach is different. Korban Pesach is (almost) like no other mitzvah, for it constitutes an actual bris, a covenant, with Hashem. It was in the merit of Korban Pesach that Hashem redeemed us from Mitzrayim, and Korban Pesach represents Hashem’s choosing us as a nation and bringing us near to Him for His avodah (service). Korban Pesach was literally our induction as the Am Ha-Nivchar, the Chosen People.

There is one other, similar mitzvah, which, as Chazal (the Sages) tell us, was also necessary as a merit to depart Mitzyarim on Pesach night (and which, exactly like Korban Pesach, incurs the punishment of Kares for intentional failure to perform it): Bris Milah. Parallel to Korban Pesach, which is a national covenant with Hashem, is Bris Milah a personal covenant with Hashem. Bris Milah thus shares several identical aspects with Korban Pesach.

So crucial is the experience of Korban Pesach that Chazal (as cited by Rashi on Bamidbar 9:14) entertained (but rejected) the suggestion that a ger, a convert, might need to bring a Korban Pesach as soon as he converts – for a ger must establish a covenant with Hashem, as manifest through the requirement for him to perform Bris Milah, and Korban Pesach goes in tandem with Bris Milah as part of one’s covenant with Hashem. Bris Milah and Korban Pesach are almost two sides of the same coin; Bris Milah represents the personal covenant, while Korban Pesach represents the national covenant.

While it is true that by offering Korban Pesach every year, one again commits to the national covenant with Hashem, there is much, much more going on here.

The Pesach Seder, of which Korban Pesach is the centerpiece, is not a mere occasion to recall events of thousands of years ago, or to perform mitzvos of recollection. On the contrary, the Seder is a metaphysical reenactment and a reexperiencing of Yetzi'as Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt. As the Rambam writes in his Haggadah text, "In every generation one must view himself as if he went forth from Mitzrayim". And in all Haggadah texts, we continue, "For not only did He redeem our ancestors, but He redeemed us as well." Pesach night is a Lail Shimurim - a Guarded Night - and this status pertains today and forever, as Hashem extends a special veil of protection over the Seder night every year. According to some later opinions, Eliyahu Ha-Navi himself comes to every Seder. On Pesach night does Hashem literally outstretch His Presence over us and endow us with a spirit of redemption.

In short, Korban Pesach, which is the core and the heart of Seder night, is associated with a palpable reenactment and reexperiencing of the Geulah, of being welcomed into Hashem's open arms and becoming party to His covenant with our nation. It is this extremely unique, live quality of reenacting and reexperiencing the Geulah and reentering into Hashem's national bris that mandates a second chance, a Pesach Sheni. Pesach is unlike almost any other mitzvah in terms of these characteristics. Such an event is indispensable, and it is key to understanding what makes Pesach unique as the one mitzvah for which the Torah provides a second opportunity.

Bris Milah, like Korban Pesach, is not a mere symbolic commitment to a (personal) covenant with Hashem, but it is an actual and live experience of induction into this covenant. Exactly as Korban Pesach is a reenactment of the entry to our national bris with Hashem on the original Pesach night thousands of years ago, so too is every male who undergoes a Bris Milah literally transformed as he undergoes a reenactment of the bris of Avrohom Avinu almost four millennia back in time. This is signified by the presence of Eliyahu Ha-Navi at every bris, who metaphysically welcomes and escorts the baby to the Presence of Hashem. Bris Milah is an actual encounter with the Shechinah.

We can now understand the adjacency in the Torah of Pesach Sheni to the Mishkan. The Ramban (in his introduction to Parshas Terumah) explains that the Mishkan was a living perpetuation of Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, insofar as the Mishkan invoked the presence of the Shechinah in our midst and thereby served as the venue for ongoing communication between Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu, continuing this special communication from Sinai. The Mishkan was not a mere reminder of Hashem's Presence, but, on the contrary, it enabled us to reexperience His Presence as originally encountered at Matan Torah.

This is precisely the contextual connection between the Mishkan and Korban Pesach, for just like we reexperience the Shechinah through the Mishkan, so to do we reexperience the closeness of Hashem's Presence and reenact our entry into a national bond with Hashem through Korban Pesach.

Reflective of the live encounters with the Shechinah afforded by Korban Pesach and Bris Milah, may the Shechinah soon again dwell in our midst on a perpetual basis in the rebuilt Beis Ha-Mikdash.