Thursday, Nissan 1, 5780 / March 26, 2020
Today is Rosh Chodesh Nissan. As a result, the additional prayers of Hallel and Musaf are added. On Rosh Chodesh we also read from the Torah the special Rosh Chodesh reading.
However, this year, there will not be any Torah readings as shul's are closed throughout the world because of the covid-19 situation. Looking after our health and the well being of others at this time, is the mitzvah of the hour. It takes precedence over praying with the minyan and the reading of the Torah at synagogue.
Our sages tell us that when we want to do a mitzvah, but are not able to perform the mitzvah due to reasons which are beyond us, G-d considers it as if we have performed the mitzvah. May G-d take away this terrible virus as fast as it came and may we all go back to normal life very soon.
The Pesach holiday, beginning with the Seder, is celebrated to remember and experience the Exodus from Egypt. At the Seder, we recite the following passage from the Hagadah, "In every generation a person must see himself as if he has gone out from Egypt."
Q. How can we, who were not enslaved in Egypt and thousands of years after the Exodus, understand this?
A. Our rabbis use the following parable: A man who lived on a farm and was never sick, became ill. His family called a doctor. After checking the patient, the doctor wrote out a prescription and gave the following instructions, "Have the patient take this prescription three times daily with a glass of water for the next ten days and the patient will become well."
But when a week went by and the patient didn't get any better, they rushed to the doctor and said, "You cheated us! You took our money and you didn't cure the patient! The doctor asked to see the medication, "Perhaps I made a mistake and prescribed the wrong medication." They said, "We have no medication."
"But I gave you a prescription and told you to have the sick man take it three times daily with a glass of water. No wonder the patient didn't become better! You didn't follow my instructions!
"But we did exactly as you told us," they protested. "You told us to give him the prescription three times daily. We tore up the prescription into small pieces and gave the patient a small piece of prescription-paper three times each day with a glass of water!"
"This is not what I meant," responded the doctor. "Using this paper, you could get the proper medication in the pharmacy. Had the patient taken the medicine, he would have been cured long ago!"
The same is with the above passage in the Hagadah, "In every generation a person must see himself as if he has gone out from Egypt." It means, the concept, the idea and spirit of the Exodus we should feel every day.
The Exodus is not only a historical fact, but something which every Jew in every generation must see as a personal experience. We should realize that G-d gives each of us the strength to free ourselves of any spiritual limitations which stand in the way of our connection to G-d and the performance of His mitzvot.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY
AND SUCCESSFUL CHODESH-MONTH
