B"H
Friday, Nissan 7, 5776 / April 15, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR
This Shabbat we read from the Torah Parshat Metzora. It is the Shabbat before Pesach and it’s called, “Shabbat Hagadol” – “The Great Shabbat.” It is customary that on this Shabbat the rabbi of the congregation speaks about the holiday of Pesach and the mitzvot associated with the holiday.
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, thousands of years after the Exodus, understand this passage?
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 dailywith a glass of water for the next ten days and the patient will become well.”
The family, who never filled a prescription before, did as told, but each day the man became worse and worse. They rushed to the doctor and said, "You cheated us! You took our money and didn't cure the patient! The doctor returned to the patient and asked to see the medication, “Perhaps I made a mistake and prescribed the wrong medication." But they told him they didn't have any 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!"
"I didn't mean for you to give him the prescription paper,” retorted the doctor. “What I meant was the medicine written on the paper! 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 as if he himself has gone out from Egypt." It doesn’t mean physically going out from Egypt. It means the concept, the idea and spirit of the Exodus we should feel every day.
"Egypt," in Hebrew is called "Mitzrayim" which comes from the word, "Meitzar" which means constrictionand limitation. The Exodus was not only a physical freedom, but also a spiritual freedomfrom spiritual constrictions to attain great spiritual heights, which they achieved at Mount Sinai. This feeling we can achieve even today, through the Torah and mitzvot.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montrealcandle lighting time: 7:23 / Shabbat ends: 8:30