klahr@csd2.UUCP (04/10/85)
DVAR TORAH: LAST DAYS OF PESACH
or
SINK OR SWIM
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It is not so apparent at first glance, but the structure of the holiday of
Pesach is very different from the Succos holiday setup. Both holidays are of a
one week cycle duration. Succos begins with (Biblically) one day of Yom Tov-
a full fledged "day of holyness" with the same restrictions as on the Sabbath,
except for certain actions performed by carrying and cooking. This day is
followed by six days of Chol Ha-moed, intermediate or "weekday-type" festival
days, in which we are permitted to engage in many more aspects of everyday
work(outside of Israel, of course, we keep two days of Yom Tov and five days of
Chol Ha-moed). Following this week of Succos is Shemini Atzeres, which is
actually a separate one-day Yom Tov holiday (again, outside of Israel it's
observed as a two-day holiday).
Pesach, however, works differently. There is one day of Yom Tov, followed
by five days of Chol Ha-moed, followed by one day of Yom Tov again (once more,
just for the reord, outside of Israel we observe two days Yom Tov, four days
of Chol Ha-moed, and two more days of Yom Tov). If Pesach ends with a full-
fledged Yom Tov day, it cannot merely be a device to ensure that the holiday
season ends with a bang. The last Yom Tov day must somehow be contributing
a key facet of the entire Pesach holiday. What is it?
Most of us know that the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea took place on
the Seventh Day of Passover. Pursued by the Egyptians, the Jews reached the
Red Sea, which G-d split, allowing the Jews to walk through and cross the sea.
When the Egyptians followed the Jews into the sea, G-d "unsplit" the sea, and
the Egyptians drowned. In unison, all of the Jews composed and sang a song of
praise to G-d, as recorded in the Torah. But some questions remain:
-Why doesn't the Torah explicitly tell us that this miracle occurred on the
Seventh day of Pesach, if this miracle is the raison d'etre for having the last
day of Yom Tov on Pesach?
-G-d performed a whole slew of miracles throughout the Exodus. Granted, the
splitting of a sea is a pretty impressive feat, but what is so distinctive
about it that it merits its own Yom Tov day to commemorate it?
-The conduct of the Jews prior to G-d's splitting of the sea is also hard to
understand. Here is a people who had witnessed G-d's performing the Ten Plagues
in Egypt, and were willing to follow His command for them to leave Egypt and
enter the desert. Yet now, with the Egyptians in pursuit, the Jews suddenly
lost their nerve, got scared, and told Moshe that they regretted leaving Egypt.
(even though G-d had just promised the Jews that He would destroy the pursuing
Egyptian soldiers)
After this, when Moshe told them G-d's command, they entered the sea and it
split. Why all this flip-flopping?
-Finally, the Midrash says that as the Jews were going across the sea,"they
were being held in judgement. G-d said 'the Jews and the Egyptians have both
been idol worshippers'." What is the Midrash telling us? Is it conceivable
that at this stage of the game, after the entire Exodus, that G-d was
contemplating destroying the Jews along with the Egyptians?
The Sefas Emes (Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter of Gur, 1847-1903) explains
that there were indeed two distinct aspects to the Exodus from Egypt. In
Egypt, G-d redeemed the Jewish people because of "the promise He had made to
their ancestors"-in other words, while in Egypt, the Jews had sunk to a very
low spiritual level, barely distinguishable in their assimilated state from
the neighboring decadent Egyptian culture that surrounded them. They only
merited redemption because of the tremendous potential that G-d saw in them,
as evidenced by the character and way of life of their ancestors. The Exodus
really required little effort and faith on the Jews' part. In the miracles
and plagues G-d performed, He revealed Himself to the Jews clearly and
unambiguously, His hand was evident as the Guiding Force of the universe. It
was easy for the Jews to believe in Him.
But G-d wanted to raise the Jews to an even higher level. He wanted them
to achieve a redemption on their own. This is why,at the Red Sea, He made
His presence less obvious and apparent to the Jews. This is what the Midrash
means when it says that the Jews were "placed in judgement"- G-d had no
intention of destroying them, but this time, He wanted them to earn their
redemption, to exhibit the faith and courage it required in their own low
spiritual state,akin to the Egyptians, and not in some divinely inspired
state of deep spiritual perception, as had been the case in Egypt. This too
is why the Jews were afraid-they did not think that they had the religious
strength to "handle things on their own".
The Midrash tells us that the sea was not split until the Jews had entered
the sea up to their nostrils. G-d had asked for a display of initiative on
the part of the Jews, and they had reached into the resovoir of potential
which they possessed to supply it. It was because the Jews had now earned
their redemption to some degree, that they were now able to spontaneously
and as one reach a high level of prophecy and divine perception and compose
a song of praise to G-d worthy of the Torah's recording- " a maid at the
Red Sea experienced levels of prophecy that the prophet Yecheskel never
did", the Talmud tells us.
We can now understand why the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea
forms such an important complement to the rest of the Exodus, and why there
is a separate Yom Tov day to commemorate this "earned" aspect of our
redemption. And in light of this, we can better understand the explanation
of the Meshech Chochma as to why the Torah fails to tell us that the sea
was split on the seventh day of Pesach. We do not say the complete Hallel
prayer on the seventh day(and Chol Ha-moed as well), because we don't want
to exult excessively about a miracle that directly killed so many Egyptians
by drowning. Although their punishment was deserved, we don't want to
celebrate a loss of life. Similarly, the Torah doesn't want to imply
that the last Yom Tov day of Pesach is a gleeful celebration of the drowning
of the Egyptians. Rather, it wants us to emphasize the day of Yom Tov as
one of a "holy calling", in which we use our own initiative to become
closer to G-d, and be higher and better people.
Chag Someach-a very happy Yom Tov to all.
Pinchus Klahr...klahr@nyu-csd2.arpa allegra!cmcl2!csd2!klahr