PESACH

The famous Amora, אביי, specifies, towards the end of Gemora מגילה, that each day of Pesach the Sefer Torah is taken out and a different portion is read.

Each one of these readings refers, in one way or another, to Pesach. However, one must understand why the custom, as mentioned by אביי, is to read as follows.

On the first day (משכו וקחו לכם צאן (שמות י''ב.

On the second day (שור או כשב או עז (ויקרא כ''ב.

On the third day (קדש לי כל בכור (שמות י''ג.

On the fourth day (אם כסף תלוה את עמי (שמות כ''ב.

On the fifth day (פסל לך (שמות ל''ד.

On the sixth day (במדבר סיני ,ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במועדו (במדבר ט.

On the seventh day (שמות י''ג) The שירה, בשלח is read.

Whilst one can understand that each one of these readings has a connection with Pesach, it is difficult to understand the particular order. It is not as they occur in Torah and there must be a good reason for the order chosen.

As far as the last reading is concerned, namely the שירה on שביעי של פסח, it is obviously because the miracle of the splitting of the Reed Sea took place on that day but that only deals with one particular aspect.

I would like to suggest the following idea. We find that there are seven מדות, qualities which are attributed to the great צדיקים and are utilised each day in the Sukkah for the famous אושפיזין, guests. They are:-

אברהם – חסד
יצחק – גבורה
יעקב – תפארת
משה – נצח
אהרן – הוד
יוסף – יסוד
דוד – מלכות

If we now look at the individual פרשיות read each day of Pesach, I think we can discern a pattern. On the first day it starts with משכו, Rashi quotes משכו ידיכם מעבודה זרה , חז''ל lift your hands up from idol worship.

The first one that we find who fought against that was Avrohom Avinu. There is the famous story of how as a small boy, he was left in charge of his father’s “idol” shop. When his father returned, he found all the idols broken except the biggest one. When he remonstrated with Avrohom Avinu, the boy replied that the idols had a fight and the biggest one had broken all the others. As we know, Terach was not impressed and reported this to Nimrod and Avrohom got into terrible trouble. Nevertheless, he stuck to his principles. The Gemora says that Avrohom Avinu’s מסכת עבודה זרה, had 400 chapters.

On the second day we commence with שור או כשב או עז. One can bring as a korban an ox, a lamb or a goat. Yitzchok was the person at the Akeida who showed great strength, גבורה, to allow himself to be almost sacrificed. In his place an animal was sacrificed. In the same way a person who brought a korban had to realise that it was in place of himself, the person concerned, that the animal was being sacrificed.

On the third day, the Torah commences קדש לי כל בכור, sanctify to Me, every first born. This refers to Yaakov who not only, as Rashi quotes, נולד מטפה ראשונה but also acquired the bechora, as we know.

On the fourth day, the parsha speaks about many things connected with Moshe Rabbenu. אלקים, the Dayan you should not curse and the prince of your nation you should not blaspheme and continues ואנשי קדש תהיון לי, you should be holy to Me. Who else represented all these things more than Moshe who was the chief judge, the prince of the children of Israel in his lifetime and holy more than everybody else. Finally, the Torah states לא תענה על רב, Rashi explains that you should not argue with the chief of the Beth Din.

On the fifth day, one reads פסל לך. In this is mentioned the thirteen מדות של רחמים attributes of mercy, to be utilised when the בני ישראל required רחמים. This was exemplified by Aharon the Kohen who was אוהב שלום ורודף שלום אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה, he loved peace, pursued peace, loved people and drew them near to Torah. His task was to atone for the Jewish people and ensure that Hashem used the מדות של רחמים.

On the sixth day, the parsha deals with people who become טמא and could not join in bringing the korban Pesach on the second year in the wilderness. The Torah then deals with people who were not טמא, were pure and had to fulfil the mitzvah. This is an allusion to יוסף הצדיק whose מידת יסוד represents purity in the extreme.

Finally on the seventh day, the miracle of the קריעת ים סוף represented the quality of מלכות and ends ה' ימלך לעלם ועד. Dovid Hamelech was the king who exalted Hashem and exemplified and proclaimed the מלכות שמים at all times.

One could add to this that in חוץ לארץ on the eighth day, עשר תעשר is read. One should give maaser. The Torah continues that one should take this to Yerushalayim in order that one should learn יראת ה'. Nowadays, when we do not have a Beis Hamikdosh, one should not only give maser, tzedokah, in ones own town following the principle of עניי עירך קודם. However, one must especially look after the Holy institutions in Yerushalayim and the residents of Yerushalayim in accordance with the pesak of Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld ז''ל, namely, that as it says, in davenning ולירושלים עירך , therefore the poor of Yerushalayim are considered equal to ones own city, all over the world. I believe that this is especially relevant nowadays.

I would just like to add one further thought and that is that in the course of the reading of the fourth day, אם כסף תלוה את עמי, a verse in the middle commences מדבר שקר תרחק, one should distance oneself from lies. It is noteworthy that the reading of the fourth day, which is the middle day of Pesach and right in the middle of the פרשה read, is the one time that the Torah itself instructs us to “distance ourselves”. The Torah does not say, do not speak untruths, it says distance yourself from even saying any word of a lie.

I believe that the message is loud and clear that the essence of the Yom Tov of Pesach (which is a time of גאולה, redemption, not only physical redemption but spiritual redemption) has to have as its ultimate purpose the cleaving to אמת, absolute truth at all times. This is therefore the פנימיות שבפנימיות the innermost core to be strived for and attained.

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