Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
I know that many of you are busy cleaning your homes and shopping for Yom Tov food and clothing etc. in preparation for the upcoming holiday of Passover – and don’t really have time to read long Torah essays. So, as Henry the Eighth said to each of his wives … I won’t keep you long!
Instead, I would like to share with you a short, pre-Passover idea plus a very short story for you to ponder and maybe share with others (when you have the time, of course!):
But first, by way of introduction, you need to know that this Shabbos, in synagogues all around the world, in addition to the regularly scheduled reading of the weekly Torah portion (this weekend we read the double portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei), we will also be reading a special Torah reading called Parshas HaChodesh (plus we will also be Mevorchim HaChodesh, i.e. “blessing” the new Hebrew month of Nissan).
What is Parshas HaChodesh, you ask?
This being the Shabbos that falls on or before the first day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, we also read the section of ‘HaChodesh’ (Exodus 12:1–20), which relates G d’s words to Moses in Egypt two weeks before the Exodus, instructing us to set the Jewish calendar by the monthly new moon, and to regard Nissan as “the beginning of the months”. G d also instructs the Jewish people to bring the Passover offering, to eat it with matzah and bitter herbs, and to abstain from leaven for seven days.
And here comes the short idea …
The Shabbos upon which we read Parshas HaChodesh begins a very auspicious time for becoming a ‘new’ person. The great Chassidic Masters teach that the first words that we read in Parshas HaChodesh: “HaChodesh hazeh lachem …this month shall be for you…” can also be read: “HaChadash hazeh lachem…the power of becoming ‘new’ is in your hands” (chodesh, “month”, and chadash, “new”, share the same Hebrew letters).
The Beis Avraham ZT”L adds that the mitzvah of “HaChodesh hazeh lachem” was given to the Jewish nation when they were in Egypt, at the lowest level of spiritual impurity. Even at that lowly place, G-d hinted to them that they can start anew.
The moon gradually becomes smaller until it isn’t seen, and then a new moon appears. This hints that we can also begin anew, and Shabbos HaChodesh and the month of Nissan are ideal times to do so.
There are so many things to do in the next two weeks for the upcoming holiday. There is also no better time than this Shabbos Parshas HaChodesh to begin working on our negative character traits, building our relationships, and increasing our Torah study and Mitzvah observance and to becoming a ‘new’ person. Indeed, the power of becoming a ‘new’ person is truly in our hands.
Yet, sadly, even if we do take the opportunity to tap into the spirit of “newness” that this period affords and we become a changed person, it often doesn’t last.
In the Haggadah that we read at the Passover Seder, all are familiar with the Four Sons – the Wise Son, The Wicked Son, The Simple Son, and the Son Who is Unable to Ask.
The Simple Son – what does he say? “What is this?” Tell him: “With a strong hand did G-d take us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
The biblical source for the Simple Son and our response to him can be found in Exodus 13:14 where is says: “And it shall be when your son will ask you ‘tomorrow’, ‘What is this?’ you shall say to him, ‘With a strong hand did G-d take us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum shlit”a - the Rabbi of the Shteeble in Queens where my father, my brother and I used to daven (pray) every Shabbos and Yom Tov – once interpreted this verse homiletically as follows:
The son sees his father coming late to services pretty much every Shabbos throughout the year, talking through the entire Torah reading, and escaping from shul early to enjoy some scotch, schmaltz herring, and Tam-Tam crackers downstairs with the boys at the Kiddush Club.
But then, once a year, during the period leading up to the Passover Seder, the son sees his father has become a ‘new’ man – studying the laws of the Seder, making all the preparations – and being careful to fulfill all the rituals and commandments of the Seder according to Halachah (Jewish Law).
Unfortunately, all that doesn’t last, and at the services at the synagogue the very next morning, the son sees that his father has gone right back to his old errant ways. This – explains Rabbi Oelbaum – is what the Simple Son is saying: And it shall be when your son will ask you ‘tomorrow’‘ What is this?’ ‘Tomorrow’ refers to the morning after the Seder, when the son sees that his father hasn’t really changed much at all – so he asks his father: “What is this?!”
And now for the very short story …
[This Chassidic story is based on the verse in the Torah (see Exodus 13:8) which serves as the biblical source for the mitzvah to tell the story of the Exodus to our children at the Seder on the night of Passover: “V’higadata l’vincha bayom hahu leimor …and you shall tell your son on that day, saying: It is because of this that G-d acted on my behalf when I left Egypt”] ”
Once upon a time, a great Chassidic Rebbe and his disciples were sitting around a table and eating and drinking and learning Torah together – as is customary among Chassidim - and talking about the upcoming holiday of Passover. When they ran out of bronfen (whiskey), the Rebbe said, ‘Yingeleh (young boy), go fetch some more’. Then, to the astonishment of all present, the great Rebbe himself vacated the table, and only after twenty minutes did he return with a brand new bottle of schnapps in his hand. The Chassidim couldn’t understand why the Rebbe would ask the young boy to get some whiskey if he himself was planning to fetch it. The Rebbe saw all the confused faces around the table, so he explained to them, as follows: He said, ‘I had no intention of asking the young boy to fetch some whiskey. In fact, I wasn’t even talking to the boy at all. Rather, I was talking to the Yingeleh inside of me. You see, many years ago I made a promise to myself that no matter how physically old I might become, I would always try my utmost in life never to lose the excitement and energy of my youth – and to retain that Yingeleh inside me for as long as I live!” As we say in the Haggadah on Passover night, “V’higadata l’vincha (which one can also read) “and you should speak to your Yingeleh!” It is for this reason that I didn’t ask the young boy to bring the bronfen but I fetched the bronfen myself”.
This idea and story illustrate in a most beautiful way how we can tap into the spiritual power of this time of year to become new and young again – if we only try!
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=657