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Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman Shlita

The Month of Emunah

Pesach

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman shlita

The Netziv, in Ha’amek Davar, says an amazing thing: the whole month of Nissan is an auspicious time to instill emunah in us. We know that thirty days before Pesach we delve into the halachos of Yom Tov, but he says that from Rosh Chodesh we should increase our involvement in the study of hilchos Pesach. Indeed, the Haggadah entertains the notion that the obligation of sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim begins on Rosh Chodesh – יכול מראש חודש – and although we don’t actually pasken that way, from Rosh Chodesh we still should be spending time learning about Pesach and the fundamentals of Emunah.

Similarly, the Chida (Lev David) cites the teaching of his grandfather, the Chessed L’Avraham, that every year, in the thirty days before Pesach, Hashem does a tremendous kindness for Klal Yisrael, and raises them from the depths of tumah bit by bit, one-thirtieth each day until Pesach, bringing him to a higher level of kedushah when Pesach arrives.

Everyone feels tremendous anticipation before Pesach, as we look forward to the mitzvos of Pesach, especially the special mitzvos that we have only on Pesach. As Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer teaches, this is the night when Klal Yisrael say Hallel and tremendous storehouses of shefa and brachah open up on this night:

הִגִּיעַ לֵיל יוֹם הַפֶּסַח, וְקָרָא יִצְחָק לְעֵשָׂו בְּנוֹ הַגָּדוֹל וְאָמַר לוֹ, בְּנִי, זֶה הַלַּיְלָה כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ אוֹמְרִים בּוֹ הַלֵּל, וְאוֹצְרוֹת טְלָלִים נִפְתָּחִים בְּזֶה הַלַּיְלָה… אָמְרָה רִבְקָה לְיַעֲקֹב, בְּנִי, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה אוֹצְרוֹת טְלָלִים נִפְתָּחִים בּוֹ, הָעֶלְיוֹנִים אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה עֲתִידִים בָּנֶיךָ לְהִגָּאֵל מִיַּד שִׁעְבּוּד, הַלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה עֲתִידִין לוֹמַר שִׁירָה.

All of the treasures of Creation open on this night, when the celestial beings say shirah. (See the Radal’s commentary on Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer.) Rav Shlomo Wolbe used to say that a whole year our spiritual growth is proportional to the effort we invest, but on the night of Pesach, a person can merit tremendous heights in ruchniyus, beyond his investment. Rashi teaches (Shemos 12:11) that the Korban Pesach was called that because of Hashem jumped over the homes of Klal Yisrael, and we, too, can jump to new heights on this night, in a much faster and deeper way than usual.

On Leil Haseder we have a world of mitzvos; the Vilna Gaon calculated that there were 64 mitzvos just on this night when there was a Beis HaMikdash. In addition, we have countless minhagim, all of which are sacred; each family has its own minhagim to follow. In our times we have four mitzvos on Leil Haseder: two that are d’Oraysa – eating matzah and sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim, which includes the Hallel that follows – and two that are d’Rabbanan, eating marror and drinking the four cups of wine. The brachah of Shehecheyanu includes all the mitzvos of the night, the Yom Tov itself, the mitzvah of biur chametz, and all the new clothing and other items we have l’kavod Yom Tov.

Mitzvos of the Mouth

The mitzvos of Leil Haseder revolve primarily around the mouth – both eating and speech. We eat the karpas, the matzah, the marror, and the korech, and we drink the four cups of wine. We tell the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim, we say Hallel, and we recite the Haggadah and the brachos. Why are most of the mitzvos of this night performed with the mouth?

My shver, zul zein gezunt, gave the following explanation. Klal Yisrael became a nation on the night of Pesach, and the two faculties that distinguish Klal Yisrael from the rest of the nations are speech and eating. Every person who has a neshamah can speak, but Klal Yisrael uses that ability in a unique way. And the mitzvos of eating connect the body and soul, because both body and soul are nourished when a Jew eats, as Rav Chaim Volozhiner teaches that the brachah nourishes the person’s ruchniyus while the food sustains the gashmius of the body. A non-Jew  doesn’t have this concept of serving Hashem through eating; a non-Jew can bring only a Korban Olah, not a Korban Shelamim, which is consumed by both the person and the mizbei’ach.

I think it was R’ Yitzchak Eizik Chaver who quoted the Vilna Gaon as saying that the bris and the tongue are two ways through which the yetzer hara can overpower a person. We know that before leaving Mitzrayim, Klal Yisrael were commanded to do two mitzvos: dam bris and dam Pesach. Dam Pesach represented the avodah of eating, while the dam bris represented the avodah of bris that separates a Yid from a non-Jew. On Leil Haseder, when we become a special, holy nation and are separated from the other nations, that’s the time to highlight this distinction and celebrate Klal Yisrael’s kedushas habris and kedushas ha’achilah.

The Netziv, in his Haggadah Imrei Shefer, points out that the Hallel of Leil Haseder differs from the Hallel of the rest of the year in that it is divided into two parts, with a break in the middle. (Some of the Rishonim say that this is the reason we don’t say a brachah on Hallel at the Seder.) The Netziv explains that the reason we take a break in middle of Hallel is to show that the seudah that we eat in between is lifnei Hashem as well. During the times of the Beis Hamikdash, the Korban Pesach was eaten, and now we have the matzah and marror and Shulchan Orech – which, he says, are actually part of the Hallel and not a hefsek. By taking us out of Mitzrayim, Hashem elevated us to the point that our eating and drinking can be a mitzvah that brings us to Olam Haba.

Boundless Appreciation

The Maharal, at the beginning of Gevuros Hashem, asks the following question: We know that a person is not supposed to invent his own praises of Hashem, because, as the Gemara says, there’s no end to Hashem’s praises, and who can possibly praise Him sufficiently? We are therefore allowed to praise Hashem only with the words formulated by the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah. How, then, can we fulfill the halachah of: וכל המרבה לספר ביציאת מצרים הרי זה משובח?

The Maharal explains that on Leil Haseder we’re not singing Hashem’s praises, which are endless, but rather we’re showing the Ribbono Shel Olam that we appreciate everything He does for us and we’re not kafui tov.

The Haggadah says:ואפילו כלנו חכמים כלנו נבונים כלנו יודעים את התורה מצוה עלינו לספר ביציאת מצרים, and the Maharal Tzintz, in his Haggadah Birkas Hashir, wonders why we would think that someone who is wise and learned would be exempt from sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim. It’s a mitzvah like any other, and even a person who knows the entire Torah is not pattur from any of the mitzvos, so why should this mitzvah be any different?

He explains that since the whole purpose of Yetzias Mitzrayim was for us to receive the Torah, we might think that someone who learns Torah is pattur from saying the Haggadah and telling the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim. So why isn’t it so?

Each person who learns Torah does so on a different level: there can be a person who learns alone, or two people who learn together, or five or ten or fifteen people, and each has a different level of the Shechinah’s presence and a different level of lishmah. In contrast, on Leil Haseder every person who discusses sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim brings down the Shechinah personally, and reaches a level of connecting to the Ribbono Shel Olam that is higher even than someone who is learning Torah.

He cites proof to this from the Zohar’s teaching that when Klal Yisrael tells the story of Yetzias Mitzrayim on the night of Pesach, Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes down with all of his malachim and says לכו ושמעו סיפור שבח גדולתי שבני מספרים ושמחים בגאולתי. The Zohar adds unbelievable statements, saying that it is as though we give power, kevayachol, to the Ribbono Shel Olam through sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim.

No Room for Fear

This is a time that’s not easy for Klal Yisrael and the entire world. On the passuk in Tehillim: מְהֻלָּל אֶקְרָא ה’ וּמִן אֹיְבַי אִוָּשֵׁעַ, Rashi explains that a person should praise Hashem even before he’s out of the tzarah, and that itself is a zechus to for a yeshuah. Some explain that that’s why we say in Hallel: אָנָּא ה’ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא אָנָּא ה’ הַצְלִיחָה נָּא. Why are we uttering bakashos in middle of Hallel? It’s because part of the Hallel is for the future, for the yeshuah Hashem is going to send us. When we say Hallel and praise Hashem in the midst of a tzarah, that itself is a zechus to be saved.

The Beis Halevi, in his Kuntres Habitachon, explains that a person has to do everything he can in order to protect himself from what’s going on around him. But once a person does the hishtadlus he is supposed to be doing, he should not be afraid. In fact, he says, fear can actually create an obstacle for a person, as the passuk in Mishlei says: חֶרְדַּת אָדָם יִתֵּן מוֹקֵשׁ וּבוֹטֵחַ בַּה’ יְשֻׂגָּב. By not trusting Hashem, the person endangers himself, while someone who trusts Hashem will be saved from the tzarah. The word יְשֻׂגָּב means to be strengthened, and a person who trusts Hashem will be empowered with additional kochos and receive a yeshuah that is beyond the norm.

Rav Chaim Vital teaches that when a person thanks Hakadosh Baruch Hu for all the good things He does for us, that itself is a reason for Him to continue His chessed. This idea is expressed in the passuk: הֹדוּ לַה’ כִּי טוֹב כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ – when we thank Hashem for His goodness, His kindness continues forever.

During this tremendous time of chizuk in emunah, the beginning of Nissan, when a person has the ability to elevate himself in emunah and bitachon, let us praise and thank the Ribbono Shel Olam for all the good that He has given us. Once we have done whatever we need to do to protect ourselves, we should not have any fear, but we should trust the Ribbono Shel Olam to help us and all of Klal Yisrael.

May we hear only besuros tovos and be zocheh to yeshuas Hashem k’heref ayin.

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