Shabbat HaGadol, Passover is coming!
Bonnie asked her “burning question” and it was brilliant! Why do we read about the crossing of the Sea of Reeds in the Torah reading cycle in February, rather than April when Passover actually occurs?
We read a lot of Torah on Passover (Pesach in Hebrew), there are special readings EVERY SINGLE DAY of the seven (or eight) day festival and a special Haftarah on the Shabbat before Pesach, called Shabbat HaGadol (the Great!) Many of the Passover daily readings do indeed tell the story of the Exodus (Ex. chapter 12) The crossing of the sea, including the song of the sea, led by Miryam and the women, are read on the last two days. If Shabbat falls on the in between days, Exodus 33-34 . Exodus 33 is the aftermath of the egel hazahav– the golden calf. We read about G8d’s forgiveness. When we had freedom, the first thing we did was to be “stiff necked” to go back to worshiping idols of gold, and Aaron was involved: the frightened people asked him to build one, and he did. To be free, means free to make mistakes. Perhaps you have been a teenager, newly freed from parental oversight, or know one, or have parented one? My daughters have shared with me some sad stories of overprotected youngsters suddenly free to do anything they wish at college for the first time, who made terrible decisions. We are not just freed from Egypt, we are free to serve the Holy One of Blessing!
So what is the Torah reading this week in the yearly cycle and what does it have to do with Pesach? It is Tzav, meaning command. Moshe (Moses) is told to command his brother and nephews about how to become the kohanim the “priests” officiating at the sacrificial offerings of the Mishkan. But first they had to be “purified” to be open enough to become channels of holiness, and to be forgiven for Aaron’s making of the Golden calf/egel hazahav. See source 4 (Sifra, Midrash from school of Rabbi Akiva). Aharon (Aaron) needs to know his heart has been accepted, just as the wandering generation of Israelites needs to know. To accomplish this transformation to become kohanim, Aaron and his sons are washed (by Moshe!) and are locked in the Tent of meeting for seven full days, to emerge on the eighth day, and then anointed with oil. They would then emerge, be installed and wait to see if G8d would accept their offerings, as fire or pillar of cloud. Those seven days of waiting must be rough – would G8d accept the work of their hands – the art and architecture of the mishkan? (tabernacle) And would G8d then be with them, and travel with them through the wilderness? And what did the soon-to-be priests do locked up in the tent of meeting for seven days? During my ordination, 16 of the 17 candidates were secluded in a room for an hour or two. We also had worked together for the past four months to craft our transition ceremony and prepare for our new roles in life. Would the world and the Holy One of blessing accept the offerings of our hearts? The responses would not be visible as a pillar of cloud, but in the fire in the hearts of the people we served.We sang, laughed. There was bonding, there was palpable tension. We sang in our ceremony from psalm 91, asking G8d to accept the work of our hands and hearts (source 1). In a similar way, Moshe “fills their palms”. Your hands and hearts must be open to be filled and receive gifts. Pregnancy seems like such a waiting as well, much longer than a week! Then your hands are filled with a tiny miracle. And transformation follows – oh the mystery!
Like the kohanim waiting in the Tent of Meeting the Exodus itself has a period of watching and keeping in Exodus 12: In the waiting period between the tenth plague, death of the first born and the leaving. לֵ֣יל שִׁמֻּרִ֥ים הוּא֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה לְהוֹצִיאָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם leil shimurim – a night of watching/guarding to G8d, toward leaving the “tight place” – Egypt. I’m guessing there was not much sleep during that midnight watch. Rashi (source 2) says it was much longer than a night, that they were waiting to see if G8d would fulfill a promise of redemption many hundreds of years old!
Seven days, and then the eight day will tell. That should ring a bell! We are about to enter a festival for seven days, and then an eighth day in the diaspora. In addition the fall and winter festivals, Sukkot and Hanukkah are eight day festivals. Seven days of creation – Sheva in Hebrew, represents completion. The eighth, one day beyond. There is both getting together on Pesach, and isolation if you observe the dietary laws, from the non-Jewish community. Rabbeinu Bahya (source 3) references the seven layers of clothing of the kohen, and cites from the zohar This is also the reason that these days of inauguration were described (in the Zohar) as “days of שלמות, “days of perfection, or perfecting.or wholeness. The Haftarah for Shabbat HaGadol is the very last book of the last prophet Micah, envisions a messianic time, a time transformed, where Elijah the prophet will turn the hearts of parents and children to one another.
May your family or friendship circle find wholeness this Pesach, as Moshe anointed his brother and nephews. And when Elijah comes to your seder, may the generations turn their hearts to one another. Pesach and springtime can be magical!
Related: Passover 5785
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