The most magnificent and beautiful experience of Pesach, for me, is to sit at our Seder Tablewith our family, with our children and grandchildren, as we read and study the Hagadah and sing the songs, using the same tunes, like our parents and grandparents did years ago. At that moment, as teary eyed as I get, I realize what this Yom Tov is really all about- it is the valued time when all generations are united into one - when the past is fused gloriously with the present but more so realizing that our Mesorah is not a relic of the past but, is in reality, the powerhouse and the energizer of the present. I am in touch with my parents as I cover my Matzohs with their covers and hold the Bechers in my hand and feel their spiritual energizing power going through my very being and try to convey that feeling to our children and to our grandchildren. At that moment beaming with pride at our family at our side, something which I will never take for granted, I realize that before me sit young people who live in two worlds without compromising their dedication and commitment to Yiddishkeit toTorah and to our Inspirational Mesorah.
I shared with them one of my favorite stories about the Blushiver Rebbe. The Rebbe was incarcerated in a concentration camp and a young man became attached to him in a very warm way. One night they were dragged out of their bunks, emaciated as they were, cold and frightened, and were brought to a trench and were instructed to jump over the ditch. If they could not succeed they would die in the pit. The young man standing next to the Rebbe, said, “I can’t make it. Please let me die in peace.” The Rebbe said, “We need to try.” After a minute or two they both landed on the other side of the pit, successfully. The young man asked the aged Rebbe, “How he did you do it?” The Rebbe answered, “I held on to the coattails of my father and my grandfather and they pulled me to safety.” The Rebbe, then, asked the young man, “How did you make it?” The young man answered, “I held onto your coattails.”
This is what Pesach and Yiddishkeit are all about. It is holding onto the coattails of our past generations who help us, always, to weather the storms of life and savor the precious moments that we experience and to bring our Seder of Life full circle while basking in the sunshine of humanity and a Torah way of Life.
As the participants at the Seder delivered their Divrey Hagadah, a most important message was shared; This night is all about G-D, Who Was, Who Is and Who Will Always, Be Our Deliverer, Our Goel, and on this night we are to reiterate this point, לא על ידי מלאך ולא על ידי שרף ולא על ידי שליח אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו. It is, for this reason that even thoughMoshe played an important role in the redemption process, this night does not belong to him. It is, as the Rav suggests, “A night, of great romance between the Almighty and the Jewish People. It is a night when we sing with pride and joy. אני לדודי ודודי לי, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.”
The most cogent part of our relationship with Hashem is best expressed with the words of the Rav.
The Rav reiterated, “One of the names that the Torah uses for G-D, is Shaddai. It is the name of G-D that is written on the parchment of a Mezuzah. Hashem also identifies himself with this name when he speaks to Moshe. What is the meaning of this name of G-D?”
Rabbi Soloveitchik cites the Midrash which teaches, “ Hashem in the act of creation issues the following order to the world. Dai, enough! In the word Shaddai, Dai is the root of G-D’s name. In the act of creation, G-D, so to speak limits His creation.” The Rav goes on to explain, “That Hashem is saying, in essence, “In my act of creation, I have not completed things fully”.
At the conclusion of the first week of creation, on Friday afternoon, as Shabbat was entering at sunset, the world was left unfinished. This was done intentionally. This unfinished part of creation is left for man to complete. Man becomes a Partner in Creation.
The Rav explained, “The imperative that G-D issued to Avraham in the following way. “I am the Lord, Shaddai, walk before me and be whole wholehearted”. This statement is to be translated, not to be wholehearted, rather “To make Whole”. In other words, G-D charged Avraham with the mission of perfecting and fixing the world.
This is truly a most enlightening idea that seems to come to the fore on this special night of ליל שמורים, a night when we experience G-D’s infinite protection. It is the eternal mission of the Jewish People. The message and the mission are clear - we are entrusted by Hashem to bring about the Tikkun Olam, To Fix and to Heal a Fractured World.
There is no greater need, at this time, to join with Hashem to make this a better world. There is no better way than to start by making man a better person, with greater feelings towards his fellowman, and to return to the beginning of the Seder and to reiterate and to feel those magnificent words of כל דכפין וכל דצריך, words that project acts of kindness, of understanding, of empathy, of a life lived by Chesed and concern for others.
With these ideas in mind we will be able to, once again, lift our cup of wine and recite that glorious Bracha as we did at the Seder, כן הי אלוקינו יגיענו למועדים ולרגלים אחרים הבאים לקראתנו לשלום שמחים בבנין עירך וששים בעבודתך, ונודה לך שיר חדש על גאולתנו ועל פדות נפשנו. ברוך אתה הי גאל ישראל.
These lessons of Pesach need to become our mantra for the future survival of עםישראל, ארץ ישראל and for the survival of Humanity.
This, I believe, was the greater purpose of our Redemption from Egypt and will be our guarantee for our future and Complete Redemption, which will give us the Zechut to see the ביאת גואל צדק בימנו
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