Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

In the Mishna in Masechet Pesachim and at the end of the Maggid section of the Haggadah, we read that each of us is obligated to consider as if we left Egyptian servitude. The rest of the year, our obligation is to simply remember the redemption from Egypt. This cultivates the belief that God not only created us, but continues to act on our behalf. For this reason, the Mitzva that teaches us to believe in God, refers to Him as the Redeemer, rather than the Creator: “I am the Lord, your God, who took you out of Egypt,” is how God is introduced in the Decalogue. The night of Pesach goes one step further, as we reenact the redemption as best we can, to inculcate a sense of gratitude, with song and praise. We do this best, when we connect the past to the present. Our morning and evening Amidah  is introduced with the blessing that refers to God as our redeemer in the past, “Go’al Yisroel”. Then, the seventh blessing of the Amidah refers to God as our redeemer in the present, “Go’el Yisrael”. This is how we consider that we left Egyptian servitude, because we are leaving Egypt each and every day. Our daily existential problems can sometimes make us feel as if an adversary is charging at us and our backs are to the sea.

Then suddenly, the path before us is cleared and we see light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps the first overt message of this sort was delivered by Bila’am almost 40 years after we left Egypt, when he referred to God as the one who “Takes His people out of Egypt” “Motziam” and not “Hotziam” (B’midbar 23:22). Rav Chaim Ben Attar, the Ohr HaChaim explains that Bila’am, when he uncontrollably spoke blessings, when he meant to curse, acknowledged that God’s Divine guidance was constant, even when His people aren’t aware of it. If not for the Torah’s story, no one would have ever been aware of the Bila’am saga of turning curse to blessing. The Ohr HaChaim says that we are all tasked with this special charge to focus the redemptions of the past onto our own times. Just as God is constantly being “Motzi” bread from the ground for us, He is constantly redeeming us. The covenant He made with Avraham has stood for our ancestors and for us despite the intentions of all those who have had our backs to the sea.

Let us consider how far we have come since last Pesach. Let us be thankful for all the things we can do this year that we weren’t able to do last year. Let us focus our hopes, that with God’s help, next year will be the best Pesach of our lives, in Jerusalem.

Alisa joins me in wishing Chag Kashe V’sameach to everyone.

Be safe.  Be healthy.  Be excellent.

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Congregation Ohab Zedek

118 West 95^th Street | New York, NY  10025-6604

Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200 | Fax 212.663-3635

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org