Above And Below

Why was Moshe the one to serve in the Mikdash for the first 7 days (Rashi 8:28) and only afterward did Aharon take over?  Why for the first 7 days was the Mishkan taken down every day but only after the 8th day did it last?  

The Mishkan is an other worldly building meant to bring the presence of the Shechina down into this world.  It does not fit into the natural barriers of the world.  The first 7 days of the inauguration where to adjust the Mishkan to this world.  That is why it was 7 days, the complete cycle of a week of nature.  That is why the Mishkan needed to be taken down every day for it did not fit within the order of nature.  It took the power of Moshe Rabbenu, who was always connected to the higher realms to be able to connect the Mishkan to the world.  Only after the first 7 days did the Mishkan now become incorporated into the nature of the world (not that the Mishkan became lower, but that nature was elevated to be able to contain a Mishkan.)  Now, on day 8, the day that is above teva, meaning not that teva was broken but rather teva was expanded and elevated, can the avodah be given over to Aharon to do to the avodah on a daily basis.  Moshe has to serve the first 7 days because at that point the Mishkan can not fit in the world without the avodah of Moshe, who is simultaneously connected to this world and above.  Then the super natural Mishkan can become incorporated into the world (based upon Shem MiShmuel 5671, see also Sfas Emes 5639, Imrei Emes Shemini Atzeret 5761.)  

That is why on Yom Kippur the sprinkling is 1 +7, the above teva, 8th sprinkle gets incorporated into the teva.  The אחת למעלה unites with the שבע למטה.  The teva expands to include that which is beyond it.

וירד מעשת החטאת והעלה והשלמים.  The Apter Rav says this hints to the idea that even the great leaders who are busy atoning for people and raising the worlds to higher levels have to at times go down from their lofty thoughts in order to connect to people.  But this going down leads to greater heights.  The above teva becomes etched into the teva.   

החדש הזה לכם.  Nissan is the time of great miracles, it is a time ripe for above nature revelations.  However, even great miracles have to become incorporated into the boundaries of time.  We incorporate the miracles to fit into nature by elevating our nature.

The Potential Of The Metzorah

What does אשה כי תזריע, giving birth have to do with the parsha of negaim which follows?  The Gemorah in Sanhedrin (98b) cites an opinion that Moshiach is called a metzorah.  Why is Moshiach given the title of the plagued, afflicted individual?  

Onklus translates a nega tza'arat as סגירותא.  A person that has a nega is closed up.  The Kabbalists teach that a nega means that there is great spiritual potential within a person but it is locked inside and is not coming to the forefront.  The metzorah is then secluded away from people so that he can meditate on his state and hopefully find the key to access the potential inside of him.  The nega is a chance for the person to bring out that potential which is locked inside of him/ her self.  That is like the woman who's pregnancy gives birth to a new child.  Moshiach is called a metzorah because he can cultivate, activate and access the spiritual energy locked up within the nation. 

Why do we celebrate the new moon if it is so small, we should celebrate the moon in its zenith, in the middle of the month?  Why is the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh given right before leaving Egypt?  And what does it have to do with the rest of the parsha of Hachodesh which speaks of the laws of the Pesach offering?  What we are celebrating is not the moon in its full glory but rather the potential for growth.  The moon shrinks after it expends all of its potential.  It needs a recharge to be able to expand again.  Klal Yisroel was sitting at the brink of complete assimilation.  Why should they be redeemed?  Hashem was פוסח on the normal rules of the effort expected from Klal Yisroel and redeemed them because they had the potential for greatness.  They may have retained only a sliver of themselves throughout their stay in Egypt but that was enough to grow into a great nation.  

We say on Rosh Hashana היום הרת עולם, the world in pregnant with the opportunity for new growth.  Every new chodesh, every new year is a time to look at the potential for future growth and to go from being metzorah, potential which is locked and squandered to the metzorah of Moshiach, to bring forth that potential.   

Rule Over Time

This post is from a shmuz of Rabbi Elefant of the Mir.  The First Mishna in Rosh Hashana says rosh chodesh Nissan is the Rosh Hashana for kings and the Gemorah explains for Jewish kings (for when you count it as the next year of the king when writing a document.)  The Sfas Emes on Parshat Hachodesh 5637 says this is a lesson and a revelation for every one of us.  "בפסוק החדש הזה לכם כו'. דאיתא באחד בניסן ר"ה למלכים כי תשרי ר"ה לשנים הוא התחדשות השנה עפ"י דרך הטבע ובניסן ר"ה למלכים למלכי ישראל כדאיתא בגמ' והיינו בני ישראל שנקראו בני מלכים שהם בני חורין משיעבוד הסט"א שאינם תחת הטבע ולכן אחר שהתחילה הגאולה במצרים אז נאמר להם החודש הזה לכם כו' [נשכח ממני הסיום]."  The miracles that occurred in Nissan are not just external revelations that came into the world but have a personal message for all of us.  Just as in Nissan the regular order of teva was broken and there was a new order of nissim so too every Jew gets a special ability to rule over the yetzer hara and the teva.  To rule over one's teva is the middah of malchut that is revealed in Nissan.  How does one tap inot this middah of malchut?

The first mitzvah given to Klal Yisroel is the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh.  Why is this mitzvah so central that it was given first and as Rashi at the beginning of Chumash says should have been the opening of the Torah?  And why was it given while Klal Yisroel were still stuck in Egypt?  It must be it was given before the Exodus because it is a necessary intro. to leaving Egypt.  It is a mitzvah one must internalize once one starts learning Torah.  What it the message of kiddush hachodesh?

Many seforim say how we learn from kiddush hachodesh to wax and wane.  Even as the moon reaches its smallest point, when it swallowed up by darkness, it has the ability to come back with renewed and greater vigor.  Klal Yisroel is compared to the moon and the lesson is that we can also renew ourselves and illuminate the darkness in our souls and around us.  But how does own tap into this ability of renewal? 

There is a dichotomy in the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh.  On the one hand, Rosh Chodesh must be declared by a beis din; it must be initiated by man.  Man must renew himself.  On the other hand, as Rav Gedaylah Schorr point out in his maamer on Nissan, the moon merely lines up to reflect the light of the sun, it does nothing on its own, representing that own must merely turn toward Hashem but there is nothing new that a person must do.  How are we to make sense of this dichotomy, what is the role of the person?  And why is this message specifically represented by kiddush hachodesh?

The Messiat Yesharim in the very beginning of the book describes the arch rival of avodat Hashem is to remove one's ability to think.  This approach was initiated by Pharaoh in his insistence on constant work.  "ואולם הנה זאת באמת אחת מתחבולות היצר הרע וערמתו להכביד עבודתו בתמידות על לבות בני האדם עד שלא ישאר להם ריוח להתבונן ולהסתכל באיזה דרך הם הולכים. כי יודע הוא שאלולי היו שמים לבם כמעט קט על דרכיהם, ודאי שמיד היו מתחילים להנחם ממעשיהם, והיתה החרטה הולכת ומתגברת בהם עד שהיו עוזבים החטא לגמרי. והרי זו מעין עצת פרעה הרשע שאמר (שמות ה): תכבד העבודה על האנשים וגו', שהיה מתכוין שלא להניח להם ריוח כלל לבלתי יתנו לב או ישימו עצה נגדו, אלא היה משתדל להפריע לבם מכל התבוננות בכח התמדת העבודה הבלתי מפסקת."  This was the klipah, the טמטום of Egypt, to occupy a person's time so that one does not have a second to stop and think.  This is hinted to in the parsha setumah at the beginning of Vayechi.  Rashi says at the beginning of Vayikra that the spaces exist to give one time to absorb and think about the information he just received.  The descent into the golus of Egypt removed one's time to be able to pause and remember what they should be doing.  To be enslaved is not merely to do back breaking labor but to be enslaved to one's middot because there is no time to maintain control over one's self. It is no coincidence that the culmination of the geulah, the shiras ham has a lot of empty space.  The geulah from Egypt, the geulat hadaat means there was an explosion of ownership over one's time!  

In the ברית בין הבתרים Hashem tells Avrohom (15:13) ויאמר לאברם ידע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם ועבדום וענו אתם ארבע מאות שנה, his descendants will be enslaved for 400 years.  Three pessukim later it says ודור רביעי ישובו הנה כי לא שלם עון האמרי עד הנה, the geulah is measured by number of generations.  Why is the golus measured in terms of years but the geulah is given in the number of generations?      The Pachad Yitzchak Yom Kippur maamer 21 brings the Gaon that explains golus is dependent on קלקולים בזמן but geulah depends on the tikkkun in a person's nefesh.  What does this mean?  Based upon what we have explained we understand that golus is to be ruled by one's calendar, one does not have time for themselves, it is measured by time.  Geulah is when one takes control of himself, it is expressed in terms of the persons.   He says golus is measured in time and geulah is measured by people, by generations.  This is why kiddush hachodesh is the intro. to yetzias mitzraim.  In order to be free one must first take control of their own time.  Because we are taking control of time.  That is the job of man represented by the need for beis din to proclaim the Rosh Chodesh to merely stop and take control of one's time.  The change in the person will come automatically like the moon that automatically reflects the light of the sun. 

How is this related to malchut?  The Ramban on Behaloscha (12:4) says the nature of the word פתאום is from the word פתי, a fool, כי פתאום על דעת המפרשים – דבר שלא עלה על לב, מגזרת פתי.  A fool is one who is never thinking, always doing things fast without fully contemplating the topic.  The Ramban in Mishpatim (22:15) says the word יפתה, to seduce, is also related to the word פתי.  The yetzer harah turns one into a fool by stopping one from thinking.  The word מלך is related to the word נמלך, to rethink, because the true melech is one who's מוח is שליט על הלב, one who takes the time to reconsider and analyze a question form all angles.  Nissan, the Rosh Hashana of kings is an auspicious time to be able to rule over the yetzer harah, the teva of the world, to be ממליך one's sechal over the natural middot.   

The Messilat Yesharim cites a maamer Chazal that because of the great skill of the yetzer harah one must have wisdom and vision to win over the yetzer harah. "וחכמינו ז"ל אמרו (מועד קטן ה): כל השם ארחותיו בעולם הזה, זוכה ורואה בישועתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא."  On this Gemorah in Sotah (5b) the Maharal says this very yesod that is not natural, not the teva for one to be able to rule over the yetzer harah, and therefore one merits to get a reward that is not in the realm of teva as well. 

New Time

Why is kiddush hachodesh the first mitzvah given to Klal Yisroel?  The Gemorah says that there are ten utterances used by G-d in creation. The Gemorah asks but it only says ויאמר 9 times in the creation story.  It answers בראשית also refers to a creation (Rosh Hashana 32a.)  What was created with the word בראשית?  The Siddur Eshai Yisroel in the Siach Yitzchak on ברוך עושה בראשית in ברוך שאמר it says that time was created with the word בראשית.  He says that is the meaning of עושה בראשית; the One who created time itself.
The events of the exodus were a second form of creation.  There was the creation of the world which runs based upon the rules and principles of טבע.  This creation is celebrated on Rosh Hashana, in Tishray, the beginning of the world.  That was the first creation.  In the Exodus a second form of creation emerged.  This creation is the creation dominated by the rules of Torah.  In this creation, the world is run with miracles and the rules of nature are broken for the need of Torah.  This creation is celebrated in Nissan, through the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh.  In this creation Klal Yisroel is given control over the month to rule it based upon the rules of the second creation, based upon the rules of Torah.  We aren't celebrating the existence of the moon, rather our control over it. (As in the Yerushalmi Ketuvot 4a about בתוליה חוזרין.)  [Based upon Rav Yitzchak Eizek Chaver and Mizmor L'Dovid.]

A New Seder

The Seder night is of course called the Seder because of the order of events that we follow.  Of course, the very fact that the night of the foundation of our Emunah and relationship to God shows us the importance of seder and how it is an integral theme in Judaism.  It is quite interesting that we put this emphasis on seder on this night for the events involved in the exodus from Egypt seemed anything but seder.  There were open miracles, changes of nature and all sorts of wild and crazy things going on so why is this night called the Seder, it should be called the night of chaos?

Pesach was not chas v’shalom a lack of seder.   What was  being revealed was a new type of seder. 

The first mitzvah given to Klal Yisroel is to be mekadesh the month.  Everyone asks why is this the first mitzvah given, is this mitzvah so fundamental that it must be first?  The Ritvah on the Haggadah says on the passage of מרא גדל – זו השכינה that in the process of the Exodus Hashem revealed himself three times, once at the time of saying the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh, a second time at the night of the geulah and the third time at krias yam suf.  That means there was the same revelation in the giving of the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh as there is at the night of the geulah and krias yam suf.  Why does the giving of this mitzvah need to be accompanied with such a revelation? 

 The first mitzvah fulfilled by Adam was kiddush hachodesh (see Tosfos Rosh Hashana 8a ד"ה לתקופת.)  The first mitzvah was for man, Adam to recognize that all the natural order of the world, demonstrated by time are set in place and controlled by Hashem.  Adam was being mekadesh time, acknowledging the seder of tevah is controlled by Hashem.

Nissan is considered month #1.  Why is it #1 if the world was created in Tishrei, what sense does it make to consider it month #1?  Tishrei was the creation of the world, it is month #1 in the seder of tevah.  Gentile kings count it as a new year in their reign from Tishrei, they follow the pattern of tevah.  Nissan is #1 to the seder.  This is a seder of Nissim (Maharal terminology.)  This isn’t the normal seder, it is a seder of Divine interference, of גילוי שכינה.  Just as the first mitzvah given to mankind in the seder of tevah is kiddush hachodesh, to recognize Hashem controls that order, so too the new order starts with kiddush hachodesh.  However, the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh given to Klal Yisroel isn’t merely to be mekadesh time, it gives us the power to rule over time as is known from the Yerushalmi Ketubot (Ch. 1 halacha 2.)  It is a kiddush of Divine interference, when the seder is determined by the mitzvah, not just the natural order (largely based upon Shiras Dovid, but I  explained the part about Adam differently.)  [The two kinds of seder is in Maharal second intro. to Gevurot and the difference between Tishrei vs. Nissan is explained in the Torah of Chabad (see for ex. The maamarim on parshas hachodesh) and its in Rav Eizek Chavar, though I don’t remember where.]     

All Coming Together

This is  an incomplete idea that needs more work.  Maybe the Russian hackers/robots that do most of this blog's reading can be of help.

The Sefer Yitzira says that the ברית הלשון וברית המעור are dependent on each other.  What is the connection?  The kabbalists teach that פסח is פה – סח, in golus mitzraim speech was in exile and it got redeemed through leaving Egypt.  What does this mean?  Why is milah the mitzvah that precedes the parsha of negaim?  Why is there a law that an ערל can’t eat from the korban pesach?

We explained  here and here, that speech is a reflective of the צורת האדם, the force that binds all the capabilities of an individual together.  The servitude that Klal Yisroel was subjected to indicated that they lost their צורת האדם.  The geulah came to perfect the צורה and that is the geulah of the tongue. 

Milah also reflects the צורת האדם.  Milah is associated with the sephira of yesod (see the Patach Eliyahu in the beginning of your Sephardic Siddur.)  Yesod is the sephira that binds all of the other middot together.  The milah is the tikkun of the yesod which binds all the middot of a person together.  The mitzvah of milah is a reflection in the body of the צורת האדם.

As we discussed over here, the rules of the korban pesach reflect the concept of unification.  The korban pesach was the offering that transformed Klal Yisroel into a nation.  As we explained here, the Exodus served as the birth of Klal Yisroel.  The 12 tribes became 1 nation.  Therefore, this theme was reflected in the korban pesach.  It is the korban pesach that reflects the צורת העם, it functions to bring everyone together.  In order for the pesach to serve as the glue to bind everyone together, the pieces themselves had to be complete.  It is only a person who has a milah, whose own self is bound together that can participate in the korban pesach to bind everyone together. (See Shem M’Shmuel Haggadah that explains the milah aspect differently.)

Rule Over Time

Why is kiddush hachodesh the first mitzva given to Klal Yisroel?  The possuk says החדש הזה לכם, what is the meaning of the word לכם?  The Sforno explains that before, you were slaves and weren’t able decide what to do with your time.  However, now, you will be free and will have free reign to decide what to do with your time.  לכם means that time is now yours. The Sforno is telling us that slavery means that your time isn’t yours.  The symbol of freedom is to have one’s time in their own hands.  Why was this the freedom message given to Klal Yisroel?  How does having time in their own hands sum up the advantage of being free from the Egyptians?

Time is the ultimate boundary of this world for everything in existence is subject to the boundaries of time.    Mitzraim comes from the word מצר-constraint.  Egypt represents the constraints of the physical world.  They were the epitome of life devoid of kedusha, where one can lift themselves above the world’s boundaries.  The Egyptian’s constraint on Klal Yisroel within their time frame didn’t just mean that they controlled the actions of Klal Yisroel.  It also reflected that Klal Yisroel were subjects of the coarse nature of the Egyptians.  The Rebbe asks how can it say (1:14) וימררו את חייהם if a Jew’s life is his ruchnious?  The Egyptians physically overworked us, but how did they embitter us spiritually?  He explains that the servitude embittered their lives because it wasn’t a work that served any purpose in avodas Hashem, rather was just useless work.  It wasn’t the physical acts themselves which embittered their lives, rather the emptiness of it.  Their lives were embittered because they were working on the Egyptian’s time table, not in a time table which enhanced their ability to serve Hashem.   When Klal Yisroel went free they broke out of the boundaries of time which were superimposed upon them.  They now were able to use their time for Hashem and bring kedusha to time.  The mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh represents this ability to bring kedusha to the constraints of the physical world.  Therefore, it was the first mitzvah given in order to teach Klal Yisroel that as a new nation they have the ability to break the physical boundaries of the world by infusing it with kedusha.  The escape of the boundary of time is to connect it holy purposes which are above time (see Pachad Yitzchak Pesach essay 1.)

Hashem gave an exact time for when maccas bechoros was going to happen.  Why was it necessary to give the exact time of the maccah?  Since the human mind can’t calculate the exact moment of chatzos (as Rashi explains that’s why Moshe told Pharaoh around chatzos) by having the maccah occur at a specific time it showed that Hashem is above time barriers.  Not only is Hashem not bound by the limitation of time, but he has complete control over them.  This was the complete nullification of the Egyptian’s way of thinking and therefore was expressed in the final plague (based upon Likutay Sichos volume 3.)    

  

Why was there a need to eat the korban pesach in a rush, ready to go if Klal Yisroel weren’t going to leave until the next day?  Why was there an emphasis on leaving Egypt in such a rush?  Klal Yisroel had to get out of the boundaries as fast as possible.  Therefore, even though they wouldn’t be leaving immediately, they still needed to show that they were rushing to get out of Egypt (see Rav Tzodok on Rosh Chodesh Nisson.)  That’s why Hashem emphasized that they leave in such a rush.  Rushing out (not following normal time constraints) was the way of breaking free from the confines of Egypt.  The leaving of Egypt had to be done in a way which was as much above time as is humanly possible.  (Possibly this is the intent of the Maharal in Gevuros Hashem chapter 35 who says “Klal Yisroel went out with a madraga kelokis where there is no concept of time”.)

The Greeks made a decree not to be mekadash the chodesh.  Why did they find this mitzvah specifically worthy of making a decree against?  The Greeks believed the human intellect reigned.  Since the human intellect is bound by time they couldn’t fathom that there could be an existence above time.  The mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh is a recognition that there is a power over time.  It is a demonstration that time is controlled by Hashem. 

The Emes Le’Yaakov asks why is a pidyon haben celebrated with a festive meal? It would seem to be a sad event for beforehand the child was completely reserved for holy purposes only, but now he loses that holiness?  He explains that for Jews holiness is not to remain separated from the world, but rather to able to infuse the physical world with holiness.  Therefore, by being redeemed and being able to bring holiness even to mundane activities is an event worth celebrating.  This idea is the common thread which unites all the mitzvot given to Klal Yisroel at the end of the parsha.  The mitzvah of tefillin represents that we will use our mind and strength to serve Hashem.  Even the tefillin themselves are made of animal parts.  We take the physical makeup of a cow and elevate it into an object of a mitzva.  Rashi says one of the reasons that a first-born donkey has kedusha to be redeemed is because the first born of the Egyptians are called donkeys.  The mitzvah is to show that even in the most physical animal, the chamor which is related to the word chumri- physicality, we understand that there is kedusha to it.  This is the antithesis of the Egyptians who believed that this world was completely devoid of kedusha, therefore, we received these mitzvot as we left Egypt.