Thoughts
The word Pesach is both understood and not understood. Most
people are familiar with the translation "Passover",
and are aware that it refers to God passing over the houses of
the Jews during the plague of the first born in Egypt (see Exodus
12:13). Simply put, we are grateful to God for sparing us during
that plague. But this explanation contains two glaring problems.
First, God skipping over houses is quite contradictory to our
understanding of Him. He can strike any houses He wants all at
the exact same time. There is no sense to an Infinite Being "skipping" a
house. He's not Superman flying through the air.
Second, the house-skipping incident is certainly not the most
significant aspect of the exodus. Why name a holiday after one
part of a single plague? What about the other nine? What about
the leaving of slavery for freedom? What about the splitting
of the Sea of Reeds? You would think the name of the holiday
would be the most outstanding feature of the entire event.
The answer to each question will elucidate on another. When
God tells us to smear blood on the lintel in order for the house
to be skipped, He was implying that the Jews in some way deserved
to have the plague of the first-born affect them as well as the
Egyptians. Incidentally, the mitzvah to redeem the first-born
mentioned in Exodus 13:12 echoes the thought that God spared
our first-born. It was God’s mercy that caused Him to skip
the Jewish houses.
God's mercy also caused Him to skip over many years of the
intended Egyptian exile. He originally told Abraham that his
descendants would be enslaved 400 years. Yet the actual exile
was shortened to 210 years. Another skip was the very night of
the exodus. It was a mad rush to get out, expressed by the hasty
skipping over the practicality of waiting for the dough to rise.
Of course, God can have us jump through space or time whenever
He desires to strengthen our relationship with Him. What does
all this boil down to? When the word Pesach became the name of
the holiday, a metaphysical fact was concretized regarding the
week of Passover - a potential to jump in spiritual growth.
The word "pesach" itself has a mystical jump within
it. Pesach is formed with three letters: Peh, Samech, and Chet.
The kabbalists say pesach can be read as two words, revealing
a deeper meaning. Peh – Sach which means “the mouth
speaks. These two words are spelled with four letters: Peh, Heh,
Samech, and Chet. Therefore, the Oral Tradition uncovers that
the letter Heh was skipped over.
Conceptually, the “mouth speaking is what happens during
the seder when we retell the going out of Egypt. Haggadah means “speech.
Kabbalah teaches that each month of the calendar has a strong
link to a different human quality. This month, Nisan, is connected
to the quality of speech. What is speech? It is bringing ideas
into reality. From potential to actuality. Nisan is the month
in which the world came into reality. It’s also the month
when the Jewish people went from a nation in potential to actuality.
This transformation from potential to actual required a supernatural
jump provided by God. That's the essence of Pesach. We all want
more meaning. We'd like to have a transcendent experience. But
it’s a struggle to work on spiritual growth. It’s
hard. It requires change. During Pesach we have the rare opportunity
of using God's jumper cables. Take the opportunity that’s
there and ask God to give you the boost you’ve been waiting
for.
May you be blessed with a happy and meaningful Pesach.
|
