8 Incredible Reasons For the Special Joy of Today י"ג ניסן

Brothers, thank you Reb Ronnie for arranging tonight's event. This Pesach when the shamayim open Sham sham everyone. Amen. Today is a little unknown date in the Jewish calendar. When we're finished with tonight, you're going to say today is the most important day of the year. Let's begin. The Achronim, namely the Chasam Sofer, in his footnotes on Shulchan Aruch in Siman Tav Chaf Tes, asks the following question. Chasam Sofer says that if you study the month of Nissan, you'll notice every single day there's a reason not to say Tachanun. The first 12 days, the Nesi'im all brought their korbanot. In many kehillot, they read the korbanot of the Nesi'im each day. You probably do that, right? Yeah, that's usually how it works. The Sefardim do it, and we talk about how you do it. That's usually how it works. So, each of the 12 days, the Nesi'im bring the korbanot for of their respective tribe, beginning with Shevet Yehudah on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, ending with Shevet Naftali on the 12th day of Nissan. Yud Gimmel is Erev Pesach. By the way, Erev Pesach in the Torah is called Pesach. There is What we call Pesach in the Torah is called Chag Hamatzot. So, you have the first 12 days, the Nesi'im brought their korbanot. The 14th day is Erev Pesach. You have seven days of Pesach. You have seven remaining days in Nissan. The Sefer Hamitzvot teaches that we have a tradition that the third Beit Hamikdash will be built on Pesach, but we won't be able to inaugurate it. Why? Ein me'arvin simcha b'simcha. Therefore, the last seven days of Nissan are reserved for the inauguration of the third Beit Hamikdash. So, asks Chasam Sofer, there's one remaining day in Nissan that there is no reason not to say Tachanun. When? Today, Yud Gimmel. It's the only day of Nissan that we cannot explain why don't we say Tachanun. That's the question of Chasam Sofer. He quotes She'eilot U'Tshuvot Kenesset Yechezkel. You know who wrote that? Rabbi Yechezkel Katz Ellenbogen. Okay. Tonight we're going to learn a few answers to this question. When I say a few, I mean a lot of answers to this question. Let's begin with the Shelah Hakadosh. The Shelah Hakadosh says, "What do you mean there's no reason to say not to say Tachanun? Yehudah brought on the first day, and each shevet brought on each subsequent day. But we know there was one shevet that had no chelek in the Chanukat Hamizbe'ach. Which shevet did not have a chelek in the Chanukat Hamizbe'ach? Shevet Levi. That's why when Aharon heard about the inauguration of the Mizbe'ach, what does Rashi say? Da'ato. He felt weak. So, what did God say? Shelcha gedolah mishalahem. You have more than korbanot. What do you have? Menorah. The 13th day of the Nissan is not for Chanukat Hamizbe'ach, it's for the menorah. It's greater than the Mizbe'ach. So, the 13th of Nissan was the inauguration of of the menorah. Okay? That's the answer of the Shelah Hakadosh. Sefer Haminhagim, Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau, Sefer Minhagim says the 13th day was Isru Chag for the Nesi'im. The Nesi'im had Yom Tov for 12 days. By the way, whenever you bring a korban, it's a Yom Tov. Why is Erev Pesach a Yom Tov? Because we all bring korbanot. So, therefore, the 13th was Isru Chag for the Nesi'im. Okay, very interesting. Chasam Sofer gives three answers to this question. Answer number one, who brought on the 12th day of Nissan? Naftali. Al. Nasi of Shevet Naftali, what was his name? Achira ben Enan. What kind of korban did he bring? Olah. Shelamim. How long do you have to eat it? Two days, one night. So, the Yom Tov of bringing each korban was a two-day Yom Tov. So, the Yom Tov of the 12th extended to the 13th as well. That's the first answer of the Chasam Sofer. The second answer is my favorite. This is the best day of the year. When did the angels overturn Sodom? What day of the year? The Medrash says it was the 16th of Nissan, the day before the angels were at whose house? Avraham. Avraham gave them matzot. It was Pesach. Yitzchak was born on Pesach. It was Pesach. What day of milah of Avraham was that day? Third day of milah. Which means what day was Avraham's milah? Today, Yud Gimmel Nissan. So, when was the first first milah in the history of the world? Today. Today is the Yom Tov of the mitzvah of brit milah. That's the 13th of Nissan. Next answer says Chasam Sofer, when the Jews were in the midbar, that year, do you remember Rosh Chodesh Nissan was what day of the week? It was a Sunday. Which means the 14th of Nissan was Shabbat. The 14th of Nissan was, excuse me, No, no, no. Not the year they left Egypt. The year that they built the Mishkan. That second year. Year two. Rosh Chodesh So, that means that it was Erev Pesach, the 14th was Shabbat. Could you bring korban chagigah on Shabbat, or only korban Pesach? Only Pesach. So, when did they bring the chagigah? On Yud Gimmel. So, when the Jews made the Mishkan, on the 13th they brought the korban chagigah on the 13th. Okay? Those are five answers to the question. I want to share with you three original answers to the question. I would say they're they're unbelievable. Three However good the answers that I said over from these Achronim were, this these are out of this world. One I heard from a friend in Brooklyn, Rabbi Portowicz, and two are matanah min hashamayim. Rabbi Portowicz suggested as follows. It's an easy way to remember. It's a Gemara in Pesachim. What daf do you think it's going to be on? Yud Gimmel. Okay, Yud Gimmel. Let's say when the Beit Hamikdash stood, every single Jew went up to the Har Habayit. Everybody brought the korban Pesach on what day of the month? The 14th of Nissan. Okay. Now, you're coming up for the chag, yeah? It's very likely that whoever's going to Jerusalem for Yom Tov has a lot of obligatory korbanot they need to bring. For example, maybe your wife had a baby. Maybe somebody was sick and was healed. Maybe somebody traveled through the desert. Probably to get there, they had to travel through the Sinai. They had a cross the river. What korban probably did every single Jew have to bring? Todah. When did they bring it? They brought it on the 14th? There's no there's no time to do it on the 14th. The 14th, every single Jew is bringing korban Pesach. Says the Gemara in Pesachim Yud Gimmel Amud Bet, that the 13th of Nissan more korbanot were brought on that day than any day of the year. Because on the next day, everyone's bringing korban Pesach. But on the day before, some people probably had to bring 10 korban todot. Every Jew probably had to bring a korban todah. Every Jew probably had to bring many korban todot. If you traveled through a desert, you you traveled through a sea, your wife had a kid, so, and on a day that you bring a korban, it's a Yom Tov. So, therefore, the Yud Gimmel was a Yom Tov for the Jewish people. That was from Rabbi Portowicz. I'm going to tell you two original answers. These are These are really good. Okay? If you like them, and you see me walking in the street, you say, "Rabbi, I like that answer." Okay? Rebbi Yehoshua says God created the world in what month? Nissan. Now, Rebbi Eliezer says God created the world in Tishrei. Now, in the world of Rebbi Eliezer, Tishrei means the first day of creation was what day? Chaf Hei Elul. And God created man on Rosh Hashanah, sixth day of creation. So, we all think that in the world of Rebbi Yehoshua, God said, "Let there be light" on Chaf Hei Adar, and God created man on Rosh Chodesh Nissan. There is a rabbi who lived in Turkey. He's I would He's one of my favorites. Okay, let's see. Do you know who he is? Palagi. Rabbi Chaim Palagi. He gave He gave a famous You related to him? Same thing. Me, too. Gladstein Palagi, it's all the same, you know? Yeah. Rabbi Chaim Palagi wrote a sefer of drashot, Re'eh Chaim. I came across one of the most astounding things I ever saw. Rabbi Chaim Palagi says the the year God created the world, Erev Pesach came out on Shabbat. And that was the day that Adam Harishon sinned on Erev Shabbat. Shabbat was Erev Pesach. Shabbat was the seventh day of creation. Yud Gimmel What day of the year? it was Erev Pesach sh hayah liyo b'Shabbat, the 14th of Nissan was Erev Pesach that came out on Shabbat. So, think about this. Yud Daled Nissan came out on Shabbat. If Yud Daled Nissan came out on Shabbat, what happened on that day? Adam Harishon was supposed to bring a korban on that Shabbat. That means he wasn't created on that day. What day was Adam Harishon created? The day before, on Yud Gimmel. Today's the first day of creation. Yud Gimmel Nissan is the first day of creation. You hear this? Rav Chaim Palagi doesn't say that. He just says, "When God created the world, Erev Shabbat I'm sorry, Erev Pesach came out on Shabbat, and that was the seventh day of creation. The first day of creation was Ches Nissan." Rav Chaim Palagi writes this openly. I actually I Somebody called me up. He said, "Rav Gatz, you know, you like Rav Chaim Palagi, you like the sefer Eitz Chaim?" I said, "Yes, I love it. There's a drasha in there. I think Rav Chaim Palagi he wrote it for me." So, I have the original printing of the drasha Eitz Chaim, and Rav Chaim Palagi wrote in it, "V'kara bo kol y'mei chayacha." That's the He wrote in his handwriting those words, and I have it in my house. And [snorts] somehow I'm very attached to this drasha. I became attached to before I received it. So, just think for a moment. Erev Pesach fell out on Shabbat on the year God created the world, that means Adam Harishon was created Yud Gimmel Nissan. What more do we need to say? First day of creation, this is Rosh Hashanah. This is the first day that God created man. It happened on this day. So, you think it's significant that Maran Beit Yosef, upon who the whole world stands, his yahrzeit is Yud Gimmel Nissan. It's first day of creation. We don't have to say anything more. Of course, you don't say Tachanun. It's It's the most important day of the year. Simple, pashut k'pshuto. But, I'm going to tell you something even better. I'm going to top it. Today is seriously the happiest day of the year. Okay? It's very very simple. There was a man by the name of Haman. Haman made a lottery to destroy the Jewish people. You might not be familiar with the tune. Now, what day was that? What day did Haman make his lottery? B'chodesh Harishon, b'shloshah asar yom bo. Haman made a lottery on the 13th of Nissan to annihilate the Jewish people 11 months later on the 13th of Adar. So, really this is a it's a rough day. Haman planned to annihilate us on this day. That's what he thought. But, in reality, what was Haman scheduling on the calendar on Yud Gimmel Nissan? Which holiday was Haman orchestrating and scheduling on Yud Gimmel Nissan? Purim. That means Haman scheduled and established Purim today. What greater day of the year is there than on the day that Haman was kovea the Yom Tov of Purim? He was kovea the Yom Tov today. He made Purim today. On Yud Gimmel Nissan, Haman scheduled Purim. Now, I'm going to speak a little bit about the Chida, but this is not the Chida shiur. We're going to have three clips tonight until I have to go. Three clips. The first one is about the significance of Yud Gimmel Adar. Why did Haman make his lot on Yud Gimmel Adar? Let's think about that. Why did Haman make his lot on Yud Gimmel Adar? You know why? This is out of control. You see, do you guys put out 10 pieces of bread for b'dikat chametz? That's something we have in common. You know, that's one thing we have in common. We all put out the 10 pieces. And what do we do? We find them, then we burn them. We go to the fire department. We put it in with the plastic so that we could blow smell the fumes, and it really puts us on a high for the seven days of Pesach. We burn 10 pieces of chametz on Pesach. By the way, does anybody know when when Esther heard about the decree of Haman, what was Esther middle of doing at that time? The Midrash says, "Esther was middle of doing the mitzvah of b'dikat chametz. It's Erev Pesach." Cuz he he made the lot on Yud Gimmel, she found out about the next day. She's doing b'dikat chametz. Why she doing b'dikat chametz? It was just a coincidence that she was doing b'dikat chametz? Comes Maran Gaon Ozeinu Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulay. The Chida teaches that chametz is Amalek. We start destroying him on Purim, and we knock him out for the final blow on Erev Pesach with biur chametz, with the 10 pieces of bread, aseret b'nei Haman. It's a 30-day process of destroying Amalek. It begins Purim, it ends Erev Pesach. Erev Pesach, Amalek is down for the count. So, by the way, you should know, if this year on Shabbat Zachor, I don't I I I have to stop making predictions. But, it was pretty good the first time. If this year on Parshat Zachor, we read "Zachor eis asher asah l'cha Amalek," and then bang, they eliminate Kumeni on Parshat Zachor, just imagine what's going to happen by the biur chametz. Imagine in a year that we eliminate Haman on Shabbat Zachor, imagine the biur chametz is that that we could b'zocheh to. Yeah? So, that means according to the Chida, it's a 30-day process of destroying Amalek. It begins on It begins on Purim, begins on Parshat Zachor, and it culminates with biur chametz. Therefore, Esther knew that Haman was up to no good. Esther knew that Haman was decreeing to destroy the Jewish people. So, in order to eradicate him, she was m'tapelet, she was involved in the avodah of biur chametz. Now, there's a rule. It's a rule in the world of physics. It's a rule in the world of spirituality. When something is about to die, it has a last hurrah. Like right before something dies, it it has a spurt of energy. The Kli Yakar talks about this in many places. A candle, right before it goes out, it flickers. Sometimes, unfortunately, when somebody's ill, and then you see they regain strength, only to shortly, unfortunately, move on. It wasn't It wasn't that they were There was like a false hope. That's the reality of the world. Before something ends, before something is terminated, it has a last hurrah. You think it's a coincidence that Haman decreed to destroy the Jewish people on the 13th of Nissan? You see, on the 14th of Nissan, Haman is eliminated and eradicated and annihilated. So, the day designated for Haman's, you know, last hurrah will always be the day before, Yud Gimmel. That's why Haman made the lottery on Yud Gimmel, and by the next day, he was in the fire department, in the canister. We already eliminated him in the biur chametz. So, this is all the significance of Yud Gimmel Adar. By the way, we gave eight reasons for the significance of Yud Gimmel Adar. Number one, it's the issur chag of the nasi'im. That's from Rav Isaac Turner. The Shlah Hakadosh says it's the day of Shevet Levi. The Chasam Sofer says it's the second day of the achilah of Achira ben Enan from Shevet Naftali. It's the first bris milah in history of Avraham Avinu. On the year that they went into the midbar, they shachted the chagigah on Yud Gimmel. According to the Gemara in Pesachim, more korbanot were brought on Yud Gimmel Nissan because everybody had to bring a korban todah on Yud Gimmel Nissan. According to Rav Chaim Palagi, it's the first day of the creation of man. And according to Megillat Esther, Yud Gimmel Nissan is the day that we schedule Purim. So, that's just a little bit of background of the importance of the day. Now, we're going to talk about