Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Parshas Tzav and Shabbos HaGadol on JM in the AM (5786)

Good morning, Nahum. Good Shabbos everybody. Well, tomorrow is Parshas Sav. Tomorrow is Shabbos Hagadol. Now, the first thing is, let's begin by wishing Nahum and Stacy a special mazel tov on the occasion of the marriage of their daughter Chavi to Eli this past Monday evening, Shabbos Sheva Brachos for the chosson and kallah. And as we are all preparing for the communal simcha of Am Yisrael celebrating their geulah this coming Wednesday night. So too, we are happy to wish mazel tov to the chosson and kallah on their personal geulah which took place this past Monday night. And im Yirtzashem, we should continue to share smachos with Nahum, Stacy and the family for many years to come. Okay. This Shabbos being called Shabbos Hagadol, let's spend a minute or two talking about it. And then we'll talk about the special type of drasha usually given on this Shabbos. Why is this Shabbos called the big Shabbos? Okay. Many reasons are given, including we have, so to speak, this week our two Shabbosos. This Shabbos is Shabbos Haberachah, and you find that in Mitz Hashem Pesach, the first day is on Thursday, which interestingly is the way the calendar falls out this year. Erev Pesach on Wednesday, the 14th of Nissan, and we left Egypt on a Thursday, if you will remember, on the 15th of Nissan. Now, the Torah says that on the 16th of Nissan, Mimochoras Hashabbos, from the day after the Shabbos, meaning from the day after the first day of Pesach, on the second day of Pesach, we have the Korban Omer. So, that is the additional Shabbos that we have this week, namely, tomorrow, Mitz Hashem, is Shabbos, and also, in a different way, this coming Thursday is considered a Shabbos cuz the Omer was brought on Friday, the 16th. Okay. The Shulchan Aruch as much as gives a siman in Hilchos Pesach, one of the very short simanim, 430 in Hilchos Pesach, namely, that the Shabbos that's before Pesach is called Shabbos Hagadol because of the miracle which happened on this day. And what is that? The of explains that on the year as we just said that they left Egypt, the 10th day of Nissan was on a Shabbos. And as the Torah commanded we took designated on the 10th day of Nissan the lamb which was to be offered on the 14th slaughtered, offered on the 14th and eaten on the night of the 15th. And the rabbis tell us that they tied the lamb to their bedpost. Needless to say that the lamb and sheep would do their thing of announcing themselves to everybody. And so when the Jews were asked by the slaves were asked by the Egyptians, "What's going on with that noise coming from your house?" They were able to tell the Egyptians, "We are going to slaughter your god in 4 days." Unbelievable. And the Egyptians were not able to retaliate. Wow. So this is one reason why this Shabbos, the day that we designated the lamb and another reason the rabbis tell us is that when Moshe said to Pharaoh "Just one more plague." Namely "Your firstborn will be killed." So when the firstborn of Egypt, they said "Wait a minute. This guy Moshe was right in all his past predictions. He predicted blood, he predicted frogs, etc. All his predictions came true. Now that he's predicting that the firstborn are going to be killed, we are the firstborn, Paro, let them go. So there was this demonstration, protest by the firstborn, and Paro did not listen to them. So there was a civil war, and this is what we say every week in Hallel Haggadah, the makke mitzrayim bivchorayhem, that Hashem literally smote and defeated Egypt with their firstborn. What does that mean with their firstborn? Not simply that the firstborn died, but that there was a civil war, and many, many died on this day, namely on the 10th, which was a Shabbos. Therefore, the Shabbos is designated as Shabbos Haggadah. Now, we know there are 15 simanim, 15 steps and signs of the Pesach Seder, and the custom throughout the Jewish community is that the rav of each synagogue gives a special talk whereby he reviews the basics of the laws of Pesach, reading one sells of the matzah, and the fulfillment of the mets mitzvahs of the evening in the uh Seder, the Haggadah. And so I'd like to spend a few moments on pretty much a well-known law, but I'd like to discuss how interesting that it is. So I I quoting now from the Shulchan Aruch in Hilchos Pesach tough iron Zion. 477. The Mechaber writes, "After we finish the meal, we take from the matzah, which was designated and broken in the early part of the evening, Yachatz, and we take the larger half, and we eat a kazayis, kol echad, each one is to eat a kazayis. This is our dessert, the afikoman. Why do we eat this? Zecher l'Pesach, to remind us of the Korban Pesach, anecho l'sova, that was eaten at, come on, when a person was satiated, not at the beginning of the meal, but at the end of the meal. So, that when we make the brachah, l'achilas matzah, we have no choice because we're going to eat bread at the beginning of the meal, which happens to be matzah. So, we eat it then. But, we eat the matzah at the end because, according to Rashi and Rashbam, this is the primary matzah, al asova, like it was with the Korban. And all the reason that we're eating it at the end is to remind us of the Korban Pesach that was eaten at the end of the meal as dessert. Now, says the Mechaber, viyei izohir, be careful, lo ochlo kodem chatzos. Be careful to eat the afikoman before midnight. Now, the question is, what's this whole idea of hot sauce? Hurry up everybody to eat the afikoman before hot sauce and hot sauce in the New York area is approximately 12:59. So as you're in the 12:50's, I wouldn't wait any longer because it's hard to get exactly. So therefore, come on. We try to be careful to follow this machabeer to eat it before midnight. Why? Explains the Mishnah Berurah. Since we're eating this as a remembrance of the carbon Pesach, so we're only eating Pesach at the time of Pesach. You have to eat the afikoman at the time that the carbon Pesach was eaten. But Pesach you don't eat after midnight. And Pesach was only eaten, come on, till midnight. Now I'd like to ask a very basic question. And that is if only they had asked me. They didn't, okay? I'm a big boy and I follow the chachamim. But had they asked me, I would have said the following. I would have said that we should come home this coming Wednesday night and say good yontif. Wake me up 20 minutes before midnight. And when I get up at 20 minutes before midnight, I'm going to put on my yontif best and 20 minutes later, we all gather around the table and we celebrate starting with kiddush because really until midnight, nothing happened in Egypt. So if nothing happened in Egypt, what are you celebrating? It was only by at midnight that Hashem that Hashem killed out the firstborn in Egypt. Ah, so then there's something to celebrate. Why are we celebrating before it happened? Very interesting question. Okay, I'd like to give a little bit of understanding to this with the following answer. The night of Pesach is called a night that is guarded, watching, and we know there are many interpretations to this. Number one, the Amoraim that we have an abridged Krias Shema al Hamita, just the first paragraph and not necessarily the entire Krias Shema al Hamita that's said every evening. The Rambam says that we don't lock the door with a double lock. In other words, unfortunately, many situations we find people having to really lock the door. Tonight, I'm not suggesting you keep the door open, but I am suggesting that one lock should be sufficient because it's a night where we feel protected, we feel guarded. Now, the Mishna Berurah explains that we have the Kisei shel Eliyahu. So, not the Kisei, the Kos shel Eliyahu, the cup of Eliyahu at the end of the meal after we bench, before the cup of Eliyahu, what's the reason for this? Because we are affirming, strong word, that just as we were redeemed on the night of Pesach, so too we will be the Pesach nigalu, Pesach asid ligoyel. And here goes, Rabbeinu Yerucham who was the mashgiach of the Mir points out that our slaughtering our eating of the korban Pesach before chatzos, before anything happened, this is the way that the korban Pesach was eaten as the Torah says, you are to eat it with your uh belt on, your walking stick ready to go, because we celebrated, listen carefully, in Egypt before it even happened. In order to celebrate before it even happened, there had to be emunah, there had to be faith. So, what are we celebrating on the night of Pesach Seder? Of course, thank you, Hashem, for taking us out of Egypt. But, the whole beginning of this exodus from Egypt was predicated on what the Torah says in parshas Shemos, Vaya'aminu ha'am. The Jewish people believed when Moshiach came and said, "Pakod pakadeti, Hashem has remembered and Hashem is going to take us out." The people believed, "Ah, so as so many of our chachamim teach us that the geulah of Mitzrayim is a siman, is a beautiful sign for the future geulah. So, just as Vaya'aminu ha'am was a necessary prerequisite for them to be freed, so too now to do ours to facilitate the future Geulah. So, how do we facilitate the future Geulah by our Anima Amin? The Muna Shlema, I believe with perfect faith. So, the simple gesture of our opening the door after the meal welcoming Eliyahu Hanavi is not just to keep excited. No, it's to remind us of the special excitement that's going on tonight. And just as we had in the earlier part of this Seder Ani V'lo Malach, Ani V'lo Shaliach, Ani Hu V'Hu Achir. It was me, capital M, Hashem himself, and not an angel and not a seraph. And I alone took you out of Egypt, so too be affirming our Muna that he alone will take us out out as he did in Mitzrayim, so too. And just as in Mitzrayim we saw Nisim V'Niflaos amazing divine winks as we know, the 10 plagues so too we are seeing today. I'm not a prophet, but I believe just open your eyes. And please God, there should be no more missiles. No one should be disturbed on the night of the Pesach Seder to have to go anywhere other than their living room for celebrating the Seder. But the idea is very powerful. But just as God showed Nisim V'Niflaos in Mitzrayim the water of the Egyptians turned to blood and the water of the Jews remained water, and so too all of the plagues you saw the distinction between the Jewish people and the rest Al Tiftach Peh, but the many many miracles we have seen in Israel today of missiles and rockets falling between buildings and thank God, most minimal. And we are very sorry and mourn those who were injured and killed but a great great majority have fallen not on taking any human sacrifice. Wow. So, we are rightly so getting excited for what we say the best is yet to come. Okay. Now, the Navi Micha has promised us "Kimei Tzeischa Mimitzrayim Areinu Niflaot." Just as when you left Egypt, I showed you wonders, so too, pinch yourself. This is what we are seeing today. And listen carefully. On the night of the Pesach Seder it's worthy to pause and discuss the first of the 10 Commandments. "Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I am your God who took you out of Egypt." And the Smag Sefer Mitzvot Gadol says, this is telling us that Hashem not only took us out, but he will be the one to bring on the future Geulah. And finally the Zohar calls the Matzah that we eat on the night of Pesach matzah de mishna, which literally means the bread of faith. It not only showed our faith, but it contains within it it's not just that the matzah is bread consisting of flour and water, but there's one more ingredient in the matzah, and that is vitamin E, the vitamin of emunah. And just as we know that many of your medications that we take, we don't know why, but the doctors tell us this is proven that it has a positive effect. I'm telling you, everybody, eat the matzah slowly. Eat it leaning to the left. Don't talk while you're eating it, cuz you're not only fulfilling the one biblical mitzvah of eating that we have in our lifetime today until we get the third base hamikdash, but the idea is that through eating of matzah, we imbibe, take in, emunah. Wow. Understand that whatever you paid for your matzah, really, you got a bargain. Wishing everybody a chag kasher v'sameach. Enjoy Enjoy the seder. Chatzos this year is 12:59, as you heard before, try to eat your afikoman before that time. Good Shabbos and a good Yom Tov to all.