I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen entitled 'By Your Blood You Shall Live', which speaks to the significance of the Mitzvot surrounding the Exodus and their message for us today.
The Prophet Yechezkel recounts the story of the Exodus and says that God told the Jewish people that in truth they were not worthy of being redeemed because they had not performed any Mitzvot up to that time. Therefore, God gave them two Mitzvot involving blood; the Pascal Lamb offering (Korban Pesach) and Circumcision (Brit Mila). By performing these Mitzvot they would have enough merit to somewhat deserve the incredible kindness of being taken out of Egypt. [...]
[W]hy is it necessary for there to be two Mitzvot that involve the basic commitment to doing God's will, why wouldn't it be sufficient for one Mitzva to fulfill this role? The answer is that the two Mitzvot represent different aspects of a commitment. Circumcision was first commanded to a single individual, Avraham, to form his covenant with God. Thus, Circumcision represents a person's commitment to his individual relationship with God and all that entails. The Pascal lamb represents our commitment to God as part of the Jewish people. The laws of the Pascal lamb emphasize the importance of fulfilling the Mitzva in groups, stressing the national aspect of the Mitzva. Accordingly, it is necessary to have two forms of covenants; one between the individual and God, and one between a person as a member of the Jewish people, and God.
We can now understand why God gave these two Mitzvot in particular to the Jewish people at the time of their spiritual ‘birth’. It was insufficient for them to merely perform an arbitrary Mitzva, rather they first needed to make a tangible commitment to keeping the relationship with him. Accordingly, God gave them the two Mitzvot that represent that commitment – once they fulfilled them, they now showed that they were willing to be God’s chosen nation and that gave them enough merit to be redeemed. The reason that there were two Mitzvot and not one is that they needed to make the commitment on two levels; one as an individual and one as a part of the nation.
Pesach is the time that our nation was born. Every Pesach the energy of spiritual rebirth is at its strongest. Circumcision and the Pascal lamb teach us that it is essential to renew our two levels of commitment to our relationship with God; as individuals who have a responsibility to grow in our personal connection to Him; and as part of the nation. This second obligation is a little less clear than the first, and involves different requirements for different people, but the common denominator is that it requires that we feel a connection to all Jews, no matter what their spiritual level, and a responsibility to help them in both the physical and spiritual realm. Pesach is a time to contemplate whether we are doing enough in this realm and how we can improve. [...]
Have a Shabbat Shalom and a Chag Kasher V'Sameach,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
