Parashat Tzav
Question
A Gutten Erev Shabbos.
This year (5786) the date of Shabbos HaGadol is very special, because it
falls on the 10th of Nissan. That is the exact date of the original Shabbos HaGadol, when Am Yisrael in Egypt showed tremendous mesirus nefesh by taking a lamb, which was the idol of the Egyptians, for the Korban Pesach. This is explained in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim Siman 430.
“The Shabbos before Pesach is called Shabbos HaGadol, because of the miracle that happened on that day.”
The Mishnah Berurah explains what the miracle was, and writes as follows:
In the year that Am Yisrael left Egypt, the 10th of Nissan fell on Shabbos." Every person from Am Yisrael took a lamb for his Korban Pesach and tied it to the leg of the bed, as it says in the Torah, “On the tenth of this month they should take for themselves a lamb for each household.”
The Egyptians saw this and asked them, “What are you doing with these lambs?”
Am Yisrael answered, “We are going to slaughter them as a Pesach offering, as Hashem commanded us.”
The Egyptians were furious, because Am Yisrael were preparing to slaughter their god, but they were miraculously unable to do or even say anything to them.
Since the 10th of Nissan that year fell on Shabbos, Chazal established that the Shabbos before Pesach should always be called Shabbos HaGadol.
The question is:
If the miracle happened on the 10th of Nissan, why was it established specifically on Shabbos, when in most years it does not fall on the 10th of Nissan? Why is it different from all the Yomim Tovim, which are commemorated according to the date of the month and not according to the day of the week on which they happened?
Answer
Before answering, I would like to share a nice idea I once heard about why it is called Shabbos HaGadol.
This Shabbos is a little different than all the Shabbosim throughout the year, for example, we may not eat in the usual place where we normally eat on Shabbos. Sometimes we eat in the kitchen or in another corner of the house. We sometimes eat pittot instead of the usual crusty delicious challahs, in order to avoid crumbs, etc.
A person might think that this makes the Shabbos somewhat “smaller.” Therefore, we specifically call it Shabbos HaGadol to teach us the opposite. These changes do not lessen the holiness of Shabbos. On the contrary, this Shabbos is “Gadol,” because it is all in preparation for the upcoming Yom Tov, and everything we are doing is considered a mitzvah and only adds to the Kedushas Shabbos.
Circling back to the question, I would like to share with you two answers that will teach us the greatness of this holy Shabbos.
The Approach of the Taz
The Taz brings an explanation that he heard from Rav Moshe Charif.
On that same date, the 10th of Nissan, another miracle happened to Am Yisrael. The Jordan River miraculously split when Yehoshua led Am Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael.
Because of this, people might think that the 10th of Nissan also commemorates the miracle of the splitting of the Jordan River.
Therefore, Chazal established it specifically on Shabbos, since the crossing of the Jordan River did not happen on Shabbos. This way it is clear that the day commemorates the miracle in Egypt, when Am Yisrael took the lamb for the Korban Pesach.
However, the Aruch HaShulchan asks on this approach, why should it matter if we would also commemorate the day to remember the splitting of the Jordan River?
He answers that the miracles of Egypt were greater than the miracles that took place in the days of Yehoshua, and therefore the Chazal did not want to connect this commemoration to another miracle.
We still need to understand the answer of the Aruch HaShulchan. Even if the miracles of Egypt were greater, why is it a problem to remember the miracle of the splitting of the Jordan River as well?
Be’ezras Hashem, I found this question in the sefer Haggadas Beis Aharon, where he gives a fascinating insight to explain the answer of the Aruch HaShulchan.
He writes that it is brought in the Pesikta that taking the lamb with great mesirus nefesh on the 10th of Nissan was such a great zechus for Am Yisrael that it later helped bring about a miracle and salvation when Am Yisrael needed to cross the Jordan River. This came in the merit of the mesirus nefesh that Am Yisrael showed many years earlier, when they courageously took the lamb for the Korban Pesach without being afraid of what the Egyptians would do.
The Pesikta continues and writes that the merit of eating the Korban Pesach on the night of the 15th of Nissan later helped bring about the miracle of Purim, as it says in the Megillah, “On that night the king’s sleep was disturbed.” As we know, that was the beginning of the salvation of the miracle of Purim.
We see from here that these were not simply two separate miracles that happened on the same date. Rather, the mesirus nefesh of Am Yisrael in Egypt brought about future miracles.
The Haggadas Beis Aharon explains that according to the Pesikta we can understand the Aruch HaShulchan. Chazal wanted to emphasize specifically the day when Am Yisrael took the lamb with such mesirus nefesh, and if the commemoration were on the 10th of Nissan, we might think the two miracles were equal, instead of realizing that it was the merit of one that led to the other.
The Approach of the Pri Chadash
The Pri Chadash writes that it was the merit of Shabbos that helped protect Am Yisrael from the Egyptians. Because of the holiness of Shabbos, the Egyptians did not harm them when they saw that Am Yisrael had taken their idol with the intention of slaughtering it for the Korban Pesach.
Therefore, we specifically commemorate it on Shabbos HaGadol, to show that the miracle was connected to Shabbos.
The Maharal brings this explanation and adds that Shabbos is a day that has the power to weaken the yetzer hara of idol worship more than the other days of the week, because Shabbos testifies that Hashem is the one and only Creator of the world, and all idols are false.
To Summaries:
From these explanations, we see that Shabbos HaGadol is a day that reminds us of the tremendous mesirus nefesh and faith that Am Yisrael showed when they took the lamb in Egypt. Because of that act of faith, Am Yisrael merited miracles and will be’ezrat Hashem continue to merit salvation in every generation.
On behalf of the entire Sheilot team, we wish you a Shabbos Shalom uMevorach and a Pesach Kasher veSameach
