It was exactly midnight and Hashem struck down every firstborn son in the land of Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharoah sitting on his throne to the firstborn son of the captive who was in the dungeon as well as every firstborn animal. (Shemos 12:29)

The day before Pesach, the calendar states it is the day of the Fast of the Firstborn. The most popular reason given for this fast is to commemorate the miracles of the firstborn of the Jews being saved while the firstborn of the Egyptians all died. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach offers a different reason. He states that the reason the firstborns fast on the day before Pesach is because they are in mourning. If you look back in history, originally the priests of the Jewish people were the firstborns. They lost this status when they danced around the Golden Calf and the Priesthood was given to the tribe of Levi, specifically the Cohanim. Erev Pesach was the busiest day of the year at the Bais HaMikdash because everyone needed to bring their Karbon Pesach on the afternoon before Pesach. The Cohanim were very busy that day. When a firstborn saw this, he became very sad because he realized what he had lost. This is the reason a firstborn fasts on this day.

There is a famous story of the Netziv. He completed one of his books and made a celebration. During the celebration he told the following story. When he was younger, he caused some problems. One particular time, his father was very upset. He told his wife that he felt it was time to remove Naftali (the Netziv’s name) from yeshiva and send him to learn a trade. The Netziv overheard the conversation and begged his father to give him one more chance. His father agreed. The Netziv changed and the rest is history.

After completing his book, the Netziv said to the crowd to imagine if he didn’t ask for another chance. He would have gone into a trade and probably would have been an honest businessman. But after he passed away, he would have gone to Heaven and they would have shown him what he could have become. Before we are born there is a certain level we are supposed to reach. Imagine the embarrassment if we don’t reach that level!

There is a very important lesson we can learn from the fast of the firstborn… a person mourns over himself when he sees how great he could have become. Therefore a person should do everything possible to make sure he is not embarrassed in Heaven when he sees what he could have become.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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