Divrei Simcha on Parshas Bo 5767

This week’s parsha talks all about Pesach so I’d like to share a thought with you about Pesach. We know that the first night of Pesach (the night we were redeemed) is always the same day of the week as the Ninth of Av (the day the Temple was destroyed and the bitter exile we are in began). Our great Sages have taught us that this is for a reason: if we don’t learn the lesson of Pesach, then we will have to suffer another Tisha B’Av (9th of Av). What lesson of Pesach do we need to learn?

On Pesach night, we know that we dip twice – once for the karpas (celery) in the salt water and the second time is the matza in the marror (bitter herbs). One reason why we dip twice is to remind us of two dippings in the Torah – one that started the slavery in Egypt and the other that ended it. The first one is the dipping of Yosef’s coat by his brothers. The brothers sold Yosef to Egypt but pretended that a beast ate him. Therefore, they took his coat and “dipped” it in goat’s blood. The second dipping, from this week’s parsha, is when we brought the karbon Pesach (the Paschal offering), we “dipped” a bunch (agudah) of hyssop in blood.

The first dipping started our exile to Egypt and the brothers’ hatred with each other caused the event to occur. The second dipping was what brought us out of slavery. On that night, the Jews dipped an “agudah” of hyssop in blood. Agudah means a unified group and is the key word. When we fight, it causes exile, but when we come together in harmony, it brings peace.

I once heard a story of a group of boys that were sent to a gas chamber during the Second World War. It was Simchas Torah night and therefore one of the boys had an idea that they should dance joyously. They felt they should leave this world doing one last mitzvah. Well, as the events turned out, a guard saw them dancing in the gas chamber and became enraged that the Jews were happy. He decided that instead of killing them in the gas chamber, he would personally kill each of them with his bare hands the next morning (that would make them sad, he hoped). That night, a commander from a work camp down the road came to this concentration camp and said he needed more slave labor. The only people that were available were these boys. Although we don’t know what happened to them at the work camp, there was a very high survival rate there.

I once told this story to a friend and he asked the obvious question. Many people danced joyously when they were suffering at the hands of our enemies, but they still died. Why did these people survive? I think, in my humble opinion, the answer might be this. All of the others were individuals that danced. These boys were a group. When a group comes together and joyously dances, it has amazing powers. When we stand together as one, we can end the bitter exile we are in and bring peace.

Just remember what Rav Yissochar Frand once said, “The only difference between UNITE and UNTIE is where you put the I.”

Good Shabbos!
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By Rabbi Yaacov Seltzer
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(305) 652-0186