The 7th day of Pesach is when the Bnei Yisrael faced their first existential crisis as a nation. Days ago, they were freed from Egypt only to find themselves trapped between the seashore and the mighty Egyptian army. Panic ensued, as it is usually the case when one’s life is endangered. However, great Rabbis have taught us a different path in those critical situations. The great scholar and sage Rabbi Akiva who was sentenced to death by Turnus Rufus, as he refused to stop teaching Torah. During his excruciatingly painful execution, Rabbi Akiva recited his prayers calmly, through suffering agonies. Rufus asked him whether he was a sorcerer since he felt no pain, Rabbi Akiva replied, “I am no sorcerer; but I rejoice at the opportunity now given to me to love my God ‘with all my life,’ seeing that I have hitherto been able to love Him only ‘with all my means’ and ‘with all my might.'” He began reciting the Shema, with the word “Hashem is One!” he expired. There are endless examples, but to be able to relate to a more recent one, let’s review the behavior of the great student of the Chaffetz Chaim, Rabbi Elhanan Wasserman who was a great scholar and a Rosh Yeshiva. On July 6th, 1941, he was taken together with his students and murdered by Lithuanian collaborators, in the Seventh Fort of Kaunas Fortress. Before they were murdered he gave the following statement: “Heaven has deemed us to be righteous because our bodies have been chosen to atone for the Jewish people. Therefore, we must now repent to be perfect “offerings”. We will save the lives of our brethren overseas. Let no abominable thought enter our minds, God forbid, which can render an “offering” unfit. We are now fulfilling the greatest Mitzvah. With fire Jerusalem was destroyed and with fire she will be rebuilt. The very fire which consumes our bodies will one day rebuild the Jewish nation”. Then, he asked the Nazis for a few more minutes and started dancing with his students. The Nazis were flabbergasted by those Jews accepting their fate in joy rather than resorting to beg for their lives. They never got the satisfaction to break our spirit. This honorable behavior, even when facing death, was actually learnt from our very first existential episode. With a slave’s mindset it is difficult to foresee Hashem’s preparation for the great miracle: “The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them; it came between the army of the Egyptians and the Israelites. Thus, there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that the one could not come near the other all through the night.” [Exodus 14:19-20]. They were so focused on themselves that they failed to realize Hashem was already at work. Thus, in the aftermath of the miracle, they spontaneously break out in song, declaring: “This is my God, and I will glorify Him” [Exodus 15:2]. Our sages explain that the word “this” indicates they had such a degree of prophetic insight that they were able to point to Hashem and perceive Him with a clarity that even the greatest prophets in later generations were unable to experience. The Talmud [Shabbos 133b] points out that the true meaning of: “And I will glorify Him” – in Hebrew, “v’anveihu” – is the secret to the foundation of the world. v’anveihu actually comprises two words: “Ani v’hu – me and him.” The Talmud explains this is teaching us a fundamental lesson on how to live: “Be similar to Him – just as God is gracious and compassionate, you too should be gracious and compassionate.” In other words, the way we glorify Hashem is by being compassionate, like Him, as stated: “You shall follow Hashem your God” [Devarim 13:5]. The Talmud [Sotah 14a] defines this as follows: just as Hashem clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts the mourner and buries the dead, so too should we strive to follow Him in these endeavors, emulating His kindness and compassion. The Rambam includes Chessed, kindness, among the list of positive commandments [mitzvah number eight], based on another verse: “You shall walk down Hashem’s path.” In Judaism, doing kindness is not just a commendable act, but a mandatory one, just as keeping the Shabbos. This is the only Mitzva learnt directly from Hashem’s behavior, to teach us that being kind is being Godly. The Talmud [Shabbos 10a] explains the reason; alleviating human suffering is an expression of being a “partner in Hashem’s creation”. Hashem created the world in six days, but it did not end there. The work of “creating” the world – of nurturing and sustaining human life, of making the world a better, kinder place – is an ongoing concern. And, as Hashem’s partners, we are part of this process, we help drive it. Through simple acts of kindness, we change the lives of others, and by fulfilling our God-given mandate to do so, we create cosmic change in ourselves. We become Godly! This is the lesson of the splitting of the sea. Our attitude towards other people’s suffering had forever changed! Here’s an inspiring Pesach story: The “Seer of Lublin,” Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Horowitz (1745-1815), was one of the central figures who presided over the spread of Chassidism in Poland and Galicia; many of the great Chassidic masters of the time were his disciples. This story is about his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Kopel of Likova; Reb Kopel earned a living by purchasing barrels of vodka and beer from the local distillers and selling his wares to the taverns in and around his native village of Likova. It was not an easy life, with the heavy taxes exerted by the government and the hostile environment facing a Jew in 18th-century Europe. Yet his faith and optimism never faltered. Each year, on the morning before Passover, Reb Kopel would sell his chametz to one of his gentile neighbors. Chametz is “leaven” — a category that includes bread but also all food or drink made with fermented grain. The Torah commands that absolutely “no leaven shall be found in your possession” for the duration of the Pesach, in commemoration of the leaven-free Exodus from Egypt. In the weeks before the festival, Jewish homes are cleaned out of chametz. However, for chametz that people don’t want to dispose of, or for industrial Chametz the rabbis instituted the practice of selling one’s chametz to a non-Jew. Reb Kopel’s neighbors were familiar with the annual ritual. He would draw up a contract with his neighbor, in which he sold all the contents of his warehouse for a sum equal to their true value. Thus, only a small part of the sum was actually paid; the balance was written up as an I.O.U. from the purchaser to the seller. After Passover, Reb Kopel would then buy back the chametz and return the I.O.U. The purchaser was generously paid for his time and trouble. One year, one of the gentiles in Likova came up with the idea to make easy money at the expense of the Jews: they should all refuse to purchase their Chametz, which would oblige them to get rid of it, and they would get it for free. Especially, the liquor dealers, which represented a significant amount of money. It was very tempting to all to make easy gains, so they all agreed. When Reb Kopel visited his neighbor, the morning of Passover eve, though Ivan politely declined to conduct the familiar transaction. Puzzled, he tried another neighbor but got the same reply. After the third attempt also failed, je realized they were all in cahoots to make easy profits at his expense. There was no time to go to the next village as the deadline for selling the chametz — an hour before midday — was quickly approaching. He was left without any other choice than to get rid of his entire stock of Vodka. Reb Kopel did not hesitate and immediately started to empty out his warehouse and loaded the barrels on a cart. He headed down to the river as his neighbors watched gleefully from a distance. He set the barrels on the riverbank and announced loudly: “I hereby renounce any claim I have on this property! I proclaim these barrels ownerless, free for the talking for all!” He then rode back home to prepare for the festival. That night, Reb Kopel was jubilant at the Seder for performing Hashem’s commandment at such an expense. He was especially joyous when reciting the portion of the Haggadah stating, “Why do we eat this unleavened bread? Because the dough of our fathers had no time to leaven before Hashem redeemed them from Egypt.” His stock of vodka represented more than his entire livelihood; indeed, most was purchased on credit. He was now penniless, and his family future was in serious jeopardy. Thus, he was happy to have successfully overcome the test and proved his sincere love and loyalty to Hashem. He had removed all leaven from his possession, as G-d had commanded him. Of course, he had fulfilled many mitzvot in his lifetime, but never at such a cost — none as precious — as this one! Rabbi Kopel was in a state of ecstatic joy during that entire Pesach. Thus, once the festival was over, and it was time to return to the real world, he was crushed by the anguish how to support himself and his family. He raised his eyes to the Heaven and declared his total faith in Hashem’s salvation, as his creditor will hound him for their money. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door, it was his neighbors speaking all at once; “Hey, Kopel, we thought you were supposed to get rid of your vodka. What was the point of announcing that it was ownerless if you had ferocious dogs guarding it?” Rabbi Kopel understood that Hashem had make him a miracle, so he immediately went to the riverbank. Indeed, his barrels were as he left them, untouched. “If I take them back,” he said to himself, “how will I ever know that I had indeed fully and sincerely relinquished my ownership over them before Passover? How could I ever be sure that I had truly fulfilled the mitzvah of removing chametz from my possession? No! I won’t give up my mitzvah, or even allow the slightest shadow of a doubt to fall over it!” He then emptied out every barrel in the river under the flabbergasted eyes of his neighbors!

By Rabbi Fridmann * [email protected] * 305.985.3461

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