Introduction:
In this letter, we will
begin to discuss Torah
teachings regarding the
destination of our Passover
journey and the process
which enables us to reach
our destination. Through
these teachings, we will
gain radical insights about
our journey that are
relevant to each of us, for
as the Passover Haggadah
states:
“In every generation, one
is obliged to regard himself
as though he himself had
actually gone out from
Egypt.” (Passover Haggadah)
Dear Friends,
When Hashem appointed Moshe
to be the “shepherd” of our
people who would lead us out
of Egypt, he was living in
Midian, where he was
shepherding the sheep of
Jethro, his father-in-law.
The Torah tells us that “he
guided the sheep far into
the wilderness, and he
arrived at the Mountain of
God, to Horeb” (Exodus 3:1).
The Torah later refers to
the Mountain of God as
“Mount Sinai” (Exodus
19:11).
When Moshe first arrived at
the Mountain of God, he saw
a burning bush that was not
consumed. It was at the
burning bush that Hashem
appointed Moshe to be the
leader who would take us out
of Egypt. Before Moshe was
given this task, Hashem said
to him:
“I have indeed seen the
affliction of My people that
is in Egypt, and I have
heard their cries because of
their taskmasters, for I
have been aware of their
suffering. I shall descend
to rescue them from the hand
of Egypt and to bring them
up from that land to a good
and spacious land, to a land
flowing with milk and honey”
(Exodus 3:7, 8).
In the above passage, Hashem
reveals to Moshe that our
journey to freedom will lead
to the Promised Land – “a
land flowing with milk and
honey.” In the following
statement, Hashem also
reveals to Moshe that we
must first arrive at the
Mountain of God before we
enter the Promised Land:
“When you take the people
out of Egypt, you will serve
God on this mountain”
(Exodus 3:12).
What does it mean to serve
God? It means that we are to
serve the altruistic Divine
purpose for all creation.
This is the essential
principle of the Torah, and
an early example of this
principle can be found in
the following verse:
“And Hashem God took the
human being and placed him
in the Garden of Eden to
serve it and to protect it.
(Genesis 2:15)
This verse contains two
related Divine mandates – to
serve and to protect the
Garden. The following
ancient teaching reveals
that these two mandates
represent all the “mitzvos”
– Divine mandates – within
the Torah:
The mandate to “serve” the
Garden represents
mitzvos aseh – the
mitzvos of the Torah which
call upon us to engage in
actions which nurture and
elevate the world, including
ourselves. And the mandate
to “protect” the Garden
represents mitzvos lo
sa’asay – the mitzvos
of the Torah which prohibit
actions which damage and
degrade the world, including
ourselves. (“Tikunei Zohar”
55)
As mentioned above, Hashem
told Moshe, “When you take
the people out of Egypt, you
will serve God on this
mountain.” This Divine
statement is a reference to
our arrival at Mount Sinai,
when we would commit
ourselves to serving the
altruistic Divine purpose
through fulfilling all the
mitzvos of the Torah (Exodus
24:7). Hashem was therefore
telling Moshe that we would
first have to be willing to
serve the Divine purpose
before we would enter the
Promised Land. This Divine
message about our service
was reinforced when Hashem
later told Moshe to convey
to Pharaoh the following
messages regarding the
exodus of Israel from Egypt:
“Send out My child that he
may serve Me” (Exodus 4:23).
“Let My people go that they
may serve Me (Exodus 7:26).
Why was it necessary for us
to receive the Torah and its
mandates of service before
we entered the Land? The
answer can be found in the
classical sources that we
have studied in this series.
These sources reveal that
our mission is to serve the
Divine purpose through
fulfilling the Torah in the
Land, as in this way we can
become a social model of the
Divine Teaching that can
inspire other peoples. For
example, the Prophet Isaiah
conveyed to us the Divine
message that we are to
become a “light to the
nations” (Isaiah 42:6). And
Isaiah also conveyed to us
the Divine promise that when
we fulfill our universal
mission in the Land,
“nations will go by your
light” (Isaiah 60:3).
On the night of the Seder,
we are to remember that our
Passover journey leads to
the Land, and we therefore
chant the following words at
the beginning of the Seder:
“This year, we are here, but
next year we will be in the
Land of Israel.”
We later chant the following
words from the Haggadah
which remind us of our
historic arrival at Mount
Sinai when we received the
Torah and its mandates of
service:
“Blessed is the Omnipresent
One, Blessed is He. Blessed
is the One Who gave the
Torah to His people Israel,
Blessed is He.”
Through this statement, we
thank Hashem at the Seder
for giving us the Torah and
its path of service. In the
following related statement,
the Haggadah points out the
contrast between our
idol-serving ancestors who
lived in the era before
Avraham and Sarah, and our
present status as the people
of the Torah:
“In the beginning our
ancestors served idols, but
now the Omnipresent One has
brought us to His service.”
As we shall learn, serving
the Divine purpose is a
major theme of the Haggadah,
for our renewed commitment
to this service will enable
us to reach the destination
of our Passover journey. In
this spirit, we chant at the
end of the Seder:
“Next Year in Jerusalem!”
Our yearning for Jerusalem
is not just for our sake,
for our renewal in Jerusalem
will inspire other peoples
to serve the Divine purpose,
and the following prophecy
will be fulfilled:
“Many peoples will go and
say, ‘Come, let us go up to
the Mountain of Hashem, to
the Temple of the God of
Jacob, and He will teach us
of His ways and we will walk
in His paths.’ ” (Isaiah
2:3).
Have a Good and Sweet
Shabbos,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
(See below)
A Related Insight and
Comment:
1. In the messianic age of
universal enlightenment, the
peoples of the earth will
serve Hashem. One of the
sources for this universal
idea is found in the
following Divine promise
regarding this new age:
“For then I will
revolutionize the peoples to
speak a pure language, so
that they will all proclaim
the Name of Hashem, to serve
Him with a united resolve.”
(Zephaniah 3:9)
“For then I will
revolutionize the peoples” –
At the dawn of the messianic
age, there will be a
revolutionary change in
human consciousness. This is
because human beings will no
longer view the creation as
an arena for their selfish
gratification, and they will
finally recognize that they
were created to serve the
altruistic Divine purpose
for creation.
2. Rabbi Chasman’s teaching
about the “four children”
within each of us is found
in the following ArtScroll
Haggadah: Pesach
Haggadah – With a Commentary
Culled from the Classic
Baalei Mussar. For
information, visit:
www.artscroll.com