The Shabbos immediately before the start of the month
of Nissan is called parshas HaHodesh (moon, month – חדש).
It emphasizes the idea that the month in which Passover occurs, Nissan, is
reckoned as the first month of the Jewish calendar. The Chumash in fact
commands the nation of Israel to designate the month in which spring falls as
the first month because it is the time that they left Egypt.
There is a debate in the Gemara (Rosh Hashana 10b -
11a) as to in what month the world was created. Rabbi Eliezer claims that it
was in Tishre and Rabbi Yehoshua claims it was created in Nisan. Rabbi Yehoshua
reasons that it must be Nisan because in the spring plants and trees begin to
sprout. Rabbi Eliezer brings the verse, “The heavens and the earth were
finished and all of their host”, (Genesis 2:1). He then plays with the word
host צבאם
saying to read it as צביונם. The Jastrow dictionary defines this word and its roots צבי and צבא
in terms of desirable, pleasurable, and choicest. Rashi explains Rabbi Eliezer
as saying that when the trees were created during the six days of creation they
were created with in a mature state with ripe fruit. It’s a running debate in
the Gemara but the prevailing opinion is like Rabbi Eliezer in that, when the
holy One blessed be He completed the creation, all of the creations were in their
optimal state. This means that the world was created in the fall, Tishre, when
the trees are fruited and in their splendor.
However, the first of Tishre is the sixth day of
creation, because that was when man was created. The first day of creation was
the 25th of Elul. In addition the world was conceived forty days
earlier, say the 15th of Av. The idea is that forty days after
conception a fetus receives its soul. Similarly on the 1st of Tishre
the world received its soul.
Israel became a people in Egypt when they became
numerous, but the nation so to speak did not get its soul until the exodus. The
Chumash emphasizes that the exodus occurred in the “month of spring” (Exodus
13:4). This means that the idea of a month and the idea of spring are
important. The word month is related to the word moon. This is because in
ancient times at night, especially when walking outside, people used the light
of the moon to see where they were going. Today we use street lights which are
much better. The date of the lunar month tells you how much moonlight is
available. The first week of the month the crescent moon lights up the evening.
In the last week crescent moon lights up the early morning. On the fifteenth
there is a bright full moon all night. In other words the moon waxes and wanes.
From this we learn that Israel is supposed to light up
the darkness in the world with wisdom and faith in G-d. This is like a rabbi
who goes out into the community to impart his knowledge to them. After others
have assimilated the new ideas, he starts to withdraw so his students can
develop their own ideas without him interfering. Little by little the teacher
withdraws to the beis midrash where he burns the midnight oil learning new
things. When a new darkness comes to the world, he comes out of his cave and
shares his new knowledge with others.
The idea of spring is that of a beautiful awakening after a cold
winter. This symbolizes leaving the cruel slavery of Egypt to the freedom of
the Holy Land. The blossoms and the fruits of this spring are the Torah and the
Temple. However to get them Israel was compelled to endure four hundred years
of hard work and persecution in a land not their own. What this means is that
achieving excellence in service of G-d requires blood, sweat, toil, and tears.
This is the meaning of the words of Ezekiel (16: 6-8) brought in the Pesach
Hagada, “And I passed by you
and saw you downtrodden in your blood, and I said to you, 'With your blood,
live!' and I said to you, 'With your blood, live!' Myriads, like the plants of
the field I have made you, and you multiplied and grew; and you came [to me]
with perfect beauty, breasts fashioned and your hair grown, but you were naked
and bare. And I passed by you and saw you, and behold your time was the time of
love, and I spread My wings over you, and I covered your nakedness, and I swore
to you and came into a covenant with you, says the Lord, and you were Mine”.
לע"נ הדוד אליהו בן יואל לייב ז"ל
נלב"ע ו ניסן תשמ"א
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