Parshas Parah falls about a month before Passover. It is a reminder of the need to undergo ritual purification in anticipation of Passover. The Chumash calls upon the nation of Israel to gather at the Temple for this holiday. Various animals are brought, slaughtered, and their blood is poured out on the altar as an offering to God. The meat is then eaten by the owner and his guests as a festive meal. At this banquet the commandment from the holy Torah to recount the exodus from Egypt is performed and this has evolved into the Passover Seder of today.
The Temple is a sacred place and the sacrifices brought there are likewise sacred. As a result ritual purity is required. Most incidents of ritual impurity are remedied by bathing in the way designated by the rabbis. Also the tumah (טומא) may remain until sunset or longer. Touching a dead body imparts a severe type of impurity. Its purification is elaborate requiring seven days and the ashes of a red cow. Cow in Hebrew is parah (פָרָה), hence the name Parshat Parah.
Tamay (טָמֵא) is a pejorative but it does not greatly inhibit a person's activities. As a result people who have been contaminated by death for example members of the burial society, pallbearers, doctors, and soldiers may not immediately undergo purification. Therefore when the Temple stood a mass purification was held about a month before Pesach. The idea is preserved in today's liturgy.
The idea of tumah is that a person's mind and attitudes have become dirty through contact with something disgusting. Just like a bath cleanses the body so to a ritual bath purifies the spirit. Because the experience of death is so strong a more elaborate ritual is needed. Purity, both spiritual and physical are themes of Passover.
The idea of physical cleanliness is implied in the opening statement of the tractate of the Talmud which deals with the Passover holiday. It sets out the practices for the search for chomaytz (חָמֵץ). One of the definitions of the word chomaytz is "fermentation" and it refers to grain products that have risen due to fermentation, typically bread and cake. The Chumash requires the chomaytz neither be found or seen. As a result a Jew is must properly search his home and dispose of all leavened foods. As a practical matter a thorough cleaning of every nook and cranny is necessary. There is even a custom to make use of a feather to check the cracks between the tiles of the floor.
However it is deeper than simply discarding bread and cake. The word chomaytz also means "stale". The implication is that all things that have become stale should be thrown out along with the stale crackers and cookies. This would include spices which not only have lost their flavor but have a film of dirt on the container as well along with medicines whose expiration date has passed. In addition refrigerators and shelves should be cleaned especially of the old stains and spills. The refrigerator and the stove too should be moved once a year to clean the layer of dust and who knows what that is under them. If not now when? It may take some courage to go through the stack of important papers to see which one are still really important. Even computer files can go stale.
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach discussed the exodus from Egypt saying that a Jew must know how to change. He explained that one day Israel was slave and the next day they were free. As a result they had to have a change of mentality. So to speak when Pesach is approaching it is also the time to discard stale ideas and attitudes, especially those acquired through contact with impurity.
If a person does a big Pesach cleaning every year their home will not only be neat and clean, but they will also know where to find most things including the infrequently used article. A miracle also occurs not only is the house nice and fresh for the holiday, but the person who does this great mitzvah will be fresh all year and even in old age they will be full of vitality, declaring Hashem is straight, my rock, with no unrighteousness in Him.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment