Pesach in the Geulah - Rabbi Menachem Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the Lema’an Yishme’u podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Chag sameach! A kosher and joyous Pesach to everyone. With Hashem’s help. “In Nissan they were redeemed, and in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed.” This is the holiday that most powerfully expresses faith, anticipation, and the true and complete Geulah. “The time of our freedom.” That’s it—we’re all coming out of this Pesach, and with Hashem’s help, we’ll already celebrate this very Pesach in the Third Beis Hamikdash and eat there of the offerings and the Pesach sacrifices that will be offered upon Your altar with favor. With Hashem’s help, immediately, right now. L’chaim, l’chaim. We have four cups here, we have three matzos, everything is ready. We could already hold the Seder. But the truth is that it still isn’t the perfect situation. There’s another mitzvah. We have a mitzvah to eat matzah at the Seder. Incidentally, there are four central mitzvos that we must perform specifically at the Seder. One is eating matzah. Another is telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Those are two mitzvos from the Torah. A third mitzvah is drinking four cups. A fourth is eating maror. That’s also a mitzvah. Today it’s a rabbinic mitzvah; in the future it will be a mitzvah from the Torah, together with the Pesach sacrifice: “They shall eat it with matzos and bitter herbs.” And that is really the fifth mitzvah. We have a fifth mitzvah that we must perform at the Seder, and with Hashem’s help we’ll do it this year: offering the Pesach sacrifice—or, more precisely, eating the Pesach sacrifice. The offering is on the 14th, and the eating is on the 15th. So we should really have a plate here with meat from the Pesach sacrifice, too. In fact, before Pesach we already recite—notice, we do this before Pesach—the Order of the Pesach Offering. On Erev Pesach, we recite the Order of the Pesach

02:25 Speaker 2 Offering. That’s one of the main things we do: at least recite it, right? “Let our lips take the place of bulls.” When the Beis Hamikdash stood, we all had to come and offer it. All the Jewish people would come to the Beis Hamikdash together—at least all the men, though very often they brought everyone with them. They would come and offer the Pesach sacrifice from the sheep or the goats. They would bring the offerings and slaughter them, all the offerings, in three groups. The kohanim would work swiftly, offering the Pesach sacrifices of the entire Jewish people in the Beis Hamikdash. We read that description before Pesach, and we say: yes, this is really the highest way we can fulfill the mitzvah of the Pesach sacrifice in exile. And when we read it on the 14th, it naturally awakens in us the desire and the request—as the Alter Rebbe writes at the end of the Order of the Pesach Offering—that each and every person should make sure to ask Hakadosh Boruch Hu to build the Beis Hamikdash already, so that we all merit to come to the Third Beis Hamikdash and actually offer the Pesach sacrifice there. Now, we recite the Order of the Pesach Offering at Mincha, which raises the question: could we possibly manage to offer the Pesach sacrifice on the afternoon of the 14th? Could we get to the Third Beis Hamikdash and actually offer it? At first glance, it doesn’t seem very likely. But in fact, it’s entirely possible. Why? Because according to many commentators, including Rashi and Tosafos, the Beis Hamikdash is destined to be revealed and descend from heaven. The Beis Hamikdash we await, already built and complete, will be revealed and come from heaven. So that shouldn’t take much time. As for knowing all the details of the halachos—besides the fact that we’re sitting here learning, at least in general terms, the halachos of the Pesach sacrifice and all the other halachos—Tosafos already says that offering the sacrifices was entrusted to those who act swiftly. Moshe and Aharon will be with us.

04:26 Speaker 2 They’ll tell us exactly what to do. And although we are all ritually impure through contact with the dead, and there won’t be much time to become pure through the ashes of the red heifer—that takes at least seven days, after all, with the sprinkling on the third and seventh days; it takes quite a few days—there is a principle that communal offerings may be brought despite ritual impurity. So we must all offer the Pesach sacrifice, even if we’re all impure. And the Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, says that this is what the Haggadah means by “Kadesh, Urchatz,” the signs marking its stages. We recite “Kadesh, Urchatz, Karpas, Yachatz,” and so on, until “Hallel, Nirtzah.” “Kadesh, Urchatz” alludes to the possibility of entering the Beis Hamikdash—“Kadesh,” to offer the Pesach sacrifice there—even before purification, while we are all ritually impure through contact with the dead. Only afterward do we reach “Urchatz,” the complete purification that follows the holiness. So we really can come and offer it. But where will we get the sheep? Those can be obtained even at the last moment. In 5751, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu asked the Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, where they would get sheep fit for an offering, and how there would be time to examine them for blemishes. He asked this in connection with Pesach Sheini; it was before Pesach Sheini. But the same applies to the first Pesach. The Rebbe shlita said that the Midrash states that Eliyahu Hanavi offers the daily sacrifices every day. If so, there must surely be sheep ready that are fit for other offerings as well. And in this matter we can rely on Eliyahu Hanavi, because this isn’t a halachic ruling; it’s a statement of fact that the sheep have no blemish. So we can rely on Eliyahu Hanavi that they have no blemish. If the prophet says that he

06:13 Speaker 2 sees through prophecy that there is no blemish, that counts as checking for blemishes, and so it will be possible to come. Rabbi Mordechai said, “When Moshiach comes, we’ll find everything we need. The main thing is that he comes.” Yes, and in 5751 the Rebbe even said that if the time for offering the Pesach sacrifice has already passed in Eretz Yisroel, we can still fulfill “and we will eat there of the offerings and the Pesach sacrifices” by eating from the offerings and Pesach sacrifices that Eliyahu Hanavi has already offered. For as the Midrash says, Eliyahu Hanavi offers sacrifices even now. Although the Beis Hamikdash is desolate, it retains its holiness. So we’ll be able to eat from those sheep when Moshiach comes and is revealed in the true and complete Geulah. We see the anticipation of Geulah and the desire for it throughout everything we do now, in the month of Nissan and on Pesach. The month of Nissan in general is connected with Geulah: “In Nissan they were redeemed, and in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed.” Pesach, the Exodus from Egypt, awakens in us the anticipation of leaving exile for the true and complete Geulah. There is also a mitzvah to burn the chametz. When we burn the chametz on the 14th, Erev Pesach, we ask that just as I remove all chametz from my home and my possession, so may You remove all the forces of evil and cause the spirit of impurity to pass from the earth. That will happen in the true and complete Geulah. When we read the Haggadah, we say, “So that you remember the day you left the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” Our Sages say about this: “‘The days of your life’ means the days; ‘all the days of your life’ includes the nights”—that is what Ben Zoma says. And the Sages say: “‘The days of your life’ means this world; ‘all the days of your life’ includes the days of Moshiach.” We’ll explain that disagreement later. But what we see here is that, according to the Sages, who are the majority, we will mention the Exodus from Egypt even in the days of Moshiach. And this also teaches us, the Rebbe says, that “all the days of your life”—at all times, you need to be

08:18 Speaker 2 Toward what? Bringing the days of Moshiach. Everything should be done to bring the true and complete Geulah. At the end of the Seder, too, we recite the blessing: “And we will thank You with a new song for our redemption and the deliverance of our souls. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who redeemed Israel.” Why “redeemed Israel,” rather than “redeems Israel” or “will redeem Israel”? Because it refers to the redemption from Egypt: He redeemed the Jewish people from Egypt. But the Rebbe says that we so deeply intend and long to hear the news of the Geulah that we will be able to say “Who redeemed Israel” about the true and complete Geulah as well, because it will already be with us very soon. Of course, at the end of the Seder we also emphasize that same anticipation of the Geulah when we say, “Next year in Jerusalem.” The Frierdiker Rebbe already said that this does not mean the Geulah will come next year. It means that we should merit the true and complete Geulah now, and as a result celebrate Pesach next year in Jerusalem. Now, the Seder will actually look different because we will bring the Korban Pesach, as we mentioned, as well as the other offerings of the festival—the Korban Chagigah. That is the reason, as an aside—though perhaps it is not so much of an aside—that, as we said, we say “and there we will eat of the sacrifices and of the Pesach offerings.” That is the usual order. Why? Because along with the Korban Pesach we bring a Korban Chagigah, which is eaten first. We eat the Korban Chagigah and then the Korban Pesach. Why? Because the mitzvah is to eat the Korban Pesach when one is already full. That is what eating the afikoman represents today: we eat it at the end, after everything else. Likewise, in the true and complete Geulah we will eat the Korban Pesach after everything else. It will be left for the end, after we have finished—

10:17 Speaker 2 We eat it when we are full, so it is the last thing, and we do not eat or drink anything afterward. That is in a regular year, whenever Pesach falls on any day other than after Shabbos. When Pesach begins after Shabbos, we say “and there we will eat of the Pesach offerings and of the sacrifices.” Why? Because the Korban Pesach must be brought even on Shabbos. But we cannot bring the Korban Chagigah on Shabbos; it does not override Shabbos. Offerings do not override Shabbos—the slaughtering and burning do not—except for offerings with a fixed time, such as the Korban Pesach. The same is true of the Musaf offerings and the daily offering. They have fixed times, so they override Shabbos. But the Korban Chagigah can be brought the next day. So when Pesach begins after Shabbos, we will bring the Korban Pesach on Shabbos and the Korban Chagigah only afterward, the following day. That is why we say “of the Pesach offerings and of the sacrifices.” That is the reason for the change. In other years we say “of the sacrifices and of the Pesach offerings,” but when Pesach begins after Shabbos we say “of the Pesach offerings and of the sacrifices,” because there really is a difference in when they are brought. Now, as a result of bringing the Korban Pesach, when the true and complete Geulah arrives immediately, there will also be several changes to how we conduct the Seder night. First, regarding how the slaughtering is done: you should know that, as we said, it is done in three groups. The verse says, “The entire assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it in the afternoon.” From “assembly,” “congregation,” and “Israel,” our Sages learn that there must be at least three groups. And it says that each group must have at least three minyanim—thirty people

12:10 Speaker 2 at a minimum. In practice, there were several thousand people, but the minimum was thirty. Regarding the future, the rabbi says that Eliyahu Hanavi will come, as we know, and resolve all doubts. So it may be that in the future we will bring the Korban Pesach all together, with at least thirty people, or that we will bring it in three groups. There is room for this practice to change. In other words, during the times of the First and Second Beis Hamikdash, they brought it in three groups of thirty people because there is a doubt about what “the assembly of the congregation of Israel” means. Does it mean thirty people at once, or three groups? In the future it will be one of the two. Eliyahu Hanavi will resolve all doubts, so either there will be thirty people at once or there will be three groups, each of which could have as few as ten people. On Seder night itself, there will be several changes. We will continue to eat matzah and drink four cups, but there will be some differences. A fifth question will be added. We mentioned that there will be a fifth mitzvah, the mitzvah of eating the Korban Pesach, right? There will also be a fifth question. Today we sing, “Why is this night different?” We ask why on all other nights we eat chametz and matzah. First, we ask why on all other nights we do not dip even once. Then, why on all other nights we eat chametz and matzah, but tonight only matzah; why tonight we dip twice; why on all other nights we eat other vegetables, but tonight maror; and why on all other nights we eat either sitting upright or reclining, but tonight we all recline. But in the future there will be a fifth question: Why is it that on all other nights we eat meat roasted, stewed, or cooked, but tonight it is all roasted? In the future, with the true and complete Geulah—just as it was in the times of the First and Second Beis Hamikdash—we will eat

14:04 Speaker 2 the Korban Pesach roasted, specifically roasted. Then the child will ask why on all other nights we also eat stewed and cooked meat, but tonight we eat only roasted meat. That is a fifth question. In addition, the fifth cup is also connected to the Geulah. We drink four cups, but there is another, fifth cup that we prepare: Eliyahu Hanavi’s cup. We ask and wait for Eliyahu Hanavi to come and announce the true and complete Geulah to us. We prepare a special cup for him. There is also a dispute about whether we drink a fifth cup. So we say that this fifth cup belongs to Eliyahu Hanavi, and he will resolve the doubt for us and tell us whether we should drink it. That is why we only pour it and do not drink it, to satisfy all opinions. But there is also the simple meaning: we prepare this fifth cup and look forward to Eliyahu Hanavi coming and announcing the Geulah to us. Then we will be able to ask the fifth question and fulfill the fifth mitzvah of eating the Korban Pesach. And all of this, of course, comes about by bringing another Jewish child and another person—even the fifth son, the one who does not come to the Seder. There are four sons: the wise son, the wicked son, the simple son, and the one who does not know how to ask. But there is also the son who is not at the Seder. We bring him in, too, and bring him to the Seder table. Through this, we merit the fifth cup and Eliyahu Hanavi’s announcement that the true and complete Geulah is already here, that it has arrived. May we merit this immediately. That is regarding the fifth cup. Now, in addition, as a result of the fifth mitzvah—the eating of the Korban Pesach—there is, in the passage about Pesach, matzah, and maror,

15:56 Speaker 2 For us, the— that’s also good. The truth is, there are many, many things to know about the Pesach offering: the mitzvah is to roast it specifically, and not prepare it any other way, and people are very, very careful about that. There are many laws governing it. There are eight or ten chapters in the Rambam devoted just to the laws of the Pesach offering. Now, today, when we say “Pesach, matzah and maror,” these are three things that, if a person does not mention them, he has not fulfilled his obligation. Pesach, matzah and maror. So for Pesach we say, “The Pesach offering that our ancestors ate when the Beis Hamikdash stood.” We aren’t holding anything that our ancestors ate. We don’t eat the Pesach offering today; we only mention it. But in the future, of course, we will say, “This Pesach offering that we are eating—why do we eat it? Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu passed over our ancestors’ homes and saved them.” And likewise, in the blessing “Asher Ge’alanu,” we say, “So may Hashem our G-d bring us to other festivals and holidays.” That’s what we say today, and we do say, “And brought us to this night to eat matzah and maror.” But in the future, with the true and complete Geulah, we will say, “So may Hashem our G-d…” We will say it this way: “And brought us to this night to eat the Pesach offering, matzah and maror.” We’ll look in a moment at some more details of what will happen in the true and complete Geulah, immediately. There’s something very interesting. The Alter Rebbe writes that in the future we won’t need to eat maror at all. Why? In Likkutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe says that maror has the same numerical value as mavet, “death.” They have the same numerical value: 446. He says that maror represents our bitterness over being drawn to physical desires, which, spiritually,

17:52 Speaker 2 is considered death. At the time of the Geulah, we won’t be drawn to such things, so there won’t be bitterness. There will be no maror, and there will be no death in the world at all. “I will remove the spirit of impurity from the earth”; there will be eternal life. Yes, “He will swallow up death forever.” So there will be no need to eat maror, either. As for mentioning the Exodus from Egypt, as we said, “all the days of your life” includes the days of Moshiach. It should be noted that there is a disagreement about this, as the Gemara says. Ben Zoma says: “The days of your life” means the days; “all the days of your life” includes the nights. The Sages say: “The days of your life” means this world; “all the days of your life” includes the days of Moshiach. On the face of it, it looks as though the Sages are merely adding to Ben Zoma’s words. But when we look at the Gemara, we see that Ben Zoma did not agree with the Sages, and he asks them—the text says: “It was taught: Ben Zoma said to the Sages, ‘Will the Exodus from Egypt be mentioned in the days of Moshiach? Has it not already been said, “Behold, days are coming, says Hashem, when they will no longer say, ‘As Hashem lives, Who brought the Children of Israel up from the land of Egypt,’ but rather, ‘As Hashem lives, Who brought up and brought back the descendants of the House of Israel from the northern land and from all the lands where I had driven them’”?’” In other words, they will no longer mention the Exodus from Egypt. The Sages said to him: It’s not that the Exodus from Egypt will be uprooted from its place, that people will stop mentioning it. Rather, the main emphasis will be on the exile in the other lands from which Hakadosh Boruch Hu brought us out, while the Exodus from Egypt will be secondary. So it is explained that there is a major difference between the victory achieved in the Exodus from Egypt and what will be achieved in the true and complete Geulah. In the Geulah from Egypt, all the negative forces were defeated, but they were not nullified. In the true and complete Geulah,

19:38 Speaker 2 they will be completely nullified. So this is why Ben Zoma says: Wait—in the future there won’t be any evil at all. So why would you need to mention the Exodus from Egypt, when the process had only just begun? There was only a certain, seemingly temporary victory, while evil still remained a reality in the world. So there is no need to mention the Exodus from Egypt—that is Ben Zoma’s position. But the Sages say: No, no. True, we will rise to a higher level, and there will no longer be any evil in the world. But there is a special quality to what is called iskafya—to overcoming evil while it still exists. So although the great achievement is that evil will be completely nullified and everything will become only everlasting good, as will happen in the true and complete Geulah, the Exodus from Egypt will still have a place, even if it is secondary. It marks the beginning of that victory over evil, which in fact brings about everything that will follow in the true and complete Geulah. Therefore, even in the true and complete Geulah, we will continue to remember those smaller victories we achieved over evil in the Exodus from Egypt. Even though the victory then will be far more perfect and complete, it all began with the Exodus from Egypt. And the Exodus has this special quality: victory over evil while evil still exists. That is why we will continue to mention the Exodus from Egypt even in the future. Now let’s talk about the culmination, the completion of the Exodus from Egypt, and about Pesach’s strongest and most obvious connection to the true and complete Geulah. That is on Acharon Shel Pesach—on the Seventh Day of Pesach in Eretz Yisroel, and outside Eretz Yisroel on Acharon Shel Pesach, the day after it. As is known, the Baal Shem Tov had the custom of eating Moshiach’s Seudah then, and this—

21:34 Speaker 2 this custom began with the Baal Shem Tov. Today, at the instruction of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, every Jew should do it and should make an effort to ensure that Moshiach’s Seudah is held in every place. That is because on Acharon Shel Pesach, the radiance of Moshiach shines. The Baal Shem Tov called it Moshiach’s Seudah. He would say that Acharon Shel Pesach commemorates the Splitting of the Sea, which completed the Geulah of the Jewish people from Egypt. On this day, the radiance of Moshiach is revealed, because Melech HaMoshiach brings the Geulah of the Jewish people to its fullest completion in the true and complete Geulah. That is also why, outside Eretz Yisroel, the custom is to read the haftarah beginning “While it is still day, he will halt at Nov,” which speaks about the revelation of Moshiach. And it is also why we connect the radiance of Moshiach with a physical meal. The aim is that the Geulah should not remain merely something spiritual, something we talk about as though we can only hope it will come. Rather, it should permeate us so thoroughly that it becomes one with us, part of our very flesh and blood, as it will be in the true and complete Geulah, when the Geulah will permeate all our faculties and senses, in every detail. The Rebbe Rashab introduced the practice of drinking four cups at this meal, corresponding to the vision of the ingathering of the exiles and the complete Geulah from the four corners of the earth. The Rebbe Rashab said that the four cups of the Seder night belong to Moshe Rabbeinu and the Exodus from Egypt, while the four cups of Moshiach’s Seudah belong to Moshiach Tzidkeinu and the true and complete Geulah. There is something interesting about Acharon Shel Pesach: among Chabad chassidim outside Eretz Yisroel, the custom is to eat gebrokts then. This is different from the rest of Pesach, when we are careful not to eat even a crumb of chametz, right? That is also why the Chabad custom is not to eat gebrokts—matzah that has come into contact with any moisture. Why? There is a concern that perhaps

23:30 Speaker 2 There may be some corner of the matzah that wasn’t baked properly, and it could become chametz, G-d forbid, if it comes into contact with something moist. But there is a time when eating soaked matzah is permitted. Outside of Israel, where a second day of Yom Tov is observed, people even make a point of eating soaked matzah on the last day of Pesach. The Chabad Rebbes took particular care to soak their matzah on that day and eat it with every kind of food—with meat, with fish, with everything. Why? It comes back to the difference we mentioned between the Geulah from Egypt and the future Geulah. When we left Egypt, there was a victory over evil, a victory over chametz. But evil still existed, so we kept completely away from it. We ate only matzah. In the future, by contrast, in the true and complete Geulah, chametz will not be forbidden. On the contrary, the Ramban cites the words of our Sages that the only offering we will bring in the future is the thanksgiving offering, which includes loaves of chametz. In other words, chametz will have a significant place in the time of the Geulah. The Ramban says that it contains matzah and chametz together, because of the nature of the World to Come. Why? As we said, chametz represents evil. At the Exodus from Egypt, evil still existed, so we had to overcome it. We mark that victory with matzah: only self-nullification. No sense of independent existence, no self-importance, nothing that leads to evil in the world. But in the future, evil will be completely nullified; it will even turn into good. Evil will no longer exist at all. So there will be no reason to avoid eating chametz throughout the year, apart from Pesach, which will remain the festival commemorating what happened in Egypt. But throughout the rest of the year, we’ll be able to eat chametz. On the contrary, that represents the

25:26 Speaker 2 fact that even evil becomes part of the good. That is why, even today, we have Pesach, when there is only matzah. Then there is Pesach Sheini, when there are chametz and matzah together. And there is Shavuos, when there is a mitzvah, a special offering of the two loaves, which “shall be baked leavened.” But this will be realized in full in the true and complete Geulah. On the contrary, chametz will be used for good; the sense of self will be used for holiness, for good things. Acharon Shel Pesach is described as the day of Moshiach’s rejoicing, and, as we said, there is also the custom of eating Moshiach’s Seudah. This day has a special connection to the true and complete Geulah, and that is why the Chabad Rebbes took particular care to eat soaked matzah on it. Why do we lower our standard of caution regarding chametz? It represents this day’s connection to the time when the evil represented by chametz will cease to be evil and forbidden, and will become something good and permitted. And that is the lesson for each and every one of us. That is what we need to take away. Yes, besides adding to our study of Geulah and Moshiach, and adding to our study of the laws of Pesach—there is, of course, so much more to learn in all of these areas—we also need to take this as a lesson in serving Hashem. Everything in the Torah is an instruction for us. Even when a person sees that something sometimes draws him toward negative things, he should take that enthusiasm, take that attraction, and direct it toward good things. Use it for matters of holiness. And in this way, we will merit the true and complete Geulah immediately, right now. Long live our master, our teacher and our Rebbe, King Moshiach, forever and ever. Happy Yom Tov! A kosher and happy Pesach! L’chaim, l’chaim, l’chaim, and may we be blessed with the

27:17 Speaker 2 complete Geulah immediately, right now.