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Torah Portion: PESACH SHENI - SECOND PASSOVER

		PESACH SHENI - SECOND PASSOVER By: Rabbi Osher Jungreis

This Friday we observe Pesach Sheni,the Second Passover on which we eat matzoh, but are permitted to eat bread as well This is an amazing holiday, because it testifies that we can always have a second chance and start anew PESACH SHENI - SECOND PASSOVER This Friday we observe Pesach Sheni, the Second Passover on which we eat matzoh, but are permitted to eat bread as well This is an amazing holiday, because it testifies that we can always have a second chance and start anew.The historical background for this celebration speaks volumes. The Torah relates that a group of men approached Moshe and voiced their concern that when the Passover sacrifice was offered, they were ritually impure and therefore unable to participate in this sacred mitzvah; nevertheless, they wished to have the privilege of making that offering to G-d. Moses was at a loss as to how to respond to their request (Numbers 8) and told them that he would have to consult G-d. It was then that Hashem proclaimed Pesach Sheni - a Second Passover. The obvious question that must occur to all of us is if Pesach Sheni is part of G-d’s design, why didn’t He inform the nation about it up-front along with all the other mitzvos? It is the answer to that question that makes Pesach Sheni so amazing, for it teaches that if we so desire, we can always have a second chance. We need never be despondent for we can rectify the past and start all over again. This lesson is of profound significance to all of us - it is never too late for a new beginning and we must grant that privilege to our fellow man as well. PARSHAS BEHAR - TOTAL FAITH The parsha opens with the stirring words, “And G-d spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying...” The Torah then goes on to detail the laws of the Sabbatical year which stipulates that in Israel, the land must be allowed to lie fallow every seventh year. Our sages ask why the Torah introduces these laws with the declaration that G-d spoke at Mount Sinai. After all, that is a given -- all our commandments were promulgated at Mt. Sinai. Our sages advance many reasons for this emphasis, but we will consider just one of them. At Mount Sinai, we experienced the highest spiritual elevation -- “we stood as one - like one man with one heart,” and it was through that complete one-ness that we merited receiving the Torah. In our long history, we have unfortunately failed to recapture that sense of unity. There are so many barriers that divide us and render us self-centered and insensitive to the cry of our brethren. Perhaps one of the reasons for this detachment and selfishness is that we focus on our own needs and not those of our brethren. But during the Sabbatical year, when our land becomes “ownerless”, open to everyone, it is easier to recreate that one-ness that we experienced at Sinai. To apply this teaching to our own lives today, we must acknowledge that all our possessions and property is from G-d and therefore, it is foolish to allow those possessions, to destroy our love and spiritual bonding. Another reason for connecting Mt. Sinai with the Sabbatical year is to remind us that these laws could only have been accepted because it was G-d who spoke, for logic would dictate that an agricultural society like that of ancient Israel could never feel secure in complying with the demand that the land rest every seventh year. In essence, that implied not only a one year sabbatical, but it mandated that the harvest of the sixth year last through the sixth, seventh and eighth years. Thus, even as as our forefathers embraced this commandment because it is the will of G-d, so we must dedicate ourselves to the mitzvot, for no reason other than that G-d spoke. Even those mitzvot which appeal to our logic we must observe only because they reflect HaShem’s will, and it is our privilege to serve Him. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Osher