Making the Shabbos Great

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The Shabbos before Pesach is called Shabbos HaGadol, literally “The Great Shabbos.” The Tur (Siman 430) explains that this Shabbos is so named because on this day, four days before the offering of the first korban Pesach (the tenth of Nissan), the command for each Jew to take a sheep was given. (This momentous occasion is commemorated on Shabbos, because it fell out on Shabbos during the Exodus.) A great miracle took place: even though the sheep was a deity to the Egyptians, they found themselves incapable of doing more than looking on in horror as every Jew tied a sheep to his bed. Therefore, it is called “the Great Shabbos” because of the great miracle that took place on that day.

Why is this miracle commemorated on the Shabbos before Pesach, instead of the day of the month on which it occurred? After all, that is how the other holidays are celebrated. For instance, Pesach itself always falls out on the fifteenth of Nissan, and not the day of the week that the Exodus took place.

Sefer Maasei Hashem explains that this miracle’s message is the message of Shabbos itself. How so? The message of Shabbos is that Hashem created the world and oversees its existence at every moment. Rav Chaim Friedlander notes that Shabbos was the culmination of Hashem’s Creation of the world. Shabbos also shows that Hashem is still running all that transpires in His creation. When we observe the Shabbos, it demonstrates that we recognize these facts. Hashem commanded that we work for six days, but refrain from work on Shabbos.

Moreover, even if we lack the money to honor the Shabbos with food and drink, Hashem declares, “Borrow against Me and I will repay! (Beitza 15b).” This conclusively demonstrates that we understand Who runs the world, and we know that our wealth and sustenance come from Hashem—not from our labor. Thus, we can always rely on Him to enable us to keep the Shabbos.

Shabbos HaGadol was the time when these messages were expressed in a stronger way than ever before. The Jews had been slaves until this point. Now, they took their masters’ deity, tied it to their bedposts, and prepared it to be a korban – all while the Egyptians looked on helplessly. The message of Shabbos was clearer than ever! Even the Egyptians were forced to see that Hashem exists and controls the world. The great miracle that took place on Shabbos made the Shabbos itself great, and therefore, it was named “the Great Shabbos.” It was only fitting that this Shabbos is commemorated every year on the Shabbos before Pesach.

Shabbos HaGadol and its message is a preparation for Pesach. Pesach is the primary time to build up the fundamentals of emunah: knowing that Hashem is the Creator and Director of the universe at all times. We recall the miracles of the Ten Plagues, the Exodus and Splitting of the Red Sea. We recall how the plagues affected only the Egyptians, and how all Jewish women of that era gave birth to sextuplets – all of whom survived, despite the decrees of the Egyptians to kill all males. The Egyptians were punished precisely according to the measure of their crimes against the Jewish nation. Just as Shabbos HaGadol is commemorated to remind us of its message, there are many mitzvos throughout the year which commemorate the Exodus. It is so important to strengthen the principles of our emunah that came to light during that time (see Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 21).

The necessity of this commemoration is expressed in the Torah itself. It is unusual for the Torah to command that we “guard” or watch over a mitzvah. There is no command to guard, for instance, the laws of kashrus or tefillin. This command occurs only for the mitzvos of Shabbos and Pesach. The Torah commands, “Guard the Shabbos day to make it holy (Devarim 5:12),” and, “The holiday of Pesach, you shall guard (Shemos 23:15).”

Rav Yeruchem Olshin explains that Shabbos and Pesach are the primary teachers of our emunah. Because emunah is so important, the Evil Inclination focuses its efforts against it. To counter this, we must guard and treasure our emunah, especially as it is expressed in Shabbos and Pesach (see Chovos HaLevavos, Shaar HaBechina 5). Indeed, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein tells us that deep in our hearts, we possess a tendency to deny our emunah. Thus, we are commanded not to stray after our hearts (see Bamidbar 15:39) precisely because of this tendency. Working on emunah is on the list of things which Chazal tell us require constant work (Brachos 12b).

We must also develop our emunah so that we can remain firm in the face of hardship. We never know when we will be in trying circumstances. However, the Navi (Yeshaya 50:10) reassures us, “Though he may walk in darkness, with no light for himself, let him trust in the Name of Hashem, and rely on his God.”

How can we work on our emunah? There are many ways, but one way is found in the Midrash (Shemos Rabba 9:1). It tells us that Noach asked Hashem for a sign that He would not bring another flood to destroy the world. Hashem granted Noach’s request, and as stated in the verse, the rainbow became this sign.

Noach asked for this even after Hashem swore to him that He would no longer destroy the world with a flood. Nevertheless, Noach wanted a sign to boost his emunah. Although he surely was a great believer (he saw that Hashem destroyed the world, and he and his family were saved with Hashem’s infinite mercy), he still felt that his emunah needed work. He did this by seeking out an extra demonstration of it.

We, too, can look for signs to help us reach a higher level of emunah. One sign that we have is the continued existence of the Jewish People. HaRav Yaakov Emden stated that this miracle—in which a sheep (the Jewish People) is surrounded by seventy wolves who are diligently trying to destroy it—is an even greater miracle than the Exodus! Indeed, that sheep is even thriving among the wolves.

On one day in the spring of 5778, Arabs from Gaza fired a huge number of rockets at Israeli targets in the Negev. Miraculously, no one was killed, and only a few were injured. Since this was not an official declaration of war, this remarkable day of miracles went almost unnoticed even in Israel itself. Yet, aside from the miracle that so little damage was inflicted by so many rockets, three open miracles occurred:

A nursery school was attacked, but the rockets hit minutes before the children arrived at the school, causing only property damage.

That night, a couple inexplicably decided to go to sleep in the one room of their apartment that was fortified against rocket strikes. This was something they had not done even during the Gaza War several years earlier, when air raid sirens warning the public to enter these rooms was a daily occurrence. They admitted afterwards that they did not know why they chose that night to do so. When they woke up, they discovered that the rest of their apartment had been ravaged by a direct strike.

Lastly, the IDF discovered a tunnel that the Arabs had been constructing in order to wage a future attack.

On that day, Rav Gershon Edelstein addressed the Ponovezh Yeshiva, saying, “We have to recognize that miracles are happening right now, and they are happening for us! These miracles in the south are signs from Hashem that He is with us. It is up to us to internalize the message of these signs and know that Hashem is with us at all times.”

May we be zocheh to strive to reach higher levels of emunah!

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