Parshas Tzav
In this week’s parsha, the Cohanim are commanded to light the fire of the altar every day and additionally adhered to make sure that the fire doesn’t go out. The mitzvah of lighting the fire on the altar interestingly is an obligation demanding human intervention even though Chazal teach us in Yoma 21b that a fire descended from heaven igniting the altar anyways. The Sefer HaChinuch explains that the true purpose behind the mitzvah of lighting the altar was that the miracle of the fire descending from heaven should be diminished. Hashem always tries to downplay the greatness of the miracles He performs. Even at the Yam Suf, which was one of the most spectacular miracles ever, Hashem still caused an eastern wind to blow as if to make it seem that the sea’s parting was somewhat natural. However, if the very essence of a miracle to reveal Hashem’s mastery of the universe by defying the natural order that He set in place, why try to cover it up? If a miracle is supposed to be a true revelation of G-d and cause others to realize the veracity of Hashem’s existence, why would Hashem at the same time want to hide the very device that is designed to bring about such a discovery?
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz wants to answer this question by saying that Hashem performs miracles in order to give us the opportunity to fully believe in Him and feel His presence. However, Hashem also wants to leave some space for free choice. If Hashem brought about miracles in a manner where His hand was so evidently involved, there would be no opportunity for non-believers and others who deeply desire to throw off the yoke of Heaven to reject the implications. Therefore, in order to allow for free choice, Hashem demands that miracles be slightly downplayed. Hashem wants us to work on seeing His hand in miracles. So many incredible events have transpired just over the last few years and so many people find natural explanations for them. In Eretz Yisrael a few million Jews live surrounded by hundreds of millions of Muslims who yearn and sometimes even scheme to destroy the state of Israel. Nevertheless, for the most part, Jews live in peace and go about normally as if nothing is going on. The country has been through so many wars and nevertheless is thriving socially, economically, technologically, etc. Not to mention the unbelievable resurgence of Torah learning in the country which is a miracle within a miracle. However, many attribute such successes to the Israeli army, Jewish intelligence, luck, etc. Some people will say anything to ignore the hand of G-d. However, anyone with a little sense will agree that the survival of the Jewish people not only in today’s world but for the last few thousand years is truly something extraordinary. A person just needs to think a little bit and be honest and surely he will realize that the situation that we find ourselves in today is nothing short of a miracle. We all need to work on appreciating these miracles more and more.
However, after pondering over this idea a little further, I felt that the principle that Hashem desires to conceal miracles to a certain extent contradicts the very much celebrated concept of Pirsumei Nisa. Pirsumei Nisa demands that we publicize the miracles that happened to us. For this reason we have a Seder on Pesach, read the Megillah on Purim, and light candles on Channuka. We want to do whatever we can to bring out the miracle more and more! So does Hashem want us to minimize miracles or amplify them? I believe the answer to this question is simple. The very fact that Hashem covers up the miracles He performs is what gives us the opportunity to strive for the popularization of the very same miracles. If Hashem’s miracles were not covered up then there would be no need for us to even have to work on remembering and perceiving G-d’s hand in them. It is precisely because Hashem covers up miracles that obligates us to talk about them and bring them into our lives. This is the job of every Jew. We must constantly strive to further the appreciation for the miracles that happened for us.
Furthermore, deepening our appreciation for the miracles that Hashem has performed for us is one of the most important things which one must accomplish on Pesach during the Seder. The Mishna in the 10th chapter of Pesachim which we read during the Seder says that a person is obligated to see himself as if he personally left Egypt. Meaning, that one must look at himself as if he personally was in slavery and was taken out with the incredible miracles described in the Torah. Rav Yechezkel Levinshtein says that very reason that we refer to our belief in G-d as “Emuna” (faith) and not “Yedia” (knowledge) is because while it may be true that knowledge is the basis for belief, it only can be found in the mind. A Jew’s belief in G-d must permeate his heart as well. Belief in G-d is not about discovering Hashem, but feeling that your belief in Him is a part of you. Rav Shach adds that this is why we have an obligation to have a Pesach Seder every year. As the Haggadah itself says¸ “Even if we were all wise, even if we were all discerning, even if we were all sages, even if we all knew the Torah, we would still have a mitzvah to tell about the Exodus from Egypt.” The goal of the Seder isn’t to tell us what we already know, but that we should feel what we already think we know. Integrating this kind of belief into our lives is what the Seder and really Jewish life in general is all about.
There is a story told of a young yeshiva bucher who went to visit Rav Shach. The young bucher was a very good boy, but he had some problems in emuna. His rebbeim sent him to Rav Shach with the hope that the gadol would give the young man the encouragement necessary for him to move on and live a happy life filled with Yiddishkeit. After the visit, the boy was greatly impressed by Rav Shach, but still felt that he needed some more encouragement. Rav Shach, who was the central leader of the Jewish world at that time, had a very busy schedule and told the bucher to come visit him again after Pesach. However, during the Seder, Rav Shach didn’t stop thinking about the welfare of the boy and desired greatly to see him, especially over Pesach. Pesach, Rav Shach felt, is a critical time to build one’s emuna. Pesach is when we were taken out of Egypt to become Hashem’s people and it ultimately set the stage for receiving the Torah at Har Sinai and the rest of Jewish history as well. Rav Shach so eagerly desired to see the boy and talk to him again that he even went searching for him to find out where he lived. Baruch Hashem, over Hol HaMoed Pesach, after travelling quite a distance in order to reach the boy, Rav Shach met up with the young bucher and spent a few hours giving him chizuk in emuna. For Rav Shach, on Pesach, there was nothing more important than boosting someone’s emuna.
May we all be zoche to see Hashem’s hand in our lives and have complete emuna, especially this Pesach!!!