Pesach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

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Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

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"Hear O Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is One!"

The message of the oneness of God is one of the powerful messages of Israel not only in antiquity when idolatry was very common, but also in the present and future in declaring the One Uniting Power of the entire cosmos. The Tanya is one of the works that discusses at length how the perception of God's Oneness is not just a simple declaration of the moment, but rather is a constant life-contemplation penetrating all the "plural" reality that one conceives with the knowledge that all matter stems from the One Source - HaShem.

It seems that a number of the mitzvot of Pesah have special connection to this theme of emphasizing the One Source of all matter, as Pesah is the birth of the People of Israel, "the One People who declare God's Oneness" (from Tahanun). One of the mitzvoth which seems to reflect the concept of "oneness" is the commandment to roast the paschal lamb directly by fire. This shows how the heat-source used to cook the paschal lamb must be a direct, uninterrupted source towards the lamb cooked directly by fire, unlike boiling in water or baking in an oven, which use secondary or tertiary supplements for the preparation of the food. In this mitzvah the Torah even describes the method of roasting - "its (the lamb's) head upon its feet and innards". This description yet again highlights the unison of opposite limbs/parts of the lamb together, as if to also show how both the head and the feet of the lamb are united and come from the same Source.

Another mitzvah that shows this concept is the commandment to eat matza, the un-leavened bread on this night. The un-leavened bread must be baked in a way that also shows the "uninterrupted - united" method of connecting to the One Source of all Reality.  Yet another mitzvah is the eating of this roasted lamb with matza and marror together. This unison of different themes and foods on Seder Night highlights our belief that the different manifestations of God's Providence in the World all stem from the One Source. More specifically the Rabbis point to these different themes being indicative of our three Patriarchs. The matza corresponds to Avraham is said to have baked matza in Hebron. The paschal lamb corresponds to Yitzhak who was offered as a sacrifice in the Akeida The marror corresponds to Yakov who had a particularly bitter life. Of course all these themes come together so naturally in Hebron, burial place of all these patriarchs, which also means through its very name unity - Hebron!

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #166

One day I was searching for a particular individual to discuss his support for an organization. As approached his house, it turn out that he approached me, saying that he was looking for me. As we talked, he asked why I don't locate my organization at specific spot in Hebron. To this I answered that I am detained from doing so, since I need an architect to assure the safe entrance to that location. To this he answered, "I am an architect (this I did not know before), and I would be glad to do that for you!" (AI)

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