By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
CARLSBAD, California — We are in the home stretch! Most of Passover is already behind us. Yet we contemplate the final part of the “King of the Holidays,” which also coincides with the holy Shabbos. Here, in the Diaspora, we celebrate and observe Passover for eight days, as opposed to Israel where it is celebrated for seven days. The Promised Land has a superior level of ‘organic’ holiness. The Sages found a way to somewhat compensate for that by adding an extra day of holiness outside the borders of Israel. Therefore, instead of having a single, climax-of-the-holiday day, we have two. One additional day of mundanity transformed into a day of holiness (nothing to sniff at).
The Seventh of Passover, known in Hebrew as Shvee’ee shel Pesach, is the day that commemorates the successful navigation through the miraculously split Sea of Reeds. When the mighty and vaunted Egyptian army foolishly followed the Jewish people into the midst of the towering walls of water their arrogance proved to be their final and irrevocable undoing. The power of the arch nemesis of the Children of Israel was finally broken. No more would the Egyptians exercise power over our people.
This breaking of Egyptian power was the final event that fully freed the Jewish people from external forces. With Egypt, and now its army, relegated to the ‘rearview mirror’ the Jews could breathe a collective sigh of relief. And now they were fully free to focus upon the climactic conclusion to the birth of our people; the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, merely six weeks hence.
The word Shvee-ee (seventh) in Hebrew is related to the word Sovai’ah, which means full or satiated. At this point of the holiday we should be satiated with the prominent themes of Pesach; faith in G-d, humility, and freedom. The holiday reaches its fullness because of the full destruction of the power of oppression. Our spiritual work of the first part of the holiday is now paying profound dividends.
This concept dovetails perfectly with the final day of the holiday, known in Hebrew as Acharon shel Pesach. Our Sages tell us that just like our forefathers were redeemed during this month of Nisan, so too will the Final Redemption take place at this time. The concept of Moshiach’s arrival is in the air at this time. Why more now than any other time during the year? This enhanced redemptive probability is due to our enhanced spiritual standing brought on by our basking in the redemptive quality of Pesach until now. We have successfully made ourselves into vessels to be able to perceive G-dliness and therefore we have prepared the world to receive Moshiach.
With the above in mind we are ready to enter this last stage of the holiday with great joy and spiritual sensitivity! It is time for us, together, to sing joyfully to our blessed Father in Heaven!
Wishing everyone a good Shabbos and a Kosher and joyous Passover!
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Rabbi Eilfort is director of Chabad at La Costa and welcomes readers’ comments and questions via email to RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.