Ha-Chodesh - (Yechezkel 45:17-46:18)

 

     This Shabbat we read the final of the "four parshiyot," the section from Parashat Bo (Shemot 12:1-20) dealing with the laws of the Paschal sacrifice.  Our haftora for this Shabbat comes from the prophecy of Yechezkel, as instituted by Chazal (Masekhet Megilla 30a).  Although different customs exist regarding where precisely to begin and end the haftora (see Encyclopedia Talmudit, "arba parshiyot"), all agree on the heart of the haftora, which speaks of the festival sacrifices.

 

1. I. New Every Year

 

     Study of the laws relevant to the korban Pesach before the onset of the festival clearly serves as preparation for the holiday.  If Benei Yisrael heard this parasha before the very first Pesach, then the annual reading reminds us once again of the various instructions and guidelines.  However, neither the special maftir reading nor the haftora relate to the korban Pesach of future generations.  The verses in Parashat Bo involve only the special sacrifice offered in Egypt on the eve of the Exodus therefrom.  Although some overlap certainly exists between the laws relevant to this sacrifice and those regarding the korban Pesach in the years thereafter (see Mishna, Pesachim 9:5), there are many differences.  Likewise, the portion selected for the haftora deals with the korban Pesach of the Messianic era, and as many commentaries have observed, many differences exist between the laws as they appear in Yechezkel and those familiar to us from halakha (see Chazon Hamikra volume 2, pages 223-9).

 

     It turns out, then, that the maftir and haftora readings this Shabbat function more as means for emotional preparation than practical, technical preparation.  Perhaps precisely these differences between the three categories of Pesach - in Egypt, in future generations, and in the Messianic era - teach us that there is room for some level of innovation and the infusion of a unique quality into the observance of Pesach every year.  The introduction of an innovative element arouses the children's curiosity and brings them to ask, "Why is this night different?"  Indeed, the Rambam writes (Hilkhot Chametz U-Matza 7:3), "One must do something different on this night in order that the children see and ask and say, 'Why is this night different from all other nights?' until he answers them and tells them that such-and-such occurred."

 

 

1. II. The Month of the Beginning of the Redemption

 

     The maftir reading is entitled, "ha-chodesh" on account of its opening phrase: "This month [ha-chodesh] is for you the first of all months."  This verse marks the first mitzva issued to Benei Yisrael as a nation - the mitzva of declaring the new month according to the sighting of the new moon.  (See the well-known comments of Rabbi Yitzchak, cited in Rashi's opening remarks to his commentary on Chumash.)  Additionally, the verse informs Benei Yisrael that Nissan is to be considered the first month of the year.  If their freedom from Egyptian bondage served to facilitate their entry into the service of God and the observance of His commandments, then the beginning of that entry occurred still in Egypt, on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, when they received this very first mitzva.

 

     And if their redemption meant ultimately their return to "the level of their forefathers" as the Ramban establishes in his introduction to Sefer Shemot, then this redemption reached its culmination when "they made the Mishkan and the Almighty returned and had His Shekhina reside among them (Ramban, ibid.).  When did this take place?  The Torah tells us towards the very end of Sefer Shemot (40:1): "On the first day of the first month."  Thus, it turns out that the redemption first began unfolding on Rosh Chodesh Nissan in Egypt, and its final actualization occurred precisely one year later - on Rosh Chodesh Nissan - in the wilderness.  The haftora then comes and informs us that regarding the final redemption, too, the process will begin on Rosh Chodesh Nissan: "On the first day of the first month, you shall take a bull of the herd and you shall cleanse the sanctuary" (45:18).

 

     The prophet informs us further of the stature afforded to Rosh Chodesh, as the inner gate of the sanctuary was opened on Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh (48:1), "The common people shall worship before God on Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh at the entrance of that gate" (46:3).

 

1. III. The Mikdash: The Apex of Redemption

 

     While the korban Pesach earns the central focus of the maftir reading, it appears in but one verse in the haftora.  The haftora deals primarily with the dedication of the future Bet Hamikdash (for Yechezkel, that meant the second Mikdash; for us, the third), which begins with the sacrifices on the first of Nissan, continues with sacrifices on the seventh of the month, and proceeds to the korban Pesach and sacrifices throughout the festival and those on Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh.

 

     This prophecy may have been selected as the haftora for Shabbat Ha-chodesh precisely to contrast this prophecy with the maftir reading - the beginning of the redemption as opposed to its culmination.  The process began with the Paschal sacrifice in Egypt, and it concludes with the Mikdash and the service therein.  This is exactly the picture that emerges from the listing of God's acts of kindness that we recite in the Haggada ("Dayenu").  We begin with "hotzi'anu mi-Mitzrayim" - the Exodus from Egypt - and end with "bana lanu et Bet Ha-bechira" - the building of the Bet Hamikdash.

 

D. The Duration of the Redemption

 

     In the Haggada we enumerate fifteen acts of kindness that God performed for us, which are, in essence, fifteen "stations" along the way to ultimate redemption.  However, the transitions leading from one stage to the next do not necessarily occur over the course of the same time frame.  Less than two months passed from Benei Yisrael's departure from Egypt until their receiving of the Torah, while they did not enter Eretz Yisrael until forty years thereafter.  Then, four hundred and forty years passed before the Bet Hamikdash was built!

 

     Or, calculating a bit differently, the Mishkan's inauguration occurred only one year after the Exodus.  Said otherwise, in just one year Benei Yisrael transformed from a group of downtrodden slaves, physically and emotionally subjugated and steeped in the impurity of Egypt, to God's nation that merited the Torah and the Mishkan, which was filled with the Glory of God (end of Sefer Shemot).  Yet, it took four hundred and eighty years after the construction of the Mishkan until the Bet Hamikdash was built.

 

     It would seem that the message that emerges is a twofold one:

1. We should never despair even in the grimmest situations, whereas major changes and transformations can occur ever so rapidly.
2. We may not grow impatient with a slow-moving process of redemption.  As we have seen, the transition from one station to the next often extends over long period of time.

 

(Translated by David Silverberg)