One of the Divine gifts that life offers up is the ability to “change”.
One can change their mind, their opinion, their perspective, their behavior — it’s the Divine Gd gift that we are all endowed with. The ability to change…
Oftentimes we fight against changing as if we are perfected and complete products that require no enhancing, refining, upgrading or rectifying — choose the word that you’re comfortable with…
Yet, it’s precisely the gift of change that distinguishes the human race from other creations. Animals can be trained to be sure, yet they can’t change their inherent nature. Not so a human.
Next Monday we celebrate a one day replay of Passover called “Pesach Sheni” the second Passover. The ceremony of the day is limited to eating some matzah yet the message and symbolism is one that adds the cherry onto the top of the already gleaned message of freedom — that was imparted and imbibed over the Passover festival.
It is sourced in the Biblical story that come the first anniversary after the exodus and the Jewish nation unbeknownst to them are instructed to offer up the pascal offering just as they had the previous year at the actual exodus .
How were they to know that this would be instructed of them? Indeed they had no idea and this is exactly the complaint that a number of them who were ritually unfit to do so, complained of. They didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity and let Moses know their grievances.
Moses the fearless advocate approached Gd with this exact message questioning what was to be done. In a stroke of fortune the response was, exactly one month later they were to be gifted the opportunity to bring up the Pascal offering. A second chance if you will. The ability to create change despite lost opportunity and the Divine gift to ensure that what seems to be past tense isn’t actually in the rear view mirror after all!
With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yehuda & Dina Kantor