Chag Ha’Pesach 5785. Zman Cheiroseinu (the time of our freedom), Chag Ha’aviv (the festival of spring), and Chag Ha’matzos (the yomtov of matzah). The birth of our nation, the beginning of our freedom, the journey after G-d into the desert, the march towards Har Sinai, the giving, and receiving of the Torah, and the inheritance of our Holy Land, all began on that fateful day millennia ago, when וַיְהִי, בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, יָצְאוּ כָּל-צִבְאוֹת ה’ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם, in the midst of that very day - 15 Nissan - all the legions of Hashem went out from the land of Egypt (Shemos 12:41). 

The narrative of the Egyptian enslavement and subsequent freedom are outlined for us in Sefer Shemos, which is also known as Sefer Ha’geula, the Book of Redemption. The Redemption includes the three main topics in Sefer Shemos: Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus), Matan Torah, and Binyan Ha’mishkan. Much of the Haggadah shel Pesach is based on the pasukim, and narrative, from the beginning of Sefer Shemos. 

What, we may ask, is the one underlying theme of Sefer Shemos, which lends itself to our geula, and forms the foundation of our redemption? The answer - alluded to repeatedly in the book of Shemos, from beginning to end - may surprise us.

The sefer begins with: וְאֵלֶּה, שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה אֵת יַעֲקֹב אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ - and these are the names of the Children of Israel who came to Egypt, Yaakov, each man and his house(hold) came (Shemos 1:1).

And the sefer closes - hundreds of years later - with: כִּי֩ עֲנַ֨ן ה’ עַל־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ יוֹמָ֔ם וְאֵ֕שׁ תִּֽהְיֶ֥ה לַ֖יְלָה בּ֑וֹ לְעֵינֵ֥י כָל־בֵּֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּכָל־מַסְעֵיהֶֽם - For the cloud of Hashem was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys (40:38). 

The Book of Redemption begins with יַעֲקֹב אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ and ends with לְעֵינֵ֥י כָל־בֵּֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל - the Jewish home. 

In regard to the Korban Pesach, the first statement Hashem tells Moshe is: דַּבְּרוּ, אֶל-כָּל-עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר בֶּעָשֹׂר, לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה וְיִקְחוּ לָהֶם אִישׁ שֶׂה לְבֵית-אָבֹת--שֶׂה לַבָּיִת - Speak to the entire assembly of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month, let each one take a lamb for the father’s house(hold), a lamb for each house (12:3). 

Moving on from the Exodus, the nation arrives at the foothills of Sinai, where the fourth lashon of geula - וְלָֽקַחְתִּ֨י אֶתְכֶ֥ם לִי֙ לְעָ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָכֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹקַים, and I will take you to Me as nation, and I will be for you a G-d (6:7) - is fulfilled with the giving of the Torah. 

The first words Hashem says to Moshe at Har Sinai are: כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לְבֵ֣ית יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וְתַגֵּ֖יד לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל, so you shall say to the house of Yaakov, and so you shall tell the Children to Israel (19:3).  

And the final topic of Shemos - the building of the Mishkan - concludes with the pasuk we quoted above: the cloud of the Shechina was atop Mishkan by day, and a fire by night, לְעֵינֵ֥י כָל־בֵּֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel.  

Every main topic in Shemos is based upon the Jewish home: the descent to, and Exodus from, Egypt (1:1 and 12:3); the receiving of the Torah (19:3); and the building of the Mishkan (40:38). Not for naught is this sefer known as Sefer Ha’geula, for the true zechus that will usher in the redemption is the beauty, kedusha, power, and tenacity of the Jewish home - a bastion of Torah, morality, chessed, and kedusha in an otherwise upside down world (Pesach 50a). 

How compelling that our great redeemer, Moshe Rabbeinu, is born only when: וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִ֖ישׁ מִבֵּ֣ית לֵוִ֑י וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִֽי - and a man from the house of Levi went, and he took a daughter of Levi (2:1).  

It is the Jewish home that upholds our nation, strengthens our society, enlightens our people with the Torah ha’kedosha, and ensures the continuity of our nation m’dor la’dor. 

It is no wonder then, that on the night of makkas bechoros/leil achilas Korban Pesach, the nation was explicitly commanded: וְאַתֶּ֗ם לֹ֥א תֵֽצְא֛וּ אִ֥ישׁ מִפֶּֽתַח־בֵּית֖וֹ עַד־בֹּֽקֶר - and you (the nation in Israel), no man shall leave from the entranceway of his home until morning (12:22).  While it was Hashem Himself Who went through Egypt killing the firstborn males, while skipping/passing over the Jewish homes, it was the nation of Israel who were commanded to stay within their homes. They were celebrating their freedom and redemption with the family unit that would ensure their (and our) survival throughout the ages.

As we prepare to commemorate the glorious events of the Exodus once again, ready to sit with friends and family - in our homes - around the seder, and yomtov, table, we must remember there is another home that is not yet build, a home that yet lays in ruin.

While B"H Klal Yisrael continues to build homes in each and every generation, thwarting all attempts of the enemy to destroy us, the great house of Hashem, keviyachol, lies in ruin. Its stones have been shattered, its mizbachos destroyed, its Kohanim and Leviim banned from their service, its people scattered across the four corners of the earth, and the worst calamity of all: Shechinta b’Galusa, the Shechina is in mourning and exile for the fate of Her people and Her Land. 

And so, this year, when we sit down to leil ha’Seder in our homes (and even if we are away from home, when we are celebrating yomtov with family and friends, we are in a home away from home), let us offer a heartfelt and sincere tefillah that the great House of Hashem - the glorious Beis Ha’Mikdash - will be rebuilt in all her glory, and for eternity, and in our day and in our time. 

בנה ביתך כבתחילה, וכונן מקדשך על מכונו והראנו בבנינו ושמחנו בתקונו והשב כהנים לעבודתם ולוים לשירם ולזמרם והשב ישראל לנויהם, ושם נעלה

לשנה הבאה בירושלים הבנויה

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