THIS WEEK'S TORAH READING:

Beha'alotcha : Numbers 8:1 - 12:16

The parasha begins with the final preparations for the use of the portable Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the desert. In particular, Aaron, as cohein gadol (high priest) was instructed on how to light the seven branched menorah. As they ready themselves to depart on their journey into Israel, God instructs Moses concerning Pesach sheni , a law which allowed those people who could not offer a sacrifice on the first Pesach (due to being impure) to participate in the Passover offering a month later.

The last items are made (two silver trumpets) and "In the second year, on the twentieth day of the second month, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle of the Pact and the Israelites set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai." (Numbers 10:11 - 12). Yet as they marched forth, trouble is already brewing. The people begin complaining that the mannah is not enough for them. "We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onion and the garlic...Now there is nothing at all, nothing but this mannah to look at!" (Numbers 11:5 -6) Moses is overwhelmed.

To resolve the crisis, God appoints 70 elders to assist Moses, including Eldad and Medad upon whom a special "spirit of God" rested. In addition, God causes a wind to blow quail from the sea, and the people have meat to eat. Yet God's anger "blazes forth" and many people are struck down by a plague. Finally, the  parasha ends with Miriam and Aaron complaining about Moses. These two leaders are told that their complaints are frivolous, and that Moses is unique among all the prophets that God speaks to.

There is a custom among some chassidim 30 days after Pesach to eat the matzah left over from the holiday. Why do they do this? To remind themselves that there was a time in history (no longer observed) when someone who could not celebrate Pesach in its proper time could do so a month later, as detailed in our parasha . The question though is why does the Torah have this special provision for Pesach ? If you miss Yom Kippur , you cannot observe it later! The same holds true for every other holiday, including Shabbat . If you miss the holiday-you miss out! Why is that that is not the case with Pesach ? Why do we have a "second chance" if we are unable to observe Pesach on the 15th of Nisan ?

Two reason are given in the Torah as to why Pesach is unique in this regard. The first is that unlike other holidays, Pesach involved a communal meal in which a sacrifice dedicated to thanking God for freeing us from slavery is eaten (that custom ultimately morphed into our present day seder ). No other holiday has this same requirement. Thus, one who could not partake in this sacrifice because they were ritually impure (due to contact with death) were given another chance after they purified themselves, to partake in this meal. Of course, the Torah seems also to understand what we know intuitively today-that the holiday of Pesach seems more beloved than any other Jewish holiday. Indeed this law was actually given in response to people who complained to Moses that they could not observe Pesach when they should have. So giving people who were forbidden from participating in the Pesach meal in the month of Nisan a "second chance" 30 days later meant that they too could partake in what may well be our most significant holiday.

Yet interestingly the Torah gives a second reason why someone may not have participated in Pesach in its proper time. It indicates that another reason someone might not have observed Pesach is because they were on a" derech rechokah ", usually translated as "a long journey" (Num. 9:10). However, the Jerusalem Talmud ( Pesachim 9:2) understands this to mean "one who is spiritually distant from God and the Jewish people...". It reminds us that one is never permanently excluded from Judaism. There may be times when our laws and traditions don't seem to speak to us. When that happens, perhaps the passage of time will give us another chance to find meaning in Jewish observance. Life often affords us many such second chances, and when we once again feel close to God and the Jewish people, we are welcomed back with open arms and open hearts.

Shabbat Shalom ,

Rabbi Steven Kane