The Shabbos that precedes the festival of Pesach is known as Shabbos HaGadol, "The Great Shabbos," commemorating as it does the miracle that transpired on the tenth of Nissan, which that year fell on a Shabbos, just prior to the Exodus.
Many Rabbis have asked[1] why the commemoration of this day was assigned to Shabbos, rather than to the tenth of month, as is the case with all other festivals, which are celebrated on the monthly anniversary and not on the anniversary of the day of the week?
The relationship of the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol to the day of the week will be understood in light of the inner reason for all other festivals being celebrated according to the date of the month.
The difference between the days of the week and the days of the month is that the days of the week are bound up with creation and the world itself - "For in six days G-d made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested."[2]
The concept of a "month," however, is a later addition to and an elevation of creation. As our Sages state:[3] "When G-d chose His world, He [then] established within it new months." Thus, months are not bound up with creation and nature, but with G-d's choice, and as such denote an additional degree of Divine activity "within His world."
The difference between days of the week and days of the month is also related to the very nature of weeks and months: weeks, composed as they are of a seven-time cycle of day and night, are related to the sun, while the days of the Jewish month are related to the cycle of the moon.[4]
The illumination of the sun is a constant, and as such is similar to the unchanging quality of nature, while moonlight, which is always in a state of flux, symbolizes a novel aspect of creation - the state of miracles that transcends nature.
Since all Jewish holidays and festivals celebrate miraculous events - particular revelations of G-dliness that transcend nature[5] - it follows that they are celebrated according to the days of the month - the aspect which is novel and changing.
The reason why the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol is not celebrated in accordance with the day of the week will be understood accordingly.
The Alter Rebbe explains the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol in the following manner:[6] "When the Jews took their Paschal lambs on that Shabbos, the first-born Egyptians gathered round and asked them why they were doing so. They told them that it was for the festival of Pesach, at which time G-d would smite all the Egyptian first-born.
"The first-born thereupon went to their parents and to Pharaoh and requested that they send the Jews out of Egypt. When their demand was refused, the first-born engaged them in battle and killed many of them. Thus the verse states:[7] 'Who struck Egypt through its first-born.' "
At first glance, the entire incident seems wholly natural: After having witnessed the previous nine plagues, it is no wonder that the first-born believed they were about to be smitten. Thus, when their elders refused to allow the Jews to leave, it was natural that they killed many of them.
Thus, the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol lay not in overpowering the force of nature with a revelation of the supernatural, but merely that nature itself should undergo a change: Rather than opposing the exodus of the Jewish people, the first-born (the most powerful Egyptian oppressors)[8] they did all they could to have the Jews depart.
The miracle of Shabbos HaGadol is therefore specifically linked to the days of the week - the course of nature - for it involved a change within nature itself. This is why it is always celebrated on Shabbos rather than on the tenth of Nissan, for it specifically relates to "days" rather than "months."
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXVII, pp. 44-46.
Notes:
- (Back to text) See at length commentaries to Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim, ch. 430.
- (Back to text) Shmos 31:17. See also ibid., 20:11.
- (Back to text) Shmos Rabbah 15:11.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XVII, p. 150.
- (Back to text) See Maamar Tik'u 5661.
- (Back to text) Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein ch. 430.
- (Back to text) Tehillim 136:10. See also Midrash Tehillim, Rashi and Metzudos David, ibid.
- (Back to text) See Targum Onkelos, Bereishis 49:3.
The Shabbos that precedes Pesach is known as Shabbos HaGadol, "The Great Shabbos." The Alter Rebbe
[1] offers the following reason for the name:
"The Shabbos that precedes Pesach is called Shabbos HaGadol because a great miracle occurred on that day. For ... when the Jews took the lambs for their Paschal offerings on that Shabbos, the Egyptian firstborn assembled before them and asked why they were doing so. The Jews responded: 'This is our Paschal offering, for G-d shall slay the Egyptian firstborn.'
"The first-born thereupon went to their parents and to Pharaoh and requested that they send the Jews out of Egypt. When their demand was refused, the first-born engaged them in battle and killed many of them. It was instituted that this miracle be remembered in future generations on this Shabbos, which is therefore known as Shabbos HaGadol."
The Alter Rebbe's words, "since a great miracle occurred on that day," emphasizes the fact that the Shabbos is called "The Great Shabbos," specifically because of the extraordinary nature of the miracle that took place. This, however, must be understood:
What was so "great" about this miracle, especially since the benefit for the Jewish people seems quite limited? For even though the firstborn "killed many of them," the Jews were still unable to leave Egypt until after the "Plague of the Firstborn." Why, then, is this considered a "great" miracle?
The Jewish people have often been miraculously saved from our enemies. To quote the text of the Hagaddah: "In every generation there are those who rise against us to destroy us, and G-d saves us from their hands." Many of these miracles were accompanied by the death of a great number of our enemies, such as the miracle at the Crossing of the Sea, the miracles of Chanukah and Purim, etc. In this regard, the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol is not unique.
The greatness of the miracle of Shabbos HaGadol, however, lies in the fact that our Egyptians enemies were destroyed by none other than the Egyptians themselves. This takes on even greater significance when we realize that at that time the Jewish people were still mired in exile, and Pharaoh emphatically refused to let us leave his land.
It was during this difficult time that the firstborn, the mightiest[2] Egyptians and greatest oppressors of the Jewish people, demanded that we be set free. Moreover, the demands they made were so vociferous that they "declared war on the rest of the Egyptians and killed many of them." The fact that the miracle took such a form caused it to be truly "great" - one not seen at any other time.
The salvation of the Jews from the hands of our enemies during the Crossing of the Sea and the miracles of Chanukah and Purim, etc., saw our enemies drowned in the sea or killed or vanquished by the Jewish people.
Here, however, it was the mightiest Egyptian themselves, the great persecutors and torturers of our people, who were miraculously transformed by G-d into people who - while remaining Egyptians - took up the Jewish cause. This was a striking instance of "darkness being transformed into light."
This event becomes even more remarkable if we realize that a miracle usually involves a change in the natural order of things. Understandably, if this change is so great that it "goes against nature" even as "nature" is perceived by Torah, the miracle becomes even greater.
According to the natural Torah order, the more extreme forms of unholiness must be "cast aside" rather than refined or elevated.[3] Accordingly, for the unholy Egyptian firstborn to take up the holy cause of the Jewish slaves involved a change within the forces of nature even as these are dictated by Torah - a very great miracle indeed,[4] a miracle wherein G-d demonstrated His unique deliverance.[5]
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XII, pp. 33-36.
Notes:
- (Back to text) Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein, Orach Chayim beginning of Section 430.
- (Back to text) See Targum Onkelos on Bereishis 49:3.
- (Back to text) See Tanya ch. 7-8; Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim, p. 6d.
- (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. VI, p. 50ff.
- (Back to text) See Tehillim 91:16.
Tzav-Shabbos HaGadol