inehkd ivfv vhgah rzug cr ,ujha

How should a ben Torah prepare for Pesach? A talk delivered Purim 5765 in Teaneck, N.J. A month from today, we will be making last minute preparations for jxpv dj. The trnd in ohjxp cites a t,hhrc that teaches us one of the ways k zj prepared for the holiday: /ouh ohaka jxpv osue jxpv ,ufkvc iharusu ihktua Thirty days prior to jxpv dj, they would delve into the laws of the Pesach. The definite article would seem to indicate that the subject of their inquiry was the icre and not the other ,uumn of the dj. In fact, the oheuxp cited by the trnd as the source for this and the dissenting opinion of kthknd ic iugna icr of only two weeks both deal with the icre. Nevertheless, the ruy and other ohexup appear to apply this to all ,uumn of the dj. It is only coincidence, then, that the thirtyday period begins on ohrup. It was only from the time of r,xtu hfsrn, of course, that ohrupv dj was celebrated as we read hours ago in the vkhdn last night and this morning. And yet, these two holidays, ohrup and jxp, are now forever linked in our calendar. As we celebrate the former, we already begin to prepare for the latter. There is a powerful irony in this linkage. ohrup is a product of our ,ukd. Its very name is drawn from a foreign language. The word is so alien to us that the vkhdn must provide its Hebrew translation whenever it uses it. Furthermore, it celebrates temporary relief from political oppression. As the trnd in vkhdn explains, there is no kkv on ohrup because we remained the subjects of auruajt even after the deliverance from inv. jxp, on the other hand, celebrates our liberation from the sovereignty of an earthly king to become forever oav hscg. We recite kkv all seven days of the holiday. The name of the holiday reflects an act of v cev as He Himself passed over to save ktrah hbc. The contrast goes far deeper than the names of the holidays. In many senses, the events of the vkhdn, even though they occurred centuries after ohrmn ,thmh, prepare the way for jxp. inv represents an elementary approach to life that sees events as random. He casts lots for guidance. Events befall him; they are described with the root vre, the same word used to describe the attack of his ancestors, the hekng, on ktrah hbc. History is vren, happenstance. We are free to indulge our ambitions and our emotions without restraint, ihhs ,hku ihs ,hks. There are only oblique references to v cev in the vkhdn. We are not privileged to witness His direct intervention in human history. Even to us, life can seem chaotic and random. Once this was not so. There was an event in which God directly intervened in human history: ohrmn ,thmh. It is the existential proof of the non-random order of human history. For Jews, it provides context and meaning. The Divine Promise to the children of ubhct ovrct was indeed fulfilled and will one day be fulfilled again. There is, then, great significance for us as vru, hbc that we begin the study of jxp ,ufkv directly following our celebration of ohrup. We assert through our sunhkv rsx that the seemingly random events of ohrup are in fact not random at all, that vkmvu juur can indeed come rjt ouenn. It is incumbent on us that our learning also not appear random. We are not merely ihktua but iharus as well. We delve into the ,uhdux of ohjxp ,fxn to understand the ihbhs. We strive not for the memorization of procedures but understanding as well. When we make vfkv an exercise in memorization rather than one of comprehension, we misrepresent not only the nature of ohhj ,ru, but of ohhjv ,ru,, the nature of life. You must as students and future teachers of Halacha seek not merely to know but to understand, to demonstrate its non-random nature and internal consistency. Our learning can then affirm that there is not just a ihs but also a ihhs, the True Judge Who we pray will send the redeemer speedily and in our day.

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