The Link
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Two-Part Holiday
Passover is a two-part Holiday. The first two days (only one in Israel) commemorate the Exodus from Egypt and the last two days (only one in Israel) commemorate the Splitting of the Red Sea. Both parts are fullfledged festivals.
The division of Passover into two periods (separated by the intermediate days known as Chol-Hamo’ed, the semi-festival days) points to two distinct but related events and messages. The Rebbe pointed out that whereas the first two days concentrate on the past, the last two days focus on the future. Significantly, on the last day of Passover we read the section of Isaiah (Chapter 11) which details the characteristics of Moshiach and PASSOVER the events that will occur in the Messianic Age.
Two Approaches to the Link Between the Exodus and the Future Redemption
In truth, both ends of the Holiday refer us to the past and the future. The Haggadah which we read at the Seder contains prayers for the future Redemption and on the seventh day of Passover, the anniversary of the crossing of the Red Sea, we read the section of the Torah which relates that miracle.
Yet, these two segments of the Holiday represent different ways in which we deal with the interplay between the past and the future.
During the first days, our understanding of and approach to the future Redemption is in the context of the past. The past Exodus from Egypt is a harbinger of the future. The message conveyed by the last days, in contrast, is that the future is reflected in the past.
Translated into practical terms, there are two ways we must deal with the future. The first PASSOVER is to see ourselves as working towards the inexorable goal of Redemption by making the most of our struggle in exile. Everything we do in the present must be viewed as an important part of our journey towards one magnificent goal. In this context exile is seen as a hidden blessing and a catalyst for the future Redemption. This is the time in which we sow spiritual seeds in anticipation of the growth of a beautiful and G-dly world.
Our current struggle in exile can also be compared to the process of education. The goal of education is to teach the child those skills necessary to become a fully realized adult. Latent within the child are the many talents that will ultimately be manifested come adulthood. But childhood is not an impediment to adulthood to be overcome; it is an indispensable stage, without which adulthood would be missing crucial elements Similarly, the period of exile, notwithstanding all of its negatives, has enabled us to demonstrate the lengths to which we have remained faithful to G-d and His Torah. Exile has brought out the best in us and made us PASSOVER capable of graduating to the next level of maturity, i.e., the Messianic Age.
The Exodus from Egypt has often been compared to the birth and infancy of the Jewish people; thus, the central focus of the Seder is on the child. We do many things at the Seder differently specifically to arouse the natural curiosity of the child. The Seder demonstrates this with the four questions asked by the children and discussion of the four sons. Our focus throughout is on the child within us that is gradually being groomed for the adult state we will finally reach in the time of the Redemption.
To use another analogy, the first days of Passover highlight the journey we have embarked on with the knowledge that our eventual destination is the Messianic Age. The route we have taken on the way to this destination lead us to the giving of the Torah at Sinai and the conquest of the Land of Israel.
While on the road to our final destination, the ultimate goal of the journey, our primary concern, however, is the journey itself.
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Similarly, while the ultimate goal of the Exodus from Egypt is the Messianic Age, nevertheless, our primary focus is on the challenges that confront us now. During the first legs of a long journey the final destination seems merely a glimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Our main experience is the departure from Egypt itself and the immediate dangers and exigencies that confront us on the initial steps of the journey.
By contrast, over the last days of Passover we transport the experience of Moshiach and the Final Redemption into our departure from Egypt. Rather than thinking of ourselves as children who aspire to reach a peak level of maturity, we already sense the mature state of life that will characterize the Messianic Era. We see in every aspect of the Redemption from Egypt, and other Redemptions, the taste of the ultimate Redemption.
Applying this flipped perspective to our analogy of the journey, the last days of Passover mark the time when we have PASSOVER reached the point in our destination where we can hear the sounds and see the sights of Redemption. Although we have not yet crossed over into the actual Redemption, we can smell the fragrance and savor the taste of it. We are acutely aware of our rapid approach to that time in which wars and suffering cease, the final Bais Hamikdash is built and Moshiach gathers all Jews, past and present, to the Land of Israel.
What’s the Connection?
There is another divided perspective embedded within the last two days of Passover. The seventh day of Pesach is, as mentioned above, the anniversary of the miracle of the splitting and crossing of the Red Sea. On the eighth and last day of Passover we read Isaiah’s prophecies (Chapter 11) concerning the identity of Moshiach and the way the world will be transformed in the Messianic Age.
Based on the above, a question can be raised concerning the connection of the last two PASSOVER days of Passover to the Final Redemption. Why is the splitting of the Red Sea more tightly connected to the final Redemption than the Exodus from Egypt itself?
There is a simple answer to this question. The miracle of the splitting of the Sea was not just a way for the Jewish people to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. It started them down the path to G-d’s revelation. Our Sages declare that even a simple maidservant at the Sea’s edge had a superior Divine experience than that experienced by the prophet Yechezkal. The divide between the upper and lower realms disappeared in that moment. This was a portent of the parallel removal of the divide at Mount Sinai. However, at both the Sea’s shore and at Sinai the removal of the division was a one sided revelation from G-d. The world had yet to exhibit its own recognition that there is no true dichotomy between the celestial and terrestrial. While that realization is still a work in progress, it will ultimately be completed in the Messianic Era.
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If we were to ask where that progress began, the answer would be the splitting of the Red Sea. The seventh day of Passover thus gives us a taste of the glorious future to be had in the Messianic Age.
What’s the Difference?
Now the question reverses itself: What is the difference between the seventh and eighth days of Passover if, indeed, both are portents of the future?
The difference lies in the way we identify with the events of the day. On the seventh day we commemorate the splitting of the Red Sea by reading the Torah’s narrative of that momentous event. On the last day of Passover we read Isaiah’s prophecy of the future events that will come to fruition in the Messianic Age. However, in addition to reading from Isaiah, we connect to Moshiach in an even more concrete way: by eating a special meal at the end of day. This meal, instituted by the Ba’al Shem Tov, is referred to as Moshiach’s Meal. It is customary to eat PASSOVER matzah and drink four cups of wine at this meal. In this way, we take leave of the Passover Holiday the same way that we ushered it in.
There is a profound difference between reading about Moshiach and eating the meal associated with him. Moshiach’s Meal demonstrates that we have the ability to integrate and internalize the message and light of Moshiach, not just passively read about it.
The sounds and glimmering light of Moshiach are revealed to us on the seventh and eighth days of Passover byway of the Torah readings of these two days. We can complete the process of internalizing Moshiach and the passage to our ultimate destination with a literal touch and taste of Moshiach when we sit down to Moshiach’s Meal at the end of the Festival. At that point, all of our senses have been activated and we are more ready to greet Moshiach than any other time. This year in Jerusalem!
Passover is first and foremost associated with the Exodus from Egypt. By extension, we PASSOVER discuss the future Messianic Redemption as well. However, on the last day of Passover the focus changes from the past Exodus to the future. This is evident from the prophetic reading on the last day of Passover—from the Biblical book of Isaiah Chapter 11—that deals exclusively with the qualities of Moshiach and the way the world will change in the Messianic Age. In more recent times, the custom—begun by the Ba’al Shem Tov— to eat a special meal at the end of the Holiday called “Moshiach’s Feast” highlights this connection and takes it from the realm of an abstract concept into the realm of the concrete.
Nevertheless, even as Isaiah 11 (the prophetic selection we read on the last day of Passover) focuses on the future Redemption a link is made there to the Exodus from Egypt: “as the day when he arose from the Land of Egypt.” The Prophet Micha echoes this connection when he states, “As in the days of your departure from Egypt I shall show you/him wonders.”
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The Zohar states and Chassidic literature expounds on the theme that despite the parallel drawn between these two periods of liberation, the future Redemption will be much more magnificent than the past Exodus from Egypt. According to the Zohar the miracles of the future will be considered as wonders in comparison with the incredible miracles of the Exodus from Egypt.
The Rebbe in one of his discourses raised the question that the Zohar’s contention is actually borne out from the Biblical texts themselves. In the aforementioned reading from the Book of Isaiah it is clear that the miracles of the future will overshadow the miracles of the past. It is written that the “wolf will lie with the lamb.” This type of miracle is unprecedented. Even Maimonides’ allegorical explanation that all the nations will live in peace with each other predicts a world that is utterly different from the world the way it existed at the time of and following the Exodus.
Therefore, the Rebbe asked, what did the Zohar mean when it suggested as a novel PASSOVER idea that the miracles of the future will overshadow those of the past? Isn’t it quite evident from even a cursory study of the Biblical text? The Rebbe did not answer the question. Instead he challenged us to find the answer. The following lines are intended to meet that challenge.
Upon deeper reflection it may be suggested that the Zohar ;s novel point is not simply that there will be greater miracles in the future than there were in the past Exodus. The reason that that is not such a powerful reality is that as humans we have a saturation point when it comes to absorbing events that are out of the ordinary, good or bad.
For example, in the darkest periods of exile, there were Jews who suffered the loss of a close relative only to be compounded with the loss of other loved ones. While the pain grew with each successive blow there was a point where one reached the saturation point. The added terrible news led either to their own demise or to a total emotional breakdown.
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The same case can be made in the realm of miracles. The first miracle one experiences can have an incredible impact on the person who witnessed the miracle. But as the miracles grow we either become inured to its effects or t so overwhelms us that we cannot deal with it any longer. The law of diminishing returns is very much relevant to the capacity humans have to experience unusual events.
For the prophet to tell us that the miracles will be greater is not sufficient to get us excited about the future. If we do not have the capacity to absorb and enjoy these new miracles of what use are they? Furthermore, if the reason we are informed about the future miracles is to whet our appetites for the Messianic Age, it can actually have the opposite effect. Just as we cannot deal with too much sorrow and pain so too it is hard for us to experience radical changes in our lives even if they are miraculous and for our good. What good is it if one enters a gourmet restaurant and is given not one steak but 100! The pleasure does not increase no matter PASSOVER how much netter each successive steak may happen to be.
Similarly, if we are going to be inundated with miracles, we cannot humanly absorb them and deal with them.
This is, perhaps where the Zohar and Chassidic thought introduce us
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From the book Light from the Future: Last Days of Passover by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
