In our parsha HaKadosh Baruch Hu commands us to not leave leftovers, “Notar,” from the Korbanot (Vayikra 8:32). If any leftovers do remain, we are commanded to burn them. Korbanot in which a part is eaten (some are not eaten at all, but are totally burned on the Mizbe’ach) have a fixed time limit for eating.
The concept of Notar is a very important concept that is directly related to Pesach, which is why I have devoted this shiur to it.
There are many aspects related to Pesach that are limited by time, in fact, the very foundation of Pesach is urgency.
One example is matzot. The whole raison d’etre of eating matzot on Pesach is because of haste – doing something with a time limit. Am Yisrael had to hurriedly leave Egypt. They could not leave their dough to rise as it normally would, so they had to bake it before it rose.
A Korban Pesach is sacrificed on the eve of Pesach and eaten that night. Any leftovers of the Korban Pesach the following morning, after dawn, must be burned (Shemot 12:10). The Chachamim reduced the time limit, i.e. the Korban Pesach must be eaten by midnight and not before dawn, to prevent error.
Why is it important to finish the Korban Pesach before midnight on the first night of Pesach? A sheep is a big animal. What harm is there in having less people in the group who ate each korban? The halacha is that the group should be large enough to polish off the entire korban (each must eat a minimum of a kezayit) so that there are no leftovers (Rambam, Hilchot Korban Pesach 2:4).
Why not have fewer people in each group, have meat left over so that you can eat it for lunch on the first day of Pesach? Meat that is roasted and salted can easily remain fresh for 24 hours. Less cooking for the wives – who are overloaded anyway on Pesach!
The answer is obviously – because that is the way it happened in Egypt! We brought the Korban Pesach on the eve of the night before we left. We left with the dough strapped to our belts before it had risen. That is a good answer, but it doesn’t really answer the question.
The real question is – why did HaKadosh Baruch Hu want it to be that way? Why couldn’t HaKadosh Baruch Hu have commanded us to sacrifice the Korban Pesach two days before? A week before? HaKadosh Baruch Hu knew which day we would be leaving, why didn’t He give us time to make our bread normally, without rush?
HaKadosh Baruch Hu designed it specifically so that it would all be one big rush! And the question is why?
The answer is that there are two specific circumstances where HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants everything to be a big rush. One is Pesach and the other is in the Beit HaMikdash.
Undoubtedly the Exodus had to take place in a rush. Chazal say if Am Yisrael had remained one moment more in Egypt they would have been irredeemable. They were teetering on the brink of the 49th lowest level of impurity. The Haggadah says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu knew exactly when the point of no-return would occur and redeemed us in the nick of time.
However, the question remains – why wait so long? Why not redeem us one year before when we were not on the brink, without the rush? And the answer is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted it to be a rush. It had to be a rush otherwise Pesach would not achieve the purpose for which it was created.
The entire purpose of Pesach is to atone for the sin of Adam HaRishon who was lax in performing HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s mitzvot, which resulted in the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. Sefer Meir Panim says the root cause of it all was the mistaken notion – that there was no rush! If that mindset had not existed, the sin would never have happened. The atonement had to be centered around the exact opposite. The Exodus and Pesach are characterized by a mindset of urgency.
The Mikdash is also centered around a mindset of urgency. There is a well-known concept throughout the Shas that the Kohanim are “zrizim,” “quick” or “diligent” in their work. The Beit HaMikdash is a copy of Gan Eden, in which Adam HaRishon sinned.
If Adam HaRishon would have served HaKadosh Baruch Hu in Gan Eden like the Kohanim serve in the Beit HaMikdash, we would all still be in Gan Eden. Therefore, things in the Mikdash have set time frames, so that what went wrong with Adam HaRishon will not recur. The purpose of the service in the Mikdash is to atone for that sin.
So, we see that Pesach and the Mikdash are both one big rush. However, it is not a mad rush, it is more of a -– comfortable pace with a time limit.
The pilgrims to the Beit HaMikdash do not have to gulp down the Korban Pesach in three seconds, almost choking as they go. Allowing Am Yisrael to finish eating the Korban Pesach until midnight allows everything to be conducted calmly, while enjoying the joy of the festival. The focus is not hysteria, but rather avoiding distractions.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu demands that we lead lives serving Him without distraction, that we focus entirely on HaKadosh Baruch Hu every minute of the day. This applies year-round, but is accentuated during Pesach and in the Mikdash.
This does not mean that we should never sleep, eat, drink, go to the bathroom, spend time with the family, work for a living, take a vacation, keep up to date with the news, etc. All HaKadosh Baruch Hu requires from us is that while we are doing these things, which are essential to living a normal life, that our minds remain focused on one thing and one thing only – that we are doing all these things as part of our service of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
When a person lives their life that way, they remain focused on their purpose in life and are not distracted. Distracted people are easy prey for the yetzer hara.
Let us use our time this Pesach wisely, remaining focused and not getting distracted by the yetzer hara. Devoting our time entirely to grabbing as many mitzvot as we can, uplifting Am Yisrael, bringing people together rather than driving them apart, healing rather than damaging – reuniting our nation.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: For many Korbanot, “Tenufa” is an essential component. What is Tenufa?
Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: What is the difference between the Marcheshet and Machvat pans? The Machvat is a flat pan/skillet with no walls. The Marcheshet is a pan with walls, a kind of a baking tin – to support the dough from the sides. Thus, dough baked in a Marcheshet can have a softer consistency than dough baked on a Machvat.
(JP) = Jewish Press
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