Adjacent Redemptions
In this leap year we celebrate Purim in the second month of Adar, the "leap month".
This seems to violate a principal of not "passing over" commandments and zrizim makdimim l'mitzvos (the zealous are the first to perform mitzvos). So what would be so terrible if we celebrated Purim in Adar last month, after all, why would we want to delay the tremendous celebration of Purim?
The answer given is that we want Purim to be close to Passover (Gemara Megillah 6B). But why?
The Purim miracle was clothed in "natural" events, while Passover had "supernatural" plagues, climaxing in the miraculous death of all first-born Egyptians, and the destruction of the entire Egyptian army following the splitting of the sea.
Putting these two holidays next to each other is to teach us that they are really the same - day to day "natural" events are really miracles, and "supernatural" miracles are just daily events. The mere fact that "natural" events occur much more frequently than "supernatural" events does not remove their miraculous nature...only our innate ability to "get used to" things makes us bored and complacent about miraculous occurrences. Miracles such as the birth of a child, with all the accompanying changes in the woman who gave birth , such as breast milk, etc are just "taken for granted" every single day.
In order for us to merit a true redemption, meaning an escape from the boundaries of our monotonous existence in our mundane lives, we have to learn to appreciate the miracles surrounding us, and treat them with the same respect as our "supernatural" escape from Egyptian slavery.
The essence of having a leap year is to keep our holidays in season. We could not tolerate having Passover in the fall or the winter, because "in the spring we were taken out of Egypt". The essence of spring is a massive release of all of the life that has been kept prisoner by the cold. Having a leap year makes sure that we have the energy of the season to inspire us during Passover to leave behind the complacency that may have developed over the winter.
The lesson for us during this leap year is that we need to be freed of our natural coldness, our complacency, our inability to appreciate all of the miracles in our daily lives. When we start to do this, then we can start to merit the true redemption, freedom from the slavery of Pharoh, a permanent separation from the evil inclination that keeps us bored and looking for "entertainment" from the corrupt media of our times.
How do we accomplish this? We need to start looking at the world with a fresh perspective - our current methods are not working. There are too many children and adults "at risk", becoming bored with religion entirely. They simply have become blind to what is actually happening. There are "programs" playing every minute, but they don't have the ability to tune in. The answers to solve our problems and boredom can be found every week in the Torah portion and in a proper analysis of the events of the week.
For instance, the ability for so many people in the U.S. to be mesmerized by a presidential candidate promising nothing but "change", is symptomatic of a need for a constant flow of new sensual experiences, but not necessarily true or beneficial ones. Only because the "boredom" has become intolerable, so much that we cannot fight a "boring" war to defend our country from terrorism. The war is boring - we want something "new". Perhaps "pacifism" will prevent terror attacks in the future? We forgot how much American "pacifism" before World War II "prevented" the attack from the "PACIFIC" on Pearl Harbor..America was punished with it's own sin..the Japs in the "Pacific" had to destroy the sin of "Pacifism".
The willingness of so many financial institutions to offer easy credit to unqualified homeowners is also a similar problem. The desire for easy profits or a bigger house regardless of consequences down the road shows a need for instant gratification by both the lenders and borrowers. Again, bored people will engage in reckless behavior to escape the boredom, even if it is only for a short time, and even if it followed by the lengthy pain of foreclosures and bankruptcies.
The Parsha this week relates the inauguration of the Tabernacle , the priests and the ritual vessels. The pouring of special "anointing oil" on them during their first use is to keep them fresh, pure, holy, and "always new", timeless. This is what we need to do to ourselves, don't allow common events to grow "old" on us, keep them new and exciting. We have this opportunity every week as we delve into the weekly Torah reading AND witness the weekly events in an increasingly insane world where people are constantly seeking new more perverted experiences to escape the staleness of their empty existence.
This seems to violate a principal of not "passing over" commandments and zrizim makdimim l'mitzvos (the zealous are the first to perform mitzvos). So what would be so terrible if we celebrated Purim in Adar last month, after all, why would we want to delay the tremendous celebration of Purim?
The answer given is that we want Purim to be close to Passover (Gemara Megillah 6B). But why?
The Purim miracle was clothed in "natural" events, while Passover had "supernatural" plagues, climaxing in the miraculous death of all first-born Egyptians, and the destruction of the entire Egyptian army following the splitting of the sea.
Putting these two holidays next to each other is to teach us that they are really the same - day to day "natural" events are really miracles, and "supernatural" miracles are just daily events. The mere fact that "natural" events occur much more frequently than "supernatural" events does not remove their miraculous nature...only our innate ability to "get used to" things makes us bored and complacent about miraculous occurrences. Miracles such as the birth of a child, with all the accompanying changes in the woman who gave birth , such as breast milk, etc are just "taken for granted" every single day.
In order for us to merit a true redemption, meaning an escape from the boundaries of our monotonous existence in our mundane lives, we have to learn to appreciate the miracles surrounding us, and treat them with the same respect as our "supernatural" escape from Egyptian slavery.
The essence of having a leap year is to keep our holidays in season. We could not tolerate having Passover in the fall or the winter, because "in the spring we were taken out of Egypt". The essence of spring is a massive release of all of the life that has been kept prisoner by the cold. Having a leap year makes sure that we have the energy of the season to inspire us during Passover to leave behind the complacency that may have developed over the winter.
The lesson for us during this leap year is that we need to be freed of our natural coldness, our complacency, our inability to appreciate all of the miracles in our daily lives. When we start to do this, then we can start to merit the true redemption, freedom from the slavery of Pharoh, a permanent separation from the evil inclination that keeps us bored and looking for "entertainment" from the corrupt media of our times.
How do we accomplish this? We need to start looking at the world with a fresh perspective - our current methods are not working. There are too many children and adults "at risk", becoming bored with religion entirely. They simply have become blind to what is actually happening. There are "programs" playing every minute, but they don't have the ability to tune in. The answers to solve our problems and boredom can be found every week in the Torah portion and in a proper analysis of the events of the week.
For instance, the ability for so many people in the U.S. to be mesmerized by a presidential candidate promising nothing but "change", is symptomatic of a need for a constant flow of new sensual experiences, but not necessarily true or beneficial ones. Only because the "boredom" has become intolerable, so much that we cannot fight a "boring" war to defend our country from terrorism. The war is boring - we want something "new". Perhaps "pacifism" will prevent terror attacks in the future? We forgot how much American "pacifism" before World War II "prevented" the attack from the "PACIFIC" on Pearl Harbor..America was punished with it's own sin..the Japs in the "Pacific" had to destroy the sin of "Pacifism".
The willingness of so many financial institutions to offer easy credit to unqualified homeowners is also a similar problem. The desire for easy profits or a bigger house regardless of consequences down the road shows a need for instant gratification by both the lenders and borrowers. Again, bored people will engage in reckless behavior to escape the boredom, even if it is only for a short time, and even if it followed by the lengthy pain of foreclosures and bankruptcies.
The Parsha this week relates the inauguration of the Tabernacle , the priests and the ritual vessels. The pouring of special "anointing oil" on them during their first use is to keep them fresh, pure, holy, and "always new", timeless. This is what we need to do to ourselves, don't allow common events to grow "old" on us, keep them new and exciting. We have this opportunity every week as we delve into the weekly Torah reading AND witness the weekly events in an increasingly insane world where people are constantly seeking new more perverted experiences to escape the staleness of their empty existence.
posted by Golusman at 3/18/2008 06:01:00 PM
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