Shabbat-Pesach link

ESTHER TAUBY

Every year, the first night of Pesach falls on the 15th of Nissan. This year, that happens to be April 6. On this night, Jews all over the world will once again sit down to a festive seder and tell and retell the story of how we were redeemed from Egypt and from slavery under Pharaoh. We will also have something else to consider, as the first night of Passover falls on a Friday night, Shabbat.

Shabbat is a weekly occurrence, when we take a break from our work and enjoy time with family and friends at home and in synagogue and focus on the spiritual aspects of the day. It is a special time to reconnect with G-d, who created rest and who rested Himself on the seventh day. What does it mean when the first night of Passover falls on Shabbat?

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, Rambam or Maimonides, born on the eve of Passover in 1135 in Cordoba, Spain, was a master rabbi, philosopher, physician, writer and astronomer. He writes that, “On the night of the fifteenth of Nissan, it is a positive commandment of the Torah to relate the miracles and wonders that transpired with our forefathers in Egypt. For it is written ‘Remember this day on which you went out of Egypt.’ The meaning of ‘remember’ here is similar to that which is written about Sabbath, ‘Remember the day of Shabbat.’”

Why does the Rambam find it necessary to liken the manner in which we remember the Exodus to the way in which we remember Shabbat? Why can’t the verse “Remember this day on which you went out of Egypt” stand alone?

At the beginning of the Laws of Shabbat, the Rambam states: “Resting from labor on the seventh day is a positive command, for it is written, ‘On the seventh day you shall rest.’ Whoever performs labor at that time negates a positive command and transgresses a prohibitive commandment.” So, Shabbat involves both the positive aspect of rest and the negative aspect of not performing labor. The fact that the Rambam begins the Laws of Shabbat with the positive command, when most of the Shabbat laws deal with prohibitions of various forms of labor, indicates that the main aspect of Shabbat observance lies in this positive aspect.

Both the negative and positive aspects of Shabbat derive from two sections in the Torah.

In the section describing Creation, the verse states: “He rested on the seventh day from all His labor which He had done. And G-d blessed the seventh day and made it holy, for, on it, He rested from all labor ...” (Genesis 2: 2, 3) – emphasizing that, on this day, there was both rest and cessation from labor.

In the section describing G-d’s giving of the Torah, where the Jews are told: “Remember the day of Shabbat,” the verse goes on to state: “For, [in] six days, the L-rd made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” (Exodus 19: 11)

In other words, Shabbat is unique not only because G-d ceased on it from the labor of the six days of Creation but that Shabbat is G-d’s day of rest.

The more important part of “Remembering the day of Shabbat” is the positive sense of rest, rather than the mere negation of labor, as our sages state that, after the completion of the six days of Creation, the world was lacking rest and tranquility. Only when Shabbat began did rest and tranquility arrive. As the Rambam expresses it: “Remember it – a remembrance of praise and sanctification.”

With regard to the Exodus from Egypt, we also find two aspects: the release of the Jewish people from servitude and the fact that we became a free, independent people. This is similar to the condition achieved by every freed slave: his master’s dominion over him ceased and he became a free man and wholly his own person. (Women were not kept as slaves.) By connecting the tale of the Exodus on 15 Nissan to the remembrance of Shabbat, the Rambam is indicating that, with regard to relating the events of the Exodus, the main aspect is the positive step of becoming free. So, the obligation to relate the tale of the Exodus involves not so much the recalling of our release from slavery as the recounting of how we became free.

The Rambam goes on to say in his law pertaining to a father relating the tale of the Exodus to a son who is a minor or to a simpleton, that he should say, “On this night, G-d redeemed us and took us out to freedom,” to emphasize that G-d enabled us to become free.

The Rambam adds, “An individual is obligated to conduct himself as if he himself had just gone out of Egypt” – “as if you were enslaved and you went out to freedom and were redeemed.” Everyone conducts themselves on this night as a free person.

May we take the Rambam’s words to heart as we celebrate the holy Shabbat and the first night of Passover, celebrating our freedom at our seders and recalling all the miracles that G-d performed for us then, and continues to perform for us now. Wishing everyone a happy and kosher Passover! And a Shabbat shalom.

Esther Tauby is a local educator, writer and counselor. This article is based on a talk that was given by the Lubavitcher Rebbe z”l.

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