Shalom Shabbat Hagadol, this great Sabbath before Passover why is it called as that? Well, one obvious reason might be that they have Torah the prophetic portion that we read on that Sabbath right before Passover is from the Prophet Malachi or Melachi which ends the prophetic section of the Hebrew Bible and Christians put it at the end of the Old Testament and Malachi as with the words, “Behold, I will send before you” for Elijah to announce the great and awesome day of the Lord.
It is says the young gadol the Norah, the last words of Malachi and that word gadol means great, so one obvious reason would be that there is a messianic that mentioned the Passover, it clearly celebrates one redemption. Redemption from slavery in Egypt and it looks forward to a future redemption and there are other haTorahs on Passover which deal with the idea of the future redemption. And so, young gadol it is says at the end haTorah would be clearly one reason.
A second reason would be to talk about how long the day was because rabiis in ancient times used to give only two sermons a year, Hebrews and Jews would prefer that today. They would give them one Sabbath between Rashashaniam Kippur; the Shabbat Chuva the Sabbath will repent and exhort him for the corrugation to repent. The other time would be on the sale of Oropesa because it is so complicated to keep closure for Passover and more that usual construed. We have the rabiis that we have to explain in detail how to do it.
Of course maybe in those days when there were two places, that it was a little simpler than it is today but still that is one reason given. The other has to do with the focus on tiding that is in haTorah that the Jews had a responsibility to their Protoss to help the poor and the priests who had no other income, and the obligation to do it was grained from before Passover and so the festival will remind people about that obligation and there was a great responsibility that ties in growing products with a holiness to mention of helping of the poor and also of serving God.
Today, we have something called Multi team where we help make grain available and food products available for the poor on Passover because it is so important for everybody to celebrate Passover and Passover food is expensive. So, that would be a part of the third of the reason that we have deal with.
So, what is the message in all of this as we think about the great festival, well we first overall think about how to follow God’s will and to have a great Passover in a celebration experience. We need to first follow the laws, keeping closer to our Passover that the experience of the Seder has to be participatory for the poor that is why we begin with the Huakamania De Halloo at the year at that phrase where everybody should come and eat if the poor person visit the bread of the poor man that are all who are hungry come and eat that we look forward with optimism to the future through the redempted process that goes on in the future as Elijah tells us according Malachi and we think about this holiness.
Just to tell you a story that, I was in the line at the grocery store for about the 50th time before Passover and I am thinking about all the sermons that I have to give on Passover. I was glancing at the magazine headlines saying maybe I will get inspired and I saw there are five secrets to happiness. Well, I read the article because the lady in front me must have been having a Seder for 400 people because she had so many groceries.
So, I read the article and basically it really had three different items; the first is that chase away from negativity, negative thoughts she said that we had 64,000 thoughts a day and most of them are negative, chase them away and replace them with positive thoughts; second way to have joy is to have cultivated relationships, intimate relationships with your family and friends; and third, it is to attach this up to something important and I translate that as a Rabbi that it is up to holiness. And so, when wish each other a hug some air and a happy holiday.
We, as Jews, we must be optimistic all the time, despite whatever bad happens to the world and there is plenty in our own lives, be optimistic that is why Elijah comes to tell us according to Malachi that there would be a better future ahead, another redemption hopefully personally and certainly world wide. Second overall, it is essential to have a family holiday even if you do not much intimate family and family near you, you can form bonds with family and create family around the Seder table because it just reminds us about the importance of not being isolated.
Then after you have watched this video, turn it off, and go make a friend. You need relationships to be happy. And third, attach yourself to holy and what I do is to do God’s work to join the synagogue and participate actively in the Jewish community or whatever your religion community is and to do holiness and not to do evil. And, that is really important for you to attach yourself to something very important.
According to this article, it makes a lot of sense to me and it strikes me of something so essentially Jewish that has been truly Seamier and has been truly happy is these three things: As getting rid of your bad thoughts and replacing it for something positive which is an optimistic view of your own personal destiny you made at the future, second of all of cultivating relationships in the family Seders experience of Passover is a quick essential idea of that, and third to attach yourself that is something holy.
And, I will conclude with this thought about the Atticus, that we did not learn what the other will come and what it really was until the 1930s when Sal Lieberman, may you rest in peace, the greatest Talmudist of the time, who really understood it that Atticus is a Greek word which reviews for thousand of years.
And, for Greeks it meant that you went to a different home and you disrupted their family experience and you drew them in to orgiastic activities after years of symposium dinner. Now, the modern Saders based on that same kind symposium dinner but for the Jews instead of to eat a dry cracker or not to disrupt a little family that you have your own experience in a holy way and that is they have to come for us as dessert of the Manta to stay put and continue celebrating in a holy way.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services