Vehigadta: The Main Mitzvah

Nissan is such an exalted month. It is the month that is especially conducive for strengthening emuna. The “Shem MiShmuel” of Sucatchov writes that during the month of Nissan, the Heavenly Treasury is wide open and anyone can grab whatever he or she wants…

The month of Nissan is an exalted month, and Passover Seder night is the pinnacle of the month of Nissan. Just as a person would need plenty of physical preparation to climb an extremely high pinnacle like Mount Everest, he or she needs special preparation for the spiritual pinnacle known as Seder night.

After all the exhaustive cleaning, shopping, matzah-baking, cooking and preSeder logistics, people often forget the most important preparation, the spiritual preparation! What is the Seder all about, anyway? It’s one of the Torah’s 613 mitzvot, Vehigadta lebincha – “And you shall tell it over to your children.” This is not some ancient custom or mere ritual – it’s a Torah commandment! Yet, people spend so much time shopping and chasing dust particles that they neglect the main mitzvah – preparing themselves to tell their children about our exodus from slavery to freedom.

Do you think modern kids really care about what happened 3,330 years ago? You must bring the Haggadah alive to them and show them that everything in it applies to us, to this very day! You won’t be able to do that unless you set aside time to learn the Haggadah.

Oh, you think it’s sufficient that you’ve already learned the Haggadah in previous years? That doesn’t work. For it to come out of our heart and penetrate our children’s hearts, the Haggadah must be fresh in our minds. Sit down and learn it. If you can, learn also an elaboration of the Haggadah that you never learned; this will make the Haggadah alive and fresh for you, so that you’ll be able to make the Passover table and story alive and fresh for your children.

There’s another advantage of learning the Haggadah. The Haggadah is the book of emuna; the more you learn it, the more you acquire and strengthen emuna.

Don’t forget that for a successful Passover table and night, you have to pray. Don’t be foolish; don’t waste any time on inconsequential endeavors. Our sages say that the wise man has eyes in his head. Set aside time – at all costs – for personal prayer. Don’t waste time! The evil inclination wants you to be nervous: did I clean well enough? Maybe I forgot a few crumbs somewhere? Don’t let him drive you crazy. Once you say kol chamira and you nullify all unleavened foodstuffs – finished! According to halachah (Jewish law), you’re all set. Now, move forward.

The important thing is that the light of emuna reflected from the Haggadah, from all the wonderful mitzvot of Pesach and from the month of Nissan should illuminate our hearts to the extent that our hearts are capable of illuminating other people’s hearts. We all know the importance of guests at the Pesach table, sharing our food with those less fortunate. If that’s so, we must certainly share our emuna – the soul’s main food – with all those who are spiritually hungry. By virtue of Passover and its mitzvot, may we all merit to spread the light of emuna across the globe, amen! Happy Passover!