RAV BRAZIL PARSHAS TZAV /תשע“ח SHABBOS HAGADOL
When eating the Korban Pesach we are commanded ועצם לא תשברו בו do not break any bones. The sefer Hachinuch explains the reason for this mitzvah by saying at the night of the Seder we all became royalty and princes of Hashem. In royalty no one breaks bones to eat.
Let us understand this on a deeper level with the fundamentals set forth in the sefer Minchas Machsheves which is based on the writings of the Maharal. This world is complex, a מורכב, a hybrid of zillion components and dynamics. The next world is just the opposite as it is simplicity at its finest. What is מורכב living and what is its opposite which is calledפשטות ? Chazal in Pirkei Avos say (Avos 4,1) who is a rich man? The one who is happy with what he has. Such a person is blessed in this world and the next. The Maharal explains that the closer one reaches into himself into his inner core, the more happiness he has. What is outside of a person will not make him fulfilled because physical and material acquisitions which are imported bring with them a void since all materialism possesses an incompletion by the mere fact it is physical. As Chazal say if one has a hundred he then desires more and will always remain unsatisfied. One who is independent from the world of complexities, he is not tied to the whim of his middos and cravings but he places his orders on them, he is the one who finds happiness and fulfillment. Being controlled by others, whether by people, the media, lifestyles, ideas and all that are not really “you” but a result of “herd conformity” and “bandwaganism”, one will never bring you the inner serenity and peace that we seek so much. The closer one gets to himself, the closer he gets to Olam Haba the world of simplicity. That same Mishnah lists off who is happy, one who is satisfied with his lot. Who is strong, one who conquers his yetzer harah, who is honorable, one who honors others. Notice that all three have shelaimus because it comes from their inner strengths which are then exported.
This is the depth in the Chazal if one is מעביר על מדותיו he doesn’t allow his middos to take revenge and he doesn’t hold any hakpados, resentment and exactness on someone who hurt him, מעבירין לו על כל כל פשעיו then from heaven they don’t hold any hakpados on all your aveiros. This conduct of Hashem is not what you might naturally think, a result of a mechilah and forgiveness. Not so. If one is able to control his middos to the point that he doesn’t react at all, and feels that nothing in his heart has changed about his conduct with person who wronged him, then you are not living in the world of complexities from which you import your identity, and receive your dependent massages that make one falsely feel good about oneself. Rather, you are attached yourself to a world that is beyond all that, and in the world that you are connected to, aveiros just do not exist. You are the Ben Olam Habah because even though you live in this world, you are detached from it, it is not your priority and you’re not its slave.
Avraham Avinu learned Torah by himself. How so? Chazal tell us that Torah Yisrael and Hashem are one. If one detaches himself from the complexities surrounding him and relinquishes the pursuit of an outside world, then it is easy to hook up to the inside world of Torah and Hashem to whom you are naturally connected to.
The Maharal explains why is the Yom Tov of Pesach identified by eating the matzos. At first glance it seems like just one of the many aspects of the geulah that there was such a rush to leave there was just was no time to let the dough rise into bread. Not so. For then why were Yisrael commanded to eat that night matzas with the Korban Pesach and yet they were not leaving until the morning? We clearly see from this that matzos are the essence and definition of the geulah. How? Lechem Oni is the matzah and it is called bread of a poor person. A poor person has nothing, no complex gadgets, no I phones, no tablets, no leased car, no house, no workplace, no employer, no toaster, no carpool, no choices of sushi, no calorie counter, no gym, no mirrors, no sheital appointment, no looking for a charger, no Stock Market, no competition, no interior decorator, no protektzia to get his kid into camp or yeshiva, no Browser, no Facebook, no mortgage payments, no dilemma which tie fits best, etc etc etc. Wow look at these daily complex choices. He has none of these choices and not the other million of our other daily choices either. His world is pashut, he is simple and independent. Matzah is a simple food, basic ingredients and independent from any “extras” other than the bare basics. Geula is also not from this world but from a higher source, one that exists in simplicity. Pesach is the time of freedom from being enslaved to all the things outside of us. On Pesach we cut all the strings that pull us away from discovering our true selves and our neshama who represents the real me that I yearn to be. Pesach is the world of matzah the world of Olam Habah where schedules for complexities don’t exist so they don’t distract me from me.
You know why this culture loves desserts? Because desserts spelled backwards is stressed. All the extra complexities and stress for luxurious living do not bring inner satisfaction when your body must groom itself for outside demands of physicality.
כרפס is the acronym of the passuk (Shmos 14,9) כל סוס רכב פרעה. Pharoah and his entire society were a רכב a מורכב a complex dependency of cravings for outside physical pleasures and whims. Chazal say that no slave ever escaped Mitzrayim. Not because there were border guards but because they were too dependent on their pleasurable addictions that they could not get their daily fix anywhere else but in Mitzrayim which was the Country Pleasure Club. כרפס is ס פרך 600000 Yidden who had to go through back breaking labor in order to break themselves away from כל סוס רכב פרעה בים the complexities of satisfying impulsive behavior. If not, one will find himself endlessly working like a “horse” of Pharaoh seeking the imagined treasure at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately one will end up “drowning” in debt, sorrow and fatigued stress.
When we ate the Korban Pesach we are instructed עצם לא תשברו בו. However we can learn this passuk as a guarantee as well. The Korban Pesach is like the matzah, it is connected to a world of simplicity. It is gemartriaנצח which means eternity. it is one’s deep connection to one’s inner being his neshama which alerts him to what his essence really is, a Ben Olam Habah. Connect to it together with the matzah of Pesach, and you will realize ועצם לא תשברו בו one’s essence, his עצם, will not be broken with it. The opposite will happen. You will taste the freedom of simplicity. It’s not only about the cell phone. Everything of this world of complexity is our Cell and shackles of slavery of MItzrayim. Let us wake up and realize that the eternal world is our real habitat forever and it is not a fleeting one at all.
Rav Brazil
