A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
by Rabbi Avi Weiss

Passover on the Eve of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the State of Israel

Excerpted from Shabbat Hagadol Discourse
8 Nissan 5758-April 4, 1998

In the Haggadah, Ben Zoma states that the exodus from Egypt should be mentioned during the day and night.  Yet, he omits the possibility that it will be mentioned in the times of the Messiah.  The fact that the exodus will not be mentioned in Messianic times teaches that while our covenant with God remains eternal, it passes through different moments of "historical consciousness."

Several events in Jewish history display this trend.

Compare the covenant God makes with Avraham (Abraham) with the covenant He makes with Moshe (Moses).

In both, Avraham and Moshe express their unworthiness. (Genesis 15:8, Exodus 33:16) In both, God is present, but Avraham and Moshe cannot see God. (Genesis 15:17, Exodus 33:20)   In both, God as part of the covenant promises the land of Israel (Genesis 15:18-21, Exodus 34: 10,11).

If the covenant with Moshe is the same as with Avraham then why is it repeated?   Since a covenantal relationship is a bilateral one, both  God and the Jewish people must fulfill their ends of the bargain.  Therefore, having
worshipped the golden calf, the nation of Israel had reneged on its commitment.   Hence, the brit (covenant) had to be reaffirmed with Moshe.

There was one addition to Moshe's covenant argues Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the thirteen attributes of mercy which guarantees that even if the people sinned they would be forgiven by God. (Exodus 34:6,7)

No wonder Moshe prays differently after the sin of the spies than he does after the sin of the golden calf.  As Rabbi Yonatan Grossman of Yeshivat Har Etzion states, after the golden calf, before the 13 attributes were given,
Moshe relies on the covenant God made with Avraham.  (Exodus 32, 13)  But after the sin of the spies, Moshe invokes the attributes of mercy (numbers 14:17,18) since it had by then become the new point of historical
consciousness in the brit. 

And no wonder when the prophet Elijah (Eliyahu) tells God he was zealous, (Kings 1, 19:10) God replaces him (sentence 16).  This is because he (Eliyahu) failed to understand that while, of course, the brit was intact, a new
historical reference was to be emphasized, the brit with Moshe, that of God as a God of mercy.  This God of a "still voice," not One of "loud thunder," is the One that Eliyahu should emulate.  (sentences 11,12)

In time, the Temple was destroyed and Am Yisrael was exiled and then redeemed from Babylonia.  This new historical experience is again reflected by a change
in the names of the Jewish months.  After Egypt the months were given numbers, always counting from the exodus, so that the redemption from Egypt would
always be recalled.  After the Babylonian exile, the months were given Babylonian names as a constant reminder of what had become the new paradigm
experience for Am Yisrael.  (Ramban, Exodus 12:2)

Tragically, the second Temple was burned and for two thousand years we were not sovereign in our land.  With the grace of God, after the Shoah devastation we have returned to our homeland.  Unfortunately--unlike the important historical moments such as the golden calf incident which precipitated the thirteen attributes of mercy and the Babylonian exile which precipitated the
renaming of the months--what could very well be the beginning of the third commonwealth has not been etched into our religious consciousness.  The Shoah
has not been ritualized.  And like all historical events bereft of ritual, I fear that years from now it will be relegated to a footnote.  And, it must be added, for our larger community in the exile, the establishment of the State of Israel has similarly had marginal impact upon our religious consciousness.

As we celebrate Pesach on the eve of  the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the State we ought take to heart the message of Ben Zoma-to constantly be alive to new moments in history.  Ultimately they must impact upon the brit, giving it new spiritual meaning.  New moments have indelibly impacted on Jewish destiny.  The Shoah and the establishment of the State must be properly acknowledged within the immutable, eternal brit.

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Pesach Message From Rabbi Avi Weiss

Passover 5758

15-16 Nissan 5758-April 10-12, 1998
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SHABBAT SHALOM
&
Chag Sameach

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