Pesach Sheni

As we approach Pesach this year, if we find ourselves protesting or gathering with the משפחות החטופים the Families of the Hostages, we are in good company. In fact in an agonizing manner we are reenacting what might be considered the first protest recorded in the Torah. In Bamidbar chapter 9, in the second year after the Exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel now in the desert, receive a brief overview of the laws of Passover. In verse 6, in an unusual manner, the focus moves from Moses relaying the instructions, to a group who were not in a position to fulfill these directives; 9:6,7;

וַיְהִ֣י אֲנָשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר הָי֤וּ טְמֵאִים֙ לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֔ם וְלֹא־יָכְל֥וּ לַעֲשֹׂת־הַפֶּ֖סַח בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא וַֽיִּקְרְב֞וּ לִפְנֵ֥י מֹשֶׁ֛ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י אַהֲרֹ֖ן בַּיּ֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃

But there were some householders who were impure by reason of a corpse and could not offer the passover sacrifice on that day. Appearing that same day before Moses and Aaron.

וַ֠יֹּאמְר֠וּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הָהֵ֙מָּה֙ אֵלָ֔יו אֲנַ֥חְנוּ טְמֵאִ֖ים לְנֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֑ם לָ֣מָּה נִגָּרַ֗ע לְבִלְתִּ֨י הַקְרִ֜יב אֶת־קׇרְבַּ֤ן יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמֹ֣עֲד֔וֹ בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Those householders said to them, “Impure though we are by reason of a corpse, why must we be debarred from presenting God’s offering at its set time with the rest of the Israelites?”

It is a stunning and very emotional appeal. This group of Jews who had partaken in the ultimate Chesed, the act of tender-heartedness by taking care of the dead, had become impure and therefore unable to bring the Passover sacrifice. They felt wrongly discriminated against and appealed to Moses and Aaron to find a solution so that they would not be excluded from the community and barred from participating in this seminal event. Moses and Aaron recognizing this predicament and evidently feeling their pain, without delay, take the case directly to God. The response is extraordinary. Note how the question relates only to the conundrum of being in a state of impurity, yet the response adds an additional element; to people in a distant place, on a journey, unable to make it in time. The extension of the ruling to those “missing”, is striking and prescient.

דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ אִ֣ישׁ כִּי־יִהְיֶֽה־טָמֵ֣א ׀ לָנֶ֡פֶשׁ אוֹ֩ בְדֶ֨רֶךְ רְחֹקָ֜הׄ לָכֶ֗ם א֚וֹ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעָ֥שָׂה פֶ֖סַח לַיהֹוָֽה׃

Speak to the Israelite people, saying: When any party—whether you or your posterity—who is defiled by a corpse or is on a long journey would offer a passover sacrifice to God,

בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בְּאַרְבָּעָ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר י֛וֹם בֵּ֥ין הָעַרְבַּ֖יִם יַעֲשׂ֣וּ אֹת֑וֹ עַל־מַצּ֥וֹת וּמְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃

they shall offer it in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

And so ‘Pesach Sheni’ is born , an ingenious albeit an almost unique (second) chance not to miss out or be missed. Why is this practice exclusively used for Pesach and no other Festival? It is clearly inconceivable that Freedom can be achieved nor celebrated if people are missing from our tables. 

Tragically in our present circumstances this astute approach has very different and distressing connotations. The public square reflecting the language and angst of the public, agonizingly highlight  ‘Pesach Sheni‘ – the second Pesach, that our hostages will potentially be away from their loved ones. We must not stop calling this out, we must continue to be their voices, לָ֣מָּה נִגָּרַ֗ע לְבִלְתִּ֨י הַקְרִ֜יב with poetic and timely license; “Why are we being prevented to be close, to be home, to celebrate the Festival of Pesach?” 

The ingenuity of this innovation highlights what is so desperately lacking in our reality; leaders that empathize and care through compassion and have a sense of urgency and responsibility that spurns them to act and resolve the anguish immediately. 

May “Pesach Sheni” return to being a benevolent response not a daunting reality, may we speedily witness the promise of the Festival of Freedom and may we stop pledging for next year, rather right now! -No one should be missing. #BringThemHomeNow.