פרשת בהעלותך-תש"פ

(1) On the topic of hitchazkut (encouragement)—that a person should not fall into despair on account of the many blemishes and harm his actions caused—the Rebbe declared: If you believe it is possible to destroy, believe it is possible to repair!

(1) (Bamidbar 9:6) "And there were men who were unclean by the body of a man, and they could not offer the Pesach on that day": Who were those men? They were the bearers of Joseph's casket. These are the words of R. Yishmael. R. Akiva says: They were Mishael and Eltzafan, who had become tamei by (the bodies of Nadav and Avihu). R. Yitzchak says: If they were the bearers of Joseph's casket, they could have cleansed themselves (in time to eat the Paschal offering), and if they were Mishael and Eltzafan, they could have cleansed themselves. Rather, they were men who had become unclean by contact with a meth-mitzvah (a body with none to bury it, but themselves), their seventh (and final) day of uncleanliness falling out on Pesach eve. "And they drew near before Moses and before Aaron on that day": Is it possible that Moses did not know (the halachah) and Aaron did know? — Invert the verse (i.e., "they came before Aaron and Moses") and expound it (i.e., they came before Aaron and he did not know and then they came before Moses.) These are the words of R. Yoshiyah. Abba Channan says in the name of R. Eliezer: They (Moses and Aaron) were sitting in the house of study, and they (the men) came and stood before them. We are hereby (by their asking) apprised that they were devout men, solicitous of the mitzvah. (Ibid. 7) "and those men said to him": Is it not already written (Ibid. 6) "the men"? What is the intent of "those men"? We are hereby apprised that only the one affected (by the question) makes the inquiry (and not his representative). "Why should we be held back (not to offer the sacrifice of the L-rd in its appointed time")? Moses: Offerings, (in this instance, the Pesach offering), are not offered in a state of tumah. They: This may be true of offerings which have a backup (i.e., which if not offered now may be offered later, but is it true of offerings (i.e., the Pesach offering) which have no backup (and which must be offered on the fourteenth of Nissan)? Moses: Offerings may not be eaten in a state of tumah. They: If so, let the blood (of the Pesach offering) be sprinkled on the unclean ones, and the flesh be eaten by the clean ones. And this would, indeed, follow. If a sin-offering, which is holy of holies — its blood is sprinkled on the unclean ones, and its flesh is eaten by the clean ones (the Cohanim), then the Paschal offering, a lower-order offering — how much more so should its blood be sprinkled on the unclean ones and its flesh be eaten by the clean ones! Moses; I have not heard (the halachah). (Ibid. 8) "Stand, and I will hear (what the L-rd will command concerning you") — as one would say: "I will hear the thing from my teacher's mouth." Happy the woman's son who was so confident that whenever he wished He would speak with him! R. Chidka said: Shimon Hashikmoni was a colleague of mine of the disciples of R. Akiva, and he said: Moses knew that a tamei does not eat the Pesach offering. What was their dispute? As to whether the blood is sprinkled upon them or not. It were fitting that the section on the tamei'im be related (independently) by Moses. Why was it related through them? For merit is conveyed through the meritorious and liability through the liable.

(1) The commandment of the second Pesach (Pesach Sheni) on the fourteenth of Iyar: That anyone who was unable to offer the first Pesach offering on the fourteenth day of Nissan - for example, due to impurity or because he was at a distance - [offer] the second Pesach offering on the fourteenth day of Iyar; as it is stated (Numbers 9:11), "On the second month on the fourteenth day in the afternoon, you shall offer it." The Sages taught us further (Pesachim 73a) that it is not specifically ritual impurity or distance, but any case of inadvertence or duress; or even if was volitional and he did not offer the first one, he may offer the second one.

(2) It is from the roots of the commandment that it is because the commandment of the Pesach offering is a powerful and clear sign to all of the creation of the world. For at the time [of the exodus], God, blessed be He, performed great miracles and wonders for us and changed the nature of the world in the eyes of many nations. And [so] all the peoples of the earth saw that His providence and power is over the lower (earthly) beings. And then at that time, everyone believed and all who came after them believed that He, Blessed be He, created the word ex nihilo at the time that He chose - and that was the well-known time. [As] even though creation ex nihilo is impossible according to the [laws of] nature, so too is splitting the depths of the sea to allow the passage of a great assemblage of people on dry land and returning them to their place, as is sustaining a large and numerous people for forty years on bread that would descend from the sky every day, and all the other signs and wonders that He performed for us at that time, as they all were novel and went against the laws of nature. This is the firm pillar of our faith and our Torah, for people who believe in the eternity of the universe have no Torah and no share in the World to Come. This thing is well-known and there is no need to elaborate on well-known matters. Therefore, it was His will, blessed be He, to allow every man of Israel to merit in this important commandment, and that an accident or long-distance not impede him from fulfilling it. Rather, 'if trouble will occur to him' and he is prevented in the first month and he did not do it with the earlier ones, he may do it in the second month. And since this is a great fundamental principle in our religion, the obligation even extends to a convert who converted between the first Pesach and the second, and so [too, to] a child who reached maturity between the two Pesachs - that they are obligated to [offer] the Pesach Sheni sacrifice (see Mishneh Torah, Laws of Paschal Offering 6:7).

What does the evil [son] say? "'What is this worship to you?' (Exodus 12:26)" 'To you' and not 'to him.' And since he excluded himself from the collective, he denied a principle [of the Jewish faith]. And accordingly, you will blunt his teeth and say to him, "'For the sake of this, did the Lord do [this] for me in my going out of Egypt' (Exodus 13:8)." 'For me' and not 'for him.' If he had been there, he would not have been saved.