Posted on 03/22/19
[Ed. Note] Out of the respect and recognition of the impact made by longtime BJL friend and contributor, Reb Shaya Gross, z’l, we will maintain a living memoriam to Shaya through the sweet words and thoughtful insights of his Divrei Torah. BJL readers will remember his weekly column on the Parsha and on various Torah ideas and concepts. These meaningful words will help us remember this special young man who will be sorely missed and for those who did not merit to know him, this will be the most appropriate way for them to become familiar with who he was.
Feeling despondent that all of the joy of Purim is over?
After Purim, one of my Rebbeim would always quote a Rashi in Gemara Taanis that says we should increase our joy in Adar. Rashi goes on to explain that this increased Simcha is due to the miracles of Purim AND PESACH. So according to this Rashi, our increased Simcha shouldn’t end now that Purim is over; rather, it should continue going strong into Nissan and throughout Pesach!
This week’s Parsha, Parshas Tzav, details the halachos of the Korban Todah, which is an offering of thanksgiving that people are obligated to bring after being saved from a dangerous situation. The Medrash on Tehilim tells us that there are two components of thanksgiving within this sacrifice. What are these two aspects?
The Ksav Sofer explains that the individual is obligated not only to thank Hashem for saving him from that danger, but to also thank Him for being put into that situation of danger in the first place! This is because everything Hashem does is for our good, even when it seems to be the polar opposite.
This is a major theme in the Pesach Hagadda as well. The three items we must discuss are Pesach, Matza, and Marror. As evident from the P'sukim, the Korban Pesach represents freedom, the Maror represents the bitter servitude, and the Matzahs represents the dichotomy of both the freedom and the servitude. Rabbi Yonah Sklare suggests that the symbolism of the ‘Seder Sandwich’ where we eat all three together (although unfortunately nowadays we don't eat the Pesach) is that we are acknowledging that even the bitter servitude was for our good.
Let us all be reminded by the story of the Exodus, the story of the Megilla, and so many other stories throughout Klal Yisroel’s history where we WERE able to see the full picture, that there is ALWAYS a full picture where all the suffering is really unadulterated goodness from Hashem. May we merit to see the days of Moshiach when we will proclaim the bracha of Hatov Vihameitiv on bad events, acknowledging that everything we had to go through was one hundred percent for our benefit.
{Editor's note: I saw a beautiful quote that captures this dvar torah;
DIFFICULT ROADS OFTEN LEAD TO BEAUTIFUL DESTINATIONS.}