Many reasons are offered for the custom of calling the Shabbos immediately preceding Passover “Shabbos Hagadol” (lit. Great Sabbath). Tur (1) explains the name originates from the great miracle that occurred on the Shabbos preceding the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt. On that Shabbos, the Jews were told to take a lamb for the Paschal offering and to tie them to their bedposts. Miraculously, the Egyptians, who worshipped the lamb as a god, stood by silently as the Israelites slaughtered their deity.

Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov (2) offers a novel interpretation that on this Shabbos the Jewish people performed their first mitzvah (Divine commandment) as a nation. By receiving and fulfilling the commandment of “On the tenth of this month they shall take for themselves, each man, a lamb” (Shemos/Exodus 12:3) the nation entered the realm of mitzvos, and in essence became Bar Mitzvah. Just as a thirteen year old boy is referred to as a “gadol”, so too this Shabbos is referred to as Shabbos Hagadol.

Another “coming of age” for the Jewish People occurs on the night of Passover, when we read the Hagada and fulfill the positive commandment of telling the story of the Exodus. Unlike other times when we perform mitzvos, such as taking the lulav or lighting Chanuka candles, this time no blessing is recited prior to the fulfillment of the mitzvah. Chasam Sofer (3) explains that there is a blessing but oddly it is recited at the end of the Hagada, inconsistent with the principle that blessings are recited before the performance of the mitzvah. Why, he asks, do we not make this blessing before we perform the commandment of retelling the story of the Exodus?

When a person converting to Judaism immerses in the waters of the mikva (ritual bath), the final stage in the conversion process, he has no choice but to make the blessing after he has immersed for a very simple reason: prior to the immersion he was not yet Jewish. The Hagada tells us that every year, as a Jew recounts his history, he is obligated to feel as if he himself left Egyptian bondage. Reciting the Hagada is a fifteen-step process that starts with recalling our lowly origins as idol worshippers and culminates with the glorious Exodus and our entry – or “conversion” – into being Jews. To properly relive the entire experience, we must feel, as we begin the Hagada that we are idolatrous “not-yet-Jews” and are unable to recite the blessing for performing this commandment. Finally, through the process of telling and reliving the story we reach the climax and connect to G-d as Jews. Like the immersing convert, we recite the blessing at the end.

Our Sages teach us that the realities of our physical world are merely the reflection of G-d’s spiritual reality. Thus, the spiritual potential of rebirth and renewal that are inherent to the Jewish month of Nissan explains why the season of spring – heralding the renewal of our physical world – occurs in it, and the miracles of the Exodus – the rebirth of our nation – occurred at this time. The time is ripe with potential for commencement, for growth. Let us use it to achieve greatness.

Have a Good Shabbos!

(3) Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg; 1762-1839; acknowledged leader of Hungarian Jewry of the time

Text Copyright © 2006 by Rabbi David Begoun and Torah.org.

Kol HaKollel is a publication of The Milwaukee Kollel Center for Jewish Studies · 5007 West Keefe Avenue · Milwaukee, Wisconsin · 414-447-7999