Pesach Sheni. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to class number 97. We're going to talk about Parashat Emor. Parashat Emor has an interesting little story. Vayikra doesn't have that many stories. The story goes as follows.
It's time for the Korban Pesach (Passover offering). It's the only Korban Pesach they do in the desert. And there were two men who were contaminated. They were involved in taking care of the dead, whoever they were taking care of. They came to Moshe and Aharon and said, “We're contaminated. Why should we lose out? Why should we be left out? We want to bring a Korban as well.” So Moshe says, “Stand there.” And the rabbis say, “Pray. Pray, and we'll find out what Moshe says.” And Hashem tells Moshe, “We have an idea. It's called Pesach Sheni.” Pesach Sheni: You can make up the Korban Pesach. We'll give you a rain check. It's actually coming up soon. Pesach Sheni is a month after the first Pesach. Some people eat some matzah (unleavened bread) to remember the concept. So we have a make-up, a rain check. It doesn't happen with any other mitzvah (commandment). Mr. Lulav (palm branch), sorry. These two men created a new parasha in the Torah. They brought it down. It was there before. They brought it down because of their yearning to do a mitzvah.
And the rabbis learn tremendous lessons from here. The Pri Tzaddik specifically says that we see from this story that a Jew never despairs. A Jew never gives up hope, both physically, as it says, “Even if there's a sharp sword on your neck, don't give up hope and don't despair.” That's physically. And the same is true when it comes to spirituality. Even if a person really got himself in a mess, he did terrible things, and he thinks, “That's it, I'm hopeless.” Not true. Don't give up hope. Don't despair. Hashem will pull you out.
And the whole foundation of the Jewish people came about in a situation where there should be total despair. The Midrash (rabbinic exposition) says, “That's it, I'm too old. I'm not going to have children anymore.” And Hashem wanted to show the Jewish people that there never is despair. And that's why He purposely made it so that our founding fathers and mothers were not able to have children and miraculously had children. So you want to know and prove to yourself that there's no despair? Look in the mirror. The whole Jewish population—the Jewish people—is only here in a situation that was seemingly beyond hope. That's our lesson of Pesach Sheni.
And this concept is demonstrated with a beautiful story. The story happened in the times of the Chazon Ish. There was a man who was a Holocaust survivor. He lost his family. He lost his community. He lost everything. And he was broken. He didn't want to continue with life. And Rabbi Galinsky brought him to the Chazon Ish. And the Chazon Ish told him the following story. He said there was a lady who was not a businesswoman. Her husband used to go to a certain fair every single year, but he couldn't make it because he was sick. So he told his wife, “You're going to go.” She didn't know what to do. He gave her all the instructions, where to go and what to do. And he gave her the money to buy the goods. They didn't have credit cards in those days. It was cash. In the commotion of this fair, she misplaced her money. And when she realized that she had lost the money, she knew this was the whole Parnassah (livelihood) for the future year. She panicked. And she was screaming. And everyone came around. “What's going on?” “I lost my money. Oh my gosh. What's going to happen?” And she fainted. She gave up hope. That's it. She lost her money.
A few hours later, a poor man finds the money. And he goes to the local rabbi and says, “I found the money, but I want to keep it.” The rabbi says, “What do you mean? That's terrible.” He says, “No. Halacha (Jewish law) says, if someone gives up hope on their money, they had ye'ush (give up hope). Everyone knows she gave up hope. She fainted. She thought she's never getting it back. I found it. I need money. And God sent it to me. It's my money.” Okay. It's a serious question. They went to a great rabbi in town, Rav Yitzchak Elchanan, and told him the story. He heard the whole story and said, “You know what? The lady did give up hope. So the other fellow is a little small—the other plaintiff. But the problem is, it's not her money. It's her husband's money. And you can't give up hope on someone else's money. The husband didn't know about it. It was ye'ush shelo mida'at of anything. He didn't know about it. And therefore, the money goes back to the lady.”
And the Chazon Ish told the man the same thing: “You're giving up hope on yourself? You don't belong to yourself. You're God's possessions. And God didn't give up hope. He knows you have a future. He knows he could pull you out of the mess. And therefore, you can't give up hope.” And the man went on and built his life. That's the lesson of Pesach Sheni. It looks hopeless. I missed the Korban Pesach. He missed— that's it. He missed the little hour of wait for next year. He didn't have a menorah (lampstand) of wait for next year. But these guys said, “But I want it. I'm not giving up hope. I'm praying. I want it.” And God made the impossible. He created a make-up Korban for them. And we're supposed to remember this every single year, at the time of Pesach Sheni, which is coming up. Have a Shabbat Shalom and a wonderful day.