Today is Isru Hag, which literally means, “To tie the korban.” But this phrase is also used for the day after a holiday, to “tie the holiday down.”
We have gone through 30 days of preparation, seven or eight days of the holiday, and now we don’t want the holiday to leave, so we have to tie it down.
To show how important it is to specifically tie Pesach down, the Torah, in Parashat Re’eh (perek טז pasuk ג) describes the purpose for eating matzah (and not hametz) for 7 days,
לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכֹּר֔ אֶת־י֤וֹם צֵֽאתְךָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ
So that you should remember Yetziat Mitzrayim all the days of your life
As we know from the Hagaddah shel Pesach, this is the source for saying Keriyat Shema twice a day.
And this means that the purpose of Pesach is not just for those seven days, but rather, that these past seven days should jumpstart and recharge our batteries for the rest of the year.
As the pasuk says, for
כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י חַיֶּֽיךָ
All the days of your life
We are supposed to be feeling that our Keriyat Shema is different as well. The last few words of the Parasha of Ani Hashem Elokechem- I am Hashem your G-d, that took you out of Egypt, should feel different. We have just spent the last seven days focusing on Yetziat Mitzrayim and its lessons.
So there are a few Rashis that I want to share, from the end of Parashat Shelach that discuss tzizit.
As you may know, the place where we remember Yetziat Mitzrayim twice a day is found in the third Parasha of tzizit. Rashi gives us some very interesting hints and connections between tzizit and Yetziat Mitzrayim. When I shared these with some people recently, it seemed that not everyone was familiar with or able recall these things, so I think it’s a good idea to review these rashis, in order to improve our Keriyat Shema.
Firstly, it says,
על כנפי בגדיהם
On the corners of your garments
The word כנף/kanaf means corner, but it can also mean wings
As in, “on the wings of eagles ”
So why does it say this?
Rashi says that it’s because G-d carried us on the clouds of glory, which are compared to the wings of eagles, when left Mitzrayim.
And why four corners ? Why not three or five?
Rashi says it’s because there are four terms of Geula/redemption ( for which we drink the four cups of wine)
והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי ולקחתי
This is shocking to some people. They think these terms are reserved for the once or twice a year at the seder when we drink the four cups of wine. But Rashi says no- when we put on tzizit, that’s what the four corners are there for!
Additionally, Tzizit used to have a blue thread called techelet in them. Rashi says that the word techelet means destruction in Aramaic, in reference to the destruction of the first born that happened in the dark of night, which is the dark blue. So with our tzizit, we remember Makat Bechorot / the plague of the first born.
And lastly, why eight strings per corner?
Rashi says that from Erev Pesach, when they slaughtered the korban Pesach, until the 7th day of Pesach there was a total of eight days. They waited eight days to sing the song of the full redemption, beginning from the time of the slaughtering of the korban Pesach. The eight strings are for those eight days.
So here, on a regular day (not Pesach), we can see the powerful connection between tzizit and the Mitzvah of remembering Yetziat and Mitzrayim.
This year I saw an additional hiddush. Rav Moshe Feinstein brings down a Bet Yosef that quotes a Midrash-
Why do we wear our tzizit on the right and on the left (with two corners in the front and two corners in the back)?
Because it says in the pasuk , “The water was a wall on their right and on their left.”
In the pasuk, word for wall חמה “chomah”
is written without a vav , so it can be read as “Chemah’ which means “angry,”
because the sea was angry and said, “Why are You saving the Jewish people? They are idol worshipers just like the Egyptians.”
And G-d answered that that they would be “wearing tzizit on the right and on their left” and in the merit of that tzizit, they were saved. That’s powerful.
The tzizit remind us of Kriat Yam Suf, (splitting of the sea) and what saved us at the Yam Suf was the fact that we would continue to remember that miracle every day with our tzizit.
It says that sometimes a segula for a salvation is to plan to make a seudat Hoda’ah to say thank you after the salvation comes.
Similarly, the merit of wearing tzizit in the future, to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim, is what saved us at Yetziat Mitzrayim.
Hopefully, we have also experienced our own Yeshuot/salvations, this past Shevi’i Shel Pesach ,and who knows, maybe the angels said it was, “In the merit of the fact that they will remember Yitziat Mitzrayim every single day,”
So here we see the importance of keeping Yetziat Mitzrayim memories fresh and alive.
Our Keriyat Shema should be different.
Our Mitzvah of Tzizit should be different,
And our Tefilin should be different.
And for the ladies, the Mitzvah of mezuzah should be different.
We have mentioned in the past that the Midrash Mehilta tells us that the mitzvah of mezuzah is in order to remember the blood on the doorposts.
So, there are many places in our lives to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim, and the more we do so, the more we can continue the Pesach message.
Have a wonderful day.