Parshas Tzav (Shabbos HaGadol) - Chag HaPesach 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
שלא אחד בלבד עמד עלינו לכלותינו אלא שבכל דור ודור עומדים עלינו לכלותינו והקב"ה מצילנו מידם ... (הגדה של פסח)
MASHAL: When Paris fell to the Nazis in 1940, Jacob and Paula Levinson, and their baby Hessy, traveled to the south of France where they desperately tried to get visas to enter another country. The Levinsons wanted to go to Israel, but in the midst of the war, it was impossible to enter British Mandate Palestine. Instead, in 1942, they entered the Cuban consulate in the French town of Nice and fortuitously obtained Cuban visas. From there, they made their way to Marseilles, bought train tickets to Portugal, then purchased passage on a boat sailing from Lisbon to Havana, Cuba.
But there was a problem; Gerta, their Jewish live-in nurse, was still in Paris with no visa and no way of leaving Nazi-occupied Europe. While Paula waited with Hessy in Marseilles, Jacob took the train back to Nice, a perilous journey for a Jew, to visit Cuba’s consulate once more. Terrified of being asked for his papers by the Nazi guards who frequently boarded trains, Jacob stayed in the dining car, eating and drinking nonstop until he felt sick. His plan worked, guards boarded the train, asking for all travelers’ travel documents, except those in the dining car.
Once in Nice, Jacob sold his silver cigarette case and entered the Cuban consulate with the cash. He was willing pay even more money for another visa for Gerta. The consul, however, refused. “I already gave you three visas and I am in enough trouble,” he growled. Jacob would not give up so easily. He told the man that he would not leave until he was given another visa, so he simply sat down and waited.
At the end of the day, the consul turned to him angrily. “I am going to close, are you leaving or must I call the police?”
“I’ll leave as soon as you give me a visa,” Jacob retorted. Seeing Jacob’s determination and desperation, the consul suddenly - perhaps more accurately, miraculously, softened.
“You know, there is an old law on the books in Cuba that says a man can immigrate with all his possessions, including his slaves. Would you say this woman is your slave?”
Jacob looked in disbelief. It was that simple.
“Of course! Absolutely! This woman is my slave!” The consul issued one more visa for the “Jewish slave” Gerta.
NIMSHAL: This story was said over on Pesach night at the seder, to demonstrate how Hashem mercifully took the “slave” out of Nazi-occupied Europe! While recounting the miraculous Exodus and rebirth of our nation on the holiday of Pesach, we remember how in each generation there are always those who stand up to us but ultimately fail. Even in the darkest times, Hashem is always there to be our salvation - sometimes openly, and sometimes more subtly.
הא לחמא עניא די אכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים ... השתא עבדי לשנה הבאה בני חורין ... (הגדה של פסח)
MASHAL:
A policeman was once escorting a prisoner on the way to his trial. Afraid that the defendant might escape, the guard attached the prisoner to his own self by means of handcuffs, locking one cuff on his own right arm and the other cuff on the prisoner’s left arm. As they walked through the street, passersby looked scornfully at the prisoner.
The prisoner could not bear the silent stares of condemnation and shouted, “Don’t look at me that way! It is not the policeman who leads me, but I who lead him! Don’t think I am chained to him; he is chained to me!”
A wise man walking by was not fooled. He replied to the indignant prisoner, “Let us see you escape from your ‘captor’ and we will know who is the captive.”
NIMSHAL:
Likewise, explained the Alter of Novardok zt”l, there is nothing wrong with enjoying some of the good things of life. But one has to be in control of them, rather than them controlling him. It all depends on whether one merely partakes of the world’s pleasures or whether he becomes their prisoner. The litmus test to determine if man is the prisoner of his passions or whether he really controls them is whether he can unlock the chains of desire at will and still be content. If he must have his wants and cannot escape their shackles, then he is truly their prisoner. Hashem allows us to indulge ourselves to some extent, symbolized by the leavened bread we eat all year long.
On Pesach, we are given the opportunity to escape and show that we are not hopelessly chained to our every whim. We eat the poor, unleavened bread as a sign of escape, thus showing that we are in control of our lives. Then we may resume eating regular bread and enjoy life without the fear of becoming enmeshed in the mundane. We really control it as opposed to the other way around. Thus, through eating matzah, the poor bread, we break the shackles of servitude on the Festival of Freedom. (The Haggada Treasury)