Our Rabbi's Message
March 20th 2009
By Rabbi Aaron KriegelThe key to Jewish living is preparation. Nothing is supposed to happen spontaneously. In fact, the calendar cannot be properly observed if one does not prepare for holidays before they arise. Of course the best example is Shabbat. To fully realize the benefits of that day, one must prepare his or her calendar, prepare for the Shabbat meals, and prepare to live in a house that has been cleaned for the holy day.
In like manner one cannot observe Purim without packing Purim baskets well before the festival. One cannot dress up in costume at the last minute. And more than all that, one must practice the megillah and review the story of Purim in order to delight in the reading of the Book of Esther.
The same analysis applies to all holidays and all events that occur during the Jewish year. Having a good Jewish time always means that one must prepare for that good time. We see no better evidence of necessary preparation than at Pesach time. We begin to celebrate Pesach when we finish celebrating Purim. That gives us thirty days. During that time we are not supposed to eat matzo so that we develop a taste for matzo. We are supposed to review the laws of Pesach because they are many and detailed. We are supposed to go over the Haggadah in order to present the Seder adequately. We are supposed to clean our houses and prepare special foods under special conditions before the holiday arrives.
This Shabbat we read a special Torah portion about the new month. One of the reasons for reading that Torah portion is to make us aware that the cycle of festival and holiday which began well before Purim continues and grows with the advent of Pesah. However, the cycle does not end with Pesach, but extends for more than seven weeks until Shavuot.
And the day after Shavuot, like the day after each of the festival holidays, there is a final day to wind down, but that is another story.
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