Shabbat Ha-Gadol - (Malakhi 3:4-23)

 

On the Shabbat preceding Pesach we once again put aside the regular Haftora that accompanies the weekly parasha (usually parashat Tzav; this year parashat Metzora) in favor of a special Haftora – a prophecy of Malakhi. This is similar to the four shabbatot where a special Haftora is read, unrelated to the weekly parasha. The difference is that on those shabbatot we read a special "maftir" on a particular theme from a second Sefer Torah, and the Haftora relates to that theme. This is not so in the case of Shabbat Ha-Gadol, where the Haftora has no connection with our reading from the Torah. 

 

The approach of Pesach would seem to be the logical motivation underlying the selection of this Haftora. After all, the preceding haftarot – "parah" and "ha-chodesh" – also serve as preparation for the festival. But at first glance it seems difficult to find any connection between the pesukim of the Haftora and the theme or laws of Pesach.

 

Let us examine a few points in the parasha where we hear some echo of the Pesach theme and see some connection with the redemption from Egypt.

 

1. a. From the beginning until the end

The prophetic mission in Israel begins in Egypt, prior to the redemption. The mission begins with Moshe, the greatest of all the prophets, and the last prophecy transmitted to Israel is spoken by Malakhi, the last of the prophets. Malakhi, in his prophecy, brings together the beginning and the end when he proclaims in Hashem's name, "Remember the Torah of Moshe, My servant, which I commanded to him at Chorev to all of Israel; the statutes and the laws"(22). And within his prophecy he speaks of the past: "From the days of your forefathers you deviated from My statutes"(7). He teaches Bnei Yisrael to look at all that has happened in the history of the world and appreciate the miracle of Jewish survival: "And you, the children of Yaakov, have not been consumed." From this panoramic perspective the prophet promises, "And the offering of Yehuda and of Jerusalem will be sweet to Hashem like the days of old and in years gone by."

 

On the eve of the redemption from Egypt we review the pesukim that represent the last of the prophecies in order to attain a broad historical perspective.

 

1. b. Service of God

The subject of Divine service occupies a major portion of the Haftora - "You have said, It is useless to serve God" (14). Hashem will have mercy on those who fear Him, "As a man has mercy on his son who serves him" (17), and then it will be possible to distinguish "between the righteous and the wicked, between the servant of Hashem and one who is not His servant" (18).

 

Where is the first place that the Torah speaks about service of Hashem? It is in the context of the exodus from Egypt. At the very beginning of Moshe's mission he is told, "When you take the nation out of Egypt You shall serve the Lord..." (Shmot 3:12). Even Paro is aware that the Israelites wish to be freed from Egyptian bondage in order to serve their God, and during the plague of darkness he agrees: "Go and serve God" (10:24). Moshe explains to him, "We do not know with what we shall serve God until we get there" (10:26). The exodus from Egypt is in fact the abandonment of slavery for another type of service; it is a transition from "slavery to human beings" to "service of the Creator," which is truly freedom.

 

This applies not only to the "service" of that time, but to service for all generations, for more than any other set of mitzvot, those pertaining to Pesach are called "avoda" (service), as we read: "And it shall be when Hashem brings you to the land of the Cana'ani... and you shall perform this service in this month..." (13:5); "And it shall be when you come to the land... and you shall observe this service, and it shall be when your children say to you, What is this service for you..." (12:25-26).

 

On the Shabbat preceding the "festival of service" we proclaim before the whole congregation, "I shall have mercy on you like a man has mercy on his son who serves him."

 

1. c. The festival of mercy

Malakhi promises, in Hashem's name, "I shall have mercy on you like a man has mercy on his son," and this mercy goes back to the earliest times, to its very beginning in Egypt. On the verse, "And I shall pass over (pasachti) you and there shall be no plague among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt" (Shmot 12:13), Rashi comments (following the interpretation of Onkelos and the Mekhilta), "'And I shall pass over' – this means, 'And I shall have mercy.'" Likewise further on, when we read, "And Hashem will pass over the door" (12:23) – "'will pass over' – this means that Hashem will have mercy on whoever is inside' (Rasag), and "it is the sacrifice of passover" (12:27) is interpreted as "the sacrifice of mercy" (Rasag). Thus the festival of Pesach is in fact the festival of mercy.

 

1. d. Fathers and sons

More than in any other mitzva or ceremony in all of Judaism, the children represent the central ingredient of the Seder night. The whole of the story of the exodus from Egypt is nothing more than an answer to the children's questions – "And you shall recount to your children...." The very mitzvot themselves that are performed on the Seder night are meant to arouse their interest in order to cause them to ask. The children were a critical concern both in the context of the physical enslavement (where the newborn boys were thrown into the river) and in the exodus in order to serve Hashem, for while Paro agreed, "Let the men go and serve Hashem" (Shmot 10:11), Moshe insisted that "with our sons and our daughters... we shall go, for it is our celebration to Hashem" (10:9).

 

On the Seder night we recount the story of the redemption through an intertwining of the generations; each generation passes on the experience to the next, the parents teach the children and their hearts beat together with excitement. And this, Malakhi promises at the conclusion of his prophecy, hints at what the prophet Eliyahu will achieve before the coming of the "day of Hashem." He will "return the hearts of the father to the children, and the hearts of the children to their father." This is more than what is accomplished on the Seder night, for on that night the fathers talk and pass on to the children, but at the time of the future redemption not only will the fathers implant the heritage in the hearts of their children, but "the hearts of the fathers will return to the children" – i.e., through the children. Eliyahu will tell the children, with love and support, "Go and speak to your fathers, to observe the ways of the Holy One." (Rashi)

 

1. e. The first redemption and the final redemption

"The great and awesome day of Hashem," of which Malakhi speaks, is the day of the revelation of Hashem's glory. It is in fact the expression and purpose of the redemption; it is like a thread joining the first redemption from Egypt and the final redemption as described in the Haftora. But while the first redemption took place in great haste and the spiritual repair came in its wake, the final redemption will begin with the visit of Eliyahu to repair and prepare the hearts and to bring peace to the world.

 

On the Shabbat preceding our celebration of the first redemption we create an image of the final redemption in order to include that, too, in our overall experience of the Seder night.

Transalted by Kaeren Fish