May 12th
It is hard to believe that it has been a month since Pesach. Wednesday was Pesach Sheni, which falls exactly one month after Pesach. Pesach Sheni may be the first Jewish holiday to originate not with God, but with the Jewish people themselves.
In Parshat B’ha`alos’kha (Numbers 9:6-12), we read about a group of Jews who were unable to participate in the Pesach sacrifice because they were in a state of ritual impurity. Instead of simply accepting their exclusion from this most central of Jewish rites, they complained to Moshe and said, “why should we be deprived of offering the sacrifice of Hashem?!” In response to their complaint, God commanded Moshe to institute Pesach Sheni, literally “the Second Passover,” as a second chance for those who had been unable to participate in the holiday the first time around.
The manner in which the holiday came about is essential to understanding its the meaning. This holiday is not merely about “second chances,” it is a recognition that sometimes people find themselves excluded from full participation in the religious life of the community through no fault of their own. Pesach Sheni reminds us that the proper response when we find ourselves unable to participate in the religious life of our community is not to simply put up with it, and accept our fate. The proper response is to go to our religious leaders and demand to be included. If the complaints are leshem shamayim, coming from a place of piety and love of God and not from a place of ego or rebelliousness, our leaders should follow the model presented by HaShem and Moshe and find a way to include those who have been excluded in a manner which does not undermine or destroy our existing religious institutions and traditions.
May God bless each of us with courage and strength to be our own advocates and not to let external obstacles stand in the way of a full and deep religious engagement. May He bless our religious and communal leaders with the vision and compassion to continue seeking ways to open the doors of our religious observance to as many Jews as possible.
Rabbi Garth Silberstein