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Pesach Sheini
A Second Chance
In the second year after God took the Jewish People out of Egypt, He commanded Moshe regarding the laws of celebrating Pesach, for all time.
But after the festival, a number of men approached Moshe:
There were men who were ritually impure by [contact with] a human corpse, and could not make the Pesach offering on that day. And they approached Moshe and Aharon on that day. Those men said to him, “We are impure through a human corpse. Why are we to be kept back, not offering God’s offering in its appointed time, among the Children of Israel?”
The Pesach offering, like all offerings, must be sacrificed and eaten in a state of ritual purity. Whoever is impure is prohibited from coming in contact with it. Therefore, the question that these men brought before Moshe and Aharon was odd.
They knew that they were disqualified from taking part in the Pesach offering; they said so themselves. The holy Ohr HaChaim asks in amazement: “What did they want? To be given a new Torah?”
Although the answer was obvious, Rashi states that Moshe took the trouble to tell them the Law. “He told them: ‘Kodashim (holy sacrifices) cannot be offered in a state of impurity.’”
Apparently, they were still not satisfied with the answer and would not relent, until Moshe agreed to bring their request to God:
Moshe said to them, “Stand by and I will hear what God will command you.”[1]
It’s surprising that Moshe agreed to ask such a question, which really was no question at all. But even more surprising is God’s answer:
And God spoke to Moshe, saying, “Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: ‘If any man will become impure through a human corpse, or will be on a distant road — whether among you or your generations — he shall make the Pesach offering for God. In the second month, on the fourteenth day, at dusk, shall they make it; with matzos and maror shall they eat it.’”
He indeed gave them a new Torah! It’s as if God said, “You say you were impure at the time of the Pesach offering, or that you were far away and didn’t return in time [no one had even said that, but perhaps, in the future, someone would]? Good. So I’ll create a second Pesach for you.”
Imagine someone who couldn’t fast on Yom Kippur asking, “Why do I have to miss out on the merit of Yom Kippur, just because I was unable to fast on that particular day?” Only God Himself could answer him: “If so, you can fast on another day. I’ll create for you another Yom Kippur, on a different date.” Only the Creator of the world could say such a thing.
So, exactly one month after Pesach, on the 14th of Iyar — a date that seemingly has no connection to Pesach or the Exodus — God created Pesach Sheini, a Second Pesach.
Rabbi Natan writes:
Those people who were impure and couldn’t participate in the Pesach offering, and asked Moshe why they should lose out, merited that through them Moshe learned the law regarding Pesach Sheini, which is a great rectification.
This is the perfection of repentance. Even when a person sees that he is very distant from God and is impure due to his evil deeds, nevertheless, he must strengthen himself and come humbly before the true Tzaddik and before God, and beg on behalf of his soul, as these men did.
In the same way, each person should beseech God on behalf of his soul, saying, “Why should we be held back, by not offering [hakriv] God’s offering?” The offerings represent closeness [hakravah] to God; [today,] Torah study and prayer correspond to the offerings. God will most certainly create a rectification for such a person, and will inform the Tzaddik [how to accomplish this] just as He informed Moshe regarding Pesach Sheini.
This is an exalted wonder, because the appointed time of Pesach is only at the time of the Exodus, when God skipped over the predestined time [and hastened the redemption]. This is why it is called Pesach, from the word to skip over.
[The lesson of Pesach Sheini] shows us the path of teshuvah, and teaches us that despair does not exist at all. Even if the time for the main rectification has passed and we are impure due to our deeds, we still have hope!
For there are wondrous, sublime rectifications that can be done even now, every single day. As long as we don’t despair of prayer and supplications, and continue to entreat God, saying:
“Why should we be held back, by not offering God’s offering?”
Do we feel impure? Distant from holiness? Even if it’s true that we are impure and distant; even if we have lost our way, stumbled, erred, and missed the special, propitious time — we still have hope!
The people who came to Moshe with their question knew that, according to the Torah, they didn’t stand a chance. Pesach was over.
The redemption had passed. As far as they were concerned, the gates had closed. They knew that — but still, they approached Moshe. They believed that there is no such thing as despair, and despite everything, approached the Tzaddik asking for a tikun. They understood that God is so great and His compassion so all-encompassing that He could create for them a solution, in a way that no one, not even Moshe, considered possible.
They believed, simply, that for God nothing is impossible, including the rectification of their distant, impure souls. Due to their fervent, sincere desire and their belief in the Tzaddik, they merited that a new secret was revealed to the world through them.
If we believe that God can fix anything, if we beg Him — even after it seems that all hope is lost — we can merit salvation.
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