GOOD MORNING! This upcoming Shabbat, which is the one immediately preceding the holiday of Passover, is known as “Shabbat Hagadol – The Great Shabbat.” You will probably not be shocked to hear that there are many reasons cited as to why this is. In fact, there are no less than ten reasons given for this designation – keeping in line with the well-known aphorism, “two Jews, three opinions.”

The question of origin has been raised as far back as the 12th century. The Machzor Vitry – a work attributed to Rabbi Simcha of Vitry (a city that today is considered a suburb of Paris) – simply states that “People have the custom to call the Shabbat before Passover Shabbat Hagadol and they do not know why.” I am torn between finding it disconcerting or comforting that even some nine hundred years ago people did things without fully understanding the reasons for it.

The Da’at Zekeinim, also of the school of Rashi and his students, says that the reason for the “Great Shabbat” designation can be attributed to the verse in the Torah, “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house’” (Exodus 12:3).

The midrash says that when the Israelites took the lamb for the Passover sacrifice on the 10th of the Hebrew month Nissan it was a Shabbat. When the Egyptians saw that they had taken the lamb to slaughter, they gathered against the Israelites in order to attack them, for they worshipped sheep as one of their gods (Exodus 8:22). Thereupon God performed a miracle, and they were saved “and therefore it is called Shabbat Hagadol because of the greatness (gadol) of the miracle.”

According to the Talmud (Moed Kattan 5a), it seems that the Shabbat before each of the festivals and Rosh Hashanah were known as Shabbat D’rigla, and they were a time when the entire community came to the synagogue to study about the upcoming holiday. Some of the commentators on this passage state that all of these Shabbats (before the holidays) were given the title Shabbat Hagadol.

It is quite possible that the term stuck specifically to the Shabbat before Passover because of the special haftarah (the passage emanating from the Scriptures that is read after the weekly Torah portion) of the Shabbat before Passover. The selection from Malachi 3:4-24 discusses the prophecy of the arrival of the Messiah and refers to the day of his appearance as the “Great Day of God.” Thus, the Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat Hagadol.

This upcoming Monday evening (April 22nd), Jews all over the world will begin to celebrate the holiday of Passover. This holiday doesn’t just memorialize the miracles that God performed in Egypt for the Jewish people; it commemorates the birth of the Jewish nation – when we transitioned from a clan of familial relationships to a society with a national identity.

Interestingly enough, the very first antisemite, the one who classified an emerging Jewish nation as a “problem,” was none other than Pharaoh. He was also the first person in the Torah to note the transition from familial interconnectivity to nationhood and viewed this new entity as a threat to the Egyptians: “And he said to his people: Behold, the nation of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we” (Exodus 1:9). Pharaoh’s “Jewish problem” and the question of what to do about it culminated with the Nazi’s attempt at formulating a “Final Solution,” which they did their very best to implement.

This ongoing existential threat, and the continuous attack on the legitimacy of the Jewish nation to simply exist, should particularly resonate this year. Much like the rats and other vermin that emerge at night, the horrors and darkness of October 7th brought out all the vile Jew-haters from the shadows, which has led to a notorious rise in worldwide antisemitism.

This terrible situation has caused many unaffiliated Jews to do some soul-searching regarding what it means to be a Jew. It is more important than ever to learn about the roots of Judaism and its relevance to our lives in the 21st century. Given the fact that Passover celebrates the birth of the Jewish nation, it should not be surprising to learn that the Passover Seder is a key Jewish “life cycle” observance.

According to the Pew Research Center, almost 8 out of 10 people who identify as Jews participate in a Seder. Of this same group, only about half fast (at least partially) on Yom Kippur and only about 20% light Shabbat candles regularly. Surprisingly, more than 40% of Jews without any religious affiliation whatsoever (defined as those who acknowledge some Jewish parentage but identify as atheists or agnostics) also participated in a Seder.

What is a Passover Seder? The Hebrew word seder (pronounced “say-dehr”) translates to “order” in English. This refers to the fifteen rituals that are performed in a very specific order during the Passover holiday meal. The order of the Seder is presented in the Haggadah, which is the special Passover booklet containing the liturgy and instructions for the night’s many rituals.

There are many, many details to a Passover Seder and, in general, to Passover itself. As an example, during the rest of year if a small piece of not kosher meat inadvertently falls into a big pot of soup (where the volume of the soup is sixty-times said piece of meat), in most cases, the soup is still considered kosher. However, on Passover we are much stricter: If a tiny piece of a kosher bread crouton falls into five gallons of soup, the entire soup is considered chometz, meaning not Kosher for Passover, and must be immediately discarded. Without getting into a litany of specifics, there are many other laws related to Passover that are incredibly detail oriented.

In general, those who follow a more orthodox approach are super careful to fulfill every law, detail, and stringency to the best of their ability. Because a Passover Seder is often shared with those who are less religiously inclined, the following question is often posed: “Does God really care if you fulfill every minutia of every law and every custom?”

This is a compelling question, and one that is often posed to Orthodox Jews – and not just on Passover.

There are two underlying premises to this question: 1) Why are the seemingly insignificant details of laws and customs so important to follow? 2) Does the fulfillment of them really make any difference to God?

I am reminded of the story of a software development team who were working on a new program for almost two years. As they went through the beta versions and debugging processes, which required some changes to the source code, the program suddenly crashed and no longer worked. There were tens of thousands of lines of coding to review, and for weeks the entire team labored furiously to find the problem. Try as they might, they couldn’t figure it out.

Finally, one of the developers discovered a teensy tiny mistake. He found that one of the “full stops” (otherwise known as a period) had been entered in the wrong font. That one tiny and inadvertent mistake crashed the entire source code, completely shutting down the program and rendering it inoperable.

Why should a tiny dot entered in the wrong font have such monumental importance? Honestly, I have no idea, and for the life of me I cannot understand why it would make any difference. But whether or not I understand it is not important. What is important is to understand that the details are there for a reason and that yes, they really do matter.

In regard to the Almighty, we perceive Him to care about such minutiae because the closeness of every relationship is determined by the details, not the big picture. For example, if there is a large-scale emergency situation, such as an accident with children trapped in a school bus on the side of the road, most caring people will quickly jump in to help. An emergency is a “big picture” event, and one does not necessarily require a personal relationship to intervene and offer assistance.

Now if that same school bus full of children pulled up to your house while you were working and banged on your door demanding ice cream you’d likely question the mental health of their teacher or driver. However, if your own child got off that bus crying, interrupted your work, and told you they had a bad day and really wanted some ice cream you’d probably ask if they’d also like sprinkles. Whether it’s inconvenient or reasonable is not the point, the closeness of a loving relationship demands that a person does what he can to show that he cares.

So too is our relationship with the Almighty. Anybody can (and should) obey the big picture commandments of don’t kill, don’t steal, etc. But it’s the fulfillment of the minutiae that is the ultimate indicator of our closeness to the Almighty. The smaller and seemingly more insignificant the request, the more significant an indication it is of the closeness of the relationship.

Thus, the tiniest and seemingly insignificant details of the laws and customs of the Torah are actually a personal affirmation on the closeness one feels to the Almighty. It is through the fulfillment of these minute details that we express the depth of our love and commitment to God. So of course, when seen in this light, it is going to make a difference to God, because the ultimate purpose of creation is the achievement of a closeness with the Almighty. Thus, the details are indeed very important!

Speaking of details, Passover prohibits all foods that are “chometz – fermented.” This refers to any food that contains grain (made from wheat, barely, oat, etc.) whereby the leavening process begins when water is added to it. This includes virtually any food or beverage (such as beer) that has a grain ingredient; they are all prohibited on Passover unless they have a reliable Kosher for Passover certification.

Jews aren’t even allowed to own chometz during Passover. Herein lies the source for one of the greatest “workarounds” in Judaism: Any product containing chometz is sold to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. After the holiday, the chometz is purchased back. This is a legally binding sale, both in Jewish law and in civil law. This process is very easy in the twenty-first century, and you can now sell your chometz online. If you would like to sell your chometz, you can do so here. This service is free of charge, though you can make a small donation if you desire.

Metzora, Leviticus 14:1 - 15:33

The Torah continues with the laws of physical and spiritual purity. The focus of this portion is upon tzora’as, a supernatural physical affliction sent to warn someone to refrain from speaking badly about others. The disease progressively afflicted one’s home, one’s clothing, and then one’s skin – unless the individual corrected his ways and followed the purification process stated in the Torah.

This week's portion continues with the purification process for the metzora, the person afflicted with tzora’as and then the home afflicted with tzora’as. The portion ends with the purification process for discharges from the flesh.