Recapping what we found in our Parsha to this point, we have five cases of one who has a grievance with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. First, one whose family member was taken from them. Then one who is born with a blemish, one whose intended action is invalidated, and one whose animal is invalidated for a korban. Finally, we had one who is not permitted to stretch the goodwill and protection generated by their Korban Todah past nightfall. What section comes next in the Parsha? The presentation of the five Mo’adim: Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Succot. To remove the grudge and grievances we may hold, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us these five holidays. They are all designed to provide us with the ability to exit our state of indignation.
Pesach brings a person from death to life. How? I will explain in my words, not his. At the time of Pesach Mitzrayim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave Bnei Yisrael two Mitzvot involving blood: Brit Milah and Korban Pesach. Bnei Yisrael were infected by Avodah Zara from top to bottom, and unlike an acute infection that is curable through an isolated treatment, this total infection required them to die and be reborn. The Chida says, Brit Milah and Korban Pesach were the equivalent of dying and being reborn (as learned from the story of Shechem and its people circumcising themselves and being left in a defenseless state before being killed). Thus, the Ishbitzer says, Pesach is the answer for anyone questioning, and holding a grievance, after the death of their loved one. “Why did my child die? Why did my spouse die? Why did my sibling die?” Pesach teaches us that death sparks life.
Shavuot addresses the grievance of one who is born with a blemish and who holds a grievance against Hakadosh Baruch Hu for their fate. Had they received the blemish later in life, it could be ascribed to punishment for a sin, but to be born with it? “What did I do to deserve this? Why? Why can my brothers all perform their service as kohanim in the Mikdash, but I cannot?” Shavuot is the answer, because standing at Har Sinai for Matan Torah, all the sick were healed, and all the blemishes of Bnei Yisrael removed. Shavuot demonstrates that all illnesses and blemishes can be overcome with the help of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
The third class that holds a grievance is the kohen who became impure at the last moment upon hearing news that renders him impure and prevents him from performing his duties. Or the person who prepares everything exactly how it was meant to be done, but circumstances beyond their control bring everything to a complete stop. Rosh Hashanah is the answer. We blow the shofar, and from that moment forward shall hear only שְׁמוּעוֹת טוֹבוֹת – good tidings.
Our next station is that of unseen blemishes found in an animal which render it pasul for a korban. Man shares fifty of those blemishes with the animal, and the Ishbitzer says, man’s Neshama is pure by nature, but when sins are committed, the body-part involved in that act receives the blemish. What is the healing process? Yom Kippur. By accepting upon ourselves the five innuyim (afflictions) and becoming closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we can fix the blemishes found in the animalistic portion of our beings.
The final person who holds a grievance with Hakadosh Baruch Hu is one who thought that bringing a Korban Todah would protect them from all future punishment and inflictions, but then learned that the korban can only be eaten that night, and with the following day comes a new accounting. If so, how are they to protect and save themselves? If all their thanksgiving actions don’t carry forward, what can they possibly do? The answer is Succot. Sitting in the Succah for seven days is sitting ָהּ דְּ מֵ הֵ ימָ נוּתָ א בְּ צִ ל – in the shadow of faith. One sits in the shade of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Rav Nosson Meir Wachtfogel, the Lakewood mashgiach, brings a Gemara (Bava Metzia 85a) to explain this concept. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi passed by a shochet accompanying his calf on its way to being slaughtered. The calf saw Rebbe and crossed the street to hide under his coat, but Rebbe sent the calf back out, and told it " נוֹצֶרֶ ת זִיל, לְכָך – Go, for this you were created.” The Gemara recounts that he received tremendous suffering for the next thirteen years until another incident where he had mercy on rodents found behind his couch. The Mashgiach asks, what was Rebbe supposed to do? A calf was hiding under his coat, should he have instead brought him to the yeshiva? Of course he should have directed the calf back to the shochet. Yet, as the Chafetz Chaim says, we even see from Lot in Sedom that when someone enters your domain, you must protect them. Rebbe didn’t need to take the calf with him, but there was no need to push him back to the shochet. He could have left the calf there until the shochet came to retrieve it. Rav Wachtfogel says, Hakadosh Baruch Hu expected Rebbe not to push the calf back, and if He expected this of Rebbe, He too must act this way – protecting anyone entering His domain and shade. We enter the heavenly shade, or the coat of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and therefore He will not push us out. In the Succah, we are protected from all accusers and prosecutors, and protected from punishment. One who said Nishmat and offered a Korban Todah yesterday, must today place himself in the shade of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and remain close to Him.
