Pesach
Checking for The Source of Aveiros:
The Mishnah states: “Ohr l’arbah asar bodkin es hachametz.” (On the eve of the 14th day of the month, we check the chometz.) Rav Yehoshua of Belz zy”a asks why it says that we “check the chometz”, rather than saying that we “check for chometz”?
He answers that “chometz” can be understood as a reference to a person’s aveiros. When a person makes a chashbon hanefesh and realizes that he has sinned, he must try to determine what the source of the sin was so that he can completely uproot it. Therefore, he has to “check the chometz”, meaning that he must investigate his sins to see where they came from and how they can be removed at the source.
His son, Rav Yissochor Dov of Belz zy”a, explained this with moshol of two merchants who traveled to a fair to sell their wares. They both were successful and sold all of their goods very quickly. They had more time than they expected, so they set off on foot towards home.
After several hours of walking in the hot sun, they got tired and wanted to stop to rest. They were worried about their money, and looked for a place to hide it while they napped. They looked around and saw that there was a herd of cows grazing nearby but no man was in sight. They then hung the money on a tree branch and went to sleep on the grass.
Unfortunately for the merchants, they failed to notice that the cows were not unaccompanied. They were being herded by a man who saw where they put the money. He waited until they were asleep and then quickly took it. He was now in a quandary as to what to do next. He knew that if he moved his flock, the cows would make noise and wake the sleeping men, who would realize that their money was gone and he must have taken it. He also did not want to run away on his own, leaving his cows behind. Finally, he came up with an idea. He took the money out of the sack it was in and filled it with cow dung so that the merchants wouldn’t notice that it was empty. He then put it back on the tree branch and went back to grazing his flock.
His plan worked. The merchants eventually woke up and were happy to see that their moneybag was exactly where they had left it. However, they were shocked when they opened the bag and saw that it was full of manure instead of money. They couldn’t understand how this could have happened. They wondered how the cows could have climbed the tree, taken their money, and filled their bag with dung. One of them said, “We must take the cows to the Rov for a din Torah!”
If they had any sense, they would have recognized that cows cannot climb trees and steal money, and there must be a cowherd with them who was responsible.
The nimshol is that every man comes to this world with a “sack”, i.e., his heart. This container must be filled with “money”, i.e., Torah and mitzvos. However, we sometimes fall asleep – meaning that we lose our focus – and the yeitzer hara comes along and steals all of our good intentions and deeds from our hearts, leaving worthless nonsense – meaning aveiros and sinful desires - in its place.
Once we wake up and realize that our hearts have been corrupted, we have to think about how this “dung” got into our hearts in order to remove it and get back the treasure it usurped. A wise person will recognize that the source is obviously the yeitzer hara, and he will chase after it and demand that it return what it stole from him, and, in the future, he will make sure not to “fall asleep” and allow this to happen again.
Accordingly, a person has to “check his chometz” by finding the source of his sins and eradicating it from his heart.
Rav Levi Yitzchok’s Preparations for the Seder:
Sefer Raza D’Uvda (Shaar Ha’Osiyos L’Pesach, Ois 1) relates that Rav Levi Yitzchok of Berditchov zy”a and the Magid of Kozhnitz zy”a shared a very close bond of friendship. One year, Rav Levi Yitzchok told the Magid that he wanted to spend the Seder night together with him. However, the Magid was a very weak man physically and he was afraid to be together with Rav Levi Yitzchok because he knew that he was always full of fire and enthusiasm, and that he would often get excited, sing, dance, and jump around in an unnatural way. He knew that he didn’t have the energy to keep up with this type of avodah, so he tried to refuse. However, Rav Levi Yitzchok insisted and eventually convinced the Magid to agree to be in the same house with him for the Seder, albeit in separate rooms.
On the Seder night, the Magid went into his room, closed the door and began to recite the Hagadah. Rav Levi Yitzchok went into his room and began conducting the Seder with much enthusiasm and very loudly. When he got to the words: “Matzoh zu she’anu ochlim al shum mah”, he got so excited that he got up from his seat, ran into the Magid’s room, and jumped onto the table. The entire table fell over, breaking everything that was on it. He then ran over to the Magid, grabbed him by the shoulders, and began to shake him. He cried out, “Heiliger Kozhnitzer Magid! Matzoh zu she’anu ochlim al shum mah? Why do we eat this matzoh?”
He was so immersed in his avodah that he didn’t even realize how hard he was shaking this weak man. He didn’t realize that he had broken all of the cups and dishes and spilled the wine. This was the extent of this great man’s enthusiasm for ruchnius.
The Angels Came to Hear the Hagadah:
When Rav Yitzchok of Radvil zy”a was a young man, he lived in the city of Nadvorna. One year, when he was ready to start his Seder, he told his shamash to bring him water from the well for netilas yadayim. A long time passed, but the attendant failed to come back with the water. The Rebbe sent his Rebitzen to see what was taking so long, but she also failed to return. Finally, he went himself to see what was going on.
When he got outside, he saw a large crowd peering into the window of a home. They were looking at a Jewish man and listening to how he recited the Hagadah. He saw his shamash and wife amongst the crowd, and he too walked over to see what was so interesting. He saw that the man was reciting one page of the Hagadah and then one page from Megilas Eicha. He continued doing this, page by page, and the crowd was watching this and laughing at how funny it was.
The real story was that this man had given his Hagadah to a bookbinder, whom he asked to bind it for him. He also brought his copy of Kinos and Megilas Eicha to the bookbinder at the same time. The binder made a mistake and mixed up the pages, binding every other page from the Hagadah together with every other page from the Kinos. This unlearned Jew didn’t know what the words meant in any case, so he hadn’t realized that anything was amiss.
The Rebbe later said that the entire Pamalia Shel Maaloh had come down to hear this Jew recite the Hagadah with temimus. That is why everyone was so captured by it and were unable to stop watching. There neshamos felt the kedusha and they were unable to walk away.
We Have Enough Maror:
One year, there was not enough maror at the Seder table of the Ahavas Yisroel of Vizhnitz zy”a for all of the people. One of the chasidim called out to the gabbai to bring more maror but the Rebbe said, “The Jewish people...
