The Da’as That We Take from Pesach for the Entire Year
What Are We Taking with Us from the Yom Tov?
The Question That Doesn’t Have an Adequate Answer
There’s an age-old question: When people go on vacation, what do they accomplish by it?
Later, when people return home, all their problems are waiting for them right where they left them—they didn’t miraculously disappear. And sometimes, if we leave the problems to fester, they only grow and accumulate. When the person returns from vacation, he will find his water and electricity cut off because he didn’t pay his bills.... His situation only worsened because of his vacation. Thus, what’s the purpose of running way?
This question doesn’t really have an answer. Sometimes, vacation is indeed counterproductive and can exacerbate the situation. It only temporarily calms the person.
Proceeding from Yom Tov
When it comes to the heilige Yamim Tovim that the Ribbono shel Olam has given us, when a person disconnects from everything... the whole world stops for him. The week before Yom Tov, you can’t even talk to this person; everything is postponed, and he will tell you, “We’ll speak after Yom Tov.”
But now comes the dreaded “after Yom Tov,” and all the problems and dilemmas are right where we left them, and they’ve perhaps even gotten worse.
There’s the bachur who needs a new yeshivah, since he was told that he can’t return the following zeman; the bills have accumulated; an array of business affairs must be straightened out... everything is back to the way it was—and it’s a difficult reality that hits the person hard, descending as he is from the high of Yom Tov. He must now contend with the realities and challenges of Olam HaZeh.
One may ask: What was the point of this exercise? Of course, we fulfilled so many important mitzvos, but how do we proceed from an elevated Yom Tov back into our mundane lives?
Freshening Up
The answer to this can be given in a very simple way: There are two ways in which a person may—even in the materialistic world, using a wise approach—abandon his problems or postpone them:
The first situation is when it’s late at night, and he says, “Let’s stop here and pick this up tomorrow morning.” And we ask him, “What are you thinking? Do you think your problems will vanish if you go to sleep now?!”
Everyone understands that this is an unfair question—because this man is exhausted, his mind isn’t working properly, and he doesn’t have the kochos to concentrate properly. Tomorrow he will wake up refreshed, and he’ll be able to tackle the issues far better.
The Ribbono shel Olam grants us renewed strength in the morning, and He removes sleep from our eyes. Everything is different following a good rest. The same goes for a person attempting to learn a sugya when his eyes are closing. When he wakes in the morning, his learning will go so much more smoothly and easier, and the same applies to a person seeking to build a succah on an empty stomach; when he takes a moment to have a bite, his entire project will be so much easier.
And so, taking a break is very often a good idea, and it is always encouraged to take a breather.
Improving Our Skills
The second instance in which it’s encouraged to postpone our issues and problems is for the purpose of improving and learning new skills and strategies. A person may stop what he’s doing in order to learn how to do it better.
One example of this is a businessman who leaves his work behind for a day or two to attend a seminar or convention where he will meet with experts from around the globe. They will share strategies for efficiency, give advice on how to avoid mistakes, and provide practical advice from people who have been in this field for decades.
He will miss work for two days—but it’s well worth it, because he will return to work completely refreshed, armed with strategies and skills that he hadn’t had before. In the words of the Gemara (Menachos 99a) קיומה זו תורה של ביטולה, the neglect of Torah learning is its preservation. Sometimes we must take measures that will preserve Torah for the future, even at the cost of our Torah itself.
The Vitality That the Neshamah Receives from a Yom Tov
The heilige Yamim Tovim that we were gifted from Hashem have both elements.
First, a Yid rests up over Yom Tov. Why does a person wake up refreshed in the morning? Because when a person goes to sleep, the neshamah, which had spent too much time on Olam HaZeh, ascends closer to the Ribbono shel Olam. There, it is in an exalted state. It has returned to the Ribbono shel Olam! And when a person wakes in the morning, his neshamah is coming from a good place, it comes from Olam HaBa. Of course, he is able to learn and daven better.
The same transpires every Yom Tov: The neshamah becomes refreshed, even when we’re not sleeping. We ascend to an exalted place, and we return with renewed strength.
The Brilliant Da’as We Receive on Yom Tov
Second, there are knowledge and skills that we learn on Yom Tov—in a way that only a Yom Tov can teach us! The Ribbono shel Olam illuminates our neshamah with so much knowledge and understanding of Torah—as we supplicate so many times over Yom Tov, בתורתך חלקינו ותן,voT באמת לעבדך לבינו וטהר.
In addition to all the mitzvos that we perform over Yom Tov, which infuse our minds with דעת of Hashem—we undergo a seminar with numerous “presentations.” There’s a course on how to purge the chametz from our hearts, how we can shake off the impurities by having charatah, erasing all the undesirable influences that have attached themselves to the neshamah. This was the preparation for Yom Tov.
Later, the neshamos emerge from the kelipah. We experienced a holy night of מצרים יציאת סיפור, which beamed in a new appreciation that a Yid is a wholly different creation in This World—and פסח של שביעי featured its own lessons and yesodos in emunah in Hashem.
On Yom Tov We Receive the Keys to Solve Our Problems
Finding the Solution
After a Yom Tov, a Yid finds that it is time to return to all the problems that he has postponed, but he is returning to his life with entirely new kochos.
It is comparable to a person who stands at the entrance to a building, but the door is locked. He tries one way and then another. He tries to push the door, to ring the bell, but nothing works—and he begins to walk away.
Says his friend, “Where are you going? You think that if you will go away the door will open by itself?!” But he answers, “No, I went to get the keys. Previously, I thought I could get in without them, but now I see that I can’t get in without keys, and so I went to retrieve them.”
The Challenges Remain—But We Now Have the Keys
After an exalted Yom Tov, a Yid comes back to his problems with keys in hand. That doesn’t mean that the door is no longer here—the yetzer hara, and bad habits, and obstacles and challenges have not vanished. Some failures will continue to be a part of life, and a person will still need to contend with negative habits, but we have now been given the keys to open the door!
The Ribbono shel Olam gave us Yamim Tovim, and He taught us what to do in the case of a failure. The world remained what it is, even after Yom Tov. Everything is the same, and the problems remain the same... and sometimes there are even more problems. But the Ribbono shel Olam has taught the person how to deal with them and what he should do about them. Now, it is bright and clear!
The Trapped Dove
Following Yom Tov, we take along the holy verses of Shir HaShirim that we have internalized. When the pasuk in Shir HaShirim wishes to convey what the Yidden experienced at the Yam Suf, it tells us the prophecy of Shlomo HaMelech: מראיך את הראיני המדרגה בסתר הסלע בחגוי יונתי נאוה ומראיך ערב קולך כי קולך את השמיעיני, O My dove, trapped in the clefts of the rock, show me your prayerful gaze, let Me hear your supplicating voice, for your voice is sweet and your countenance comely (Shir HaShirim 2:14).
Says Rashi that when the Yidden were trapped at the shore of the Yam Suf with nowhere to go, they were likened to a dove that seeks to escape the clutches of the hawk. A dove is a very soft bird, and the hawk is an aggressive predator. The dove fears that he will be consumed by the hawk, and so he escapes to the niches within the rock, where the hawk cannot pursue him.
But entering the rock, he is surprised to find a venomous snake that threatens to poison him. Now he’s faced with a dilemma: If he goes in, he may be killed by the snake, and if he goes out, he will be consumed by the hawk. This is the situation in which Klal Yisrael found itself at the brink of the water.
Concludes Rashi: In that moment, the Ribbono shel Olam said: הראיני מראיך את—show me your deeds... to whom do you turn in dire times?
The Finest Tefillah Is When a Yid Is Completely Reliant on Hashem
The Ribbono shel Olam says to the Jewish People: Do you know what I loved the most? When you davened to Me then. קולך את השמיעיני, let Me hear your supplicating voice. Which voice? The voice of a Yid who davens when he no recourse... no way forward. Whichever way he goes, he will lose out—it seems. It is this tefillah about which Hashem says קולך כי נאוה ומראיך ערב, for your voice is sweet and your countenance comely. This is the sweetest and most beautiful tefillah—because it was then that you relied upon the Ribbono shel Olam with completeness.
When a Yid davens to the Ribbono shel Olam in such a state, he understands that this is the very best place to be: under the protection of the Ribbono shel Olam! If so, he thinks to himself, of course it was great that I postponed my problems until after Yom Tov! Before Yom Tov came, he thought that he could figure it all out on his own. He’ll do... he’ll call... he’ll turn things over. But then comes after Yom Tov, and he realizes that—to the contrary—over Yom Tov, he became a better Yid!
You Heard Their Cry
This Yid understands well that: My neshamah once again made the exodus from the kelipah.... I lived through a פסח של שביעי in which we experienced סוף ים על שמעת זעקתם ואת, and You heard their cry at the Yam Suf. Hashem said; Your cries are tremendous—and now you must go forward!
But, you will say, I don’t see how I will be helped! The answer is, go forward and do what you must. Do what you are told by Hashem, without knowing how this will bring salvation. Go into the water because this is what the Ribbono shel Olam commanded you to do. The salvation will come. The Ribbono shel Olam will take care of you!
How Bright Life Is for a Yom Tov Yid
When a Yid approaches his problems with this Yom Tov attitude, which he acquired over Yom Tov, everything is illuminated before him. He is filled with joy, because he is truly reliant on the Ribbono shel Olam!
He enjoys his situation, and he thanks the Ribbono shel Olam even though he doesn’t see a solution—because he understands that this means “I don’t have anyone to rely upon but Hashem!” Ah, this is the best situation in which a Yid can find himself! Let’s dance with joy!
After Yom Tov, a Yid returns to face the dreaded Monday morning that everyone warned him about. He returns to the papers, to the bills, to the debts, to the phone calls, and so forth. But we tell him: “Don’t come back with your old Olam HaZeh attitude, your pre–Yom Tov approach! Approach your problems with a new understanding that you have acquired over Yom Tov. Pause before trying to resolve an issue and send up a warm prayer to the Ribbono shel Olam. Rely upon Him—only He can help you!”
Turning Weekdays into Yom Tov
This is the avodah of post-Yom Tov. As the pasuk says, בעבותים חג אסרו, bind the Yom Tov with rope. What should you tether the Yom Tov to? Bind it to all your problems! Take the Yom Tov and bring it into your problems now!
The Ribbono shel Olam לחול קודש בין מבדיל, separates between the holy and the mundane, because otherwise a person would bring his mundane problems into Yom Tov, and he wouldn’t be able to feel the pleasure of Yom Tov. Says the Ribbono shel Olam: For this reason, I am making a separation. Don’t bring your mundane concerns into the holy... but when you return to the mundane, of course, you should bring as much of the holiness along with you as you can! From now on, begin to live your Olam HaZeh differently.
The Ribbono shel Olam has a unique task for each of us—according to what we must rectify.
One person must figure out his shalom bayis, while another must tend to chinuch issues for his children. A third person struggles with financial matters, while another person has other difficulties. Everyone must endure something—but endure it with the Yom Tov attitude, with the illuminations of Yom Tov.
It isn’t merely a new understanding that we have acquired over Yom Tov—it is a special power and ability that the neshamah has acquired through the aura of the Yom Tov. Just as a person receives renewed strength after resting up, your neshamah—which just spent a week in Olam HaBa—received light and clarity.
Begin living with this light and clarity throughout the entire year!
