A man comes to the night of the Seder and begins to arrange the Seder, what must be done? Come, let us see what is written, how much is a kezayis? How much is a revi’is? What comes first and what comes next? He starts to look into the Halachos and the customs, and he tries to do what he understands... when things are conducted in this way we know one thing for sure, there is no chance that with a Seder arranged like this is it possible to learn all the halachos well, and to know what must be done.
In our parsha HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells Moshe Rabeinu (8:1) 'קח את אהרן ואת בניו אתו ואת שמן המשחה' – ‘Take Aharon and his sons with him, and the oil of anointment’, and Rashi points out an important question, ‘These are the offerings mentioned in the topic of the command concerning the inauguration’, that is, everything mentioned here has already been mentioned in Parashas Tetzaveh that HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded Moshe Rabeinu regarding all the work of the Mishkan, then why is everything repeated here? Rashi continues, ‘Now, on the first day of the inauguration, Hashem repeated these commands to spur Moshe on at the time of the act’, meaning: True, everything was commanded in Parashas Tetzaveh, but now on the first day of the inauguration, HaKadosh Baruch Hu repeats the command to spur him on.
If Moshe Rabeinu needed two commands, how much more so each one of us, as we find in the Gemara (Megillah 32a) ‘Moshe decreed for Israel that they should inquire and expound the laws of Pesach on Pesach, the laws of Shavuos on Shavuos, the laws of Succos on Succos.’ In another place the Gemara (Pesachim 6a) says ‘Thirty days before the holiday we inquire and expound the laws of the holiday’, and there is no contradiction.
Moreinu HaRav shlita often says, “The women think about Pesach for a long time, long before the holiday they toil to clean and prepare the house (removing all chometz), they cook and prepare all the food for the holiday.
“What does the husband do? He calls out in a loud voice ‘Kadeish!’ and continues as he was taught in yeshiva, ‘when Father comes home from shul, we immediately make Kiddush’... surely, this is not the correct approach, rather, every Jew must prepare and learn all the laws and customs thirty days before the holiday, and when the holiday arrives, a brief review is enough so that he really knows what to do, so one who has not yet begun – now is the time!
- Tiv HaTorah -Tzav
