(ח:טו)
He slaughtered it, and Moshe took the blood… and he purified the Mizbayach… and he sanctified it to provide atonement for it. (8:15)
There is a beautiful Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) that discusses this possuk which leaves us with a very timely lesson. The Midrash wonders why there was a need for Klal Yisroel to bring a korban for atonement purposes. What had they done wrong; what was their sin? After having concluded the counting of all the donations that were given, Moshe Rabbeinu was worried that possibly, during the fundraising campaign for the building of the Mishkan, some extra pressure was added to the donors, thereby causing them to donate out of shame and not because they really wanted to. This is a possible case of gezel/theft. Even if we conclude that according to the strict halacha, a gift given as a result of pressure is still halachically considered a gift, there was still most definitely lacking the nedivus halev that was such an integral part of the Mishkan. If it wasn’t heartfelt, it cannot be called b’ratzon! In order for the kedusha of the Mishkan to be prevalent, it needed to be built willingly and voluntarily by every participant.
Rav Ahran Kolter z”l writes that from here we learn that the measuring stick to know how much kedusha really is inside of any particular mitzvah is dependent upon how much ratzon/willingness and simcha/happiness went into its performance. When we perform a mitzvah with happiness, we are demonstrating the chashivus that we attribute to that mitzvah. The gemara in Mesichta Shaabos (130a) tells us that any mitzvah that Klal Yisroel accepted with joy is still performed that way today. That became an integral part of the actual mitzvah.
“Rachmana liba ba’ee”- the Torah requires heart. It’s not enough just to perform the mitzvos; it’s how we perform them. Ivdu es HaShem bisimcha- our avodah is to serve HaShem with happiness. No, it’s not just a song that is sung on tops of vans on Rechov Malchei Yisroel with loud blaring music. It is supposed to be part and parcel of the mitzvah itself.
It has been said that if the previous generation would not have given a krechtz- “oy, it’s tough to be a Yid”, perhaps many more of the next generation would have remained Torah observant.
We say in Shir Hamaalos before birchas hamazon הזרעים בדמעה ברנה יקצרו. הלוך ילך ובכה נשא משך הזרע בא יבא ברנה נשא אלמתיו. – Those that sow with tears will reap with song. He will go along weeping, carrying the valuable seeds; he will come back with song, carrying his sheaves. There is a “Chasidishe pshat” that really emphasizes the theme we are discussing. They explain as follows: If a person “sows with tears”, he will be rewarded with “reaping with song”, and if he carries on with “weeping”, i.e. his haloch yeilech is that way; he will indeed merit “carrying the seeds”. HOWEVER, if his attitude is one of בא יבא ברנה continuous joyous song (even when there is a difficult task at hand), then he will be rewarded not only with seeds, but with much more significant “sheaves”.
Pesach is “traditionally” a time of high stress, but it need not be that way. There are many that do all their preparations with joy even if it is difficult. Another aspect of Pesach that is most prevalent on this Yom Tov is that it is all about what lessons we are giving over to the next generation. If we put a little bit of extra effort into maintaining the level of simcha and not merely performing these hailigeh mitzvos because we have to, then we will be zoche to give over to the coming generations a message of happiness and Simchas Hamitzvos, thus guaranteeing a continuation of the kiyum hamitzvos.
Good Shaabos מרדכי אפפעל