ב"ה
THEMES of Featured Chasidic Masters Articles
Beginner
The Passover Offering was designed to defeat the astrological powers of Egypt
The divine symbol of Egypt is the sheep; the astrological sign of Aries, a Ram, is predominant in the month of Nissan. G-d commanded us to slaughter the sign of Egyptian divinity for our Passover Offering on the fourteenth of the month, when the moon is full and the predominance of Aries is at peak, to demonstrate to Egypt and to the rest of the world that G-d alone is the the Master of the Universe.
|
Darkness represents a blinding overabundance of light.
Shem miShmuel explains that the first set of seven plagues described in Parashat Va'eira corresponds to the heart and eliminated the emotional power of evil in the Egyptians. The final three plagues described in Parashat Bo took out the intellectual power that the Egyptians had invested in evil and gave it to the Jews to be used positively – to receive the Torah and serve G-d.
|
Advanced
G-d is manifest in the myriad hosts of creatures of the lower worlds.
"And it was on that very day that all 'tzivot Havaya' [the hosts of G‑d] left the land of Egypt."
The word "tzivot", meaning "hosts", is the conjunctive form of "tziva-ot", one of the divine names of G‑d. Each name describes the lowering of the divine essence into another one of the attributes. The divine names, excluding 'Tzeva-ot', refer to G‑d as He is manifest in the world of Atzilut, the world of Oneness, whereas 'Tzeva-ot' refers to G d as He is manifest in the myriad hosts of creatures of the lower worlds. |
Beginner
Only in the merit of Shabbat were the Israelites permitted to serve G‑d with self-sacrifice
The frogs voluntarily went into the glowing hot ovens even though they were not commanded concerning the sanctification of G-d's name, nor were they promised any reward for being the agents of the plague. All the more so we, who this mitzvah is incumbent on us, are required to go to any necessary length to ensure the sanctification of G-d's name in the world.
|
Our yen for freedom is ingrained within us because of the divine consciousness embedded in the human spirit.
The Maharal of Prague teaches that
the Exodus of Egypt was not merely an event in which slave laborers were allowed to leave a country and forge their own destiny. With the divine liberation from Egyptian bondage, a Free Man was created -- one who will never make peace with oppression and who will forever yearn for liberty.
|