By Marco Del Monte
Shabbat HaGadol
There is a question that runs through this Shabbat HaGadol and the parashah of Tzav like a hidden thread: what connects the fire of the altar to the matzah we will eat in a few days' time? What unites the Kohen who serves with precision in the Bet HaMikdash and the Jew who, tired and weary, is cleaning the house for Passover?
The answer is a single word: "Tzav". The Masters explain that the expression "Tzav-Command" describes a language of zeal, of readiness, in the immediate time and for all generations. It is not just any command: it is a request for the gathering of energies and the transition to action, without hesitation. Rashi teaches us that this solicitude is required above all where there is physical effort or material loss. We are all immersed in the toil of cleaning, in the rigour of searching for Chametz, in the numerous expenses, and we often feel physically and psychologically tried. Yet, right in this "fatigue" lies the secret of transformation. The link between diligent action and the very nature of the festival emerges from a profound play on letters that we find in the text of the Torah. The word Matzot מצות is graphically identical to the word Mitzvot מצות. This has led the Masters to formulate a fundamental principle of life: just as we must not allow the Matzah dough to leaven, to turn sour (Leachmitz), so we must not allow a Mitzvah to "sour" in our hands. If an opportunity for good presents itself to us, we must seize it with the Zerizut-diligent promptness of which our Parashah speaks. There is a thin border, a margin of 18 minutes, that separates the Matzah (the bread of humility) from the Chametz (the bread of pride, the Yetzer Hara). It is fascinating to note that the number 18 corresponds to the word Chai, Life. As long as we act with warmth and readiness, we remain in the space of "spiritual vitality", as long as we bake the matzah within 18 minutes in the fire of our heart, that is, of the altar, we will burn the Yetzer Hara; if instead we allow laziness, heaviness, or fatigue to take over, we cross that border, and our action loses its freshness, becoming "leavened". This often implies an immense effort, sometimes making us feel "broken by fatigue", but it is precisely here that the miracle takes place. This dynamic manifests itself disruptively during the rite of Yachatz, when we break the middle Matzah. The word Matzah has a numerical value of 135. The masters teach us that the two halves must not be equal, but one smaller and the other larger. If we wanted to divide the number 135 in two, into a larger part and a smaller one, we would necessarily have two numbers: one part of 68 and one of 67. Why is this? Here mysticism meets the psychology of growth and answers us: 68 is the gematria of "Chayim-Lives", while 67 is the Gematria of "Tovim-Good". The lesson that derives from it is that only through "breaking" — that moment in which we feel broken by fatigue or put to the test — are born "Chayim Tovim The good lives" (not by chance in the plural), a truly good material and spiritual life. This teaches us that the greatest treasure of our existence is found precisely in what we have struggled to conquer, in that part of us that we had to "break" through work on ourselves. Therefore, when we feel destroyed by the fatigue of the preparations, when the effort to make our home Kosher seems to exceed our strength, we must look to Parashat Tzav and the altar of the Mishkan. The fire had to burn perpetually and the priest had to begin the day with very tiring tasks. In the same way, the cleaning for Pesach transforms us into a Kohen who raises the sacrifice, drawing ever closer to Hashem. The masters of Kabbalah teach us that our transgressions are written on our forehead; the sweat of the preparations for the Mitzvah erases every trace of the ink of guilt, leaving our forehead and our soul splendid, like the house when Pesach enters. Being "broken" like the Matzah of Yachatz is not a sign of weakness, but the necessary condition for the light to enter our cracks. In this Shabbat HaGadol, let us learn to mentally transform every gesture of fatigue into an act of purification and holiness, aware that within those "18 minutes" of vitality we are building not only a holiday, but a new life, vibrant and finally free from the acid and fermentation of the Yetzer Hara, of evil. May the merit of this effort lead us to experience a Pesach of true joy and Chayim Tovim.
Shabbat shalom
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.