May it be so, and in our days, Amen!!

Shmuel Katanov
09/10/2024

So, what is the way out of this? How do you silence the Az Panim and his dogs? Parashat Bo 11:7 tells us that when the nation of Israel came out from Egypt, no dog barked against a man or beast. And so it will be in the future, no dogs of the generation will bark or raise their voices when Hashem on That Day will humiliate the Azei Panim - The Shameless of the generation and their dogs. Mashpil Geim Ade Aretz - He will throw down the Proud/Arrogant people to the ground.

There's a pasuk, ה' עֹז לְעַמוֹ יִתֵן - Hashem Ohz Le Amo Yiten - Hashem gave the strength to His Nation - עֹז - Ohz, another variation. What is this strength? It is a Strength to Choose - choose the way of Ez/Goat and become the Az Panim, the Shameless Individual, and end up in Gehinam or Hell, and end up as someone's slave or dog. Or use that strength to stay away from the way of the Az Panim - Shameless, and not become his slave or dog, but to be a Boshet Panim - a Person of Modesty and be on the way to Gan Eden or Paradise, and serve Hashem wholeheartedly, with loyalty and devotion, all for the right reasons. And only then ה' יְבַרֵך אֶת עַמוֹ בַשָלוֹם - Hashem Yevarech Et Amo Ba Shalom - Hashem will bless His Nation with Peace.

Shmuel Katanov

Let's start with a question: how come Adam and Chavah ended up outside of Gan Eden?

In Parashat Bereshit, right after Hashem created the world, Hashem told Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge; in turn, Adam told Chavah not to touch the tree. Later, when Adam wasn't around, Chavah was approached by a Nachash, a primordial snake. This is when the snake persuaded her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge by telling her Lashon Hara, or slandering Hashem, and she fell for it. There are several opinions about the tree's fruit - apple, grape, bread, and others... but I strongly believe this tree had ready-to-eat bread growing as fruit. 

So there was Chavah - she took the fruit of that tree - a piece of bread from the Tree of Knowledge, and right before she ate it, the snake placed his poison into it - and Chavah ate the poisoned bread. And at that moment, the Yetzer Hara, or an Evil Inclination, went into her, and then she made Adam eat it as well. There they were, with Yetzer Hara, or Evil Inclination — also known as the bad character traits, such as jealousy, anger, hatred, dishonesty, rudeness, and more — deeply rooted in them and passed on to billions of people throughout the generations until today, all across the world.

Hashem wasn't happy about this. He punished Adam, Chavah, and the snake, but humanity was still infected, and Hashem had to figure out how to somehow cleanse the people from it.

And this is what Hashem did.

Remember the time when Moshe Rabbeinu came to Egypt and took the Jewish nation out of Mitzrayim? In Parashat Beshalach, Hashem has given us manna in the desert—pure bread—food for the angels. It was bread that was digested fully by the body with no waste. There's a reason why Hashem has put millions of people in the desert on this diet—only one reason—to raise the nation spiritually to the level Adam HaRishon was at when he was in Gan Eden. 

But later, when we get to Parashat Shelach, suddenly, the selected few get the idea of spying out the Land. Hashem is not so excited about this idea, but He still lets Moshe send out an expedition, which he does. After forty days, when they come back, what do they do? This time, they slander the Land of Israel. Hashem tried to cleanse the nation from that original sin that happened in Gan Eden, and raise the nation to high spiritual levels by giving them manna, but they fell for the same sin again, and this time by slandering the Land. So, Hashem decided to kill all the males between the ages of 20 and 60 years old of that generation, and only their children went to Israel years later. 

But the Evil Inclination still dwelt in those who went to Eretz Yisrael.

So, in Parashat Bo 12:11 it says, "So shall you eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It is a Passover offering to G-d." It continues in 12:34 & 39: "The people picked up its dough before it could become leavened, their leftovers bound up in their garments upon their shoulders. They baked the dough they took out of Egypt into unleavened cakes, for they could not be leavened, for they were driven from Egypt, for they could not delay." 

So, for generations, we have been eating unleavened bread—matzah, a pure bread with no chametz—which has been set as a holiday of Pesach. 

The Sages teach us to celebrate the night of Pesach and feel as if we are leaving Mitzrayim. But I don't believe that by leaving Mitzrayim, they meant that we should leave any physical location. Our Mitzrayim is our OK with the current situation, our contentment with it, and our will to continue living in it. Because the moment we understand what happened, we realize we have lost—and we have lost BIG.

On Motzeh Shabbat, when we make the blessing for a lit candle, we look at our fingernails, which remind us of Adam HaRishon, since it says in the Midrash that his whole skin was covered by fingernails like skin, but now we have nails only on our fingers and toes. But this is not the only loss. It should remind us that we no longer live in the Gan Eden. No longer have ready-to-eat bread growing on the trees, and have to toil daily for a piece of bread. We no longer have a close relationship with Hashem and thus live in the darkness. No Bet Hamikdash, and no Eretz Yisrael, with wars, diseases, hunger, death, conflicts, and a whole lot of troubles across the globe.

Therefore, while we look for chametz with a lit candle and gather the pieces of chametz—the leavened bread —we realize: Chametz, it is because of you that we have lost so much. The life we have, and the life the whole world has is not what Hashem initially intended it to be - and instead, we suffer today because of the poison the snake put into the bread - which is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge - which in turn has infected us, humans, with the Yetzer Hara or Evil Inclination from which we suffer daily. We take that bread and burn it, and with it, we annul all the Chametz that may be in our possession -- thus weakening its influence over us for the next 7 days.

And to all those who think that G-d has abandoned the Jewish nation, should know that He has neither abandoned nor given up on us.

He has commanded us to celebrate the Holiday of Pesach for seven days. And on this holiday, we are commanded to eat unleavened bread—the bread with zero chametz—the matzah. When we eat the matzah, we grow in our belief in G-d, and most importantly, in kedushah - the holiness. And this will eventually lead to the ultimate redemption, Mashiach, and the Third Bet Hamikdash. May this happen speedily in our days. Amen!!

Shmuel Katanov

Chachamim z"l tell us that the Second Temple was destroyed for only one sin - Sinat Chinam - Baseless Hatred. Only one sin brought down the House of G-d, and I believe we are still battling with it till today. There's no unity, and plenty of lashon hara, dislike, and ill will floating between the communities and among people. I believe that the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash is the sin of the men - this is something we as men are responsible for. 

That's why the obligation to light the Chanukah menorah lies on men, and we have eight days to do it - in our own homes, each one, no matter what part of the world he is in, or what the situation he may be in. In addition, the Sages say that there's a segulah in looking at burning candles, and hopefully this will give us chidushim — new insights — into the Torah. But maybe it could also mean that we should look at the candles and ponder: how can we fix the divisiveness, the hatred, and the distancing between communities and people? We got the whole eight days to think,  and the rest of the year to carry out the plan. If anyone can do it, then it is we, men.

Since the destruction of the Second Temple, Hashem has no home to reside in; the Shechina is in exile; the nation is spread around the world; and there are plenty of problems in families, the nation, and the world as a whole. 

Perhaps, this is the time we say: We've had enough of it?!

Perhaps, this is the time to approach this consciously?!

Either, we can keep on lighting our menorahs for years to come - in exile and in our warm homes, distanced from each other, comfortable and in disagreements, or we put our egos aside, make up with each other, unite as a nation and light the Golden Menorah next year in the House of Hashem - our own Bet Hamikdash Shlishi?!!

Shmuel Katanov