Shabbat HaGadol

A few days before Pesach this year is the last of 4 special Shabbatot leading up to the festival. The Shabbat prior to Passover is called Shabbat HaGadol. The source of the term is unclear as it is not found in the Tanach or Talmudic literature, though in the Middle Ages a number of authorities occupied themselves with explaining the origin of the term.

One approach sees Shabbat HaGadol as originating with the special Haftarah, specifically the verse which refers to a day in the future which will be gadol, meaning "great."Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.The prophet speaks of the day of redemption in the future. Passover, which represents the day of redemption of antiquity, serves as the archetype of the future redemption. Therefore the Talmud teaches: Rabbi Yehoshua says: "In Nissan the world was created ... the bondage of our ancestors ceased in Egypt; and in Nissan they will be redeemed in time to come."The tradition, which accords Elijah a primary role in the Messianic age, calls upon us to read the portion of the prophet which alludes to that "great" day.

This Shabbat in Egypt was different from all other previous Shabbatot. Now man joined God in His holy day. Ironically, the mode of observance was not resting in the classic sense. Man was bidden to take his lamb, in what we have already noted was a strong polemical statement hurled at the polytheistic, lamb-worshiping Egyptians. Sources state that by taking the lamb the Jews observed Shabbat in Egypt. This was their first Shabbat as a people, a moment of passage in the national sense: They had reached the age of majority, became adult ("gedolim"), with responsibilities. This was Shabbat "HaGadol". The most basic teaching of Shabbat is the acknowledgement that God created the world in six days. By taking the lamb the Jews rejected idolatry and accepted God. This was a watershed of Jewish history. Now the Jews joined God in a Shabbat.

The Talmud teaches that one who desecrates Shabbat is guilty of idolatry, for he has rejected the works of God. Now we see that those who rejected idolatry were viewed as "Shabbat observers." Moreover, in taking the lamb, they kept their only Shabbat commandment. This "perfect track record" made it a truly great Shabbat.

Our sages teach us that if all of Israel fully observe just two Shabbatot we will merit the coming of the Messiah: Interestingly, according to the mainstream Jewish approach the world was created in Nissan, which means that the Shabbat which takes place a few days before Pesach was the second Shabbat in the history of the world. Had those two Shabbatot been kept properly the world would have been redeemed. In the Sifrei Hapardes, Rav Yeshiel Epstein writes that the two Shabbatot which must be observed are Shabbat Hagadol and Shabba Shuva. Each of these Shabbatot have a special power to them: One falls between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, it is a Shabbat which teaches man how to return to God. The other Shabbat is the first Shabbat observed in Egypt. It is a Shabbat which contains within it the secret of redemption. If man could master these two Shabbatot, the Messiah would quickly arrive. So let us start our two Shabbatot this year and maybe with our faith we can, finally, bring the Messiah.