Emor 5777 - English

By Rabbi Dario Feiguin

B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

Parashat Emor: “A New Opportunity”

We all know what Pesach is, what date it falls on the Luach, and what are the traditions of the festivity. What all of us do not know is that the Torah speaks of a second Pesach, known as “Pesach Sheni”. The Torah grants a second opportunity to whoever was unable to perform the offering ritual of Pesach on the 14th of Nisan, due to their impure state or to being away from home.

Pesach holds a basic and fundamental idea for the Jewish people and, I think, a contribution to human civilization. It is the idea of freedom, of liberty from all the slaveries and all the pharaohs of all times and places, to be and to fill that being with meaning. If someone was unable to perform their offering on the 14th of Nisan, then let them do it on the 14th of Iyar. If not on Pesach, then they got a second opportunity on Pesach Sheni.

Both offerings were similar, but not identical. On the first Pesach, all hametz was forbidden, Halel should be said while eating it, and it was accompanied by another offering: the Hagigah. Pesach Sheni included Hametz and Matzah, it was not necessary to say Halel while eating it, and it did not include the offering of Hagigah. There were also some other minor differences.

This proves that it is true: the second time can never be the same as the first, however much one would like it to be. But either way, there is an enormous value in this little-known and even forgotten mitzvah: the acknowledgement that only death is irreversible, and that in the meantime, life always gives us a second chance.

Something similar happens in the intimate life of people. No failure, no matter how hard it may be, can be considered irreversible. And sooner or later, even without expecting it, the time will come for a new opportunity. No economic hardship, no emotional breakup, no disillusionment or frustration should be able to destroy our being, and crush it against the floor in a depression of the soul, or against the ceiling in an unreal illusion. There will always be a new opportunity to feel free again. Free of heavy burdens, free of guilt, free to be creative again.

There will always be a Pesach Sheni where we can remember our own foundational essence, where we can be free of the yolk of anguish and despair that crushes our throat and does not allow us to breathe.

It is always possible to be on guard for the inevitable plagues that befall the unprepared and unconscious world. And it is always possible to realize the potential that God has given every human being, to take the cups of our own liberation and cross the desert towards the Land of milk, honey and hope.

There is always the chance to do things a little bit better; to repent and make Teshuvah, to ask for forgiveness and grant forgiveness, to be quiet and to speak, to silence the gossip and slander of Lashon Harah, to silence falsehood and insult; to say a prayer, to speak truth, to say “I love you”.

Today, there are no more animal offerings. It is also uncommon to hear of someone celebrating Pesach one month later because they were hospitalized the first time. But the idea is so strong that it became an important value within our tradition: there is always hope, because there will always be a new opportunity.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Darío Feiguin
B’nei Israel Costa Rica