SECOND CHANCES The Torah states clearly that the time to bring the Korban Pesach is the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan. If a person missed that time - for whatever reason - that should be the end of the story. Good excuse, poor excuse, no excuse - it shouldn't matter. You missed it, you missed it. There's always next year. The Torah tells us about K.P. in Parshat Bo and then reminds us about it in Parshat Emor (this week's sedra). Then in Parshat B'ha'a'lo't'cha it tells us of the first annual observance of K.P. and again emphasizes the time - afternoon of the 14th of Nissan. And then comes the well-known episode of the people who were ritually unclean from contact with a dead body and they complained that it wasn't fair that they should miss out on the mitzva of K.P. G-d could have responded by saying that the time for K.P. is the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan and if that time passes and one hasn't brought a K.P., then the opportunity is lost. And since it isn't their fault - in fact, they had done a mitzva by tending to the bodies - they would be excused from the mitzva of Korban Pesach. And they shouldn't worry about it. Not their fault. Etc. G-d could have responded that way, but He didn't. He gave them, and us for all times, the unusual mitzva of Pesach Sheni. Pesach Sheni is its own mitzva. It is not a make-up per se for Nissan's K.P. That can be brought only on the 14th of Nissan in the afternoon. The fact that there is a Pesach Sheni does not change the narrow time-window for Korban Pesach. Pesach Sheni is a mitzva of its own for those who did not bring a Pesach Rishon. This mitzva is available to those who were Tamei for the bringing of the first, or "far away" from the Mikdash, or sick, or some other excuse, or even for someone who spitefully, intentionally did not bring the first. There are differences among the different reasons for not bringing, but anyone who did not bring K.P. (meaning was not part of a group for K.P.) has an opportunity and an obligation to bring P2. (P2 is optional for women.) I would like to suggest different messages from Pesach Sheni for different non-bringers of K.P. For the one whose was Tamei for the first Pesach - the main "official" excuse of the Torah - first of all, you asked for a mitzva. You didn't accept your excuse. That says something about our attitude towards mitzvot in general, this one in particular. Second, true, you didn't do anything wrong when you became Tamei, but it happened. It didn't have to. And maybe you lacked sufficient merit to be part of the mitzva of K.P. Maybe, the people who "complained" showed that they did have that merit, and G-d, so to speak, gave it back to them. The intentional not-bringer of the first Pesach is another story. He did do something wrong. Very much so. And the punishment for what he did is KAREIT. But he gets a chance to cancel that terrible punishment. We might think that he doesn't deserve another chance. But G-d gives him one. This is encouraging to anyone who occasionally veers from the proper path of Torah. In fact, the whole concept of T'shuva is something that we must appreciate. It is an enormous gift from G-d. Maybe the greatest gift He ever gives. ASHREICHEM YISRAEL - how fortunate are we that we have a wealth of Torah and mitzvot to challenge us and occupy us and nurture us throughout our lives. |
