Feature Tidbit
for Parashat Metzora

Hu Gadol, Hu Gadol, Hu Gadol...

This Shabbat, IY"H, we mark the 3313th Shabbat HaGadol. The very first one was back in 2448 to Creation, the year of the Exodus. The date of that first Shabbat HaGadol was 10 Nissan, as it is this year. And that is particularly significant, because one of the reasons we call it Shabbat HaGadol, has to do with events of the 10th of Nissan 2448.

The Jews in Egypt were commanded - not a mitzva for the generations, but rather a one-time commandment - to take a lamb (or baby goat) into their homes on the 10th of Nissan, four days before they were to slaughter it as the Korban Pesach. (Technically, the halacha allows one to acquire his animal for K.P. even on his way to Har HaBayit on the afternoon of the 14th of Nissan. In practice, however, people did designate the lamb or goat as early as the 10th of Nissan, so it could be properly inspected for blemishes for the four days before its being brought to the Mizbei'ach. But it was required to take the animal on the 10th, only during that first, original Nissan.)

The Midrash tells us of the unusual miracle that occurred on the original Shabbat HaGadol. The Egyptians asked the Jews what they were doing with the lambs. When the Jews told them that they were going to sacrifice them to G-d, the Egyptians would have been expected to react with outrage and anger at the "desecration" of their deity. But they didn't. They took the news calmly. This is considered a great miracle, in addition to other miracles of that Shabbat day; this led to identify the day throughout the generations as Shabbat HaGadol.

Other sources differ slightly in the description of that first 10th of Nissan. It was known to the Egyptians that one of the plagues coming up was MAKAT B'CHOROT. When the firstborns of Egypt saw the Jews taking the lambs into their homes and asked them about it, they knew that they (the firstborns) were in trouble. They stormed the royal palace and demanded of Par'o that he let the Jews go. When their demand was refused, the firstborns attacked the people in the royal court.

If this is so, that great miracles occurred on that first Shabbat HaGadol, then it was because it was the 10th of Nissan, not specifically that it was Shabbat. Why then do we mark always on the Shabbat and not on the 10th of Nissan, whenever during the week it falls? It is answered that the nature of Shabbat - what it means to Bnei Yisrael and how the Egyptians perceived its significance to the Jews, that set the stage for the miracles. It is speculated that had it not been Shabbat, the Egyptians might have acted upon their anger and/or the Jews might have not been strong enough to answer the Egyptians candidly when asked about the lambs. Hence, it is Shabbat that makes the day significant, not being the 10th of Nissan. Another reason given is that the 10th of Nissan is the Yahrzeit of Miriam HaNevi'a, and therefore a sadder and more serious day than one to commemorate a miracle.

Since the people of Israel entered into the realm of mitzvot by fulfilling the command to take the K.P. into their homes, they changed their status from KATAN to GADOL, much like a Bar Mitzva boy does when he receives upon his shoulders the yoke of mitzvot. Hence, Shabbat HaGadol.

Even after Moshe got Shabbat from Par'o for the people as a day of rest, when Shabbat ended, it saw the Jews back into slavery and oppression. Not so the Shabbat prior to the Exodus. That was truly a Shabbat HaGadol.

The Torah calls the first day of Pesach Shabbat (because of the forbidden activities on Yom tov, it qualifies to be called Shabbat, a day of rest), as in, "on the morrow of the Shabbat you shall begin counting". The Zedokim claimed that Shabbat refers only to Saturday. Traditional Judaism claims that there is a "minor" or small Shabbat (Yom Tov) in contrast with Shabbat HaGadol, when more Melachot are prohibited. It is the Shabbat right before the Yom Tov day in question that got the name Shabbat HaGadol - because of its closeness to the first day of Pesach, the contrast between the two Shabbats is highlighted.

Of course, the famous pasuk in the Haftara, telling us that G-d will send Eliyahu HaNavi before the coming of G-d's Day, the great (haGadol) and terrifying one.

Some say that the long Drashot on this pre-Pesach Shabbat, that sometimes continue into the night, serve to lengthen the day into a Shabbat HaGadol.

Until this pre-Exodus Shabbat, Shabbat only possessed the aspect of acknowledging G-d for His Creation of the wolrd. With the preparation for K.P. and for leaving Mitzrayim, Shabbat took on the extra dimension of commemorating the Egyptian experience and the Exodus. Shabbat increased in significance and scope and became then a Shabbat HaGadol.

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