Pesach conclusion - 5780
Pesach conclusion - 5780
Rabbi Hal Miller
Three times a year all your males shall be seen before Hashem your God,
in the place He shall choose, on the festival of Matzos, on the festival of
Shavuos and on the festival of Succos, and shall not appear before God
empty-handed. [Devarim 16:16]
The Torah portion for the last day of Pesach covers some of Moshe's
reiteration of commandments shortly before his death. He lists a wide range
of mitzvos, including for the third time, directing that all Jewish men must
make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year. What is the tie between
the pilgrimage and the festivals, and why the curious reflexive language,
"shall be seen" instead of "they shall go" or something more direct?
Given the overwhelming numbers of terrorists and thieves today, such a
command would presumably lead to catastrophic loss. Would "shall be
seen" then include the use of Zoom or Google Hangouts? Alas no, as the
phrase "not appear before God empty-handed" precludes such. All the
men must actually go. The fact that God would perform a miracle to protect
the women and children (who are not required to go) and the homes, does
not explain the "shall be seen" nor why it coincides with these festivals.
One of the other places the Torah gives this command [Shemos 34:23-24]
adds that God will "broaden your boundary", from which Rashi learns that
God is saying, "You will be distant and not able to be seen before Me
constantly" thus He gave us the festivals at points in the year when we can
leave the fields to make the journey without financial loss.
But we still want to understand the "shall be seen" phraseology. Rav Hirsch
has a simple comment, that we are "reporting in to God that we are subjecting
ourselves to Him." Shir HaShirim Rabbah [8:12] takes this a step further:
"When the Jews fulfill the will of God, He looks upon them with both eyes"
[Teh 34:16] and says, "God's eyes are towards the righteous." But when they
do not fulfill the will of God, He looks at them with one eye, "God's eye is upon
those who fear Him." Our verse tells us that we must act so that He sees us
with both.
If the commandment was just that we go and see, it would be centered entirely
on us. We go, we see. But that does not work when there is no Temple. Instead
the command is "shall be seen". This does not require the Temple, and can,
albeit in a different fashion, still be fulfilled today. If the object is that God sees
us, which He can do anywhere, the purpose is that we appear in His eyes the
way we should be, rather than appear in our eyes the way we think we should be.
The priority then is on what God wants, rather than what we want.
Talelei Oros thinks that the one seeing us in this verse is not God, rather is
the surrounding nations. Since we leave our fields and homes unprotected
except by God, the other peoples recognize our faith in God, and Who it is
who will protect us against them.