nissan 5764

The Torah refers to Nisan as "the head of the months, the first of the months of the year." Indeed, in several contexts within Jewish law, Nisan is considered the first month, the beginning of the year.
When comparing Nisan to Tishrei, the month in which Rosh HaShanah falls, the Midrash states: "When G-d chose His world, He established the beginnings of the months (Tishrei). When He chose Jacob and His sons, He established a month of Redemption (Nisan) for them."
Rosh HaShanah and Tishrei are associated with nature. We are living in G-d's world, i.e., one in which He controls the functioning of nature, but, nevertheless, it is a world where the natural limits are defined and they determine the nature of our existence. Nisan teaches us, however, that those limits are not carved in stone. When G-d desires, they can give way to a miraculous order with no boundaries whatsoever. This miraculous order is identified with redemption.

To understand the uniqueness of Redemption, we must understand its opposite, exile and confinement. Let's take an extreme example, when a person is imprisoned. While in jail, he may be provided with all his needs. He will be given food, clothing, and shelter. Moreover, unlike free people, he will be given his needs for nothing, without having to work for them. Nevertheless, he will look at his confinement as unpleasant, a punishment that he is anxiously waiting to end.
Why is that? If he receives what he needs, why shouldn't he be happy?
The answer is obvious. In prison, he is not his own boss. He cannot choose what to do, he must accept the authority of others. This, the inability to do what he wants and when he wants, is considered punishment.
This represents the core of our difficulty with exile. Thank G-d, we are living in an era where our people are not being persecuted. We have comforts and even luxuries, a lifestyle that our grandparents, not to mention our great-grandparents could not have dreamed of. And we have also spiritual opportunities; for there are few external impediments to the study of the Torah and its mitzvos. If so, what's so terrible about exile?
The answer is; like the person in prison, we are not able to do what we really want to do or express who we really are. A Jew possesses a soul, which is "an actual part of G-d", and he is living in a world, which is one with G-d. Nevertheless, the G-dliness in his soul and in the world at large are not revealed. This is the "who we are" which is not revealed in exile and for which we await redemption to be manifest.

The uniqueness of Nisan is that it is a time when these inner spiritual potentials have a greater chance for expression. Within the world, which is governed by nature, every year, there is an opportunity for the revelation of G-dliness that transcends nature. Nisan is a month when we get a glimpse of our world's inner spiritual core.
That is why Nisan is the month of spring. After the coldness and withdrawal of winter, spring brings us renewed energy and vibrancy. Like the world around us, we can break out of the pattern of dormancy and reveal inner life that is truly unbounded.

Our Sages tell us: "In Nisan, our ancestors were redeemed and in Nisan, we will ultimately be redeemed." For Nisan is the month of redemption for all time. Although Mashiach can come any day, Nisan is a time appropriate for his arrival.
Although we are awaiting the imminent redemption of all mankind, every person can have an individual experience of redemption. Just as in the world at large, redemption means stepping beyond the ordinary natural pattern of existence and letting the inner G-dliness that permeates all existence become manifest, so too, in the personal realm, redemption means going beyond our ordinary routine and letting our inner G-dly core express itself. As more and more people experience redemption on a personal level, the microcosm affects the macrocosm and hastens the coming of the era when this awareness will permeate all existence.

Nisan's Place in the Cycle of the Jewish Year

Chametz and Matzah

In Jewish homes all over the world, women - and men - are busy preparing for Pesach. This is not merely an excuse for a solid spring-cleaning. Pesach is the festival of faith and freedom. But to enable ourselves to properly experience this faith and freedom, the Torah requires us to rid our homes of chametz. Chametz means any product made from grain that was not produced according to the rabbinic guidelines enabling it to be used on Passover.
But Chametz is more than a ritual requirement. It communicates a profound spiritual concept. What does the leavening process entail? Grain is mixed with water and allowed to rise. This is understood as an allegory referring to egocentric pride and self-concern, getting puffed up with one's self.
To experience the freedom and faith of Pesach, we've got to purge these feelings of self-concern. That's why in the Temple, it was forbidden to offer the Paschal sacrifice if you still owned chametz. Before good can come in, the bad has to be driven out. And so, cleaning the house for Pesach is not merely a physical chore. It teaches us to search our personalities for pride and egotism and to destroy even the tiniest crumbs.

The Pesach Seder

In the Haggadah, we say: "Even if we are all wise, all men of understanding, and all know the Torah, it is a mitzvah for us to tell of the exodus from Egypt." This quote indicates that the point of the Seder is not merely an intellectual experience. For after all, if we are wise and know the Torah, then we also know the story of the Exodus.
Instead, the intent is that the Seder enables us to relive the Exodus, to realize - as we say later in the Haggadah - "not only our ancestors [were] redeemed from Egypt, but [G
d] redeemed us as well." Every Seder is an opportunity for each one of us to leave Egypt.
Mitzrayim - the Hebrew name for Egypt - shares a connection with the term meitzarim, meaning "boundaries" or "limitations." Leaving Egypt means going beyond those forces that hold us back and prevent us from expressing our inner G-dly core.
The Seder night is a time when no force can hold back the expression of this potential. Every year, at this time, within the spiritual hierarchy of the world, there is "an exodus from Egypt." All restrictions fall away and transcendent G
dliness is revealed.
This experience should not remain an isolated spiritual peak. Instead, Passover should initiate a process of endless growth, empowering us to continuously break through ever-subtle levels of limitations and express our spiritual potential at all times.
This concept is reflected in the Lubavitch custom not to recite the passage "Chasal Siddur Pesach" ("The Passover Seder is concluded") which many say at the end of the Seder. The intent of the omission is to emphasize that the Passover experience should be ongoing. Throughout the year, we should look to the Seder as the beginning of a pattern of new growth, spiritual expression and final redemption.

The Seventh Day of Pesach

The seventh day of Pesach commemorates the splitting of the Red Sea. Now when the Jews approached the Red Sea, it had not split. After Nachshon Ben Aminodov plunged into the sea only then did the waters part. Implied is a fundamental motif. G-d relates to us in a mirror image of how we relate to Him. When our ancestors stepped beyond their natural limits and marched into the sea trusting in G-d, He revealed a miracle that transcended nature.
Acharon Shel Pesach - The Last Day Of Pesach
The Haftorah reading for this day centers around the coming of Mashiach, containing Isaiah's stirring prophecies of the unique era which Mashiach will introduce: "A shoot shall emerge from the stem of Yishai and a branch shall sprout forth from his roots. The spirit of G-d will rest upon him.... The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the young goat...The earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the sea covers up the ocean bed."
Moreover, our experience of Mashiach does not remain confined to the realm of thought. Towards the setting of the sun on the holiday, we follow the custom initiated by the Baal Shem Tov, partaking of Mashiach's Seudah, "the feast of Mashiach." Partaking of Mashiach's Seudah translates our awareness of Mashiach into a meal, a physical experience that associates this concept with our actual flesh and blood.