Dvar Torah for Pesach

Speech remains in exile until Pesach. Pesach can be read as peh sach–'a mouth speaking.Ó This is the main concept of the Exodus–speech emerged from exile.
Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #88

Speech–words that bespeak that the purpose of humankind's creation is met–is in exile until Pesach. Our ability to properly express our gratitude and praise of Hashem (God), to conquer Him in prayer (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom #69), to share Torah insights, and to convey comfort and encouragement to another so that he may carry on his struggle to become more aware of the Concerned Creator, is in exile.

Of course, though we do speak and succeed to some degree in each of the above endeavors, we certainly haven't reached the acme of our abilities. So our speech is still in exile. In fact, at times we may be totally unable to speak. Rebbe Nachman writes in Lesson #282:

'It is known that when a person is in the throes of despair because of his physicality and sins, and he is aware that he is in fact far from holiness, in most cases he cannot pray at all. He cannot even open his mouth [emphasis added] because of the depression, anxiety and heaviness that descend upon him because of his distance from God.Ó

Feeling enslaved, whether to physicality and sin or anything else, weighs a person down. In particular, the feeling of being the worst Jew to ever have inhabited the planet can be particularly crushing, as many a Breslover knows. Rebbe Nachman therefore recommended that a person always follow the advice he gives in this lesson. What is that?

Judge yourself favorably. One must search, seek and find within himself some good point. Having done that one must search, seek and find within himself some other good point. Having done that one must search, seek and find within himself yet another good point. Finding and acknowledging one's goodness brings a person life and joy.

Avadim hayinu l'Pharaoh b'Mitzrayim–we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. We had three reasons to feel crushed and silent: we were slaves; to a cruel and wicked king; in an oppressive land. We had sunk to the 49^th 'gateÓ of impurity. Could good points be found in such a people? Yes. The Midrash tells us:

Rav Huna quoted Bar Qapara: On account of four things Israel was redeemed from Egypt. They changed neither their names nor their language; they did not speak slander; none of them was promiscuous (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5).*

Even in the depths of exile, an enslaved people, none of whom had ever set eye or foot on the homeland, known freedom or tasted the teachings of their holy ancestors, managed to maintain their Jewish identity and Jewish dignity. Even though these may seem insignificant–mere points–they were sufficient enough for us to be rewarded by Hashem, Who favored us with two mitzvot: circumcision and the Passover sacrifice. The author of the Haggadah quotes the prophet:

'I [God] caused you to increase like the plants of the field; you increased and grew tall. You matured. Your bosom became firm, your hair sprouted, but you were naked and bare. I passed over you and saw you wallowing in your blood, so I said to you, ÔDespite your blood you will live.' I said again, ÔDespite your blood you will live'Ó (Ezekiel 16:6ø7).**

The prophet compares the Jewish people to an infant girl born and abandoned in a field. She is covered with the 'bloodÓ of birth, the foul deeds the infant nation committed in Egypt as it grew into a people. No one looks at her favorably and she is isolated because she is considered vile. Yet, God 'caused you to increase...you matured.Ó

Rebbe Nachman called the good point we must look for ode, a little bit. The Hebrew expression we have translated 'you maturedÓ is vatavoee baadei adayim, literally, 'you came [to possess] the most beautiful jewels.Ó The homophonic similarity of ode and adei adayim teaches us that to grow out of our disgusting bloodiness we have to come again and again to search, seek and find within ourselves one good point after another.

Bedecking ourselves with good points transforms the blood we wallowed in, into two mitzvot, milah (circumcision) and korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice; Shemot Rabbah 17:3). The Hebrew word for blood is dom which is related to the word dome, silence. Milah means not only circumcision, but also 'word.Ó As we saw earlier, Pesach is peh sach, 'a mouth speaking.Ó Right there, at the Seder, we accumulate some good points and begin to speak of Hashem's kindness to us and to sing His praises.

*Even though there were cases of individuals who were guilty of slander (Exodus 2:15, Rashi) and promiscuity (Leviticus 24:10), these were isolated instances.

**The verses are cited as they appear in the Haggadah, which switches the order of Scripture.

akosher und freilekhen Pesach!
chag kasher v'sameach!
A kosher and happy Pesach!