The Revelation of Makat Bechorot
Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We're on our final pasuk of Bikurim quoted in the Haggadah shel Pesach , "ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים" . Finally, God took us out of Egypt . "ביד חזקה" – with a strong hand, " בזרוע נטויה" – with an outstretched arm, " במורא גדול" – with great fear, " באותות" – with signs, and " ובמופתים" – with wonders. The Ba'al Haggadah explains " ויוציאנו ה׳ ממצרים ," with a very long description before proving it. He tells us there was no other force—not an angel, not a "fiery" angel, nor a messenger. Rather, it was " הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו" – God Himself took us out of Egypt. This refers specifically to Makat Bechorot , as the pasuk says, " And I passed in the land of Mitzrayim on this night, and I hit every firstborn in Mitzrayim , from man to animal, and with all of the gods of Egypt, I judged, Ani Hashem." This pasuk definitely requires explanation and understanding, as we have to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim every single day. God took us out of Egypt at midnight on that night. Why does it say midnight? There is a discussion about when the main Yetziat Mitzrayim was. Was it at night or by day? The reason we say Kriat Shema both at night and during the day is because there was an aspect of Yetziat Mitzrayim both at night and by day. There are two important lessons based on what happened at that moment. As mentioned previously, the Egyptians worshipped the sheep. The reason they worshipped the sheep was because the sheep was called Bechor Lamazalot . It was the firstborn of all the symbols of the horoscope. Sheep, or Aries as it's referred to in Latin, is why the month of Aviv, springtime when we got out, is called Aviv. It's a contraction of two words, " אב י"ב," the father of 12. The ram symbolizes the father, the first of the 12 symbols. Therefore, the Egyptians worshipped the ram and the sheep, due to their belief that this was the mazal that was in charge of the world. Furthermore, they respected the firstborn children because they were also connected to the horoscope of the sheep. The reason for Yetziat Mitzrayim was to take the Jewish people out from under mazal and have us deal directly with Hashem. This originated with Avraham Avinu. When he didn't have any children, God said, " צא החוצה" / " Go outside". Rashi says this meant, "Go out of the horoscope". We are above the horoscope. In order to portray this concept that God is the only force in nature and all other seeming forces do not have independent power, it was God Himself that wiped out the Egyptian gods and showed the world that the Egyptian horoscope symbol had no force. The reason it happened on the 15th of the month is because that is when the moon is fullest, which is the most powerful time. And Chatzot Laila , midnight, is the "power of the power". So at the point when the sheep was most powerful in the month of Nissan, its own month, we were going to bring her to her knees. And that's what happened. We have to always remember Yetziat Mitzrayim . There is a famous Nefesh HaChaim ( Shaar Gimmel, Perek Yud-Bet ), where he cites the Gemara of a certain witch that was trying to cast a spell on Rav Chanina ben Dosa, and he said, "You're wasting your time. אין עוד מלבדו" – " There is nothing else but Him". The Gemara says, "What do you mean? Kishuf / witchcraft, is able to undo things that seemingly are against God's decree!". To which the Gemara says, Rav Chanina ben Dosa had great zechut . The Nefesh HaChaim says that doesn't mean he had a lot of mitzvot . It means he had the clarity that there's nothing else but HaKadosh Baruch Hu , and he realized that this kishuf was created from God, and nothing exists other than God, and everything here comes from God. With that, he was able to undo any kishuf powers. That's the same Rav Chanina ben Dosa who said, "No problem," when his daughter complained that they had no oil to light the candles, only vinegar. "What's the difference? The One that said oil should light, [can also say] vinegar should light". That means it wasn't a miracle for him; he didn't see a difference between oil and vinegar. It was all Hashem. There are many such stories about Rav Chanina ben Dosa. The Nefesh HaChaim applies this to us and says, "This is inyan gadol v'segulah nifla'ah " – A wondrous segulah to remove all judgments and negative wills of others against you, so that they can't affect you, won't impact you, and won't make an indent at all. If a person says in his heart, "I know Hashem is in charge, and He's the only true force, there's nothing else but Him, and everything in the world only comes from Him," and he annuls in his heart a total annulment and does not pay attention to anything else in the world but God's will, and subjugates himself and connects the purity of his thoughts to God, insofar as he does that, God will annul all those negative forces so they can't impact him at all. This is easier said than done. But the point is that this revelation of " אין עוד מלבדו" ) Ein Od Milevado ) happened at the time of Makat Bechorot . It was totally revealed later on at Har Sinai, where it says, " אתה הראת לדעת כי ה׳ הוא האלקים אין עוד מלבדו" . There they actually saw it. God , it says, split open the heavens and showed them that there's nothing in the world but God. But the beginning, so to say, of God showing us this was at Makat Bechorot at Chatzot Laila . Furthermore, the Nefesh HaChaim in Shaar Gimmel, Perek Gimmel , tells us that it says, " ה׳ הוא מקומו של עולם" – " God is the place of the world," and " ואין העולם מקומו" – " and the world doesn't hold Him". One of God's names is Makom , which means that nothing else exists without Him. He's the place ; everything is within Him. It's interesting that the term Makom is used in the Haggadah shel Pesach , possibly more than any other place, when talking about God. ברוך המקום ברוך הוא. ברוך שנתן תורה לעמו ישראל ברוך הוא". "ברוך המקום ". "ועכשיו קרבנו המקום לעבודתו" – " And now the Makom (God) brought us close to His service" . "כמה מעלות טובות למקום עלינו" – " How many great qualities is it to God," referred to as Makom . "על אחת כמה וכמה טובה כפולה ומכופלת למקום עלינו" – four times it says Makom . Because this is the night that we understood this important lesson. Rav Shimshon Pinkus, in his book Tiferet Shimshon on Devarim , in Parashat Re'eh where it says " בנים אתם לה׳", says that's why, heaven forbid, when someone passes away, the custom in many communities is to say, " המקום ינחם אתכם" / God, who is called Makom , should bring you comfort" . But why is the term Makom used here? Because of this concept that God is Mekomo shel Olam , God holds everything , there's nothing there but Him. And therefore, Lo Alenu , with a problem or without a problem, with a parent or without a parent, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the constant in their lives, and that concept should bring nechama . May we all hear nechamot from all the tzarot that we go through, and have the ultimate revelation of Makom in the future.
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