And he slaughtered [it], and Moses took some of its blood,

 and placed it on the cartilage

right foot. (Vayikra

8:23)

The shalshelet

marks a break between words and it always appears towards the beginning of a

verse, over a verb conjugated in the singular. It comes to tell us that the

subject of the verb suffers a difficult moment of indecision and hesitation. On

each of the seven Days of Ordination, three offerings were made: a sin

offering, a burnt offering and a peace offering. Tension builds from slaughter

to slaughter. This is expressed by the cantillation sign appearing above the

word vayish'hat (and it was slaughtered) in each verse. Verse 15,

referring to the sin offering, uses the sign reviya, which marks a break

of moderate significance. Verse 19 deals with the burnt offering, and the very

first word of the verse, vayish'hat, is marked with an etnahta,

signifying the most important division of the verse. Our verse treats the ram

of ordination, and is marked with a shalshelet. There are those who

explain that in the course of the service, Moses experienced spiritual

exaltation while performing the tasks that would be later reserved for the High

Priest. While dismayed by the thought that he will soon have to abandon this

role, he remains true to the divine command.

(See Goren Zechariyah, Ta'amei Ha'Mikra

Ke'Parshanut, Ha'Kibbutz Ha'Meuhad, 5755, pp. 75-6.)

It seems to me that Moses' hesitancy had a

completely different cause. The third slaughter, on the seventh of the Days of

Ordination, was Moses' final ritual act before handing over the priestly role

to Aaron. In the course of those days, Moses served as an educator. Just before

he executes the slaughter and completes his job, Moses asks himself: Have I

taught flawlessly? Perhaps I have failed in my preparation of Aaron for his

role? That is why the word vayish'hat is marked with a shalshelet.

The great teacher is subjecting himself to merciless self-criticism.

Unlike Lot, Eliezer, and Joseph, Moses'

hesitation is positively motivated; not by greed or status or carnal desire,

but by concern for his student and for the future of the priesthood. Perhaps

the cantillation signs reflect the Mishnah's statement in Pirkei Avot

(4:21): "Rabbi Eliezer says:

Jealousy and desire and status drive a person from the world." Moses, who

was principally concerned with building up the world, did not hesitate because

of jealousy, desire, or status.

(From Yossi

Morgenstern's article in the Shabbat HaGadol 5766 issue of Shabbat Shalom)

Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet

Deborah

Weissman

Lovingly

dedicated to Matya Ami Cohen

Who

turned one year old on the 16^th of Adar.

He

is the great-grandson of my father, Dr. Nahum Weissman, z"l

Who

passed away on the 21^st of Nissan, 5753.

On the 16^th

of Adar, a son was born to my nephew in Tel-Aviv. My nephew Nitzan and his wife

Dorit maintain a secular life-style, but they have strong ties to Jewish

sources. Nitzan is a man of the theatre, and many of his plays are based on the

literature of the Sages or on Jewish history.

A few days before the brit,

Nitzan called to ask me two questions: Does the Halakhah permit a woman to

serve as sandakit [feminine form of sandak "godfather,"

who holds the baby during the circumcision], and if so, would I be prepared to

serve as the sandakit at their son's brit?

I answered that it

would be the greatest honor I have ever received and that I would investigate

the matter. I checked in books and on the Internet, and also consulted with

rabbis. The Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh De'ah

264:1) states that: "All are fit to perform circumcision, even… a

woman," and the sandak is considered to be involved in completing the mohel's

task. Given the story of Tzipporah in the Torah, it must be permissible in

principle. Prof. Avraham Grossman writes in his book, Pious and Rebellious:

Jewish Women in Medieval Europe:

Another subject

indicative of the roles of women in rituals conducted in the synagogue is the

function of the woman as godmother (sandaq, or in the feminine, sandaqa'it;

the person who holds the infant during the Brit) at the circumcision of

her grandson or son. While testimonies to this custom originate from the

thirteenth century, it appears that one is speaking of a much older custom. R.

Meir of Rothenburg attempted to abolish this practice and waged war against it

with great intensity. What troubled him was not so much the fact of a woman

acting as godmother per se, but that she sat in the synagogue during the course

of the circumcision ceremony, adorned in her finest jewelry and perfumed while

surrounded by men participating in the celebration. In his opinion, this was

definitely immodest… Rabbeinu Meir and his disciples were only partly

successful in struggling against this phenomenon… (pg. 185 of English edition, Jonathan Chipman, translator)

Most of the later halakhic decisors

prohibited the practice for reasons of modesty. However, in our own

case:

1) The brit was to take place in a private

home rather than in a synagogue.

2) It would be attended by family members.

3) In any event, I was going to deliver a devar

Torah about the baby's name, so that the issue of modesty was not exactly

relevant.

And so, I told Nitzan that it would all

depend upon the mohel. As far as I was concerned, I had been honored by

the offer itself – dayeinu: "It is enough." I did not want to

make the mohel feel uncomfortable. However, if he would agree, I would

certainly follow suit.

On the day of the brit I travelled from my

home in Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv, not knowing until my arrival at their home

whether or not I would serve as sandakit. The mohel – who was also a physician

– said that he had also looked into the matter and that well-known rabbis in

Jerusalem permitted it. And then he added: "In Jerusalem they honor women

more than they do in Tel-Aviv." (I imagine he was thinking of

congregations such as Yedidyah and Shirah Hadashah.)

Serving as sandakit at the brit of my

nephew's son was, without a doubt, one of my life's most emotional experiences.

This story certainly connects with the

anniversary of my father z"l's death on the seventh day of Passover; after

all, it was his great-grandson who was circumcised. But what does the story

have to do with Passover as far the rest of us are concerned?

Both events involve blood: the blood of the

covenant, the blood dabbed on the doorposts, and the verse cited by the

Haggadah: In your blood, live! Many derashot explain that the Seder

night symbolizes the feast of the brit /covenant of the People Israel. In

fact, the three pilgrimage holidays symbolize three rites of passages in our

lives: Passover is the nation's birth and its entrance into the covenant with

God; Shavu'ot is a kind of bar/bat mitzvah for the nation, in the sense that it

involves acceptance of the yoke of the commandments. Finally, Sukkot is a kind

of wedding of the Congregation of Israel with God, in which the Sukkah

represents the huppa.

I think that there is a more significant link

between the brit and the Seder night. That is the Prophet Elijah, who arrives

on the night of the Seder and for whom the fifth "questionable" cup

of wine is named. He also attends britot, and the sandak sits on his

chair. Elijah is seen as the harbinger of the Redemption. He is present at the

Havdalah ceremony at the close of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is me'ein Olam

Haba – it has something of the flavor of the World to Come, a more perfect

world that will come to be at the End of Days. When the Sabbath ends, we sing

about Elijah, "He will come to us soon, together with the Messiah, son of

David." His presence at the Seder expresses our yearning for the future

redemption (the redemption formulated in the word v'heiveiti – "and

I shall bring"), as does the folk belief that when we open the door as a

sign of freedom and redemption, we are opening it for Elijah to make him

present at our "night of watching."

Elijah is also known as Malakh HaBrit

– the angel of the brit/covenant. Passover marks the birth of the Jewish People

and the Seder night celebrates its brit. Even in our yet-to-be-redeemed world

we are commanded to observe our covenant with God. The covenant obliges us to

walk in His paths, to practice kindness and justice. This thought might offer

an alternative framework for understanding the State of Israel: instead of

using the redemptive rhetoric of "the first flowering of the

Redemption," we can relate to the state in terms of the covenant which

demands that our behavior be governed by particular morals and values. These

two approaches are not necessarily contradictory, but they certainly emphasize

different concerns.

One final comment on Elijah: according to the

tradition that developed in rabbinic times, he really is a sort of kindly

grandfather who attends the various celebrations mentioned above. He is a

sympathetic and even jovial character. How far this is from his depiction in

Scripture, where he appears as an extreme and violent zealot!

In I Kings (19:10)

he says: I was surely zealous for the Lord…for the Children of Israel have

abandoned You covenant.

Contrastingly, the Mishnah (Eiduyot 8:7) concludes:

…and the Sages say: [Elijah will come] not

to push away and not to draw near, but rather to make peace in the world,

for it is said: Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet, and [the

prophecy] ends with: that he may turn the heart of

fathers (Malachi 3).

In order to prove to Elijah (and perhaps also

to ourselves) that we have not abandoned the covenant, we invite him every time

anew, both to britot and to the Seder.

If only all the zealots among us would follow

in his footsteps, turn away from their zealotry and connect up with the People

Israel wherever it may be found. And to all of us, may we have a kosher and

joyous Passover!

Dr. Deborah Weissman is a founder of

Kehillat Yedidyah in Jerusalem. She is an educator and serves as President of

the International Council of Christians and Jews.

Change, Question, and Story

Our Rabbi taught: If his son is wise, he – the son – asks him. If he is

not wise, his wife asks. If not – he asks himself. Even two scholars,

who are well versed in the laws of Pessach – they ask each other, "In what

way is this night different from all other nights? On all other night we dip

only once, tonight twice…"He begins with shame and concludes with

praise. What is the shame? Rav said: "In the beginning our forefathers

worshipped abominations." Shmuel said: "We were slaves". Rav Nahman

said to his servant Daro: "A slave whose master releases him and gives him

silver and gold, what should he say?" He replied: "He must give thanks

and praise." Rav Nahman said: "You have freed us of the obligation of

saying 'Why is this night different?' He immediately began reciting: "We

were slaves, etc."

(Pesahim 116a)

It is a mitzvah to tell the children even if they do not ask, as

is written, And you shall tell your son. According to the son's

understanding, so does the father teach him. For example, if he is very young

or is not very bright, he says to him: "My son, we were all slaves – like

this maid or this servant – in Egypt, and on this night the Holy One, blessed be

He, freed us and took us out of Egypt." And if the son is grown and wise,

he tells him what happened to us in Egypt, and of the miracles performed for us

by Moses our teacher – all according to the son's comprehension. And he must

make changes this night so that the children see and ask "Why is

this night different from all nights" until he answers them and tells them

this is what happened and so it was. What kind of changes does he make? He

distributes roasted kernels and nuts, and takes away the table before they eat,

and they grab the matzot one from the other, etc. If he has no son, his wife

asks him, and if he has no wife, they ask each other "How is this night

different?" – even if all were scholars. If he is alone he asks himself, "Why

is this night different?".

(RaMBaM, Hilkhot Hametz

UMatzah 7)

Leaving Both Mitzrayim

– Egypt and the Metzarim

Pinchas Leiser

The Mishnah (Pesahim

10:5) states: "In each and every generation a person is required to

see himself as if he had left Egypt, for it is said, And