Dear Friends,
What’s the difference between a Jew and a Frenchman at a party?
A Frenchman leaves and doesn't say goodbye; a Jew says goodbye and doesn't leave. (Old Jewish Joke)
Passover feels like it was forever ago, right?
It ended just a few days back. But now that we have packed the Passover dishes and the shelves at the Kosher store are once again stocked with fresh bagels, it does feel like the season has passed.
So, let's say it together: Goodbye Passover!
But wait. It will be a Jewish goodbye.
Which means it's going to take a while. Because we don't want to say goodbye, we want Passover's lessons to stay with us for a bit longer.
The truth is, the season is not truly over. Look at the Jewish calendar: we are still in the Hebrew month of Nissan (not the car company), "the month of miracles."
And while we might not need to eat Matzah anymore, there is something we just keep and cherish: the Nissan energy.
The Nissan energy is about a G-d who didn't forget his children.
It's about a nation of slaves with no path to freedom, no power, and no plan. Yet they walked out of Egypt, not as fugitives, but as a free people. Not because it made sense but because G-d Himself took them out.
And it's about a people who, more than 3,000 years later, still stand tall. Not because the odds were ever in our favor but because they never bound us to begin with. We don't live by the rules of nature. We live with the truth of something higher.
Take Shabbat, for example. Does it make sense to disengage from the word for an entire day completely? What if there is a good business deal that we might miss? According to the rules of nature, we might be missing a lot of money. But we don't care because the rules do not apply to us.
So, as we say goodbye to Passover and the month of Nissan, let's take another few moments to appreciate this month's gifts. And next time we encounter any challenge, we will never say "we can't" or "it's not going to work."
Because Nissan energy is here to stay. (Thank you to Rabbi Mendy Kaminker for sharing the above idea with me).
Wishing you a good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yitzi Hein