This Shabbat before Passover is called “Shabbat Hagadol” (The Great Shabbat).
After being victims to the Egyptian’s merciless cruelty for so many years, the Israelites prepared a paschal lamb, on the 10th of Nissan, the Shabbat preceding the exodus from Egypt. They explained to the Egyptians that G-d instructed them to offer a sacrifice on the 14th of Nissan, the night of their redemption and the night when H”S would slay all the Egyptian firstborn.
Hearing this, the Egyptian firstborn pleaded with Pharaoh to liberate the Jews. When Pharaoh refuses , they rose up in an arm revolt in which many Egyptians died in the battle.
This revolt is called “the great miracle,” and it’s commemorated every year on the Shabbat before Passover.
Finally the firstborn Egyptians understood the folly of their evil and sided with Moses, actively attacking their government.
When the enemy becomes a friend and defender, when a negative inclination works energetically for good, when darkness is transformed into light, when destruction becomes the impetus for building we see that true transformation had occurred.
May this week’s Great Shabbat finally bring all darkness to transform into light.
Excerpts taken from “Transforming Enemies” by Chana Weisberg
#shabbathagadol #shabbatshalom
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