Shabbat Tazria HaChodesh

Lev. 12:1-13:59 and Ex. 12:1-20

“SEA” THE MIRACLES THAT WE CAN DO??

by Rabbi Stewart Weiss Director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana

This Shabbat we read the last of the 4 special parshiyot; Parshat HaChodesh is always read just prior to the month of Nisan. In honor of becoming a Nation, our calendar is re-ordered and life, for us, begins anew, or Chadash.

It strikes me that the 4 Parshiyot represent a progression towards the climactic events of Nisan: We begin with Sh’kalim. The word “Sh’kalim” is, of course, connected to “mishkal,” or weight (a coin’s value was – at least at one time – a function of its weight). I suggest that the first step towards change is Shikul, weighing the pattern and progress of our life and considering how we can improve it.

Then comes Zachor. In order to shape our future, we must remember our past. Who we have been, and what we are capable of accomplishing in the days ahead. Knowing that we are resourceful, resilient and remarkably gifted as a People gives us the courage and conviction to change.

Next comes Para, the mystical, elaborate ritual that transformed us from a state of spiritual dormancy to one of purified elevation. By accepting G-d on faith alone – as the chok/statute of Para Aduma requires us to do – we can rise to a new level and become a partner with Hashem.

Finally, there is HaChodesh, as we emerge from this entire process a changed and new person, confident of where we come from and where we can get to. Just as G-d creates the world new each day, so we, too, have the opportunity to start over and re-create ourselves in a “new and improved” format.

The most popular of all miracles is that of K’riat Yam Suf, the Splitting of the Sea. The pasuk in Sh’mot records that after Bnei Yisrael went safely through, Moshe stretched his hands over the water and the sea “returned in the morning to it’s power – l’eytano.” This last term is quite unusual, and the Medrash connects it to “li’t’na’oh,” to its “condition, or terms,” explaining that the Reed Sea had been created explicitly with the stipulation that, when the right time came, it would split and perform this great miracle.

Rav Shlomo Carlebach writes that the Sea had to agree to undergo a complete and total change; it went from being roaring, expansive waters to dry land. That meant that it had to go against its routine and its very nature, and this was extremely difficult for it to do. But Hashem promised that if it DID cooperate, it would achieve an eternal notoriety and fame.

The choice is the same for us. In order to change and reach higher ground, to come closer to the will of G-d, we may also have to alter our behavior and routine. But if we do, then we, too, can rise to new heights and elicit Nisim worthy of Chodesh Nisan.