Note to the reader: The following dvar Torah was presented by the author last year at a siyum to mark her becoming a bat mitzvah.
Emor has all the different chagim listed, however, the list does not mention Pesach Sheni. Instead, Pesach Sheni is all the way in Bamidbar in Parshat Beha’alotcha. Why not teach us about Pesach Sheni now in Emor? Next week we will read Parshat Behar, which also does not contain mention of Pesach Sheni, yet both parshas are related to Pesach Shani.
I would like to explain why Pesach Sheni is absent in these parashas, present elsewhere, and the connection between Emor, Behar and Pesach Sheni. To answer this, let us start by recapping what Pesach Sheni is.
It was almost one year after leaving Egypt and Pesach was coming. Two people, through no fault of their own, were tame (impure), prohibiting them from offering the Korban Pesach. Instead of accepting that they are not able to offer anything and taking a freebee of sorts, they went to Moshe and said that they did not think the situation was fair. They asked if they could make it up in some way. Moshe then asked Hashem and Hashem answered that they can offer the korban a month later, on what is now known as Peshach Sheni. Pesach Sheni is the only “make up” holiday, along with it being the only holiday instituted by Hashem at man’s request.
When I was unable to figure a way to reason out why Pesach Sheni is not in Emor, I rearranged the question and asked: Why is Pesach Sheni in Behalotcha?
In Beha’alotcha, we observe the Leviim being dedicated to the service of working in the mishkan. They are to help the Kohanim help the people offer korbanot. They were given this job because they were the only men at the Egel HaZahav (the Golden Calf) who stayed true to Hashem. Just as the Leviim came closer to Hashem, they will now help others do the same by bringing korbanot.
As you may know, the shoresh of the word korban is “karov”- to come close. When a person sins, they move away from Hashem. A korban is supposed to help them come closer. The people who asked for Pesach Sheni also wanted to be closer to Hashem and observe the holiday marking when Hashem saved us from Egyptian slavery and brought us close to him. (Also, it is likely that those two people who became tame were Leviim.) This is why Pesach Sheni is in Beha’alotcha. It is not in Emor because that parsha lists holy days Hashem decided to create, not ones people wanted.
But, Pesach Sheni is also hiding in Emor in the form of second chances.
Just as Pesach Sheni is a second chance, there are also many opportunities to see second chances in Emor. Because Emor lists the physical defects that would prevent the Kohanim from being allowed to do their job, one might think that there is no second chance for those Kohanim. I would like to point out that there are still things that they CAN do as Kohanim, like helping people with tzara’at (wrongly translated in English as leprosy. Even though leprosy is a different disease that still exists today).
Another example of second chances in Emor is pe’ah.a. Pe’ah is the mitzvah to leave the corners of the field for the poor to take and eat from. This is a very important form of tzedakah that gives second chances. In a few weeks, this will come up during the reading of Megillat Rut. Because of the mitzvah of pe’ah, Rut gets a second chance at both money and life after gathering her share of pe’ah.
In next week’s parsha, Behar, which we will read just after Pesach Sheni, we also have second chances. In Behar, we learn the different laws of shmita and Yovel (and we also find in Rashi my favorite saying, “Mah inyan shmita etzel Har Sinai.”) The laws of shmita include many examples of second chances. One example of that is how during shmita all debts are forgiven. (By being no longer in debt the person gets a second chance). Additionally, during shmita you cannot work the land. This gives farmers a chance to try their hand at something different. Ideally, they should use the time to study and get closer to Hashem, but they could try something like carpentry and earn money from that until they can farm again. Shmita is not the only part of Behar that demonstrates second chances, Yovel does as well.
During Yovel, all the Jewish slaves go free. What better example is there of a person having a second chance than gaining their freedom again. Also, in Yovel, land, other than houses in a walled city, is returned to its ancestral owner, so even if God forbid, you needed money forcing you to sell your land, you will eventually get it back. (Hashem is so good to us!!!) All this ties into Pesach and Pesach Sheni quite nicely.
So, we now see why Pesach Sheni fits into Beha’alotcha. But we also can see Pesach Sheni having a connection with Emor where all the Yom Tovs are listed and even with Behar.
We should always trust in Hashem knowing that He will give us second chances. We need to use those chances well and by doing so we will get closer to Him.
One last thing, I would like to point out that Pesach itself is also a holiday of multiple chances. We were freed from Egypt, but then at Yam Suf, it looked as if all was lost. But, Hashem split the sea and gave us a second chance. Dayeinu is a song about the multiple chances Hashem has given us. I would say more about how we should make good use of all the chances Hashem gives us, but I am certain that you are all saying Dayeinu.
Clara Else Fraenkel is now a seventh grade student at SAR. She thanks her father for his help editing this dvar Torah. She thanks Hashem for all the blessings He has given her. She dedicates this dvar Torah to the grandmothers and great-grandmother for whom she is named but never met.
