That’s a tough question for me and I rarely answer the same answer twice. I know that sounds frighteningly stereotypical, but the message we can learn from this week’s additional Torah reading about the Jewish calendar and Passover - called Parshat Hachodesh - gives me some cover with this. Here’s why.
Two weeks before the Israelites were due to leave Egypt G-d prepared them for freedom by communicating the first batch of Mitzvot to them. First came the detailed instructions of setting up the Jewish calendar followed immediately by the laws of the Passover sacrifice known as the Pascal Lamb. On the eve of exodus every family slaughtered a lamb, sprinkled the blood on the doorposts of their homes and ate the roasted meat together with Matzah and Maror in anticipation for the imminent redemption. For generations to come the Pascal Lamb would be sacrificed in the Holy Temple and serve as the centerpiece of every Seder table in Jerusalem in celebration of our exodus. Initially the correlation between the two Mitzvot of the Jewish calendar and the Pascal Lamb seems technical: you can’t calculate the anniversary of exodus without a calendar. But like everything else in Torah there must be a deeper connection between the two and one detail of the Pascal Lamb ritual reveals something profound about the Jewish calendar. While in Egypt most Israelites had become spiritually enslaved to the overwhelming influence of hedonistic Egyptian culture. The Kabbalists state that 210 years of immersion in the quagmire of Egyptian depravity brought our people to the brink of spiritual doom to the point that remaining there any longer would have been spiritually fatal. The icon of Egyptian idolatry was the Lamb so G-d instructed the Israelites to disassociate themselves entirely from their heathen ways by slaughtering a lamb as an offering to G-d. But then came the specific instructions of how to prepare the lamb for consumption. “You shall not eat it rare or boiled in water, except roasted over the fire, its head with its legs and with its innards.” (Exodus 12:9) Notice the Torah does not simply instruct us to “roast the whole lamb.” It specifies the head, the innards and the legs to emphasize that while there is certainly a distinction between these body parts, when it comes to destroying idolatry and embracing Judaism, every detail is important and relevant. This approach is true regarding the Jewish calendar as well. Certainly there is a distinction between days such as Shabbat, High Holy Days, Festivals, Rosh Chodesh and regular weekdays, just like there is a big difference between the lamb’s head, innards and feet. But every day must be observed and celebrated as a Jewish day in its unique way. During the sixteenth century an imprisoned Jew was allowed to practice his religion together with the local community one day each year. He wondered which day to choose and was instructed by one of the great Halachic authorities of the time to utilize the first opportunity to do a Mitzvah that cannot be done in prison since one cannot determine the importance of Mitzvot. The most important Jewish day is today. With all that being said, I’m sure you have a favorite Jewish holiday and I’d love to hear about it. Please share your thoughts with me by responding in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you.