At first, the verses that highlight the limited Divine revelation man can experience in our lifetimes seems to be a seemingly odd choice text for us to read on Pesach – a holiday in which we commemorate and celebrate the greatest revelation we experienced as a people. It would seem on some level that this interchange between Moshe and Hashem might diminish or taint the excitement we felt on the nights of the Seder in which we recounted (and hopefully re-lived on some level) the greatest revelation of Hashem as we crossed the Yam Suf and as we stood on Har Sinai to receive the Torah.
In appreciating the true nature of the holiday, we see that it is precisely because we have just had this kind of experience on the first day(s) of Pesach that we must be reminded that the normative experience of man is not one of Divine, overt, and open miracles, but instead one of Divine providence that is less obvious and apparent in our lives.
In a similar vein, Rabbi Shalom Hammer cites the insight of Rabbi Yonatan Eibeschitz who suggests that this is actually the deeper message of the holiday we are in the midst of celebrating. In commenting on how we can describe Hashem on the night of the Exodus as acting be’yad chazakah u’bezroah netuyah (with a strong hand and an outstretched arm), he explains that the expression of strength is in relative terms -- relating to us that Hashem strengthened Himself (so to speak) in order to perform this particularly mighty and wondrous miracle that contrasts the typical way that Hashem governs this world.
The customs and liturgy of Pesach and the memory of the exodus and all the miracles that accompanied these moments remind us that Hashem runs the world, albeit not always through plaguing our enemies or splitting seas for us to get from one place to another. But, it is the survival (and thriving!) of the Jewish people and Israel even in our generation that is nothing short of miracles – they are enabled by the will of God, just as were the great Miracles of our people's history.
It seems then very fitting that on the Shabbat of Chol Hamoed we are reminded that the lasting lesson of the Pesach experience is not to look out for Hashem in the miraculous, wondrous, and extraordinary experiences but to be reminded and re-inspired to seek out Hashem in our daily lives – as this is the very essence of the Shabbat experience. Rabbi Hammer notes that each time we recite the Kiddush we say, six days we work and on the seventh we rest – we mention the six days because it is on the seventh that we process the six days. Rabbi Hammer explains that the common purpose of both Shabbat and remembering the Exodus is to help us to see Hashem during our week, in our daily lives.
The fundamental lesson about the reality of the Jewish experience - in which we cannot see Hashem fully revealed to us though we believe that His presence and providence never dissipates - is reflected in the words of Shir Hashirim that is customarily read on this Shabbat. In explaining this practice, Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov points to the Sfat Emet who suggests that the allegorical structure of Shir HaShirim reflects the true nature of the Jewish experience – one in which there is deeper, hidden, and underlying truths that lie beneath the surface level of the lives we are living.
More specifically the words I will compare you, my love, to a mare among the chariots of Pharaoh (Shir Hashirim 1:9) remind us that the chariots, the land and the sea all heeded to the word and will of God in the moments that the Egyptians were drowned and the Jews were saved. With these words in Shir Hashirim we are reminded to search for the more discrete acts of love and protection that Hashem performs for us each and every day.
So often we become caught up in the routines and the humdrum of life that we forget to look beyond the literal, surface level. The figurative nature of Shir HaShirim that metaphorically describes our relationship with Hashem reminds us the nature of our relationship with Hashem is just that -- an on-going search and discovery - a relationship becomes stronger as it becomes deeper -- and so it is not only true of the timeless text of Shlomo Hamelech but also true of the relationship that becomes stronger as we search to finds its depths.
The lesson we learn on Pesach, and the lesson we learn each Shabbat, is that Hashem is with us at all times and though we may only realize it after the events have transpired, or perhaps (most likely) we may never fully understand the ways of the world during our lifetimes, we must always strive to feel the closeness and presence of Hashem in our lives – and following in the ways of Moshe Rabbeinu who continued to seek out Hashem even after he was told that he will never see the complete revelation –and yet he continued to stand with Hashem and Hashem continued to stand with him.
As we read the special portions of Torah chosen for this special Shabbat of Chol Hamoed may we feel Hashem close to us and be reminded to see beyond the surface and to perceive the reality of Hashem’s presence and providence in our lives. Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach, Taly
