A spirit of renewal surrounds us in the days leading up to Passover. Some paint their homes, some replace furniture, some change the interior design, some buy new appliances.
Nature also renews its face during this season, embracing new blooms and creating new life.
The call for renewal also exists in spiritual life. Just as we feel the need to renew the appearance of our house, our car, our wardrobe, our spiritual life also needs refreshing.
Routine, no matter how good and pleasant, also brings with it weariness and a loss of joy. Renewal breathes new life into our lives and gives us energy and joy.
Time to skip
Renewal can be done in two ways. Sometimes we make small changes – a little paint, moving a piece of furniture from one place to another, adding a new item. But sometimes we feel the need for a complete renewal – replacing everything, doing a comprehensive renovation and redesigning the house.
On Shabbat we read the Parsha of the Month, which speaks of the commandment of sanctifying the month, which is related to the renewal of the moon. But in fact there is a call here for spiritual renewal, and the emphasis here is on overall renewal.
This month's Torah portion is read in anticipation of the month of Nissan, the month of miracles. This month symbolizes our ability to transcend human and natural limitations.
The holiday we celebrate this month is called Pesach, from the word "passing" and "leaping," and it also expresses the power given to us to leap over hurdles and stairs.
God, the Blessed One, was likened on Passover to a deer that "skips over the mountains, skips over the hills." This is how the redemption from Egypt came - a moment before, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and the moment after that, they went out to freedom and became free. A moment before, they were immersed in the gates of impurity, and the next moment, they were already on their journey toward Mount Sinai.
Even in spiritual life, we are sometimes required to skip and jump.
Although this is not the usual and routine order of things. It is usually good that things develop gradually, step by step. And yet, sometimes the way to bring about change is by jumping and skipping steps. There are situations and times when a Jew is required to jump into the water all at once and not wait for slow maturation processes.
To jump ourselves
The advantage of the gradual process is that it is more established and profound. A person does not ascend to one level before he stands firmly on the previous level.
Only after he has stabilized himself on the lower step does he dare to set foot on the next step. In this way he ascends step by step. And yet, this slow process confines him to the lower step, and he does not always find the strength to ascend. This is exactly where the leap must come, which transports him at once to a new reality.
The month of Nissan gives us the strength to make this leap successfully.
Just as God, the Holy One, pulled the Israelites out of the impurity of Egypt all at once, so He helps each and every one of us to leap forward and leap to a higher level, which until now we did not think we had the ability to reach.
This month we are given the wind to bring about change, but we will have to make the leap ourselves.
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