In Parshat Bo we learn about the season when the Exodus took
place. We read in Shmot 13:4: “On this day you went out (from
month of Aviv.”
A few questions come up here:
Why is the month called Aviv? Isn’t Aviv the name of the
season (spring)?
Didn’t B’nai Yisrael know what month it was when they left
Rashi says that of course they knew what month it was. God
wanted to show them that He planned the Exodus from
year as an act of Gmilut Chasadim, loving kindness. It was not hot, not cold
and not raining as it says in Tehilim 68:7, “He brings out prisoners
bikosharot- in a month that is kasher- kosher or fit to go out.”
In
we really understand the seasons as described in the Torah since at the
beginning of Pesach we stop praying for rain and we really don’t see any rain
until after Shmini Atzeret (the end of Sukkot when we start praying for rain
again). Pesach time is actually a great time to travel to
since it isn’t raining and it is not too hot yet.
This past week, we had very heavy rain storms in
north. Since we are still in the first half of the winter season, Israelis are
excited about the rain and continue to celebrate each time another storm heads
our way. We know that we need the rain and we know that the rain will be
finished by Pesach and will not interfere with our Pesach and summer vacations.
We can also learn from this pasuk that Pesach has to be
celebrated in the spring- It is not good enough for Pesach to be in Nisan,
Nisan must be in the spring. The years that Pesach would have fallen out too
early we add an extra month of Adar to make sure that Pesach ends up in the
spring. This is a very different concept from the Muslim holiday of Ramadan
which ends up being in a different season each year.
Leaving
in the spring gave B’nai Yisrael the opportunity to start off on the right foot!
